In this blog post, we’ll examine how Swift’s aversion to war and his criticism of the colonization of Ireland were embodied in the cynical satire of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ through an exploration of his life and literary background.
Life and Early Background
Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667, in Dublin, Ireland.
Swift attributed his birth there to chance, identifying himself as Irish because his mother had remained in Ireland—unable to return to England for some reason. However, he also recalled that he spent the prime of his life in England. His father died six months before Swift was born, causing Swift to lose a key guardian and his family’s wealth at a young age.
His grandfather, Thomas Swift—whom Swift admired—was a clergyman in the Church of England who had been persecuted for supporting the Royalists during the English Civil War. Swift’s father moved to Ireland after the Restoration and worked in the legal profession; he married Abigail Erick in 1664. Although his wife was of Irish descent, she was the daughter of a clergyman from Leicestershire, England.
Having grown up without a father, Swift was raised by his uncle and always felt a sense of instability, which prevented him from fully immersing himself in his studies. It was even said that he received his degree from Trinity College only through special consideration. When unrest spread through Dublin following the Glorious Revolution, the authorities advised students to flee; Swift crossed over to England and made a living working as a secretary under Lord Temple, a political heavyweight and a distant relative on his mother’s side.
Having grown intellectually through unrestricted access to Lord Temple’s library, Swift even considered a career in politics for a time. He later returned to Ireland, became a priest in the Church of England, and began writing poetry and prose. The social turmoil he witnessed during this period, along with the Anglo-French wars following the Glorious Revolution, had a profound influence on his worldview.
War and the Economy: Loathing and Criticism Revealed in His Works
In ‘Gulliver’s Travels’, Gulliver refers to the war raging between the European superpowers of Britain and France, describing the sacrifice and injuries of over a million soldiers, as well as the groans of the dying and their gruesome wounds. These descriptions clearly reveal Swift’s intense loathing for war.
The immense impact of the war on the economy further fueled his aversion. Around 1711, Swift criticized the people of that era, stating that they had nothing to remember except war and taxes, and he even portrayed the British and the French as the most cruel people in contemporary Europe.
King William increased the national debt through the newly established Bank of England to cover the costs of the war; in the “Brozdingnag” section of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’, there is a scene where the king asks how a nation can sustain a prolonged war. Furthermore, in the land of Lilliput, a humorous scene unfolds in which the Minister of Finance calls for Gulliver’s removal, citing the enormous cost of sustaining the giant to wage war. The Emperor, on the other hand, intends to use Gulliver to occupy Blefuscu, turn it into a vassal state, and send a governor to rule it.
Colonial Rule and the Irish Question
Gulliver, well aware of the evils of Britain’s method of governing its colonies, including Ireland, opposes the Lilliputian emperor’s demand. Gulliver resists, stating, “I do not wish to see free and brave people reduced to slavery.” Swift had also strongly criticized British colonial rule in other writings published in Dublin.
Against this backdrop, Swift, as a writer, clearly asserted his identity not merely as a British citizen but as an Irishman. Having grown up in Ireland, he experienced firsthand his homeland’s ambiguous relationship with Britain, as well as deep divisions in the religious and political spheres.
Within Ireland, three religious denominations were in conflict. Of the total population of 3 million, Catholics were the most powerful group, followed by the Presbyterians, who held influence in the north, and the Church of England, which accounted for about two-thirds of Dublin’s population. As a clergyman of the Church of England, Swift devoted his life to defending his own denomination, which was a “minority within a minority.”
Swift bitingly satirized Britain’s contemptuous rule over Ireland. He sarcastically remarked that the British would rejoice if Ireland were to burn or sink into the sea, and that Britain would not hesitate to oppress Ireland if it meant the British could derive pleasure from it.
The political situation in Ireland at the time was dire. Although it was nominally a single kingdom, Ireland was in reality a British colony, and key government departments were controlled by officials appointed from Britain. Although the Irish Parliament existed, it had almost no authority and served merely to rubber-stamp measures dictated by Britain. The Parliament could not convene without the consent of the British monarch, and important bills had to be sent to Britain for approval; Britain had the authority to delete, add to, or reject those bills.
The most serious problem was that Ireland’s economy had been structurally undermined by colonial economic policies. Irish trade was strictly restricted to protect and revitalize the British economy, and Ireland could export woolen goods only through ports designated by Britain. As a result, Britain exercised a virtual monopoly on woolen goods, and Ireland’s opportunities for self-sufficiency were structurally blocked.
As the situation deteriorated drastically, Swift argued cynically in his “Modest Proposal” that the only thing the Irish could do was to raise their babies and sell them to butchers. In the essay, he wrote that if a baby were raised well for just one year, it would become the most delicious and nutritious complete food—one that could be roasted or boiled and would taste better than veal or chicken.
By writing such a scathing attack on Britain, Swift became a hero to the Irish people. He argued that any rule without the consent of the colonized people was slavery, a view that did not sit well with British authorities. When Swift led a boycott of British goods, his work was declared illegal, the publisher was arrested, and an announcement was made offering a 300-pound reward to anyone who publicly denounced Swift—yet no one came forward. When a grand jury in Dublin refused to indict Swift and the publisher, the jury was dismissed and a new one was convened.
When reading the scene in ‘Lilliput’ where Gulliver occupies Blefuscu and rejects colonial rule, readers should keep these real-life political circumstances in mind. Swift was fighting most vigorously for Ireland’s interests at the time he was writing ‘Gulliver’s Travels’, and his birth and most of his life were devoted to engaging with Ireland’s national issues.
Writing Style and Attitude Toward Scholarship
These experiences shaped Swift’s view of history and his worldview, and they were reflected in his writing style. His style possessed a bizarre and cynical character, distinct from British notions of beauty or moderation. His time in Ireland is a key to understanding his cynical writing style.
At the age of six, with the help of his uncle, Swift began attending a prestigious school about 70 kilometers southwest of Dublin; he spent nine years there, which, apart from a few pleasant moments, were arduous. He later recalled leading a stifling life of ten hours a day, constantly living under strict discipline and fear.
In 1682, at the age of 15, he enrolled at Trinity College in Dublin. The college’s curriculum was highly conservative, and Swift did not show any outstanding talent in subjects other than languages and literature, including Greek and Latin.
During his time at Trinity College, Swift formed a connection with his teacher George Ash, who played a leading role in the Dublin Academy, established to promote new scholarly research. Around the time the Academy was founded, scientific progress was underway at the Royal Society in London, including Isaac Newton’s publication of the law of universal gravitation.
The Dublin Academy conducted various experiments aimed at improving human life, including mixing coal dust with soil, freezing eggs and urine, and injecting substances such as opium and water into dogs to observe their effects. Among these, the experiments on animals are depicted with cynicism in the third volume of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’.
For this reason, Swift was sometimes misunderstood as someone who harbored antipathy toward new fields of study, but in reality, he enjoyed reading about them. However, he was skeptical of the role of scholarship as a means to fundamentally improve human life, and in the third part of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’, he reveals a skeptical view of progress and the utility of new technologies.
Swift’s Life and Early Career
He appears to harbor doubts regarding the pursuit of progress.
Swift spent the years 1682 to 1689 at Trinity College, and amid the turmoil of the Glorious Revolution, he left Ireland for England. In England, he worked as a secretary to Lord Temple, who, as a diplomat, demonstrated exceptional qualities, such as brokering an alliance between Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden. While in The Hague, Netherlands, Temple met Prince William of Orange, who would later become King of England. Even after his retirement, William Temple remained an advisor to the king.
In 1690, Temple advised King William to ensure that Parliament convened regularly; when his advice was rejected, he sent Swift to the king in an attempt to have his will carried out. King William rejected Swift’s proposal immediately after hearing his case, and as a result, Swift experienced his first taste of frustration in dealing with members of the court. This experience served as the backdrop for Gulliver’s lack of favor toward the court and its ministers in Lilliput.
After suffering several bouts of illness, Swift published his first work in 1690; he went on to publish several more poems and earned a master’s degree from Oxford. He then returned to Ireland and was ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 1695, though little is known about his true religious inclinations.
In 1701, he published his first political essay, which addressed political conflicts and the balance of power between the king and the people. These ideas would later be referenced in ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. In 1702, he received his doctorate from Trinity College, and subsequently traveled frequently to London to support the Church of England in Ireland, where he became acquainted with prominent London literary figures. In 1704, he gained fame with the publication of ‘A Tale of a Tub’.
The Writing and Publication of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ and His Later Years
In 1713, Swift assumed an important role in Dublin as Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a position he held until his death in 1745. In 1714, he traveled to London in an attempt to mediate the political factional strife, but his efforts proved fruitless, and he returned to Dublin. That year, Queen Anne died and George I, of German descent, ascended the throne, leading to the downfall of the government Swift had supported. A few years later, Swift traveled on horseback throughout Ireland; these experiences appear to have influenced the writing of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’.
Around this time, he was also involved in Irish politics, and in the 1720s, he published writings criticizing British colonial policy while composing his magnum opus, ‘Gulliver’s Travels’.
“I am now about to write the history of my travels. It will be quite voluminous and will concern countries hitherto unknown to people.”
“I have now finished the story of the Land of the Horses and am writing the story of the Flying Island. It won’t take long. Once that is finished, my story will be complete.”
According to what he revealed to his friends, ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ was written generally between 1721 and 1725, a period during which Swift was very active in various ways. The story of Laputa appears to have followed the story of the Land of Horses. In April 1726, he traveled to London with the completed manuscript and returned to Dublin after spending several months there. When a London publisher released the first edition of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ in October 1726, it caused a huge sensation.
The first edition sold out within a week, and the book became the talk of the town. People offered interpretations from various perspectives, and many read it, regardless of class or occupation. Politicians agreed that while the book did not reveal any clear political bias, it was overly cynical about human nature. Several other issues were also pointed out.
The third part, “The Tale of the Island,” was deemed the least entertaining, and criticism was raised that Swift harbored ill will toward women. Questions also arose regarding the connection between the novel’s protagonist and Swift himself. No conclusion has yet been reached as to whether Swift’s personal beliefs were directly reflected in the novel, whether it was merely a work of fiction, or whether ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ is an entertaining story or a tragic one.
Swift was 59 years old when ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ was published. He continued to write for another ten years, publishing numerous poems. In the late 1730s, his health gradually deteriorated as his hearing loss and dizziness worsened, but he continued to write satirical pieces mocking the absurdities of the Irish Parliament.
In 1737, on his 70th birthday, the people of Dublin celebrated him, but shortly thereafter his health deteriorated rapidly. In 1742, when he turned 75, his friends declared that he was no longer of sound mind, and he died on October 19, 1745, and was buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. His estate was bequeathed to fund the construction of a hospital for the mentally ill.
