Jona than swift the greatest satirist of the 18th century english enlightenment

Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18th century English Enlightenment Acknowledgement Firstly, I would like to express my deep thanks to all the teachers of English at the foreign languages department, especially my supervisor- M.A Tran Ngoc Tuong, who made so many valuable comments on each single unit of this thesis. Secondly, I am most grateful to my parents for their enthusiastic support. And finally, I would like to thank for the English Centre and all my friends who gave me so much encouragement during the studying. Without their help, I am sure I cannot complete this graduation paper. Lª ThÞ Thanh Tó Líp 40 A 2 Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18th century English Enlightenment Table of content Acknowledgement Part I Introduction I. The reasons of choosing the thesis II. The aims of the thesis III.The objectives of the thesis IV.The scope of the thesis V. The methods of the thesis Part II Contents Chapter I: Background I: England in the 18 th century and the English Enlightenment (1660- 1789) 1. Historical background 1.1.The growth of British Empire 1.2. The Glorious Revolution (1688) 1.3. The formation of the two-party parliament: the Whigs and the Tories 1.4. The Age of Science and Learning 1.5. Some other features 2. What does Enlightenment mean? Enlightenment in England (1660-1789) 3. Literature 3.1. Satire - a distinctive form of literature in the 18 th century and the development of satire 3.1. a. Introduction 3.1. b. Satire in antiquity 3.1. c. Medieval satire 3.1. d. Renaissance satire Lª ThÞ Thanh Tó Líp 40 A 2 2 Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18th century English Enlightenment 3.1. e. 18 th century satire 3.2: Some great satirists of the English Enlightenment II. Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18 th century English Enlightenment 1. His life 2. His literary career Chapter II. Jonathan Swift (1667- 1745) - the greatest satirist of 18 th century English Enlightenmen I. Swift’s satirical attitude toward The Church and Religion II. Swift’s satirical attitude toward the British and human beings in general III. Science and Learning through Swift’s satires IV. Political life and society of 18 th century Britain through Swift’s satires Part III. Conclusion Reference Lª ThÞ Thanh Tó Líp 40 A 2 3 Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18th century English Enlightenment I. Part I Introduction II. The reasons of choosing the thesis When I was a pupil at secondary school, I was extremely keen on reading picture books. I liked travelling to various lands and being drown in the colorful world of vivid characters. And what drew my attention most was Gulliver’s adventures to the kingdoms of the small people and the giants that were very exciting and thrilling. At that time, I always wondered about Jonathan Swift- the author of imaginative stories and would like to know more about him. Now, being a student, I have a chance to learn English literature. This enables me to understand further many famous writers, especially Jonathan Swift- one of the most typical figures of 18 th century English Enlightenment. Studying about him helps me not only satisfy my curiosity from the childhood but also have an encyclopedic sight of 18 th century Britain. That’s reason why I choose “Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of 18 th century English Enlightenment” as the theme for the graduation paper. III. The aims of the thesis - To widen my background knowledge about English Enlightenment and English literature in this period. - To understand much more about Jonathan Swift, his life and his literary career as well as the main themes in his satires. IV. The objectives of the thesis - Swift’s satirical attitude toward Religion and the Church. - Swift’s satirical attitude toward the British and human beings in general. - Science and Learning through Swift’s satires. - Political life and British society through Swift’s satires. Lª ThÞ Thanh Tó Líp 40 A 2 4 Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18th century English Enlightenment V. The scope of the thesis In the thesis, we only concentrate on studying about: - The background of the English Enlightenment that lasted from 1650 to 1789. - The life and literary career of Jonathan Swift. - Analyzing some of his typical satires and comparing with the works of the others’ of his time with the aim to clarifying the main themes. VI. The methods of the thesis - Collective method: Collecting the materials concerning the thesis. - Analysis, contrastive and synthetic methods. Lª ThÞ Thanh Tó Líp 40 A 2 5 Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18th century English Enlightenment Part II Contents Chapter I. Background I. England in the 18 th century and the English Enlightenment (1660-1789) 1. Historical background The period from the middle of the 17 th century to the end of the 18 th century is often regarded as the historical background for the appearance of the Enlightenment in England. Some remarkable events in this period are: 1.1. The growth of British Empire England began its colonial expansion a century later than Spain, Portugal and France. In the 16 th century, whereas Britain was just a small kingdom without overseas possessions, Spain and Portugal had sent expeditions on discoveries across the Atlantic and opened the route to India. They claimed monopoly of trade with new lands. After defeating Spain’s invincible Armada in 1588, England was ready to enter the race for overseas trade and possessions. The British Empire was built partly through discoveries and settlement. The first Empire: The British Empire at first had 2 poles: America in the West and India in the East. But the stream of immigrants was directed mainly toward America and was increased by religious persecution. In 1620, the Pilgrims Fathers landed on the shores of New England (in the Northeastern part of the United States, including the territories of main, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode, Island, Connecticut). Between 1620 and 1640, about 25,000 pilgrims went to live in New England. And English Civilization was steadily spreading. British regarded the colonies as a source of raw materials and markets. The search for markets was the cause for the Seven Years War (1756-1763) Lª ThÞ Thanh Tó Líp 40 A 2 6 Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18th century English Enlightenment through which England took over the control of India and Canada from France. Shortly, after the Seven Years War, the American colonies began to rebel against the policies of Great Britain. The Independence War of the American colonies began in 1775 and lasted for 8 years. On July 4, 1776, 13 British colonies in North America proclaimed their independence from Great Britain. The most valuable part of the British Empire was lost, and thus making the end of the First Empire. The Second Empire: In the 18 th century, the Industrial Revolution spread in England and turned the country into the unrivaled workshop of the world English manufactures needed markets for their goods, and food and raw materials for their factories. British shipping grew enormously. Within 25 years after the loss of American colonies, the second British Empire was strongly developing in size and in strength. In the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, territories in Africa, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific were colonized and became dependent on the British Empire. It was a common saying that “the sun never set in the British Empire”. 1.2. The Glorious Revolution (1688) The Civil War (also called the Bourgeois Revolution 1640-1648) was a terrible experience for the British; it was a bad example; so the people asked the King not to repeat any action like that. Leaving France, Charles II was promised a warm support by Louise XIV on 2 conditions: - Not to interfere in the political arena in Europe and - To yield certain concession to the Roman Catholics in England. Everything seemed to be going well until Charles’s death. In 1685, Charles II died without direct issue and left the Crown to his brother, James II. As a Stuart King, James II inherited all the extravagance and licentiousness of the Stuarts. On the other hand, James was an extremely Lª ThÞ Thanh Tó Líp 40 A 2 7 Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18th century English Enlightenment fanatical Stuart, who tried to play the all-powerful monarch, regardless of the compromise between Charles II and Louise XIV. Therefore, James II was no more supported by King Son of France and he had to pay the price. In the 1688, an arrangement was made among the top layers for James II to flee to France, leaving the Crown to his daughter Mary and his son-in-law William of Orange. This event was known as the “Glorious Revolution”, marking the end of the Absolute Monarchy and the beginning of the Constitutional Monarchy in England. William and Mary then accepted a new constitutional settlement, the Bill of Rights 1689, which assured the ascendancy of parliamentary power over sovereign rule. 1.3. The formation of the 2-party parliament: the Whigs and the Tories From 1670 to 1690, in Britain, there were two political parties- the Whigs and the Tories. The Whigs (also the predecessor of the Liberal Party): the name was first used of rebel Covenanters and then of those who wished to exclude James II from the English succession (as a Roman Catholics). This party represented the financial and commercial interests of the town and city people as well as of the progressive men who didn’t favor of the old tradition, and were opposed any interference in political matter by the monarchy. The Whigs always pressed for industrial and commercial development, a vigorous foreign policy and religious toleration. During the French revolution, the Whigs demanded parliamentary reform in Britain, and from the passing of the Reform Bill 1832, became known as Liberals. While, The Tories was considered as the forerunner of the British Conservative party about 1680-1830. It was the party of the country landowners, parson and the squire, as opposed to the Whigs. The trading classes and non-conformists, many of who were supporters of James II, supported it. The original Tories were Irish guerrillas who attacked the English and the name, was applied to royalists who opposed the Exclusion Bill. Although Lª ThÞ Thanh Tó Líp 40 A 2 8 Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18th century English Enlightenment largely supporting the 1688 Revolution, the Tories were suspected of Aconite sympathies and was kept from power 1714-1760, but then held office almost continuously until 1830. Though the difference in their policies was very insignificant, they were often at war against each other, which became an objection of several famous satirists of the time. For most of the 18 th century, the Whigs party was supreme, especially after Sir Robert Walpole consolidated its power. During his long rule as Prime Minister from 1721-1724 many of the greatest writers feared Walpole’s power sided with the Tory minority against him that was brilliantly satirized by A. Pope, J.Swift, John Gay, S. Johnson and H.Fielding So, in short, the color of these two parties was different, but… both of them had no aim, but using all the means to usurp the Cabinet and to control and threaten the state machine. 1.4. The Age of Science and Learning The 18 th century in England was also distinguished in science and learning. At this time, London was a city of several great men: Isaac Newton, John Locke, David Hume whose discoveries were considered as basic… foundation for people to understand, to explain and to form their own opinion about all phenomena of the nature and the meaning of the universe. These discoveries opened the way for the Age of Science and Learning. Considering the philosophical aspect, in about the end of the 17 th century and the beginning of the 18 th century, the trait against the feudalism took place under various forms, but it was said to be the struggle between Idealism and Materialism. According to John Locke (1632-1704), a philosopher - the first to launch the 18th century Enlightenment: “Man and his use of reason are evidence enough for the existence of God”. Locke’s epistemology and his crucial rejection of innate ideas in favor of the notion of knowledge based on external sensation and internal “reflection” helped, it has been argued, to determine the tendency of many 18 th century writers to describe the Lª ThÞ Thanh Tó Líp 40 A 2 9 Jonathan Swift- the greatest satirist of the 18th century English Enlightenment observable world rather than offer a subjective interpretation of the workings of the psyche. Locke, as the appreciation of Engel’s: “considering the religious aspect as well as the political one to be the own child of the compromise of 1688”. Anyway, Locke also marked an important advance in history for ideology; had a great influence on later philosophers; especially, many progressive philosophers of the 18 th century in France where Absolute Monarchy and Christianity were ruling with their cruelty and arbitrary over every aspect of life. Religious controversies about Deism became extremely ebullient during many years at the beginning of 18 th century. Following Locke’s ideology, the others tried to apply the reason to define a kind of natural religion; to propagandize some aspects of Materialism, and to be against the Church. Here, we can mention Tolland (1670-1722), Collins (1676-1792), Wools ton (1669-1731) From the 17… th century, in Britain, the conflict between Christianity and Puritanism turned severe. Puritanism appeared in 1564 in Britain; it was influenced by religious reform of Caving and especially, this religious sect had an extremely strict point of view about virtue. This is actually another form of the struggle of the capitalist class against feudalism, as the Stuart, at this time, was considering Christianity to be its state religion. Philosophical ideologies were always attached with political problems. Bolingbrook (1678-1754), about religion, supported Deism and about politics, expressed his sympathy to an equal monarchy. Shaftsbury (1671- 1713) brought out his own point of view on the harmony of the world, on good human nature and his moral notion as well as beauty existing inside each other. Along with philosophers, scientists also contributed their part to pave the way for the Age of Science and Learning. Among them, Isaac Newton (1642-1727) is a typical figure. Newton, “The miracle of the present Age” as Joseph Addison called him “had given his eighteenth-century heirs a carefully reasoned theoretical framework on which a whole range of additional theories could be hung.” Lª ThÞ Thanh Tó Líp 40 A 2 10