The "Penguin Classics" edition of Jonathan Swift's savagely satirical "A Modest
Proposal and Other Writings" is edited with an introduction and notes by Carol F
abricant. To ease poverty in Ireland by eating the children of the poor was the
satirical 'solution' suggested by Jonathan Swift in his essay "A Modest Proposal
" (1729). Here Swift unleashes the full power of his ironic armoury and corrosiv
e wit, finding his targets - the British ruling class and avaricious landlords,
and the brutalized Irish, complicit in their own oppression - with deadly precis
ion.
His masterly essay is accompanied by a generous selection of prose works
, among them pamphlets attacking British rule in his native Ireland, periodical
essays critiquing the new capitalist and military classes, a journal detailing h
is political activities in London, a loving tribute to his beloved 'Stella' afte
r her death and pieces on such diverse subjects as the absurdities of astrology,
the joys of punning and comical rules for servants. Ingenious and unconventiona
l, Swift is revealed here as one of the greatest satirists in the English langua
ge. In her introduction to this new edition, Carol Fabricant discusses Swift's l
ife and turbulent times, his political views and his powers as a writer of compl
ex irony and intricate word play.
