Historically, great animosity has existed between the Irish and the English. A Modest Proposal was written by Johnathan Swift in 1729 during a turbulent period in relations between the Irish and English. This essay relies on satire to state Swift’s opinion on both the Irish and English. He makes the extreme proposal of having Irish children be sold as food to the English to solve economic and social problems in each nation. Swift grew us in a unique situation due to being born to English parents in Dublin, Ireland. He spent considerable time in both Ireland and England giving him an important understanding of each nation’s issues. Swift’s early years and education occurred in Ireland. Ultimately, he moved to England to become an Anglican clergyman
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We get a sense of this with the references that Swift alludes to in his satirical essay. There is only one direct reference to either religion in his satire and it relates to the time of year in Ireland with the greatest amount of births. Swift writes, “there are more children born in Roman Catholic countries about nine months after Lent than at any other season; therefore, reckoning a year after Lent, the markets will be more glutted than usual, because the number of papist infants is at least three to one in this kingdom; and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of Papists among us” (Greenblatt and Abrams, 2350). He describes a benefit of Catholicism in Ireland for his plan of using the infants of Ireland as food for the wealthy in England and positive outcomes of this plan. Throughout the essay, Swift mainly focuses on the positives that come from his plan. These include: reducing the Catholic population of Ireland, increasing the low income of Irish families, sparing parents from troublesome children, and satiating the appetite of the wealthy English. Looking at the benefits that Swift mentions, it is quickly noticeable that they focus more on the Irish and specifically those who are not Catholic, otherwise referred to as
We get a sense of this with the references that Swift alludes to in his satirical essay. There is only one direct reference to either religion in his satire and it relates to the time of year in Ireland with the greatest amount of births. Swift writes, “there are more children born in Roman Catholic countries about nine months after Lent than at any other season; therefore, reckoning a year after Lent, the markets will be more glutted than usual, because the number of papist infants is at least three to one in this kingdom; and therefore it will have one other collateral advantage, by lessening the number of Papists among us” (Greenblatt and Abrams, 2350). He describes a benefit of Catholicism in Ireland for his plan of using the infants of Ireland as food for the wealthy in England and positive outcomes of this plan. Throughout the essay, Swift mainly focuses on the positives that come from his plan. These include: reducing the Catholic population of Ireland, increasing the low income of Irish families, sparing parents from troublesome children, and satiating the appetite of the wealthy English. Looking at the benefits that Swift mentions, it is quickly noticeable that they focus more on the Irish and specifically those who are not Catholic, otherwise referred to as