Anglo-Irish writer and satirist (1667–1745), Jonathan Swift is the author of Gulliver's Travels. Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, he used literature as a political and social weapon against the injustices of his time.
Jonathan Swift(1667 — 1745)
Jonathan Swift
royaume d'Irlande
10 min read
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in confederacy against him.»
« Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.»
Key Facts
- 1667: Born in Dublin, into a Protestant English family settled in Ireland
- 1704: Publication of A Tale of a Tub, a scathing satire of religious quarrels
- 1713: Appointed Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin
- 1726: Publication of Gulliver's Travels, a masterpiece of philosophical and political satire
- 1729: Publication of A Modest Proposal, an ironic pamphlet denouncing Irish poverty under English domination
Works & Achievements
A fierce satire of religious disputes among Catholics, Anglicans, and Puritans, told through the story of three brothers who inherit a coat. The work's irreverence proved too much for some, and it cost Swift any chance of a high church position in England.
A satirical pamphlet on the quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns, in which old and new books wage war inside a library. Swift sides with the Ancients against the vanity of contemporary scholars.
A series of five anonymous letters signed by a humble Irish draper, denouncing a plan to flood Ireland with debased coinage. This successful popular campaign made Swift a champion of the Irish cause.
A masterpiece of world satirical literature, following the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver among imaginary peoples. Each voyage is a veiled critique of politics, war, science, and human pride.
A short pamphlet that coolly proposes cooking Irish infants to feed the English wealthy. Considered the pinnacle of literary irony, it lays bare the brutality of British colonial policy in Ireland.
A collection of intimate letters addressed to Esther Johnson during Swift's London years, revealing a tender and sometimes mischievous side of the man. An invaluable document on the daily life and politics of the era.
Anecdotes
In 1729, Swift published 'A Modest Proposal', a pamphlet coldly suggesting that Irish babies be eaten to solve famine and overpopulation. Some horrified readers took it at face value, but it was in fact a savage satire of British policy toward Ireland. It remains one of the most powerful examples of irony in world literature.
In 1724, Swift anonymously published the 'Drapier's Letters', a series of pamphlets opposing a plan to impose debased copper coinage on Ireland, manufactured by one William Wood. His campaign proved so effective that the British government abandoned the scheme. Dublin celebrated him as a hero, and the governor offered a reward to identify the anonymous author — whom everyone already knew perfectly well.
Swift was deeply devoted to Esther Johnson, whom he called 'Stella' and had known since childhood at the home of his patron Sir William Temple. For years he wrote her an intimate journal of rare tenderness, published posthumously as the 'Journal to Stella'. The true nature of their relationship — deep friendship, platonic love, or secret marriage — has fascinated and puzzled historians for three centuries.
Swift suffered from dizziness and balance disorders throughout his life, likely caused by Ménière's disease. In his final years, he was declared mentally incapacitated in 1742. Ironically, the man who had devoted his life to exposing the folly of the powerful ultimately descended into dementia himself. True to form until the end, he had arranged to leave his entire fortune to fund a psychiatric hospital in Dublin — St Patrick's Hospital — which still exists today.
A member of the famous Scriblerus Club alongside Alexander Pope, John Gay, and John Arbuthnot, Swift took part in literary gatherings where these satirical minds collaborated on the imagined adventures of a fictional character, Martinus Scriblerus — a pompous and foolish scholar. This collaboration gave rise to major works: Gulliver's Travels for Swift and 'The Dunciad' for Pope. The club embodied an Enlightenment ideal: the critical spirit put to the service of social satire.
Primary Sources
"My little right hand can easily grasp your entire body and set you down upon the ground." — Lemuel Gulliver describing his situation in Lilliput, where he is a giant among tiny men, before finding himself a dwarf among the Brobdingnagians.
"I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled."
"I am a tradesman of Dublin, with no pretension to politics or affairs of state, but I know that when I am robbed, I have been robbed, and that the whole country is being stripped bare by this contemptible coinage."
"I love you a thousand times better than ever, if that be possible; and I wish it were in my power to show it you in a hundred different ways."
"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind reception it meets with in the world."
Key Places
Swift served as Dean of this Anglican cathedral from 1713 until his death in 1745. He is buried there alongside Esther Johnson ('Stella') and composed his own epitaph in Latin, famous for its bitterness and fierce pride.
The country estate of Sir William Temple, diplomat and patron, where Swift worked as secretary from 1689 to 1699. It was here that he met the young Esther Johnson ('Stella') and received his intellectual and political formation.
The heart of London's press and political circles, where Swift frequented coffee houses and printing shops during his years as a Tory pamphleteer (1710–1714). He mixed there with Pope, Gay, Arbuthnot, and the leading literary figures of his age.
A small Irish living Swift received in 1700, where he stayed regularly. This quiet village served as a retreat between his turbulent London sojourns, and he laid out a garden there of which he was particularly proud.
The impoverished neighbourhoods surrounding St Patrick's were part of Swift's daily landscape. The destitution of Irish weavers, victims of British economic policy, directly inspired his most politically engaged pamphlets.
Typical Objects
The everyday tool of an eighteenth-century writer, the trimmed goose-quill pen allowed Swift to draft his pamphlets, sermons, and letters. He wrote with a speed and precision that impressed his contemporaries.
The printing press was Swift's political weapon: his pamphlets were printed clandestinely and distributed across Dublin, sometimes overnight. Without the press, his Drapier's Letters campaign would have been impossible.
A mandatory accessory for any man of standing in the early eighteenth century, the white powdered wig symbolised social status and membership of the clerical and intellectual elite to which Swift belonged.
As Dean of St Patrick's, Swift regularly wore Anglican liturgical dress during services. His clerical role lent him a moral authority he drew upon throughout his writings.
The pamphlet — a slim booklet of a few pages sold cheaply — was the popular medium of the age. Swift had a masterful command of its short, punchy, and often anonymous format, which he used to evade censorship.
Before electricity, candles lit the long nights of writing. Swift often worked late, and candles were a significant expense for men of letters in the eighteenth century.
An Irish patriot despite his Anglo-Irish background, Swift had an intimate knowledge of his island's geography and poverty. He drew on economic data about the Irish population to sharpen his satirical arguments.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Daily Life
Morning
Swift rose early, often at dawn, beginning his day with prayer and Scripture reading in keeping with his duties as an Anglican dean. He ate a frugal breakfast — tea, bread, and cheese — before settling at his desk to write, an hour he considered the most fertile for composition.
Afternoon
His afternoons were divided between pastoral duties — sermons, visits to parishioners, cathedral administration — and the long daily walks he took to combat his dizzy spells. He also received visitors, correspondents, and friends, debating politics and literature with formidable wit.
Evening
In the evenings, Swift dined with prominent Dublin figures or entertained at his own table in the Deanery. A brilliant conversationalist, he shone in exchanges of wit but could be biting toward anyone who bored him. He read late by candlelight and maintained a lifelong correspondence with a network of friends scattered across England and Europe.
Food
Swift prided himself on a certain sobriety at table and was wary of the excesses he mocked among the powerful. He favoured simple Irish dishes, avoided strong alcohol for fear of worsening his dizzy spells, and had a fondness for Irish cheese. As he aged, his declining health forced him to an even plainer diet.
Clothing
In public and during services, Swift wore the black gown and white surplice of an Anglican dignitary, along with the regulation powdered wig. In private, he opted for simpler dress, shunning the ostentatious luxury he denounced in courtiers. His attire reflected his standing as a clergyman-gentleman without crossing into aristocratic display.
Housing
Swift lived in the Deanery, the official residence adjoining St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. A large stone house at the heart of the Liberties — a poor, working-class district — it gave him daily contact with the Irish poverty he so forcefully denounced. He fitted it out with a substantial library and a garden to which he was deeply attached, much as he had been to his garden at Laracor.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Visual Style
Le style visuel de l'univers de Swift s'inscrit dans la tradition du portrait baroque tardif anglais : tons sombres et sérieux, bibliothèque garnie de volumes reliés, regard perçant d'un homme qui observe le monde avec une ironie cinglante.
Sound Ambience
L'univers sonore de Swift mêle les cloches de Saint-Patrick scandant les heures liturgiques, le bruit sec de la presse à imprimer diffusant ses pamphlets clandestins, et le brouhaha des cafés londoniens où s'élaboraient les complots politiques des Tories.
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
A Tale of a Tub (Le Conte du tonneau)
1704
The Battle of the Books (La Bataille des livres)
1704
The Drapier's Letters (Lettres du drapier)
1724
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World (Les Voyages de Gulliver)
1726
A Modest Proposal (Une modeste proposition)
1729
Journal to Stella (Journal à Stella)
1710-1713
