The lecture on Jonathan Swift by Dr. Robert Armstrong was Different from the two previous lectures, instead of too little information, there was way too much. So here is the highlights (it's still a lot though)
Jonathan swift was born in 1667. He could be described as the most creative Genius ever born in Ireland. A very complicated character, he raises questions on what it is to be Irish and how the churches are run. A very peculiar character, who could not really be described as typical. Active in so many things, he really only came into his own very late in life and accomplished so much in a short time.
Swift was born in Dublin, his father died shortly before he was born. He was educated in Kilkenny and Trinity College, which he graduated from in 1659. After this and until 1699 he spends most of his time living in England and traveling back and forth between there and Dublin. While he was in England, he became a secretary for the politician William Temple. During his time in England he was able to make a lot of contacts, and also during this time, he published his first set of poems.
In 1695 at the age of 28 he makes the decision to become a clergyman. Swift is given a parish in Belfast, which he hates, and after a few months he ends up going back to Temple, he is into his 30’s by this point. In 1699 Temple dies and Swift is given a new better parish in Meath.
In 1704 his first book: A Tale of a Tub. This was, and still is considered an odd book, for three reasons:
1. The book is written in a way that its like three different books in one
2. When the book was first published, the author was anonymous
3. Nobody knows what the tub means (not even Swift)
The book does have a main story, but it gets interrupted throughout, rambling around the little pathways-just for fun. The main story follows three brothers, who represent three of mainstream churches:
PETER: who represents the Catholic Church (named after St. Peter)
MARTIN: who represents the church of England/Ireland (named after Martin Luther)
JACK: who represents dissenting Protestant churches (named after John Calvin)
The three brothers are each given a coat and each try to change theirs, Peter tries to make his coat too fancy, Jack (who gets most of swift’s anger and is described as a madman) tries to make his coat too minimal and ends up destroying it, and Martin (who represents Swift’s religion) is described as the best of all three, because he stays in the middle, he’s not too fancy or too modest. This book is a great way of looking at how the churches were run at this time.
1699 was a time of political upheaval in the United Kingdom. James III who was king for only three years. His crowning immediately causes problems since he was a catholic and most of Britain was officially protestant, and a common religion makes society work.
King James was deposed in 1689 and replaced by William III. This was a great landmark in the way England rules itself, as it let people know that they could get rid of the king if they wanted to. When James gets deposed, he comes to Ireland and this eventually leads to the Battle of the Boyne, James is again defeated when William comes over to deal with him. The fallout of this is that Protestantism becomes the official religion of Ireland, but nobody is signing up for it. This political and religious upheaval going on while he was in England was inspiration for many of Swift's writings.
Next Swift gets involved in politics. From 1708-14 he lives in London. He gets to know the top political people and starts to write political pamphlets, one such pamphlet sold 11,000 in two months, an amazing amount for the time. He also runs The Examiner, a newspaper magazine, and just as A Tale of a Tub, which was critical of religion, these new works would be critical of politics. The Examiner was also an example of making politics more accessible.
During this time a new type of government was in play called the ray of party, in which the monarch would choose the political party in charge, although it was not full democracy it was a start. There were two main parties: the Tories and the Whigs, Both parties wanted Swift on their side, and eventually he sided with the Tories.
In 1714 when Queen Anne dies the new king, George kicks the Tories out of office, and since Swift is so tied up with the Tories, he is out too. After this he becomes the dean of St. Patrick’s and then returns to Dublin where he lives the rest of his life. When he returns he does not write anything for four years, but when he starts again he in a sense reinvents himself, he becomes a kind of patriot writer, and starts to write attacks on how Ireland is being ruled from England. His writings can not really be considered nationalist, more patriotic; he supports the king, but did not like how Ireland is being told what to do by the parliament of England. After writing “The Drapier's Letters” he instantly becomes a folk hero, and helps bring about changes.
Possibly his most famous book “Gulliver's Travels” was published in 1726. this book could be described as a book about all the things Swift had ever been interested in. the book also talks about his view in life and the world he lives in. So it is not really a story for children.
Swift died in 1745 and despite dieing over 250 years ago, hes still remembered fondly today (just look at the ship that’s named after him)
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28 comments:
The lecture from Dr. Robert Armstrong was different from the last three lectures. It was about a "creative genius" Johnathan Swift unlike the last 3 three lectures it was based more on politics instead of violence.
Chris you did not mention anything about his love life. Was he ever married?
he was a great writer and after the tories were thrown out of office he came back to Ireland and reinvented himself to become a hero through his patriotic writings.
he never married, but he did have somebody when he was young,
Didn't i talk about his patriotic writings in the blog?
The lecturer by Dr. Robert Armstrong went into many aspects of Johnathan swift. from the lecturer i got the impression that he was a man who had an exellent imaganation and that saw the world through rose coloured glasses, he was an idealistic man who many people got and like wise many people did not.
His most famious writings in my opinion and according to the lecturer was “Gulliver's Travels”.
However i have to pull you up on two points chris firstly you said that "Johnathan Swift could be discribed as the most creative genius ever born in Ireland" however i have to disagree with this as there are many famious witers who were born in ireland, who have been remembered for ther great works for example W.B. Yeats and his most famious poem "lake isle of inis free"
another point which i want to ask you about is " a common religion makes society work". was this eira not a time where either you were with the king or aganist him and if you were agnest him you would be killed ??? just as a point of information i would be intrested to know what you ment by this.
and finaly just to cap onto leos point although Johnathan Swift was not married did he have a great love or life partner or was that agnest his relegion ?.(apart from when he was younger of corse)
since were talking about his love life i done a bit of research on him and he was the teacher of a young girl, Esther Johnson who he called Stella. When she grew up she become an important person in his life. Stella moved to Ireland to live near him and followed him on his travels to London. According to some speculations they were married in 1716. Stella died in 1728 and Swift supposedly kept a lock of her hair for the rest of his life.
So this could be the reason why he never remarried. Maybe he had a broken hart throuhout his life
One thing that became perfectly clear from the lecture on Johnathan Swift was that he was greatly attracted to prominence and had a great desire to be admired. From his time in London with Temple, where he first held a position of social import, to his days as Dean of St Patricks Cathedral where he captured the hearts of the Dublin people. One thing was clear, and that’s that he wanted to be top of his game regardless of what it was that he was playing.
He grew up in 17th century Ireland where religion played a big part in peoples lives, it was the admiration given to men of the cloth that inspired him to become a clergyman. He left a position of some social standing, the secretary to a retired politician, in order to seek his out his vocation. This move didn’t pay on pay off as he was given an isolated church in Belfast, in an area full of Presbyterians. There weren’t enough people to avail of his presence, in order to justify his staying there so he returns to England to work under temple.
Temple died in 1699 and Swift is given a bigger parish in Meath, it was at this time that he became preoccupied with writing Tales of the Tub. The book tells the story of three brothers, each representing a denomination of the Catholic Church. Swift shows most empathy with Martian, who believes in relative minimalism, that however conflicts with Swifts own actions when he abandons his humble and noble position in Ireland to lead a life of luxury in London.
While in England Swift becomes involved in politics, he used his literary prowess to garner a reputation amongst the political circles of 18th centaury London. His political pamphlets sell remarkably and his news paper, the Examiner makes politics accessible for the common man. Both Tories and Whigs, the leading political parties of the time made bids for swift to align himself with them eventually he attached himself to the Tories Whigs were subsequently removed from office by king George. Once again he was left without people to admire him.
Luckily just before the downfall of the Tories Swift was made Dean of St.Patricks Cathedral, he falls back on this position, his time there was the period of which he is most remembered. Where once he spoke well about British policy and politics, he now bashed it; this was most evident in “Drapers Letters” where he criticized the negative effects of the British government on Irish trade. He published these anonymously and became an outlaw to a government with once he sat comfortably.
So Swift was a great man but by no means a selfless one, it seemed all he did was for the purpose of self satisfaction and any good that came of it was circumstantial. It’s admirable to see a figure that can mould themselves to the shape of the society that surrounds him and make enemy of an old bedfellow. He’d play up to any particular group that would lend him admiration at any one time, reaping the benefits but ever really feeling for the cause? So in conclusion he’s a bit like Madonna, except just Johnathan doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Did anyone find this lecture really interesting but now swift doesn’t seem so great the more you think of him? I’m finding his erratic life style quite boring can any of you guys prove to me why yous like him?
I agree he was a brilliant writer who was influential and creative however is that enough reason to be remembered so favourably? I can’t really see his significance in history what am I missing?
Ps I know you guys all wrote really long blogs, so sorry if it’s already been said I just cant see anything amazingly historic that we should talk about him today(don’t slate me you guys:))
swift was an Anglican minister, so it wasn't against his religion to get a girl.........he just never did.
ellen i dont like swift nor do i hate him infact i dont prticularly find him intresting i just think he was a writer, a great writer infact and thats what he is known for.
I dont think one can realy like someones charecter because thay have a tallent that they are good at.
howeve if you do look at what short of person he was you could get the impression that he was esntric and had a real passion for life an his writings.
addy, i have to say from the lecturere im afread i didnt get the impression that "swift was attacted to promminance"
what do you mean by this im just wondering ?.
ok Ellen you said, "I agree he was a brilliant writer who was influential and creative however is that enough reason to be remembered so favourably?"
I dont think you got the whole point of the lecture he his not entirely remembered on the simple fact that he was a good writer, he is remembered because of what he wrote. He wrote in a patriotically way. He stood up against the British monarchy with his Drapers Letters. also THE books he wrote were not like you normal novels like Gulliver's travels and a tale of a tub they have unique meaning to them they should show his views on religon and life. Irish people loved him because he stood up to the monarchy at a very dangerous time.A time were people were killed for their believes this is why most of his work was sent anonymously.
One thing i dnt no how Addy can compare him to Madona.... explain please......
addy how can you compair Johnathan Swift to madona please elaborate ?
i really agree with ellen on this one. I can understand why the people of Dublin loved him when he came to St Patricks Cathedral, but i just do not. There is no doubting that he is a great writer even i love the story of Gulliver's travels! But reiligion played a big part in the peoples lives around his time so would he be so admired if it wasnt?
i found it very hard to form an opinion on him.
and lee i dont think that being a great writer is enough to be remembered so favourablely!
there are so many writers from the past that should be remembered more.
and addy i can kinda sorta see swift in madonna's offits! haha
Jessica in my last comment i clearly stated that i don't think he is just remembered because he was a good writer i said he became an Irish hero because of what he wrote like a Modest Proposal "which propounds that the children of the poor be sold as food for the tables of the rich". and his Drapers Letter.These were writings arguing against how badly england was treating Ireland. He used his writings to revolt against the brittish monarchy and spread the word on how bad England was treating Ireland.
Ultimately lee he was a writer!
I really don’t see the hullaballoo about this one!
Ok he was a writer that spoke against the British. I admit he had gumption to write against such powerful people.
I thought he was a man of wonder and mystery with his books like Gulliver’s travels but no he was just a man with an imagination. I thought he released the books nameless to reinforce the mystery but It wasn't it was to save himself. He was a coward!!!
In regards to his pamphlets instead of speaking so strongly why didn't he act so strongly!! If you ask me actions speak louder than words!
And I certainly don’t think he deserves to he remembered as any hero like figure. I’ll give him that he was a good writer but nothing more!!
i did read what you said to Ellen Lee!! And i read what you just said there, but your saying that he's not only remembered for being a writer but he's also remembered because he WROTE like a modest proposal?? is that not writing? his draper letters? writing again! and oh wait you said he wrote against how bad England was treating Ireland, now im not a genius Lee but that sounds like more writing to me!!
Ellen, Swift was a pretty welthy man, by challengeing the status quo, he was putting his whole lifestyle at risk. also as a minister he Could have also been blacklisted for his harsh comments on the three main religions. so he wasn't a coward, if he challenged the status quo and was able to stay beneth the radar, he was pretty smart!
Also Swift was a political writer, and looking at his books today, we can get an idea about politics at the time, and for all we know, he could have inspired some of the irish revolutionaries with his comments about how england rules ireland
in my opinion swift wasted the main part of his life working as a glorified secratery.This is a man who according to the lecturer is the most creative genius ever to be born ireland.
its only when he goes to london and starts meeting with the top of society and gets heavily involved in politics that he really makes a name for himself.
he is also a man who is able to re-invent himself at will the way he did when he came back to dublin as dean of patricks cathedral he becomes a patriot writer after being a political writer in london and a secratery in in the early part of his life and part-time poet
jessica i know i mentioned his writing's but your not getting the jist of my argumen. in swift times all people stood for was the principles and ideals when england was affecting these principles and ideals by force. People were afraid to stand up against them. what swift done was reveloutionary he gave them the backing and confidence trough his writings to revolt against the english ruling,
Ellen i dont know how you can call this man a coward 'serious'. the reason why he sent his writing in annonoumusly was he knew he would of being either classed as an outlaw taking into account he was a priest or worst case sinario killed for his writings. What help would he have been if he was killed. Think about it
He was like Madonna in the way that he adapted to his surroundings in order to put himself on top! Do you honestly think he cared about the negative British influences on Irish trade while he was living the high life in London? He was possibly even rubbing shoulders with the people responsible; however, the only difference is that when Swift returned to Ireland these British Politian’s weren’t paying his bills any more. Similarly the Irish people weren’t exactly funding his active social life while in London.
Addy I don’t think you really compared Madonna with Jonathan Swift. I find this a bizarre comparison so will you try and be more precise in comparing them please.
This ones for Lee who isn’t clued in on Madonna’s Career up to date. We all know Madonna as the soulless, inhuman, Kabbalist shell of a person she is today. The “woman” has attained this consistent success as a result of her ability to alter her image in order to cater to the needs of today and continue to be “cool”. But does she really care?
In the early 90’s she was a feminist sexual liberator, who still posed and pouted in next to nothing so as not to alienate her male audience. This was paying the bills, at the same time there was an underground electronic movement going on, do you think she cared about this burgeoning genre while her pseudo R&B pop albums were selling in stacks?
In the late 90’s she became irrelevant as an artist and her music stopped selling, rather than continue with what she was doing she sought out and embraced the electronic movement with the album Ray of Light produced by William Orbit and the subsequent video for Frozen directed by seasoned Bjork and Apex Twin collaborator Chris Cunningham! The kids loved it so she ran with it!
Think of that in Swifts context! The British Parties were the audience for her contrived dance r&b. imagine Stuart Temple as Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, his enabler. When he wasn’t important to that market any more he had to change his views and stance to appeal to a whole new audience, ie the Irish! We’re the cool earth children that bought ray of light and loved it for its mind.
This is a great piece of writing Addy but most of it is irrelevant, false and very bias. I asked you to explain your comparison between Madonna and Johnathan swift not summarize Madonnas life.
Addy your very bias on the way your trying to compare these two incomparable characters. your trying to compare his political career with Madonna's music career (impossible). your trying to compare this "slutty, arrogant, hypocritical and selfish" women to a man described by the lecturer Dr. Robert Armstrong "as the most creative Genius ever born in Ireland". don't get me wrong Madonna is a great singer but i think you got to carried away on trying to compare these two with each other.
You said in your last comment,"This ones for Lee who isn’t clued in on Madonna’s Career up to date"
I don't think your clued in on Johnathan Swift career.
you compared "Stuart Temple as Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds" now i don't know who Stuart Temple is but iam guessing you meant William Temple. This is a terrible comparison. Sir William Temple, whose father had been a great friend to the swifts family was like a father to swift and Kenneth Edmonds (babyface)used Madonna to help his on career succeed
"Kenneth Edmonds has written songs for such recording artists as Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin and Bobby Brown, among others.pushed his performing star a notch higher duetting with Madonna on her 1995 Top 10 hit Take a Bow. After he performed with Madonna his own career accelerated this could be seeing as a selfish act. Temple never ask for anything off swift, he put a roof over his head and gave him the love he needed after his neglected childhood.
At the end of your comment you said
"When he wasn’t important to that market any more he had to change his views and stance to appeal to a whole new audience, ie the Irish"
Your trying to say that swift wast important to the English anymore he was unlucky that In 1714 when Queen Anne dies the new king George I kicks the Tories out of office, and since Swift is so tied up with the Tories he also has to leave. the English people liked and supported him they like his writing but it was the decision of the king to kick the Torries out of office .
Swift didn't have to prove anything to the Irish people or as Addy said, "change his views and stance to appeal to a whole new audience"
When he returned he was the dean of St. Patrick’s. there was probably many reasons why he reinvented himself he got bored off sitting around doing nothing. Even without anything to prove Swift unselfishly became an Irish hero through his patriotic writings. unlike Madonna who lies and tries to falsely altar her ways for all her own benefit by pretending to help climate change. take for an example of Madonna falsely trying look good in the public eye for her own benefit
"The stars of a major Live 8-style concert to raise awareness of climate change have been condemned as hypocrites for failing to lead environmentally friendly lives themselves.
The likes of Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers will perform at Live Earth at Wembley Stadium on July 7, yet campaigners say they are among the least "green" individuals on the planet.Madonna's Confessions tour produced 440 tonnes of CO2 in four months of last year. And that was just the flights between the countries, not taking into account the truckloads of equipment needed, the power to stage such a show and the transport of all the thousands of fans getting to the gigs.
This comment shows major difference between Madonna and Swift so i still think Addy comparison is a bad one.
Swift reinvented himself for his art, but madonna reinvented herself for money and fame. Swift didn't want any fame for his writings, he published draipers Letters anonymously!!!!!!! you can't Compare these people, thay have completely different motivations.
Addy your compairing madona to swift smiply to be comicial and contraversial. i think, all this rubbish about adapting his sourunds uis, im sotrry rubbish.
i think the whole madonna thing is real real funny!!
sing it with me now:...........
I made it through the wilderness
Somehow I made it through
Didn't know how lost I was
Until I found you
I was beat incomplete
I'd been had, I was sad and blue
But you made me feel
Yeah, you made me feel
Shiny and new
Chorus:
Like a virgin
Touched for the very first time
Like a virgin
When your heart beats (after first time, "With your heartbeat")
Next to mine
Gonna give you all my love, boy
My fear is fading fast
Been saving it all for you
'Cause only love can last
You're so fine and you're mine
Make me strong, yeah you make me bold
Oh your love thawed out
Yeah, your love thawed out
What was scared and cold
(chorus)
Oooh, oooh, oooh
You're so fine and you're mine
I'll be yours 'till the end of time
'Cause you made me feel
Yeah, you made me feel
I've nothing to hide
(chorus)
Like a virgin, ooh, ooh
Like a virgin
Feels so good inside
When you hold me, and your heart beats, and you love me
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Ooh, baby
Can't you hear my heart beat
For the very first time?
like a virrrr er errr gin touched for the very first time hahahaha
Like a virgin
Touched for the very first time
Like a virgin ha ha
serious i agree with you all the maddona comparison is only funny there isn't really a strong comparison there but fair play addy for trying
I disagree with Chris and John, swift didn't reinvent himself for his art, he did it for his own well being. I mean he was working in England and was in direct contact with the people who would have been responsible for negative effects on Irish trade, but he didn't because those people were paying his rent. He sided with the wrong party and went down, fell back on a position in Ireland he held for a year but didn’t really display interest in. Only then, when he was irrelevant to those parties did he choose to defy them. Just think about it, if he really cared about these negative British influences and the well being of Irish Trade why didn’t he try make a difference while rubbing shoulders with the culprits? Instead he writes a thinly veiled book from the other side of the irish sea… very effective.
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