The Hibernian Patriot: An Approach to Jonathan Swift's Political Satire

Abstract

This paper studies A Modest Proposal and the fourth of the Drapier Letters as examples of Swift's political satire. A brief summary of his biography is followed by a discussion on the controversy aroused by Swift's irony, an irony which is misanthropic for some critics, but humane in the opinion of other reviewers. The ambiguity of Swift's nationalism is analysed in the light of the political circumstances surrounding the publication of the Drapier Letters and in the context of all his literary work.