English Language and Literature ETDs

Publication Date

5-19-1969

Abstract

Jonathan Swift's A Tale of a Tub is complex, opening with five prefatory sections. "An Apology" states that "The BOOK-SELLER TO THE READER" is written by the publishers, but "Style and content point clearly to Swift.” Swift writes that the "publisher" is not sure whether the book is finished. This is a hint that the reader should be cautious, but Swift felt his hint insufficient because he added "An Apology’ in the Fifth Edition. There, he points out that “the whole Work is entirely of one hand,” that of the Modern Author, the unifying factor in the work. The work consists of alternating narrative sections and digressions. The narrative allegory is religious, the three brothers representing Saint Peter, Martin Luther, and John Calvin. However, Swift also attacks mechanistic reductions of the universe. He compares them to the brothers' reduction of the world to their coats. The digressions concern diverse sectors of learning as seen through the eyes of the persona. In "A Digression concerning Criticks" the Author proceeds with great assurance to judge critics. In "A Digression on Madness," the Author fluctuates even more between arguments which reduce and expand his principle of madness. Following Section IX on madness, the digressions merge with the narrative, indicating even less order in the persona’s mind. Ultimately, the persona admits that he is trying to write about nothing. Most critics have viewed the contradictory positions of the persona as an obstacle, but it seems instead that his myriad contradictions and his unvarying proud assurance are vital clues to the recognition of an effective persona. The Modern Author fits into the Menippean tradition of satire which, according to Northrop Frye, involves "A vision of the world in terms of a single intellectual pattern," and results in "a kind of maddened pedantry." The persona's intellectual pattern is distorted, since he moves from lucid statements to lunatic ravings, all with overwhelming assurance. The intellectual distortion plus his assurance add up to an insane pride. In defining the Modern Author, three of Swift's most important techniques are the use of the anti-Ciceronian style, the development of theories which reduce the universe to a single principle, and the employment of lowering metaphors. In parodying the anti-Ciceronian style, epitomized by Sir Thomas Browne, Swift has several purposes. The persona is a self-professed Modern, and it is therefore incongruous that he would go back so far into the seventeenth century for his writing style. More important, though, is Swift's deft use of the anti-Ciceronian concept that the thought should shape the sentence. Swift's Modern Author vacillates between widening and narrowing his concepts, but, lacking judgment, cannot differentiate between the two. In developing Aeolism and the Clothes Philosophy, theories which reduce the universe to a single mechanistic principle, Swift attacks the presumption of man. The Modern Author reduces the world and then expands his reductions to produce chaos. Swift employs the lowering metaphor to indict the persona’s literary judgment. The Modern Author invariably unites high tenor with low vehicle, thus violating decorum. Swift utilizes these devices to create a single disordered intellect, and to emphasize the absurd presumption of the Author. Thus, an important step in understanding the persona is the reader's recognition of the Author's inconsistencies as they produce his unified madness of pride. In this study, History of Ideas and New Criticism are used to view both Swift's historical targets and his creation of an effective persona.

Degree Name

English

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

English

First Committee Member (Chair)

James Llewellyn Thorson

Second Committee Member

Joseph Frank

Third Committee Member

Larue Scott Catlett

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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