Swift Biography
Publié le 17/05/2020
Extrait du document
«
I) T h e fa m o u s Iris h m an Jonathan S wift wa s a s atiri st, p o l iti c al j o ur nali st, and c h u r c h m a n.
H e ha s d o n e m a n y p r o s e
w o r ks and wa s v e r y p o l iti c all y in v o l v e d, writin g f or b ot h th e Whigs and th e Tories .
First, h e wa s b or n in Du blin in
16 6 7, Irelan d to an Iris h fath e r and an En gli s h m ot h e r.
Hi s fath e r di e d s e v e n m o nth s b e f o r e h e was b or n and hi s
m ot h e r r eturns to En gland l e a vi n g Jonathan at a v e r y y o un g a g e to b e e ra s e b y h i s un c l e .
H e r e c e i v e d h i s e d u c ati o n
fr o m Kil ki n y C o l l e g e in Du blin Uni v e rs ity, whi c h i s n o w k n o wn as Tr init y C o l l e g e , wh e r e h e al s o r e c e i v e d hi s
b a c h e l o r’ s d e g r e e in 1 6 8 6.
H e was stud y i n g f or hi s m a st e r’ s d e g r e e in Ireland wh e n a wins p o l iti c al c h an g e d a r o un di n g th e g l or i o u s r e v o l uti on
fo r c e d hi m to r eturn to En gland in 16 8 8.
H e to o k a j o b as a s e c r etar y and p e r s o nal as s i stant to the En gli s h di pl o m at
S i r Willia m T e m p l e wh o li v e d in M o o r Par k.
H e r e , to o, h e m et Esth e r Jo hn s o n th e dau g ht e r o f T e m p l e ' s h o u s e k e e p e r,
th e futur e St e l la wh o m h e wr ot e v e r s e s , p o e m s and l ette rs.
T h e y sa y that St e lla and S wift w e r e s e c r etl y m a rr i e d in
1 7 1 6, b ut th e y di d n ot li v e to g et h e r. It wa s fri e n d s hi p that S wift al wa y s e x p r e s s e d in s p e a kin g o f St e lla, n ot r o m a nti c
l o v e , b ut wh o k n o ws ?
In te m p l e’ s h o u s e , S wift g ai n e d th e c o nf i d e n c e o f this e m p l o y e r wh o’ s int er e st e d with m a n n e rs and g rat e and
fortun e s in c l u di n g int e ra cti o n s with Ki n g Willia m the 3 rd
.
In 1692, through Temple's good offices, Swift received the
degree of Master of Arts at the University of Oxford. In 1694, Swift left temple’s employ to become an ordained
priest in the church of Ireland. He became prebend of Kilroot in the Diocese of Connor . Swift was isolated in a small
remote community far from the powerbase of the city and soon became miserable in his new life.
He left the religious life behind and be again returned to Temple’s employ where he remained until Temple’s death in
1699. After Temple’s death, he returned to the church as priest of Donovan in Saint Patrick Cathedral in Dublin. In
1702, Swift received his doctorate of divinity degree from Trinity College. He became increasingly active politically
daring this period of his life as well, especially in Ireland and became a member of the inside circle of the English Tory
government.
Over the next ten years, he travelled from Dublin to London frequently and began anonymously publishing political
pamphlets .
S wift al wa y s d e f e n d e d th e En gli s h c o n stituti on whi c h was a gain st tyranny. W h e n Q u e e n A n n e di e d
and G e o r g e 1 st
took the throne, the power shifted from the Tories to the Whigs. Swift had to leave England for
Ireland in a virtual exile . Swift returned to writing especially to the style of writing that he is most famous for:
satire, which is a literary device that utilizes irony, sarcasm, ridicule, denouncing…etc.
He published his master pieces ‘’Gulliver travels’’ in 1727. In writing the modest proposal in 1729, Swift used his
favorite literary weapon which is irony. When he approached the end of his life, Swift became increasingly
c o n c e r n e d with th e th ou g hts of d e ath and in 1 7 3 1, p u bl i s h e d h i s o wn obituary . It ha s b e e n s u g g e st e d that h e wa s
in san e and wa s d e c lar e d in c a pa b l e o f c ar in g o f hi m s e lf.
W h e n h e di e d in 1 74 5 , h e was b ur i e d in th e c ath e d ral h e ha d s e r v e d.
Hi s f ortun e was l eft to f oun d a h o s p ital for th e
m e ntall y ill: S aint Patri c k h o s p ital whi c h o p e n e d in 1 7 5 7 and still e x i sts as a p s y c h iatri c h o s p ital, today.
A s th e fath e r of p o l iti c al satir e , S wift influ e n c e i s still ali v e toda y fr o m c o m e d i an s li ke Jo hn st e ward to tel e v i s i o n
s h o ws li ke ‘ ’th e S i m p s o n s’ ’.
T h e us e o f S wift’s b ran d o f satir e still m a k e s us lau g h and still m a k e s us c r y..
»
↓↓↓ APERÇU DU DOCUMENT ↓↓↓
Liens utiles
- Americans’ values illustrated in Abraham Lincoln’s Biography.
- Gamal Abdel Nasser - Biography.
- Swift, Jonathan - littérature.
- James Monroe - Biography.
- « Il ne s'agit là que d'un récit de fiction, sans importance, une « bagatelle littéraire échappée comme à son insu » à la plume de l'auteur, comme le dit fort bien More. Il ne faut cependant point faire preuve de trop de naïveté face à ces déclarations […]. Sous l'apparente légèreté se cache en fait une critique sociale sans concession, car les sociétés imaginaires mettent bien en valeur les sociétés réellement existantes et se présentent comme de possibles alternatives. » (T. Receveur