Jonathan Swift Answering The Question Did His

Works Reflect The Time In Which He Lived Essay, Research Paper

Introduction

Did Jonathan Swift’s literary works reflect the life and times in which he lived. While researching for this paper I have read many criticisms, biographies and articles. In reading those I have come to the conclusion that his works clearly represented his life and times. I hope that by the end of this paper you agree.

Biography

Jonathan Swift was born only 7 months after his father’s death, on November 30th, 1667. His mother raised Jonathan at the expense of his Uncle Goodwin. It is believed that his Uncle Goodwin wasn’t rich and therefor Jonathan was no stranger to poverty. Despite his uncle’s lack of funds he still had a nurse who took care of him. His nurse grew so attached to him that when she left for England to visit a dying family member; she took Jonathan with her. Jonathan’s mother was afraid that he wouldn’t survive another trip back to Ireland so she left him with his nurse where he remained until he was five.

After his return to Ireland, his Uncle Goodwin took in Jonathan. He was sent to Kilkemy School when he was six and stayed for eight years. He was accepted into the University of Dublin when he was fourteen with his cousin Thomas Swift. While attending the University, Jonathan Swift went against the college’s curriculum and its disciplinary fashions. It was because of his rebellious attitude that Swift got the worst punishment given by the college, he got his degree by special favor.

Shortly after college Jonathan Swift left Ireland. He went to live with his mother but was turned away because she herself was living with friends. She told him to get a job with Sir William Temple who was a retired statesman. He got the job and worked for 20 pounds a year. Swift worked with Temple for several years but their relationship wasn’t very good. Swift eventually left Temple’s and got a job as prebend of Kilroot were he made 100 pounds a year.

He left that job shortly and was gratefully accepted back into the services of Sir William Temple. Jonathan Swift and Temple quickly became good friends and Jonathan went back to work right away. He finished Tale of the Tub and completed The Battle of the Books but both of them weren’t published until 1704 (Read, 1880). Swift got the political experience while working with Temple. He experienced the movement of politics and power. It was also with Temple that Swift tutored Esther Johnson [ whom he has immortalized as Stella (Read, 1880)]. Stella would eventually become one of Swift’s closest friends.

Swift’s literary career didn’t begin until he published The Tale of the Tub and The Battle of the Books. Both of these were published anonymously. After his initial plunge into the world of literature Swift wrote a lot of essays. He also became interested in the Tory party and wrote a lot of essays in support of their ideals. The Tories fall from power in 1714 left many of Swifts friends in jail or exiled. He returned to England and began to write more about Irish problems and causes. It wasn’t until 1726 that Swift made his final voyage to England. He brought with him a manuscript for Gulliver’s Travels. It very quickly became successful.

After the Esther Johnson perished in 1728, Swift’s life began the fall apart around him. Not only did Swift’s health start to fall to pieces; his friends began to die as well. Eventually Meniere’s disease took Jonathan Swift’s sanity, and his life. He died on October 19th, 1745 (Lee, 1998).

History of the Times

English History

In the seventeenth century, England was primarily an agronomic place. There were many farmers, laborers and tenants that made up most of the population. London was the mercantile, economic, administrative, and social core of England. It had a substantial middle-class and was the residence of the Restoration Court. (McDougal, p334)

“The restoration of the monarchy meant the restoration of Parliament and of the established Church of England” (McDougal, p335). Charles, leader of the Anglican Church, wanted to remain tolerable, but the Anglican bishops and the country squires in Parliament took hard maneuvers towards Protestant dissenters and also towards Catholics

whom symbolized the French to them. It was illegal to be in any church besides the Church of England. If you broke this law, you were marked a traitor and were no longer able to hold a public position or go to a university. This sparked the division of Parliament into two groups, the Tories and the Whigs.

James took away his brother Charles’s throne in 1685. James was bent on converting England from Protestantism to Catholicism. It was because of this desire that the Whig leaders planned to replace James for his daughter Mary and her husband, whom both were practicing Protestants. James eventually gave up his throne and went to the French court. Mary and her husband took over the throne in 1688 and thus “the domination of dissipated royalists in government and the era of violent religious confrontations ended” (McDougal, p336).

A lot of England’s people lived in a comfortable life style during the eighteenth century, and some lived exorbitantly. In London, beautiful buildings and churches took the place of the old buildings that burnt down after the Great Fire. Middle class Londoners could relax and discuss