Comparison of Popes The rape of the Lock and Swifts A...

Although Alexander Popes, The Rape of the Lock, and Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal are both witty satires, they differ on their style, intention, and mood. To begin, in The Rape of the Lock, Alexander Pope uses satire to invoke a capricious, melancholy mood to illustrate the absurdity of fighting over the cutting of ones hair. Hidden inside this poem is a crafty criticism of the society that helps create the crisis over the stolen lock. A Society in which appearances ere more important to a person’s sense of identity, and treats the insignificant with utmost importance. The very title of this mock- epic gives the audience a clue, the word rape and all its implications bring to mind a heinous crime of violation. Pope chose†¦show more content†¦Swift portrays his views in his political satire called A Modest Proposal, he stresses that it is hard for mothers to provide for their children and it is not getting any easier. He feels that this is due to an overpopulation and lack of food. Swift’s plan is an ironic attempt to find out a fair, cheap, and easy Method(503), for converting the starving children of Ireland into sound and useful members of the Commonwealth† (503). His â€Å"solution† is to sell a child, after he or she reaches one year of age. â€Å"Instead of being a charge upon their parents, or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall, on the contrary, contribute to the feeding and partly to the clothing of many thousands†(503). From Swift’s perspective using the children, as food is the most efficient and cheap way to make the children a contribution rather than a burden. This wondrous idea has so many benefits that it is hard to see how anyone would be so close-minded to disagree. For instance, â€Å"It would greatly lessen the number of papists† (506) â€Å"Secondly, the poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own† (506), which could h elp them pay rent. â€Å"Fifthly, this food would likewise bring great custom to taverns† (506), where the cooks would strive to find the best recipes for their new delicacy. Finally it would be a great advantage to those getting married, where asShow MoreRelatedSatire : A Modest Proposal And The Rape Of The Lock905 Words   |  4 PagesIn this paper, satire in A Modest Proposal and The Rape of the Lock will be discussed. The satire within these two texts will be linked by showing how each writer attacked the accepted way of life or common belief in order to present their own opinion on the matter. What makes these two writings a good comparison is that although one is in essay form and the other in poetic form, they are both from the same time period; they were written 17 years apart in the beginning of the 18th century. This isRead MoreEssay about A Swift Change Is Imminent1714 Words   |  7 Pagesglance, a misogynist’s paradise is apparent when perceiving Jonatha n Swift’s The Lady’s Dressing Room and a cannibalistic one in A Modest Proposal. However, Swift’s intricate feelings do not depict Ireland’s crude social convention, but rather for Swift’s revolutionary vitriolic satire, which permeates humanity’s blindness through political stand points. By using grotesque metaphors, to open the figurative eyes of the public, Swift’s poetry forced society to analyze the ways of living in order to pushRead MoreLiterary Analysis of The Rape of the Lock Essays1922 Words   |  8 Pagestime period today. The Rape of the Lock, his most notable publication, was actually inspired by the real world event when a Lord Petre cut of a lock of Arabella Fermors hair. Form, structure, and plot: The poem is a mock epic divided into 5 short cantos, very similar in form to Shakespeares acts. The first act is a kind of exposition, giving background information about Belinda. Canto 2 introduces the conflict--the Barons desire to cut off and steal Belindas locks; canto 3 encompasses the