Jonathan Swift
Irish clergyman and satirist whose Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal are the most savage political satires in the English language. His targets include philosophical optimism, colonial exploitation, and political corruption. He spent his later years as Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.
Works
- Gulliver's TravelsSatirical adventure novel of traveler visiting fantastical kingdoms with allegorical meanings
- A Tale of a TubSatirical allegory mocking pedantry and religious dispute between Christian denominations
- A Modest ProposalSatirical essay proposing cannibalism of Irish infants to solve poverty and famine
- The Battle of the BooksMock-heroic satire depicting a literary war between ancient and modern texts and authors
- Journal to StellaPersonal letters to a woman whom the author addresses affectionately as Stella
- Collected Poems
- Cadenus and VanessaPoem narrating a man's passionate relationship with a woman of higher social station