Jonathan Swift: The Meaning Behind Literature

Jonathan Swift: The Meaning Behind the Literature Literature is often used as a way to express one’s self and to tell a story. Jonathan Swift used this tactic when writing and was able to express his political views on the society he lived in while telling a story. Swift’s extensive, first-rate education gave him the ability to be successful in his later years as an author. He was able to obtain jobs for respected men as well as gain and form the political views present in his writing. As a highly educated essayist, political pamphleteer and poet of 17th and 18th century Europe, Jonathan Swift often wrote pieces of literature that were based upon personal experiences and his political views. Jonathan Swift was born in Ireland on November 30, 1667 between the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution (“Jonathan Swift” Biography; McNamara). Swift was very ill as a young boy. He suffered from Meniere’s Disease; a condition in which he was left nauseous and hard of hearing. In due time, he was able …show more content…
Born into an Anglo-Irish family, his parents were Jonathan Swift and Abigail Erick. He had a sister named Jane Swift as well (“Jonathan Swift” Man of Mystery; Swift V). Swift’s father died seven months before he was born. Because of this, Abigail Erick struggled to provide a steady income to take care of her child (“Jonathan Swift” Famous; “Jonathan Swift” Biography). Swift’s mother soon returned to England after the boy’s birth. As a result of the low income, she gave up young Swift and left him in the care of his Uncle Godwin Swift, who he lived with for the rest of his young life. Coupled with his immediate family, Swift had an extensive family history of poets and writers in his extended family. These individuals include Sir Walter Raleigh, who he was related to by marriage, and the godson of William Shakespeare, also by marriage (“Jonathan Swift”