検索キーワード： "Jonathan Swift" 歴史

In his scathing and provocative pamphlet, Jonathan Swift masterfully exemplifies the art of satire by suggesting a shocking solution to the dire plight of impoverished Irish families fattening their children and selling them to wealthy Protestant landowners. Published in 1729, Swifts audacious Proposal ignited fierce backlash and accusations of barbarism—precisely the moral decay he sought to illuminate. Join us as we delve into this powerful critique of society and explore the depths of human absurdity. (Summary by Hugh)

In one of the most well-known works of satire, Jonathan Swift puts forth a “modest proposal”. Swift begins by outlining the suffering that the starving beggars in Ireland experience daily. He paints a grim picture of the plight these people face to help the listener relate to the situation before turning the tables and suggesting that to alleviate the economic troubles of the poor, their children could be sold as food to the upper class. The shock from this sudden change is expounded by Swift’s continued explanation of the proposal.

In 1729, Swift published A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick known today as A Modest Proposal. In this satire, Swift grotesquely suggests how the poor could solve the problem of their numerous families which they are struggling to feed.

The full title of Swift's pamphlet is A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burtden to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Publick."The tract is an ironically conceived attempt to "find out a fair, cheap, and easy Method" for converting the starving children of Ireland into "sound and useful members of the Commonwealth." Across the country poor children, predominantly Catholics, are living in squalor because their families are too poor to keep them fed and clothed.

Mit Sachlichkeit und Raffinesse, galant und charmant, logisch und leidenschaftlich schildert der brillante Wort-Profi Swift anhand der gesellschaftlichen Strukturen und der gesetzlich auferlegten Knechtschaft durch England die irische Lebenswirklichkeit sachlich und emotional und reflektiert dabei nebenher noch auf scharfsinnige Weise die marktwirtschaftlichen Abhängigkeiten, die durch legale Verträge Bürgern, Bundes- und Nationalstaaten auferlegt werden.

Written in 1729 as a satirical piece, selling the babies of the poor to the rich to be braised, baked, broiled, or boiled to rid Ireland of a perceived problem was probably less repulsive than it is today, but are the children of the poor still viewed as a throwaway segment of our population? Interestingly, the practice is also viewed as a solution to the "abortion" problem.