The narrator of “A Modest Proposal” finds it melancholy, or sad,
to witness the many impoverished women in Ireland out begging on the streets with their children clinging to their skirts
. Their poverty, he is saying, is heartrending. It is terrible to see innocent mothers and children suffering so.
What is melancholy to Swift?
Melancholy, in line 1, means
“sad
.” Using that knowledge, paraphrase the first sentence. It is sad to see the parents and children who are poor and begging for money in the country. … Swift says that the problem facing the nation is the poor and starving people and children. You just studied 22 terms!
What is the problem facing Ireland in A Modest Proposal?
In a nutshell, the problem in Dublin circa 1700 (and the problem Jonathan Swift wrote about in A Modest Proposal) was
extreme poverty
. The narrator of the compact Proposal specifically highlights the plight of poor families with many children, and also the generally low rate of employment in Ireland at…
What is Swift’s proposal for easing poverty in Ireland in A Modest Proposal?
What is Swift’s proposal for easing poverty in Ireland?
He proposes that most children be sold for food at one year old
. How will the proposal benefit Irish parents? They will get money for the sale of their children and they will not support their children after one year.
What does Swift see as a melancholy object or reason for sadness in Ireland?
Swift opens this famous satirical essay by saying that it is a “melancholy object” to view the impoverished condition faced by countless Irish children and their mothers: …
beggars of the female sex, followed by three
, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms.
Who will be the beneficiaries of this modest proposal?
Who will be the beneficiaries of this “modest proposal”?
The Irish people
are the beneficiaries because they won’t have as many mouths to feed.
What is Swift’s real proposal?
Presented in the guise of an economic treatise, the essay proposes that
the country ameliorate poverty in Ireland by butchering the children of the Irish poor and selling them as food to wealthy English landlords
. Swift’s proposal is a savage comment on England’s legal and economic exploitation of Ireland.
What is a melancholy object?
The melancholy object is a double signifier. It is
the object (or objects) materialising and signifying the mourning of mourning
. In other words, the melancholy object signifies the memory of mourning and as such it is the memorialized object of mourning.
What does swift list as the main problem in Ireland?
Swift, in the persona of a learned scientist,
attempts to tackle the chronic problem of over-population in Ireland
. In turn, this problem leads to lots of other problems, such as poverty, starvation, and an excess number of Roman Catholics.
What does swift really think are the problems in Ireland?
Both parties are blamed for Ireland’s problems, but the focus is more on the failure of the Irish to take care of their own country than it is on England’s merciless treatment of the Irish. Swift refers to the English as
devouring the Irish with their excessive trade taxes and political policies
.
What is the real message of A Modest Proposal?
The main idea of the actual story has to do
with decreasing the overpopulation by selling babies as food
. Swift suggests that the wealthy purchase the infants of the poor and serve them as a delicacy. He gives specific details which are designed to disgust and enrage the reader.
What is one way that A Modest Proposal is ironic?
What is one way that “A Modest Proposal” is ironic?
The narrator’s idea is ridiculous and immodest, not humble and acceptable
. … He provides practical ideas for recipies on cooking children in the kitchen. You just studied 10 terms!
What is the main point of A Modest Proposal?
The main idea of the actual story has to
do with decreasing the overpopulation by selling babies as food
. Swift suggests that the wealthy purchase the infants of the poor and serve them as a delicacy. He gives specific details which are designed to disgust and enrage the reader.
What are some examples of understatement in a modest proposal?
An example of understatement is
when Swift writes that some people might object to cannibalism as a solution to hunger
. An example of exaggeration is perhaps when Swift implies that huge numbers of poor people are dying every day.
What are some examples of hyperbole in a modest proposal?
The narrator writes, for example: “
I rather recommend buying the Children alive, and dressing them hot from the Knife, as we do roasting Pigs
.” Such vivid, hyperbolic detail elevates the shock value of treating humans as commodities and illustrates that Swift’s narrator lacks empathy.
Who is attacked in A Modest Proposal?
Swift
attacks more than one object in “A Modest Proposal”: the impotent Englishmen (landlords, law makers) who do not care about the Irish problem, the indifferent and lethargic readers who are unmoved by human tragedy, poor Irishmen who treat each other inhumanely, etc.
