Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" and Alexander Pope's " The Rape of the Lock ".

I would like to focus my work on Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" and Alexander Pope's " The Rape of the Lock ". I chose those two works especially because they are both satirical, critisizing the contemporary society in England in the eighteenth century.

To begin with, I would like to give a few details on the life of Jonathan Swift.

Jonathan Swift ( 1667 - 1745 ), who is supposed to be one of the greatest ironist in English literature, was born in Dublin, Ireland, after his father's death. Although his family was not very rich, he was given the best education at Trinity College, which was even improved during the years he spent in England, working as a secretary for Sir William Temple, a retired Whig diplomat. Their relationship was a bit unbalanced and made Swift leave for Ireland, where he became an Anglican parish priest.

Jonathan Swift, by Charles Jervas (died 1739). See...

[St. Stephen's Green Park, Dublin. County Dublin, ...

[Cave Hill. Belfast. County Antrim, Ireland] (LOC)

Nevertheless he came back to England again and stayed with Sir Temple until Temple's death. Later he left the Whigs and started to support the Tories and was named dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Ireland, where he lived for a long time after the fall of the ministry. He was considered one of the greatest of Irish Patriots, as he manifested his sympathy for Ireland in number of pamphlets and essays. " A Modest Proposal" ( in its full title " A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from being a Burden to their Parents or country, and for Making Them Benefical to the Public" ), published in 1729 was his last essay on Ireland as he later turned to writing mostly poetry.

Although it was his last essay, I would not say it was any worse from his previous writings.

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