JONATHAN SWIFT (1667-1745)
HISTORY
Puritan and Restauration Ages (1625-1702)
- The Civil War (1642-1651) – Oliver Cromwell’s puritans win and establish the Republic (they abolish the monarchy and the House of Lords);
- The Restauration – the country returns to monarchy.
The Augustan Age (1702-1776)
- The two-party political system is established;
- The American Declaration of Independence (1776) disrupts the British colonial expansion system.
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
Economic boom and mercantilism;
Puritans banned all forms of entertainment;
The Restauration brought things back to normal;
The start of the Industrial Revolution.
IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE:
- The Enlightenment period is known as The Age of Reason;
- The extravagance of Renaissance is replaced by Puritan Pragmatism and Morality;
- Scientific and social revolutions lead to research and innovation and the development of Mathematics, Physics, Medicine, and Astronomy;
- Philosophers (Th. Hobbes, R. Descartes, J. Locke) spread the idea that reason is the key to understanding the world;
- The desire for order, clarity, and stability.
THE AUTHOR AND HIS WORK
- Irish born from English parents;
- Involved in politics – at first, he supports the Whigs, then joins the Tories, as he is disappointed with the Whigs’ actions;
- Writes satires on the political and religious corruption surrounding him;
- Best remembered for his satirical works:
“The Battle of Books”
“A tale of a Tub”
“Gulliver’s Travels”.