SWIFT (Swift) Jonathan(1667-1745), English writer and politician. In the pamphlet "The Tale of the Barrel" (1704), the struggle between the Catholic, Anglican and Puritan churches is depicted in the spirit of a parodic "life". The pamphlets The Clothmaker's Letters (1723-24) and A Modest Proposal (1729) denounce the oppression of the Irish people. "Gulliver's Travels" (vols. 1-2, 1726). Swift's bilious satire is inseparable from the humanistic pathos of his work, which developed in line with the Enlightenment, which affirmed the need to eradicate private and public vices. The traditions of Swift's satire are among the most fruitful in world literature.
Childhood. At Trinity College
His grandfather, a prominent clergyman of the Anglican Church and a staunch supporter of King Charles I Stuart, during the civil wars of 1641-1648 was dispossessed by the revolutionary regime of Cromwell. Swift's father, having married a dowry, went to seek his fortune in semi-colonial Ireland, where he got a job as a judicial official and died six months before the birth of his son. The orphan was brought up by wealthy relatives. With their help, he received a decent school education and entered the prestigious Trinity College of Dublin University, where he studied in 1682-1688, by his own later admission, rather casually, that is, enthusiastically read a wide variety of books to the detriment of the prescribed cramming of the rhetorical-theological-philosophical manuals of Burgersdicius , Kekkermannus and Smiglecius. However, apparently, even then he felt a priestly vocation and firmly decided to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, which was in no way contradicted by his revealed propensity for literary writing.
The first compositions of the twenty-two-year-old Swift were, in the fashion of that time, sublime odes, and they clearly showed genuine and thorough religiosity, severe piety and a deep disgust for all revolutionary transformations and innovations, especially in the spiritual field.
At Temple Manor
The Irish riots of 1688-1689 prevented him from completing his teaching: he had to move to England, and Swift accepted the priesthood only in 1695, and received a doctorate in theology from Oxford in 1701. But the “intermediate” in his life the 1690s. turned out to be decisive for the formation of his personality and writing gift. These years mostly passed in the luxurious manor of Moore Park near London, a distant relative of Swift's mother, a retired diplomat and courtier, a prominent thinker and essayist of the 1660s-1680s. Sir William Temple, who at first, out of mercy, took a poor youth as a librarian, then appreciated his talents and brought him closer to himself as a secretary and confidant. Swift, an indefatigable reader, had at his disposal a rich collection of books, especially French ones; and Rabelais, Montaigne, La Rochefoucauld became his favorite authors. Appreciated Swift and his patron; he recognized the only one as his mentor, however, only in terms of sanity, outlook, balance and thoughtfulness of judgments. Their opinions could differ radically, for example, in a religious sense: Temple was a more or less free-thinking deist, and Swift considered any religious inquisitiveness a product of thoughtlessness or pride. The difference in outlook and temperament, however, almost did not prevent them from getting along with each other. The decade spent at the Temple estate, Swift called the happiest time of his life.
Pamphlet "The Battle of the Books"
After Temple's death, Swift had to rely on himself for the first time; in his asset was developed with the assistance of an older friend and mentor his own life and ideological position. In addition, the nature of his literary talent was clearly defined: speaking on the side of Temple in the literary polemic on the comparative merits of ancient and modern literature with the pamphlet The Battle of the Books (1697), Swift showed himself to be a devastating polemicist, a master of parodic style and deadly irony. The pamphlet is a caustic denunciation of the then (mainly French) literary modernism and the spiritual innovation that Swift hated.
Satirical Encyclopedia
In 1700, Swift received a parish in Ireland, but all his calculations and expectations were connected with big politics, to which he was introduced by the connoisseur of political life Temple, and with the literary activities of the London rulers of minds. To their captious and exacting judgment, he was going to present not only the still unpublished "Battle of the Books", but also a kind of satirical encyclopedia of English mental life of the late 17th century - "The Tale of the Barrel", on which, however, it was still worth working and for which it was necessary to prepare soil, acquire at least some name and reputation. Events turned out favorably: the Tories overcame the Whigs, having achieved a majority in the House of Commons and using populist demagogy with might and main. Conservative principles were much closer to Swift than liberal ones, but any populism was deeply suspicious to him. He noted with alarm that in ancient times “freedom was destroyed in the same way,” and immediately wrote a treatise “Discourse on the contentions and disagreements between the nobility and communities in Athens and Rome” (1701), where he strictly and intelligibly analyzed the party swara as a symptom of the advent of democratic tyranny, which is no better than aristocratic tyranny. The treatise greatly influenced public opinion and greatly contributed to the victory of the Whigs in the next parliamentary elections; Swift, thus, became the favorite of the ruling party, its "golden pen", and in 1705, finally, he considered it appropriate to publish "The Tale of the Barrel" along with the "Battle of the Books".
Recognized Master
The book was noticed by everyone and determined the further reputation of Doctor of Divinity Swift, causing some deep admiration for his merciless and inexhaustible wit, others (including the pious Queen Anne who took the English throne) - horror and anger with his irreverent approach to religious affairs. For the plot basis of the “Tale” was a parable-like fable about three brothers, more or less personifying Catholicism, Anglicanism and extreme Protestantism, who failed to keep safe and sound the caftans bequeathed to them suitable for all occasions, that is, the Christian dogma. The allegory is deliberately stupid, suitable for clownish games with dressing up. It makes up hardly a quarter of the "Tale" and is used as an illustration to other chapters, together with them representing a kind of English analogue of Erasmus of Rotterdam's "Praise of Folly" so beloved by Swift. In Swift, the embodiment of the all-powerful Stupidity is the fake “Author” of the “Tale”, a corrupt hack who contracted to build something like a program of the coming general insanity, designed to replace the true reality with an illusory and partly utopian one. The 18th century was the age of utopias turning from dreams into projects of social reconstruction, and Swift mockingly anticipates the ideology of the Enlightenment with its "social contract", social projecting and the cult of mechanistic materialism.
Contemporaries appreciated Swift's wit more than the richness of his Tale. He was recognized as a special kind of primacy in literature, and he consolidated it with such anti-ideological writings adjacent to The Tale of the Barrel as the Tritic Treatise on Mental Abilities (1707) and The Objection to the Abolition of Christianity (1708). Salon glory was brought to him by the parodic preaching “Reflection on a Broomstick” (1707), where he warns “the great reformers of the world”, “correcters of evil” and “eliminators of all offenses” against presumptuous reformism, which can only defile the world.
Another verbal mask of the ideologist and figure of the new time was created by Swift in the person of the learned gentleman astrologer Isaac Bickerstaff, who, in the name of science and in the name of the public good, abolishes the present and controls the future, clearly showing the power of propaganda over reality. His only scientific Predictions for 1708 were published; then these predictions were verified with the help of the printed word and became irrefutable facts of public life. Later ideologists liked to call such facts "stubborn things". Bickerstaff fell in love with Swift's then friends and the pioneers of European journalism J. Addison and R. Style. One of the first English magazines was called "Tatler" ("Chatterbox") and was published on behalf of "Mr. Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq.", who soon acquired a biography and became a parody character in English literature.
Politician and publicist
Soon Swift himself had to brilliantly demonstrate in various ways the power of the printed word as an instrument of politics and its impotence as a means of explanation or admonition. Relations with the Whigs completely went wrong after Swift bluntly expressed his moderately protective views in the pamphlet "Considerations of an English Churchman Concerning Religion and Government" (1709). And when the Tory government in 1710-1714 went to meet the demands of church circles and, moreover, set out to honorably lead England out of the protracted and senseless, albeit victorious, war for the Spanish Succession, Swift became close and even made friends with leading conservatives. He became their chief publicist, and all the political successes of the conservative government were achieved thanks to Swift's pamphlets and the journal The Examiner (1710-1711) led by him, which formed a favorable public opinion for making peace. In this regard, Swift lived in London in 1710-1713, and his daily letters-reports to Ireland to the former pupil of the Temple, Esther Johnson, were published half a century later and had a huge success as an epistolary novel, Diary for Stella.
Inventive patriot of Ireland
In 1714, the patroness of the Conservatives, Queen Anne Stuart, died, and the Tory leaders, friends of Swift, were accused of high treason, and they managed to arrange him in advance as rector (dean) of the Cathedral of St. Patrick in Dublin, so that he found himself in some kind of honorable exile, in one of the most prominent ecclesiastical positions in Ireland. Having quickly and thoroughly understood Irish affairs, Swift publicly declared Ireland to be the land of slavery and poverty; he considered the slavish state and especially the slavish obedience of the local inhabitants to be incompatible with human dignity; they stung his pastoral conscience. As early as 1720, in his pamphlet A Proposal for the General Use of Irish Manufactory, he called for a boycott of all English "wearables." His call was not heeded, and the pamphlet (of course, anonymous) was declared "outrageous, divisive and dangerous", and the printer was put on trial. The jury, however, acquitted him, and Swift took note of this. He reasoned that it would be most effective to boycott English money by declaring it fake; and the opportunity for it soon presented itself. In England, a patent was issued for minting a small copper coin for Ireland. The patent was lucrative, though not at all fraudulent, but Swift, a scholar of propaganda demagogy, was well aware that it was impossible to prove the absence of fraud in such a ticklish, affecting all pockets case. It remained to choose a mask suitable for agitation; and in February 1724 the first letter of "M.B., the Clothmaker" appeared, where "merchants, shopkeepers, farmers and all the common people of the kingdom of Ireland" en masse mobilized to fight the English copper coin, and in fact with England. Five more letters appeared in the next year and a half, and their tone became more and more outrageous, and their appeals more and more menacing; to make them more effective, Swift did not leave the role of a commoner. All Ireland was seething; a popular uprising was about to break out, and the usually submissive Irish parliament was ready to lead it, and Swift prepared a program for it. But at the decisive moment, the British Prime Minister thought it best to give in: he simply canceled the patent, and the tension subsided. "Draper" won; Swift was defeated.
Probably, the bitterness of this defeat nourished his bitterest pamphlet, filled with unbearable contempt for human slavery, “A Modest Proposal” (1729), where “for the good of the fatherland, the development of trade and the alleviation of the lot of the poor”, a beneficent, economically and gastronomically developed project of eating the children of the Irish the poor; it is this way of solving Irish social problems that the good-natured author considers the most practical, feasible and in keeping with the spirit of the times.
Main work
The “Letters of M.B., the Clothmaker” did not become a manifesto of Irish freedom, but were preserved in the history of English literature as a speech portrait of an Anglo-Irish commoner of the early 18th century - all the more masterful because Dean Swift had nothing to do with his character, as, indeed , and with the hero of his main work, Lemuel Gulliver, emerging from oblivion, "first a ship's doctor, and then the captain of several ships." From the beginning of the 1720s. references to "my travels" appear in Swift's letters; in November 1726 a volume was published in London containing a "condensed description" of the first two of them. The second volume, describing the third and fourth journeys, was published in February 1727.
The description of actual and imaginary journeys and the discoveries accompanying them has been one of the leading European literary genres since the beginning of the 16th century. Using it, Swift placed his work on a par with Thomas More's "Utopia", with F. Rabelais's "Gargantua and Pantagruel", with the most popular and most religious book of the 17th century, "The Pilgrim's Way" by John Bunyan, as well as with the published in 1719 "Robinson Crusoe" by D. Defoe, the most optimistic work of the new time, in meaning and pathos directly opposite to "Gulliver's Travels".
Their plot, like in The Tale of the Barrel, was bogus, parodic: Swift, unlike a great many utopians, dreamers and inventors, did not discover new countries, but returned the reader to the amazing reality of his daily existence, forcing him to look at himself and the world around him. with new eyes and produce a sober moral (that is, primarily religious) self-assessment.
monstrous and normal
Gulliver's Travels is Swift's final book, where his rich life and creative experience is fantastically allegorically refracted - so that almost every episode of the story looks like a parable. This is also facilitated by Swift's favorite image technique - everyday grotesque, that is, revealing the strangeness and monstrosity of everyday life and everyday consciousness. Normal and monstrous are constantly changing places: in the realms of midgets and giants, this is achieved by playing with a perception scale of 12:1:12. This ratio of sizes makes it possible to show in the first two parts the insignificance of big politics and the grandeur of human life as clearly as possible. The third part is entirely phantasmagoric - a compendium of dreams come true of mankind, armed with science, the triumph of insane projecting that the Author of "The Tale of the Barrel" dreamed about. This is the first technocratic dystopia in the history of European literature.
The main idea of the fourth part
Finally, in the fourth part, a “natural man” appears in the Land of Horses, whom Rousseau will glorify in half a century - and in his natural state, deprived of faith and grace, he turns out to be the most disgusting of cattle, who should only be in slavery to horses; along the way, it turns out that an ideal social structure is possible only apart from man. Imbued with the idea of such improvement, Lemuel Gulliver renounces humanity and becomes a hanger-on in the stable. This slightly convoluted sermon against the mortal sin of human pride was taken for granted by contemporaries; but during the period of the triumph of enlightenment humanism, it caused a lot of criticism.
"Stubborn defender of courageous freedom"
"Gulliver's Travels" glorified Swift throughout Europe, but until the end of his days he remained an Irish exile, about whom the local governor said: "I rule Ireland with the permission of Dean Swift." Among his last works, mostly repeating previous themes and motifs, stand out the unfinished "Instructions to the Servants", parodying Machiavelli's "Sovereign" on everyday material, and "A Serious and Useful Project for a Shelter for the Incurable" (1733) - an essay in the spirit of "Modest Proposal ". "Poems on the death of Dr. Swift" he wrote in advance, in 1731; in his epitaph, he wished to remain in the memory of posterity as a "stubborn defender of courageous freedom" and spoke of the "cruel indignation" that "tormented his heart." This indignation was not sufficiently moderated by mercy; but it was directed not against people, but mainly against the violation of human freedom. A deeply and firmly religious clergyman, a champion of militant common sense, overshadowed by the Christian religion, Swift opposed the idealization of man, which foreshadowed his new enslavement, and especially the plans for universal social improvement, which, as he foresaw, could only lead to the omnipotence of madness and universal slavery. The pathos of his life and work is fully conveyed by the words of the Apostle Paul from the Epistle to the Ephesians (6:12), which Swift liked to repeat: “Our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against authorities, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spirits of evil heavenly."
Jonathan Swift was born in Ireland in 1667. His parents belonged to the English colonialists, who were hated by the indigenous population. Therefore, the future writer felt at home as in a foreign land.
Since childhood, he was deprived of parental affection and care. The father died before the birth of her son, and the mother, entrusting the one-year-old baby to the care of the nurse, left for England, where she lived until the end of her days. Jonathan was raised by his uncle Godwin.
Education and the beginning of creativity
Swift was educated at the University of Dublin, which was famous for its traditions of teaching literature, ancient languages and theological sciences. Here Jonathan became interested in literary creativity. After graduating from the university, a talented, educated, but poor young man could only choose between the professions of a lawyer and a church minister. Swift decided to become a priest.
Political unrest in Ireland soon forced the writer to leave for England. There he got a job as a secretary to Lord William Temple, a wealthy aristocrat. Communication with politicians and writers gave Swift the opportunity to keep abreast of the latest news in the social and cultural life of England, and a luxurious library helped him fill in the gaps in education. In less than ten years in the service of Lord Temple, Swift became a professional writer, which was marked by his first mature satirical works - The Battle of the Books and The Tale of the Barrel.
Swift put his name on the cover of the book, even though criticism could hurt the author's career. Despite the danger, Swift consistently spoke with satirical poems, articles and pamphlets, in which he ridiculed the vices of secular and church life.
Political career
Jonathan Swift was at the center of London political life: he attended numerous receptions in palaces, met with ministers and public figures, immersed himself in the struggle between the two main political parties in England - the Tories and the Whigs. Political activity and artistic creativity strengthened his popularity. And the authorities found a way to get rid of him: Swift was appointed dean (rector) of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.
The writer took this appointment as a political exile and the collapse of all his hopes. But even far from the English capital, Swift continued to denounce the madness of existing laws, the fraud of businessmen, the hypocrisy of politicians. In new pamphlets, he defended the rights of the Irish people, who suffered under the yoke of the English crown. In one of his most famous pamphlets, The Clothmaker's Letters, the writer frankly called on the Irish to fight for freedom. J. Swift became the national hero of Ireland.
The last years of Swift's life were overshadowed by a serious illness, the writer died in 1745. The meaning of Jonathan Swift's life is accurately conveyed by an epitaph composed by himself: “Here lies the body of Jonathan Swift, dean of this cathedral, and severe indignation no longer tears his heart. Go, traveler, and imitate, if you can, the one who courageously fought for the cause of freedom.
"Gulliver's Travels"
This is Swift's main work. Today Gulliver's Travels is mostly seen as a literary fairy tale. But J. Swift did not write his book at all for children and least of all wanted to please the public with frivolous inventions. Under the guise of the ingenuous stories of the ship's doctor Lemuel Gulliver, the writer outlined his own thoughts on the socio-political life of England and the development of mankind in general. The allegorical content of the plot of "Gulliver's Travels" was a satirical depiction of contemporary reality to the author.
The book consists of four parts. In each of them, the writer chooses a new subject for criticism. Schematically, the plot can be represented as follows:
- Lilliputian country. The baseness and senselessness of social orders.
- The country of the giants. A terrible force of power, the reverse bloody side of human history.
- Laputa, Balnibarba, Lagnega and other countries. The barrenness of science divorced from life.
- The country of guingnms (intelligent horses) and yehu (feral people). The unreasonable and immoral behavior of the human community.
Each part of the book contains criticism of a certain area of human life, and at the end of the story it seems that the writer leaves no stone unturned from the usual ideas about society, politics, the state, power, science, morality. The writer considered ridicule a cure for the moral and social diseases of mankind.
Jonathan Swift is an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, poet and social activist. He is best known as the author of the fantastic tetralogy Gulliver's Travels, in which he wittily ridiculed human and social vices. He lived in Dublin (Ireland), where he served as dean (rector) of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Despite his English origin, Swift vigorously defended the rights of ordinary Irish people and earned sincere respect from them.
The main source of information about Swift's family and his early years is the Autobiographical Fragment, which was written by Swift in 1731 and covers events up to 1700. It says that during the Civil War, the family of Swift's grandfather moved from Canterbury to Ireland.
Swift was born in the Irish city of Dublin in a poor Protestant family. The father, a petty judicial official, died when the son was not yet born, leaving the family (wife, daughter and son) in distress. Therefore, Uncle Godwin was engaged in raising the boy, Jonathan almost never met his mother. After school he entered Trinity College, Dublin University (1682), graduating in 1686. As a result of training, Swift received a bachelor's degree and a lifelong skepticism about scientific wisdom.
In connection with the civil war that began in Ireland after the overthrow of King James II (1688), Swift left for England, where he stayed for 2 years. In England, he served as a secretary to the son of an acquaintance of his mother (according to other sources, her distant relative) - a wealthy retired diplomat William Temple (Eng. Sir William Temple). At the Temple estate, Swift first met Esther Johnson (1681-1728), the daughter of a maid who had lost her father early. Esther was then only 8 years old; Swift became her friend and teacher.
In 1690 he returned to Ireland, although he later visited the Temple on numerous occasions. To search for a position, Temple gave him a reference-recommendation, which noted a good knowledge of Latin and Greek, familiarity with French and excellent literary abilities. Temple, himself a well-known essayist, was able to appreciate the extraordinary literary talent of his secretary, provided him with his library and friendly help in everyday affairs; in return, Swift assisted Temple in the preparation of his extensive memoirs. It was during these years that Swift began literary work, first as a poet. It should be noted that the influential Temple was visited by numerous eminent guests, including King Wilhelm, and observation of their conversations provided invaluable material for the future great satirist.
In 1692, Swift received a master's degree from Oxford, and in 1694 he took the priesthood of the Anglican Church. He was appointed priest in the Irish village of Kilroot. However, soon Swift, in his own words, "tired of his duties for several months", returned to the service of the Temple. In 1696-1699, he wrote the satirical stories-parables "The Tale of the Barrel" and "The Battle of the Books" (published in 1704), as well as several poems.
In January 1699, the patron, William Temple, died. He was one of those few acquaintances of Swift, about whom even this caustic satirist wrote only kind words. Swift is looking for a new position, appeals to the London nobles. For a long time, these searches were not successful, but Swift became intimately acquainted with court customs. Finally, in 1700, he was appointed minister (prebendary) of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. During this period he published several anonymous pamphlets. Contemporaries immediately noted the features of Swift's satirical style: brightness, uncompromisingness, lack of direct preaching - the author ironically describes the events, leaving the conclusions to the reader's discretion.
In 1702, Swift received his doctorate in divinity from Trinity College. Moves closer to the opposition Whig party. Swift's authority as a writer and thinker is growing. During these years, Swift often visits England, making acquaintances in literary circles. Publishes (anonymously, under one cover) "The Tale of the Barrel" and "The Battle of the Books" (1704); the first of them is provided with a significant subtitle, which can be attributed to the entire work of Swift: "Written for the general improvement of the human race." The book immediately becomes popular and in the first year comes out in three editions. Note that almost all of Swift's works were published under various pseudonyms or even anonymously, although his authorship was usually not a secret.
In 1705, the Whigs won a majority in Parliament for several years, but there was no improvement in morals. Swift returned to Ireland, where he was granted a parish (in the village of Laracore) and resided there until the end of 1707. In one of his letters, he compared the feuds between Whigs and Tories to cat concerts on rooftops.
Around 1707, Swift met another girl, 19-year-old Esther Vanhomrigh (eng. Esther Vanhomrigh, 1688-1723), whom Swift called Vanessa in his letters. She, like Esther Johnson, grew up without a father (a Dutch merchant). Some of Vanessa's letters to Swift have been preserved - "sad, tender and delighted": "If you find that I write to you too often, then you should let me know about it or even write to me again so that I know that you have not completely forgotten about me…"
At the same time, Swift writes almost daily to Esther Johnson (Swift called her Stella); these letters later formed his book, Diary for Stella, published posthumously. Esther-Stella, left an orphan, settled in the Irish estate of Swift, along with her companion, as a pupil. Some biographers, relying on the testimonies of Swift's friends, suggest that he and Stella were secretly married around 1716, but no documentary evidence of this has been found.
In 1710, the Tories, led by Henry St. John, later Viscount Bolingbroke, came to power in England, and Swift, disillusioned with Whig politics, came out in support of the government. In some areas, their interests really coincided: the Tories curtailed the war with Louis XIV (Peace of Utrecht), condemned corruption and puritanical fanaticism. This is exactly what Swift called for earlier. In addition, he and Bolingbroke, a talented and witty writer, became friends. As a token of gratitude, Swift was given the pages of the conservative weekly (eng. The Examiner), where Swift's pamphlets were published for several years.
1713: With the help of friends in the Tory camp, Swift is appointed dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral. This place, in addition to financial independence, gives him a solid political platform for open struggle, but distances him from big London politics. Nevertheless, Swift from Ireland continues to be actively involved in the public life of the country, publishing articles and pamphlets on pressing issues. Angrily opposes social injustice, class arrogance, oppression, religious fanaticism, etc.
The Whigs returned to power in 1714. Bolingbroke, accused of dealing with the Jacobites, emigrated to France. Swift sent a letter to the exile, where he asked to have him, Swift, at his discretion. He added that this was the first time he had made a personal request to Bolingbroke. In the same year, Vanessa's mother died. Left an orphan, she moves to Ireland, closer to Swift.
In 1720, the House of Lords of the Irish Parliament, formed from English henchmen, transferred all legislative functions in relation to Ireland to the British crown. London immediately used the new rights to create privileges for English goods. From that moment on, Swift joined the struggle for the autonomy of Ireland, which was being ruined in the interests of the English metropolis.
In the same years, Swift began work on Gulliver's Travels.
1723: Death of Vanessa. She contracted tuberculosis while caring for her younger sister. Her correspondence with Swift over the past year was destroyed for some reason.
1724: The rebellious Clothmaker's Letters were published anonymously and distributed in thousands of copies, calling for a boycott of English goods and underweight English coins. The response from the Letters was deafening and widespread, so that London had to urgently appoint a new governor, Carteret, to appease the Irish. The prize awarded by Carteret to whoever names the author has not been awarded. It was possible to find and prosecute the printer of the Letters, but the jury unanimously acquitted him. Prime Minister Lord Walpole suggested arresting the "instigator", but Carteret clarified that it would take an entire army to do so.
Ultimately, England thought it best to make some economic concessions (1725), and from that moment the Anglican dean Swift became a national hero and the unofficial leader of Catholic Ireland. A contemporary notes: “His portraits were exhibited in all the streets of Dublin ... Greetings and blessings accompanied him wherever he went.” According to the recollections of friends, Swift said: “As for Ireland, only my old friends love me here - the mob, and I reciprocate their love, because I don’t know anyone else who would deserve it.”
In response to the continued economic pressure of the metropolis, Swift, from his own funds, established a fund to help Dublin citizens who were in danger of ruin, and did not make a distinction between Catholics and Anglicans. A stormy scandal throughout England and Ireland was caused by Swift's famous pamphlet "A Modest Proposal", in which he mockingly advised: if we are not able to feed the children of the Irish poor, dooming them to poverty and hunger, let's better sell them for meat, and make them out of leather. gloves.
In 1726, the first two volumes of Gulliver's Travels were published (without indicating the name of the real author); the other two were published the following year. The book, somewhat spoiled by censorship, enjoys unprecedented success. Within a few months it was reprinted three times, and translations into other languages soon appeared.
Stella died in 1728. Swift's physical and mental condition worsens. His popularity continues to grow: in 1729 Swift was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Dublin, his collected works were published: the first in 1727, the second in 1735.
In recent years, Swift suffered from a serious mental breakdown; in one of his letters, he mentioned "mortal sorrow" that kills his body and soul. In 1742, after a stroke, Swift lost his speech and (partially) mental abilities, after which he was declared incompetent. Three years later (1745) Swift died. He was buried in the central nave of his cathedral next to the grave of Esther Johnson, he himself composed the epitaph on the tombstone in advance, back in 1740, in the text of the will:
“Here lies the body of Jonathan Swift, dean of this cathedral, and severe indignation no longer tears his heart. Go, traveler, and imitate, if you can, the one who courageously fought for the cause of freedom.
Swift bequeathed most of his fortune to use to create a hospital for the mentally ill; St. Patrick's Hospital for Imbeciles was opened in Dublin in 1757 and still exists today, being the oldest psychiatric hospital in Ireland.
Creation:
At one time, Swift was characterized as "a master of political pamphlet." A considerable part of Swift's journalism is occupied by various kinds of hoaxes. For example, in 1708, Swift attacked astrologers, whom he considered notorious swindlers. He published, under the name "Isaac Bickerstaff", an almanac with predictions of future events. Swift's Almanac conscientiously parodied similar popular publications published in England by a certain John Partridge, a former shoemaker; it contained, in addition to the usual vague statements (“a significant person will be threatened with death or illness this month”), also quite specific predictions, including the imminent day of the death of the said Partridge. When that day arrived, Swift spread the word (in the name of an acquaintance of Partridge's) about his death "in full accordance with the prediction." The ill-fated astrologer had to work hard to prove that he was alive, and to be restored to the list of publishers, from where he hastened to be deleted.
As time passed, his works lost their momentary political sharpness, but became a model of ironic satire. His books during his lifetime were extremely popular both in Ireland and in England, where they were published in large numbers. Some of his works, regardless of the political circumstances that gave rise to them, began to live their own literary and artistic life.
First of all, this refers to the fantastic tetralogy "Gulliver's Travels", which has become one of the classic and most frequently read books in many countries of the world, and has also been filmed dozens of times. True, when adapted for children and in cinema, the satirical charge of this book is emasculated.
JONATHAN SWIFT
(1667-1745)
British satirist, church leader, publicist, poet and writer Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667 in Dublin into a British family. Swift's father did not live to see the birth of his offspring, after some time his mother leaves for the UK forever and Jonathan is raised by his uncle, Godwin Swift, a recognizable Dublin lawyer. Swift received a good education - first at the school of Kilkany County (1673-1681), then at Trinity College Dublin (1682-1688), where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1686.
The explosion of violence that occurred in Ireland in 1689 forced Swift to take refuge in Great Britain. By the end of that year, Swift had become secretary to Sir William Temple, a retired diplomat and man of letters who lived on the estate of Moore Park, in Surrey. Swift remained in this position until Sir William's death in January 1699. These were not the best times in Swift's life: he had the opportunity to work to his heart's content in the large library of the Temple; it is here, in Moore Park, that Swift's independent poetic activity begins; in 1692 he was awarded the degree of Master of Arts at Oxford; in the end, the Temple estate becomes the basis of Swift's domestic happiness (the aspiring writer meets Esther Johnson, the stepdaughter of the manager of Moore Park, who was at first his student, and then became his wife).
In 1695 Swift was ordained an Anglican priest and ministered for the next year in Kilruthia, in the north of Ireland. Once in the center of religious strife, Swift begins to write one of the recognizable satirical works - the pamphlet "The Parable of the Barrel", the work on which lasted a couple of years. "The Parable of the Barrel" was published in 1704 without indicating the name of the creator, raising the hype around him. Swift gained fame as a wit after his authorship was revealed. In the form of 3 brothers - Peter, Martin and Jack - the creator subjected to crushing criticism three branches of Christianity - Catholic, Anglican and Puritan.
In 1696, the writer returns to Moore Park, where he writes the satire "The Battle of the Books". The work was devoted to a discussion between supporters of "old and new books", in which Temple also participated on the side of the "old". Swift in satire opposes the canonization of the ancient legacy, but is in favor of its creative implementation (at first for the upcoming development of modern British literature).
After the death of the Temple in 1699, Swift moved to Ireland, where he received a church parish in Larakory. In 1702, at Trinity College Dublin, he received a doctorate in divinity.
His literary fame became even greater after the publication of the Bickerstaff Papers (1708-1709), a series of essays in which he ridiculed a certain John Partridge, which was an annual astrological almanac. The image of the extravagant gentleman Isaac Bickerstaff so pleased the readers that essayist Richard Stoll, close to the Whigs, began to publish on behalf of Bickerstaff an instructive satirical magazine Chatterbox (1709). Swift collaborated in this magazine, acted both as a prose writer and as a poet.
After some time, Swift, already a recognizable political writer, moves away from the Whigs and draws closer to the members of the Tory cabinet, even for several months (1710 - 1711) he publishes the Tory magazine The Examiner. From September 1710 to June 1713 Swift is in London. At this time, his activities as a Tory publicist unfolded. In the field of literary relations, the small circle “Club of Martin Skliblerus (Scribblers)” was of the greatest importance. Detailed information about the political and literary events in London since then has come down to us in Swift's letters, which after his death received the title "Stella's Diary" and were addressed to the second of his life - Esther Johnson.
In defense of the Tories and the enormous support of the government in his own articles and pamphlets, in 1713 Swift took the post of dean at St. Patrick. He leaves London and returns to Ireland.
The 3rd period of Swift's work is revealed by the pamphlet "Proposal for the General Use of Irish Manufactory" (1720), immediately after which a number of other pamphlets about Ireland were published. At the beginning of the 18th century, the population of Ireland was heterogeneous. Swift spoke in defense of the Anglo-Irish, but by doing so he raised the question of the languid state of all Ireland. The central place in Swift's Irish journalism belongs to the Clothmaker's Letters (1724).
The work was directed against a patent that was issued by the English government to the British merchant Wood for the right to mint a small (and bad) coin in Ireland. Wood's patent was treated badly in Ireland, guided by political and economic motives. The Irish Parliament and its executive bodies took a number of measures against Wood's coin, which sought support by boycotting the Irish. The Clothmaker's Letters aided this boycott and forced the English government to rescind Wood's patent. Swift became a state hero.
The main book of J. Swift's life is Lemuel Gulliver's Travels (1721-1725), which was published in London in 1726.
The last decade of the creative activity of the majestic satirist was marked by great activity after the release of Lemuel Gulliver's Travels to Various Countries of the World (1726-1737). Swift writes many different journalistic and satirical works, among which not the last place belongs to pamphlets on the Irish theme. Swift's speeches in defense of Ireland, as before, resonate in the hearts of people and their support. He was elected a noble citizen of Dublin (1729). During this period, Swift wrote a lot of poetry. His poems are marked by a variety directed to a certain theme. The leading genre of poetry is political satire, usually associated with Ireland ("Legion Club", 1736). Swift sums up the result of his own creative activity in one of his more important poetic works - "Poems for the Death of Dr. Swift" (1731, issued in 1738).
Swift died on October 19, 1745 in Dublin. An epitaph composed by him is carved on his grave: “Here lies the body of Jonathan Swift, Doctor of Divinity, Dean of this Cathedral, bitter indignation can no longer torment his heart. Pass, traveler, and imitate, if you can, the bold defender of freedom.
Swift Jonathan (1667-1745)
English satirist, church figure, publicist. Born in Dublin to an English family. Swift's father did not live to see the birth of his son, and Jonathan was raised by his uncle, Godwin Swift. Swift received the best education available in Ireland at that time - first at the school of Kilkenny County, then at Trinity College Dublin, where he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1686.
The explosion of violence that swept Ireland in 1689 forced Swift to seek refuge in England. Toward the end of that year, Swift became secretary to Sir William Temple, a retired diplomat and man of letters living at Moore Park, Surrey. Swift remained in this position until Sir William's death in January 1699. During one of his absences from Moore Park, in 1695, Swift was ordained an Anglican priest and ministered the following year at Kilruth, in the north of Ireland. By the end of this period of his life, Swift had practically finished one of his famous satirical works, The Tale of the Barrel.
In 1710 the Tories came to power, and Swift joined their camp. The Tory government handled such a powerful tool as the gift of a political writer, more skillfully than the leaders of the Whigs, and entrusted him with their journal The Examiner.
In articles published in The Examiner and in pamphlets such as The Conduct of the Allies, Swift defends the Tories and gives strong support for government moves to end the war with France. The reward for this was his appointment in 1713 as rector (dean) of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. After the death of Queen Anne and the return of the Whigs to power, Swift left for Ireland, where, apart from two brief visits to England, he remained until the end of his life.
For some time he lived in seclusion in Dublin, but in 1720 he again began to take an interest in public affairs. In 1720-1736 many of his best poems were written, but the idea of the book "Gulliver's Travels" was embodied in the years immediately preceding its publication in 1726. Swift died on October 19, 1745
