Jonathan Swift - Biography, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Filmography (Read)

Jonathan Swift - biography, date of birth, place of birth, filmography, clips, Writer.

November 30, 1667, Dublin, Ireland - October 19, 1745, Dublin, Ireland - Anglo-Irish satirist, publicist, philosopher, poet and public figure, Anglican priest.

As a cousin of the poet John Dryden, Swift studied at Trinity College. There he was in trouble due to misconduct. Swift then became Sir William Temple's secretary.

While in his service, Swift wrote his first significant satirical works - "The Battle of the Books" and "The Tale of the Cask", which were published in 1704. At the same time he fell in love with Esther (Stella) Johnson, on whom later, probably secretly , got married.

When Temple died in 1699, Swift became a priest and received a parish in Ireland. He often traveled to England, where he became seriously involved in politics and literature. Although Swift was at first a Whig, in 1710 he passed to the Tories, and three years later became dean of St. Patrick. In Gulliver's Travels, Swift's satirical talent was revealed most fully. His passionate love for the language resulted in the invention of dialects for all the unknown countries that Gulliver visits. His fascination with politics was reflected in a satire of intrigue in the English government (a description of the court in Lilliput). His distrust of theoretical science manifested itself in a satirical depiction of the Grand Academy in Lagado, a parody of the Royal Society of England.

Despite being known to be sarcastic about human nature, Swift was apparently a pleasant person. He was on friendly terms with the literary luminaries of the time: Alexander Pope, John Arbuthnot and John Gay - and with them he founded the Scriblerus club. Swift also became a true hero of the Irish, in whose defense he produced several poignant satirical works, the most famous of which was The Modest Proposal.

In the last years of his life, Swift suffered from a progressive mental disorder.

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Author: Jane Watson