Prejudice In A Modest Proposal

Improved Essays
Social constraints and prejudice placed on people by society had and still have substantial effects. This allows ignorant people to develop preconceived notions and judgments of individuals based on what society have deemed them to be. The struggle for equality can push people to break away from barriers; however, many tend to stick within the framework that society has constructed for them due to the constraints that they place on themselves. Both Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” and Virginia Woolf’s “Shakespeare’s Sister” develop fictional characters that deal with the serious issues of society that are still present today. Swift proposes the solution of consuming Irish infants to England’s overpopulation problem, which at first seems serious but later becomes evidently clear that it is satirical. Woolf also tackles a major issue through the character of …show more content…
He proposes a solution that would be beneficial to everyone, which consist of the selling and consumption of Irish children. He goes into great detail of his proposal describing the many ways the children can be prepared and made into other goods as well. Seeming to be so ridiculous, it is clear that the essay is satirical; however, his argument is so detailed that it would cause some readers to believe that Swift is being serious. Like Swift, Woolf also dives into the topic of society constraints. She touches on the issue of women and their inferiority to men because of their sex. She conveys the message that it “would have been impossible . . . for any woman to have written the plays of Shakespeare in the age of Shakespeare.” Woolf portrays this through her character of Judith Shakespeare who eventually commits suicide because of this disparity. Both Swift’s and Woolf’s essay even through published decades ago still vividly portray the frustrating truth that people have to face because of who they are even in today’s

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the essay, “Shakespeare’s Sister”, by Virginia Woolf, the author writes about a woman who has the passion and talent to write like Shakespeare but is not accepted by the community because she is a woman. In the quote, “But she was not sent to school. She had no chance of learning grammar and logic, let alone of reading Horace and Virgil…. Or mind the stew and not moon about books and papers” (Woolf 51), the girl’s parents want her to settle down and get married but she wanted to further her career as a write. The girl demonstrated rebellion and devotion to the love of writing.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the passage, Swift uses calculations he made to not only prove his credibility as a narrator but the credibility of the proposal. In one particular section, Swift lists the six advantages to his proposal. In this list, Swift is able to continue his appeal to every citizen of Ireland. He criticizes the papists, offers money to the poor, shows the economic gain, the relief of burdens on poor families, the refinement of the meat in recipes for the wealthy, and a social improvement for the commoners and poor. The proposal of eating infants seems less absurd, and in fact, it would greatly help improve Ireland.…

    • 1113 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He also demonstrates logic and thought by showcasing the statistics of how his system would work. He shows that “20,000 (poor children) may be reserved for breed” and that “the remaining 100,000” could be offered for sale to the kingdom. This shows that Swift put time and effort into thinking of these numbers and also shows that Swift thought more about how the system would work. These pieces of the text also go back to support Swift’s message of how absurd the Irish poverty level is. With talk of flaying, selling, and breeding children, Swift again shows how low the Irish must go to support themselves.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Woolf’s “What If Shakespeare Had Had a Sister?” I got that she was trying to point out the big differences of what it was like for men and women back then. We all know how intelligent Shakespeare was but Woolf was defending the side of woman by saying woman could’ve been just as successful as men if they had everything that men were able to receive such as the chance of going to school, going to certain places, acting, or being in the theatre. I can see where she is coming from because if you think about todays society, there is still a lot wrong with equal rights especially for women. Personally, I agree with the author because she does have a point.…

    • 212 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jonathan Swift, an 18th century satirist and essayist, wrote A Modest Proposal as a satirical way to show people that they have not developed any great ideas to solve social issues such as abortion, overpopulation, and poverty. Throughout his essay, Swift is able to convey his point through sarcastic suggestion of the cannibalism of children as the answer to the social and economic issues that Ireland faces, while still providing facts about the matters at hand. In the beginning of his essay, it is unclear to the readers whether or not his proposal is literal. However, as the essay progresses, we are able to differentiate when Swift is being sardonic and ironic towards his listeners.…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He plays video games he must be a loser and it’s not like he really going anywhere in life. This might be true but at the same time it might not. Take Mr. Jordan for example, he is a very successful teacher and he LOVES to play video games. Saying things like this is jumping to unfair conclusion. This is being prejudice to everyone who plays video game.…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Virginia Woolf was a renowned writer, who wrote many books in both fiction and nonfiction. Known for her soliloquy and her association of ideas, Woolf made a name for herself. “Professions for Women” was one of her famous works, and a shortened version of a speech Woolf gave to the Women’s Service League on January, 21, 1931. With the use of several rhetorical devices, Woolf shared her message about women in the professional world. These devices include the use of understatement, the change in tone throughout the speech, and the difference in sentence structure.…

    • 1325 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Then that is different because you get a chance to see what the person is like based on them not on skin color, or money. Throughout “To Kill a Mockingbird” Scout is a naïve girl who would like to have all the information about something so that she can make her own perspective about it but in the beginning she made childish accusations. As the story progressed she was shown the true colors of people and understands how life is in Maycomb County, Alabama. Near the end she makes better decisions and the ideas that come to her mind make her seem more mature.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Modest Proposal Essay

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In A Modest Proposal by Jonathon Swift he suggests the idea of selling babies and having them as a major dish. He says how this proposal would “lessen the number of papist” (Swift 7) and increase the value of marriage, because the man wouldn’t harm his wife if she were pregnant for fear of a miscarriage and not be able to sell the child. In this passage it is understood why Thomas C. Foster author of How to Read Literature like a Professor says, “not all eating that happens in literature is friendly” (Foster 15). In this “modest” proposal, Swift is suggesting how it is perfectly normal to eat humans. How is eating one another good for everyone?…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    A modest Proposal uses an approach called satire to make its point which is the use of irony humor or exaggeration to criticize the ideas of others. Swift obviously to criticize the ideas of others. Swift obviously doesn't sincerely want the people of Ireland to sell their children as food but he's using the outrageous concept to deliver a message. With 'A Modest Proposal,' Swift makes fun of similar pamphlets that were being circulated at the time. His word choice throughout the piece including the word modest in the title highlights this by mocking the false modesty in the tone of many of the pamphlets of his contemporaries.…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird The definition of prejudice is preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. There is a lot of prejudice throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird. The author of this book is Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was a book based around the Great depression.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender In Jacob's Room

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Virginia Woolf explores the social intricacies of gender relations in early twentieth century England. In her novel, Jacob's Room, Woolf uses sequences of characters sketches, circulating around the figure of Jacob, as a means to analyse the roles of men and women in her contemporary society. Contrary to the stereotype of the passive woman and active man, women actively maintain household operations. In addition to the domestic sphere, Woolf examines the shifting roles women perform in the absence of men during the war. And so, through the representation of gender relations, Woolf depicts women in an active role that allows for the continued functionality of society and the narrative overall.…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Room of One’s Own is an essay written by Virginia Woolf exploring women’s roles as writers as well as characters in stories. The essay is based on her lectures given at at Newnham College and Girton College. The main theme concerning A Room of One’s Own is that of analyzing women’s role in society such as their accessibility to education or labor and how women are portrayed in fiction. She makes the point that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction" which is emphasized when she introduces herself as the narrator and states that the reader can "call [her] Mary Beton, Mary Seton, Mary Carmichael or by any name you please—it is not a matter of any importance". This thesis of hers is what propels her to investigate the situation as well as derive the title.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Predominance and the Patriarchy: Feminist Criticism in Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen’s classic novel, although published in a time period where women were very repressed, contains contemporary feminist ideas. Each of Austen’s characters possess various quirks and flaws that show women are more than their stereotypes. Women can be strong and independent, but also kind and romantic. Jane Austen’s portrayal of women creates a commentary on the stereotypical views of women and the unjust patriarchal society that controls them.…

    • 1280 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Swift’s writing demonstrates a great deal of animosity towards the human race at times, with the majority of his effort spent especially on the female sex. Due to Swift’s inability to “forgive men and women for being vertebrate mammals as well as immortal souls” as said by Aldous Huxley, he spends his life satirically arguing what it is to be human – especially of the female sex, only to find that there is no single way to define humans as compared to beasts. Swift’s detestation of the female role in society is evident throughout his works, as well as other works done on him, where he repeatedly criticizes the roles that females play. In his poem “A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed,” (1731, 1734)…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays