The Summary of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal is a short satirical literary work, in which Swift shows dissatisfaction with the political situation in Ireland during the Age of Rationalism. In this period of time, Ireland was in a great poverty and was being abused by the English and Swift wrote this piece in order to emphasize the terrible situation. He uses a cold, very objective tone to stress the absurdity of his proposal. As for the title, …

…only motive for him is the common good of his country and nothing else. Since Swift doesn't have a wife nor any children and this proposal basically doesn't affect him, he really doesn't have any personal interest! In conclusion, Swift masterfully emphasizes the troublesome situation of the Irish during the 18th century by using irony and sarcasm as his tools; he makes political statements and draws attention to the most serious problems of the world.