INTRODUCTION

A Modest Proposal is considered one of the finest examples of satire in world literature. Written in the
persona of a well-intentioned economist and published in the form of a popular pamphlet, the tract
argues that the problem of poverty in Ireland can best be remedied by selling the children of the poor as
food for the wealthy. This outlandish thesis is a manifestation of Swift's outrage at what he saw as the
scandalous economic and political policies of the Irish and English governments, and the author uses the
assumed voice of the economist, an abundance of detail, literalized metaphors, and other ironic and
parodic techniques to devastating effect. At the same time Swift directs his satire at Protestant-Catholic
divisions, contemporary economic theories, and other targets. A Modest Proposal has long been judged
an incomparable work of rhetorical brilliance, and it continues to garner new readers and additional
critical attention to this day.

Summary

In A Modest Proposal Swift adopts the persona of a concerned economist who suggests that, in order to
better combat the poverty and overpopulation of Ireland, the children of the poor be sold as food to the
wealthy. As a result, he argues, not only will the population be reduced, but the income of the poor will
increase significantly as they sell their children. In developing this outrageous thesis, Swift provides
abundant detail, projecting the costs of child rearing (which will be saved if the child is eaten),
estimating the portion of the population affected, and even providing specific ideas regarding the
number of servings a child might provide. He suggests that the meat of the children of Ireland would be
considered a delicacy to both the English and to Irish landowners, and would therefore be highly sought
after for feasts and special occasions. Throughout, Swift's satire relies on the persona of the economist,
an ostensiblly well-meaning visionary whose sympathy for the poor leads him suggest a remedy of
murderous cruelty. His arguments, rationally presented, support a profoundly irrational proposition, and
their appalling callousness radically undermine their benevolent intent.

Major Themes

Swift uses the absurd thesis of A Modest Proposal to attack contemporary English and Irish politics. He
focuses on the metaphorical “devouring” of Ireland's resources by England's policies and by wealthy
Irish landowners, literalizing the metaphor to attack the positions of both parties. At its core, his
suggestion is that the English and the wealthy landowners of Ireland are causing the poverty and misery
of the population. Swift's satire is by turns oblique and direct; in one instance he suggests that, while the
meat of children likely could not withstand preservation in salt for long sea voyages, he “could name a
country which would be glad to eat up our whole nation without it.” His allusion to England (deriving
from its close proximity) also directly assaults the English misuse of Ireland. Swift does not spare Ireland,
however. At one point he presents a list of alternative solutions to Ireland's problems, none of which
were ever attempted. In the process he emphasizes the number and extent of Ireland's social ills and the
indifference and neglect with which they have been treated. At the same time, through the use of the
adopted persona, Swift also satirizes those who propose solutions to political and economic issues
without consideration of the human cost involved. With devastating irony, Swift shows the inhumanity
of schemes for alleviating the suffering of the poor that are solely based on rational principles.

Critical Reception

Somewhat surprisingly, A Modest Proposal received little sustained critical attention until the twentieth
century. Most early critics extolled the work but treated it only briefly, judging it to be in a unique class
of its own and therefore difficult to analyze. In the twentieth century scholars began to see the tract as
more than a simple attack on particular conditions in Ireland, but as a penetrating interrogation of the
political and economic theories that gave rise to those conditions. In his 1943 analysis of A Modest
Proposal, George Wittkowski argued that the work's comedic parody obscured for earlier critics its
examination of political affairs. Since then, sociopolitical interpretations of Swift's satire—such as those
by Oliver W. Ferguson, Robert Mahoney, and John Richardson—have vied with analyses of its brilliant
deployment of rhetorical strategies—including those of Samuel J. Rogal, Denis Donoghue, and Wayne C.
Booth—to account for its enduring power. By consensus, however, A Modest Proposal, is deemed a
masterpiece and a stunning example of the satirist's art.