English Language and Literature ETDs

Publication Date

4-8-1974

Abstract

Critics have searched for a critical pattern with which to describe the ironic works of Jonathan Swift that will also help determine the meaning of those works. However, the ebullience of the Hack of the Tale and the good natured Isaac Bickerstaff do not seem to fit into a critical pattern which will also include the inhumanity of the modest proposer or the misanthropic Gulliver of book four. Recognizing that the early ironic works of Swift, those written prior to his "exile" into Ireland, seem more light and humorous than those ironic pieces written after his six year abstention from public writings, there seemed to be some merit in the idea of examining the early and later works separately to see if Swift had changed his basic ironic technique. The Tale was examined first, then the Travels, to determine the basic approach to irony used by Swift in each major work. This study concentrated on the character and unity of the persona of each of the pieces. The early minor ironic pieces, Meditation upon a Broomstick, The Mechanical Operation of the Spirit, The Partridge-Bickerstaff Papers, An Argument against Abolishing Christianity, and Collins's Discourse, were examined with respect to the results of the study of the Tale. Later minor ironic pieces, A Modest Proposal, The Vindication of Lord Carteret, and The Answer to the Craftsman, were then compared with the results of the examination of Gulliver's Travels. The study shows that the Hack of the Tale is a very consistent persona who maintains his illogical characteristics throughout the piece. His irrational behavior leads him into untenable positions which he fails to recognize and from which he launches out into even more irrational and untenable positions. Although he is irrational and illogical, there is a definite pattern to his behavior which is definable. When examined, the personae of the early minor ironic pieces also exhibit this unity of character, although each one has his own definite and definable pattern. The examination of Gulliver reveals that he is not a strictly consistent character whose remarks can be predicted with any kind of accuracy. The mask is dropped and a voice, much like Swift's, creeps in occasionally to give the reader some guidance in the search for ironic truth. Swift had hoped that the reader of the early pieces would follow this path intuitively. Throughout the Travels, then, Swift or some alter ego leads the reader on through the labyrinthian journey of the Travels. The later minor works also exhibit this mask-dropping and guidance to the final ironic truth. The personae of these later works do not exhibit the consistency of character and tone so evident in those of the early works. Swift probably changed his ironic technique in his later writings because of his writing experiences. He blended the brilliance of his early style with the polemical practicality of his political writings to produce a new ironic style. This new style did not overcome the misunderstanding which some of the early works had suffered, as evinced by the critical controversies over the Modest Proposal and the fourth book of the Travels, but it was an attempt by Swift to be clearer in his meaning. No pat solution will subsume all of the ironic brilliance of Swift's writings. The reader must be aware, however, of the broad variations of technique discussed in this essay and look for individual patterns within each work if a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of that work is to be enjoyed.

Degree Name

English

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

English

First Committee Member (Chair)

Hoyt Trowbridge

Second Committee Member

James Llewellyn Thorson

Third Committee Member

Laure Scott Catlett

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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