Jonathan Swift

1、Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Life Introduction Jonathan Swift, a posthumous child (遗腹子), was born in Dublin, Ireland, of an English family, which had important connections but little wealth. Through the generosity of an uncle, he was educated at Kilkenny Grammar School and then Trinity College in Dubl

2、in. Between 1689 and 1699 he worked as a private secretary to a distant kinship Sir William Temple, a retired diplomat. And there he also received a first-rate education in politics through contact with Temple and many other well-known politicians, learning much about the vice, hypocrisy, intrigues,

3、 deception and corruption in the political world. Swifts Literary Position and Works Literary Position Swift is one of the greatest masters of English prose. Swift is a master satirist. Even today, he is still regarded as a national hero in Ireland. Works: A Tale of theTub (1704) Battle of the Books

4、 (written in 1679, published in 1704) Gullivers Travels (1726), his greatest satiric work Swifts Artistic Features Satire His satire is usually masked by an outward gravity and an apparent earnestness which renders his satire all the more powerful. Simplicity and Directness Swift is always most unsu

5、rpassed in the writing style of simple, direct, precise prose. He defined a good style as “proper words in proper places.” Clear, simple, concrete diction, uncomplicated sentence structure, economic and conciseness of language mark all his writings essays, poems and novels. Swifts Concerns in his Wo

6、rks Moral attributes Swift was a man of great moral integrity and social charm. He had a deep hatred for all the rich oppressors and a deep sympathy for all the poor and oppressed. Human nature His understanding of human nature is profound. In his opinion, human nature is seriously and permanently f

7、lawed. To better human life, enlightenment is needed, but to redress it is very hard. He intends not to condemn but to reform and improve man nature and human institutions, there is often an under or overtone of helplessness and indignation. Introduction to Gullivers Travels Gullivers Travels, Jonat

8、hans best fictional work, was published in 1726, under the title of Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, by Samuel Gulliver. The book contains four parts, each dealing with one particular voyage during which Gulliver meets with extraordinary adventures on some remote island after he has

9、 met with shipwreck of piracy of some other misfortune. Part 1 The first part tells about his experience in Lilliput, where the inhabitants are only six inches tall), twelve times smaller than the normal human beings. The emperor believed himself to be the delight and terror of the universe, but it

10、appeared quite absurd to Gulliver who was twelve times as tall as he. In his account of the two parties in the country, distinguished by the use of high and low heels, Swift satirizes the Tories and the Whigs in England. Religious disputes were laughed at in an account of a problem which divided the

11、 Lilliputians: “ Should eggs be broken at the big end or the little end?” Part 2 In the second part, Gulliver is left alone in Brobdingnag where people are not only ten times taller and larger than ordinary human beings, but also superior in wisdom. Gulliver now found himself a dwarf among men sixth

12、 feet in height. The king, who regarded Europe as if it were an anthill. Part 3 The third part deals with mainly with his accidental visit to the flying Island, where the philosophers and projectors devote all their time and energy to the study of some absurd problems. Their scientists are engaged i

13、n projects for exacting sunbeams out of cucumbers, turning ice into gunpowder and making cloth from cobweb. It is a parody on scholastics and projectors. Part 4 The last part is a most interesting account of his discoveries in the Houyhnhnm land, where horses are endowed with reason and all good and

14、 admirable qualities, and are the governing class. Contrary to the Houyhnhnms, the Yahoos （粗鲁之人） possess every conceivable evil. They are malicious, spiteful, envious, unclean and greedy. Gulliver admires the life and ways of the horses, as much as he is disgusted with the Yahoos, whose relations re

15、mind him of those existing in English society to such a degree that he shudders at the prospect of returning to his native. 格列佛游记格列佛游记内容欣赏分析内容欣赏分析 格列佛游记格列佛游记向来被当作世界儿童文学的经典，但向来被当作世界儿童文学的经典，但 当初斯威夫特创作这部小说的目的并不是为了儿童。当初斯威夫特创作这部小说的目的并不是为了儿童。 作者自己说，他的创作目的作者自己说，他的创作目的“不是为了提供娱乐而是不是为了提供娱乐而是 为了激怒这个世界。为了激怒这个世界

16、。”也许是作品中的讽刺过于辛辣也许是作品中的讽刺过于辛辣 ，这部小说的初版是匿名发表的。在这部小说中，斯，这部小说的初版是匿名发表的。在这部小说中，斯 威夫特通过丰富的想象，含沙射影地对英国的政治和威夫特通过丰富的想象，含沙射影地对英国的政治和 社会大加社会大加撘撘伐，对人性的弱点进行无情的嘲讽。在慧伐，对人性的弱点进行无情的嘲讽。在慧 马国中，马的理智与高贵和野胡的贪欲与鄙陋形成反马国中，马的理智与高贵和野胡的贪欲与鄙陋形成反 差极大的对比，高下立判；再通过马的视角观察人类差极大的对比，高下立判；再通过马的视角观察人类- - - -野胡的同类，或者说就是野胡野胡的同类，或者说就是野胡-使人性

17、中的贪婪、堕使人性中的贪婪、堕 落和无知等诸多缺点暴露无疑。斯威夫特的冷嘲热讽落和无知等诸多缺点暴露无疑。斯威夫特的冷嘲热讽 不可谓不辛辣尖刻，但文字上不温不火，绵里藏针，不可谓不辛辣尖刻，但文字上不温不火，绵里藏针， 精彩之处令人拍案叫绝。精彩之处令人拍案叫绝。 斯威夫特的语言具体明晰，简略中透出优斯威夫特的语言具体明晰，简略中透出优 雅；他曾把文字风格定义成雅；他曾把文字风格定义成“恰到好处的恰到好处的 词语用在恰到好处的地方词语用在恰到好处的地方”，这也许是对，这也许是对 他自己的语言风格的最好评注。他自己的语言风格的最好评注。格列佛格列佛 游记游记中的故事是幻想性的、超现实的，中的故事

18、是幻想性的、超现实的， 但他暗中讽刺的现实即使在今天也并不鲜但他暗中讽刺的现实即使在今天也并不鲜 见，而且他的描写细致入微，给人以强烈见，而且他的描写细致入微，给人以强烈 的现实感。幻想和现实的统一使这部小说的现实感。幻想和现实的统一使这部小说 超越了时空限制，成为世界范围内老幼咸超越了时空限制，成为世界范围内老幼咸 宜的不朽名篇。宜的不朽名篇。 Previewing Work for A Modest Proposal Qs: Do you know any backgrounds of this text? What is the narrators proposal? Do you th

19、ink that it is modest? How do you understand the subtitle?What tone is used here? Analysis of A Modest Proposal Outline (4 parts) Part 1: Para1-7 (the present situation in Ireland expect a proposal to solve the problem of poor children beggars) Part 2: Para 8-19 (detailing his proposal) Part 3: Para

20、 20-28 (illustrating the advantages of his proposal) Part 4: Para 29-33 (supposing an objection to his proposal ) Part 1 What are the present situations in Ireland? (Ireland falls in poverty and overpopulation. Poor female beggars with their children, people in Ireland lack of national loyalty, the

21、English government is devouring Ireland) What is Swifts attitude toward the beggars he describes in the opening paragraph? Notice the narrators defense for his own proposal, and the statistical data. (his computation and economic mind) Part 2 What is his proposal? (Para 10. 120,000 children, among w

22、hich 20,000 reserved for breed, only to be males; the remaining 100,000 be offered in sale) the plump and fat children will be good for feeding and clothing Appreciate Para 9,10,12,14,15 How to eat babies A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends, and when the family dines alone,

23、the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter. Why for English lords only I have reckoned upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh 12 pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably

24、nursed, increases to 28 pounds. I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children. Part 3 The advantages of the proposal a. it would greatly lessen the number of Papist

25、s b. the poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own c. the money gained from transaction will circulate in the country d. their breeders will benefit from it directly e. this food would bring great custom to taverns f. this would be a great inducement to marriage Part 4 Anticipating th

26、e objection of the proposal Para 33 What is the narrators attitude in saying that “I have no children by which I can propose to get a single penny, the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past childbearing”? With what social groups does he identify himself? （the upper class, the new bourgeois

27、ie, the poor people) The speaker is a Protestant. While he professes sympathy for the plight of the poor Catholic population, he also holds a fairly contemptuous opinion of them. He takes great pains to enumerate the advantages of his proposed project for the wealthy, who would presumably be called

28、upon to implement it. Yet Swifts irony implicates this moneyed class for their monetary greed, their personal indulgence, their unflagging attention to their own self-interest, and their indifference to the state of the poor and the state of the nation as a whole. An Overall Reviewing of the Text Th

29、e work is written in first person point of view; however, the narrator should not be confused with Swift himself, because the writer is merely a persona. He argues, through economic reasoning as well as a self-righteous moral stance, for a way to turn the problem of squalor among the Catholics in Ir

30、eland into its own solution. His proposal is to fatten up the undernourished children and feed them to Irelands rich land-owners. Children of the poor could be sold into a meat market at the age of one thus combating overpopulation and unemployment, sparing families the expense of child-rearing whil

31、e providing them with a little extra income, improving the culinary experience of the wealthy, and contributing to the overall economic well-being of the nation. He offers statistical support for his assertions and gives specific data about the number of children to be sold, their weight and price,

32、and the projected consumption patterns. He suggests some recipes for preparing this delicious new meat, and he feels sure that innovative cooks will be quick to generate more. He also anticipates that the practice of selling and eating children will have positive effects on family morality: husbands will treat their wives with more respect, and parents will value their children in ways hitherto unknown