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A review by katherineeliu
A Modest Proposal and Other Satires by Jonathan Swift
2.0
I had high hopes for his satirical essays, especially A Modest Proposal, but alas, I am disappointed.
Let’s start with A Modest Proposal; I did a bit of research after reading and found out that this was supposed to “disgust and enrage the reader,” and that’s exactly what it did. Basically, Ireland was deeply in debt and streets were crowded with woman and child beggars. So, Swift proposes a cannibalistic solution: plump the infants and then sell them to men and rich families to eat as a delicate meal, whether it be “stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled.” But what disgusted me the most was the role of the women in this imagined society: a “constant breeder” of children. Even worse, this was repeated at a nauseating frequency. I get that this is not to be taken seriously, but I don’t appreciate this type of satire - it just doesn’t sit right with me. Apparently, the purpose of this essay was mock the rich, blame the Irish government, and shed some light on the status quo. So, I’ll blame my dislike on my oblivion to the history of Ireland.
Other than that, this is a collection of essays written in the 1700s that discusses Christianity and politics while integrating Latin and alluding to famous philosophers. (I didn’t finish 2 and only finished 2 in total, but there were a lot more that I chose not to read). Thanks to my limited knowledge, I was clueless and had difficulty understanding the main ideas (but that's my problem, not the writer's). Maybe I'll revisit this in the future after I learn more about Europe’s history, and hopefully, I’ll appreciate his uniquely satirical way of sending a message.
Let’s start with A Modest Proposal; I did a bit of research after reading and found out that this was supposed to “disgust and enrage the reader,” and that’s exactly what it did. Basically, Ireland was deeply in debt and streets were crowded with woman and child beggars. So, Swift proposes a cannibalistic solution: plump the infants and then sell them to men and rich families to eat as a delicate meal, whether it be “stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled.” But what disgusted me the most was the role of the women in this imagined society: a “constant breeder” of children. Even worse, this was repeated at a nauseating frequency. I get that this is not to be taken seriously, but I don’t appreciate this type of satire - it just doesn’t sit right with me. Apparently, the purpose of this essay was mock the rich, blame the Irish government, and shed some light on the status quo. So, I’ll blame my dislike on my oblivion to the history of Ireland.
Other than that, this is a collection of essays written in the 1700s that discusses Christianity and politics while integrating Latin and alluding to famous philosophers. (I didn’t finish 2 and only finished 2 in total, but there were a lot more that I chose not to read). Thanks to my limited knowledge, I was clueless and had difficulty understanding the main ideas (but that's my problem, not the writer's). Maybe I'll revisit this in the future after I learn more about Europe’s history, and hopefully, I’ll appreciate his uniquely satirical way of sending a message.