Swift 2
Study Questions
2. One form that Swift's irony takes is his mocking imitation of other genres-the mock-pastoral of his description poems, the mock-elegy of his poem on the death of Marlborough, and the mock-projects of "A Modest Proposal" and "An Argument against Abolishing Christianity." What does this satiric use of other forms contribute to his satire, either by framing the argument of his satire or by creating alternative topics of satire.
3. Some of Swift's satires respond to immediate and particular events, such as the Test Act, the debate over Dunkirk, the death (and life) of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and the attempted introduction of copper half-pence as Irish currency. How does Swift approach these events? Does he find in them sufficient material of general importance to give them an enduring relevance, or do we merely see them as curiosities?
4. Scholars agree that Swift is a political writer but they disagree as to what his politics actually are. The issue can be approached on several levels. On one hand, one can attach Swift, more-or-less convincingly, with contemporary political labels and see him as a Whig or a Tory. Or, to my mind a more interesting approach, one can try to determine Swift's positions on a variety of political and economic issues. What are the major issues that dominate his work, and what is his position on them? Is Swift consistent in his literary views over the range of his work (insofar as you know it)?
5. The events that inspired Swift's satires are now hardly more than footnotes; Swift's political positions may no longer be relevant. What, then, are the nature and value of his satires as entertainment? Consider entertainment as it runs through to range of his satires, from his description poems, through his various tracts, to Gulliver's Travels. What is the relation of satire as entertainment to satire as the expression of justified moral and political outrage?
6. Swift was a clergyman, and readers of his own time were, rightly or wrongly, aware of an apparent inconsistency between his religious role and the nature of his satire. To what extent, if at all, can his satire be explained by his religious status? Can we think of Swift as a religious satirist? Is his almost inevitable anonymous publication explained by his efforts to keep his clerical functions, or even his religious beliefs, separate from his satire? To what extent is the problem one of public reputation? To what extent is it an issue of intellectual consistency?
7. What is the exact nature of England's relation to Ireland? What does Swift think that relationship is, or should be? What distinctions does Swift draw between proper kinds of relationship and inappropriate or even dangerous ones? What changes in the relationship does Swift connect with the introduction of Wood's half-pence?
8. What, specifically, does Swift mean by the term "liberty"? What does he mean by other abstract political terms? What does he see as his rights as an Irishman, and what sanctions or justifies these rights? What is the relationship between individual rights and the rights of Ireland as a nation?
9. Who are the intended readers of Swift's various Irish tracts? Are these the real audience to which the tracts are directed, or is there a conscious distinction between explicit and implicit audiences? Especially, what is the distinction or overlap among English and Irish audiences? To what degree is Swift successful in addressing both audiences, and why does he seek to do so? (The issue of audience takes on particular importance in interpreting "A Modest Proposal.")
10. The sequence of his Irish satires embodies the double image of Swift as English exile and Irish patriot. What is the character of each image, and what is the effect of the combination of the two? How does Swift use these two images in his writings? To what extent and to what effect does Swift use himself as a figure of satire?
11. Swift's rimed iambic tetrameter (four rising beats per line) gives him a distinctive poetic identity, particularly because the lines are so carefully controlled. What are the characteristics of Swift's poetic style? Consider in particular the relation of line endings and sentence structure. How does Swift prevent the sing-song quality that is often characteristic of iambic tetrameter? How would you compare Swift's tetrameter lines to the heroic couplets of Dryden, Rochester, and Pope?
12. Not only does Swift's satire deal with disgusting material, it can be described as disgusting itself, and the disgusting subjects are often women. Chief examples, among the works we have read, are "The Progress of Beauty," "A Modest Proposal," and Gulliver's Travels, and bodily functions are also a feature of A Tale of a Tub. Are there connections between physical disgust and moral disgust? Is Swift's use of disgust funny? Or does disgust suggest psychological problems in Swift?
13. "Cadenus and Vanessa" may not quite be a satire. It was not originally intended for publication, and not published until after the death of Esther Vanhomrigh, the Vanessa of the poem. But it is certainly comic in tone. Consider the characterization of Swift himself, as Decanus, as well as of Vanessa. What are the complexities of their personal relation, and how are these related to the poem's tone? What do you make of the poem's inconclusive ending?
14. "On Poetry. A Rhapsody" was written between the publication of the first (1728-29) versions of The Dunciad and the last, in the early 1740s. Comparison between the two poems is a natural topic. The poem seems to represent Swift's view of poetry and its social functions in contemporary Britain-indeed, his view of the whole process of literary production and its connection to political and social power. Identify the major complaints Swift makes about the literary establishment. What, if anything, holds them together? Is Swift against the whole literary establishment, or does he make distinctions?
15. Swift's grave in St. Patrick's Cathedral is marked with a Latin inscription, which he wrote.
It has been translated by W. B. Yeats, as follows:
Swift has sailed into his rest.
Savage indignation there
Cannot lacerate his breast.
Imitate him if you dare,
World-besotted traveler. He
Served human liberty.
Compare this self-written epitaph with Swift's longer and more complicated treatment of himself
in "Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift." What various self-images does he present in the longer
poem? How seriously are we to take them, especially the laudatory comments at the end? How
is being dead an effective satiric device?