Jonathan-Swift

JonathanSwift(1667--1745)LifeIntroductionJonathanSwift,aposthumouschild(遗腹子),wasborninDublin,Ireland,ofanEnglishfamily,whichhadimportantconnectionsbutlittlewealth.Throughthegenerosityofanuncle,hewaseducatedatKilkennyGrammarSchoolandthenTrinityCollegeinDublin.Between1689and1699heworkedasaprivatesecretarytoadistantkinshipSirWilliamTemple,aretireddiplomat.Andtherehealsoreceivedafirst-rateeducationinpoliticsthroughcontactwithTempleandmanyotherwell-knownpoliticians,learningmuchaboutthevice,hypocrisy,intrigues,deceptionandcorruptioninthepoliticalworld.Swift’sLiteraryPositionandWorksLiteraryPositionSwiftisoneofthegreatestmastersofEnglishprose.Swiftisamastersatirist.Eventoday,heisstillregardedasanationalheroinIreland.Works:ATaleoftheTub(1704)BattleoftheBooks(writtenin1679,publishedin1704)Gulliver’sTravels(1726),hisgreatestsatiricworkSwift’sArtisticFeaturesSatireHissatireisusuallymaskedbyanoutwardgravityandanapparentearnestnesswhichrendershissatireallthemorepowerful.SimplicityandDirectnessSwiftisalwaysmostunsurpassedinthewritingstyleofsimple,direct,preciseprose.Hedefinedagoodstyleas“properwordsinproperplaces.”Clear,simple,concretediction,uncomplicatedsentencestructure,economicandconcisenessoflanguagemarkallhiswritings—essays,poemsandnovels.Swift’sConcernsinhisWorksMoralattributesSwiftwasamanofgreatmoralintegrityandsocialcharm.Hehadadeephatredforalltherichoppressorsandadeepsympathyforallthepoorandoppressed.HumannatureHisunderstandingofhumannatureisprofound.Inhisopinion,humannatureisseriouslyandpermanentlyflawed.Tobetterhumanlife,enlightenmentisneeded,buttoredressitisveryhard.Heintendsnottocondemnbuttoreformandimprovemannatureandhumaninstitutions,thereisoftenanunderorovertoneofhelplessnessandindignation.IntroductiontoGulliver’sTravelsGulliver’sTravels,Jonathan’sbestfictionalwork,waspublishedin1726,underthetitleofTravelsintoSeveralRemoteNationsoftheWorld,bySamuelGulliver.Thebookcontainsfourparts,eachdealingwithoneparticularvoyageduringwhichGullivermeetswithextraordinaryadventuresonsomeremoteislandafterhehasmetwithshipwreckofpiracyofsomeothermisfortune.Part1ThefirstparttellsabouthisexperienceinLilliput,wheretheinhabitantsareonlysixinchestall),twelvetimessmallerthanthenormalhumanbeings.Theemperorbelievedhimselftobethedelightandterroroftheuniverse,butitappearedquiteabsurdtoGulliverwhowastwelvetimesastallashe.Inhisaccountofthetwopartiesinthecountry,distinguishedbytheuseofhighandlowheels,SwiftsatirizestheToriesandtheWhigsinEngland.ReligiousdisputeswerelaughedatinanaccountofaproblemwhichdividedtheLilliputians:“Shouldeggsbebrokenatthebigendorthelittleend?”Part2Inthesecondpart,GulliverisleftaloneinBrobdingnagwherepeoplearenotonlytentimestallerandlargerthanordinaryhumanbeings,butalsosuperiorinwisdom.Gullivernowfoundhimselfadwarfamongmensixthfeetinheight.Theking,whoregardedEuropeasifitwereananthill.Part3ThethirdpartdealswithmainlywithhisaccidentalvisittotheflyingIsland,wherethephilosophersandprojectorsdevotealltheirtimeandenergytothestudyofsomeabsurdproblems.Theirscientistsareengagedinprojectsforexactingsunbeamsoutofcucumbers,turningiceintogunpowderandmakingclothfromcobweb.Itisaparodyonscholasticsandprojectors.Part4ThelastpartisamostinterestingaccountofhisdiscoveriesintheHouyhnhnmland,wherehorsesareendowedwithreasonandallgoodandadmirablequalities,andarethegoverningclass.ContrarytotheHouyhnhnms,theYahoos（粗鲁之人）possesseveryconceivableevil.Theyaremalicious,spiteful,envious,uncleanandgreedy.Gulliveradmiresthelifeandwaysofthehorses,asmuchasheisdisgustedwiththeYahoos,whoserelationsremindhimofthoseexistinginEnglishsocietytosuchadegreethatheshuddersattheprospectofreturningtohisnative.《格列佛游记》内容欣赏分析《格列佛游记》向来被当作世界儿童文学的经典，但当初斯威夫特创作这部小说的目的并不是为了儿童。作者自己说，他的创作目的“不是为了提供娱乐而是为了激怒这个世界。”也许是作品中的讽刺过于辛辣，这部小说的初版是匿名发表的。在这部小说中，斯威夫特通过丰富的想象，含沙射影地对英国的政治和社会大加撘伐，对人性的弱点进行无情的嘲讽。在慧马国中，马的理智与高贵和野胡的贪欲与鄙陋形成反差极大的对比，高下立判；再通过马的视角观察人类--野胡的同类，或者说就是野胡--使人性中的贪婪、堕落和无知等诸多缺点暴露无疑。斯威夫特的冷嘲热讽不可谓不辛辣尖刻，但文字上不温不火，绵里藏针，精彩之处令人拍案叫绝。斯威夫特的语言具体明晰，简略中透出优雅；他曾把文字风格定义成“恰到好处的词语用在恰到好处的地方”，这也许是对他自己的语言风格的最好评注。《格列佛游记》中的故事是幻想性的、超现实的，但他暗中讽刺的现实即使在今天也并不鲜见，而且他的描写细致入微，给人以强烈的现实感。幻想和现实的统一使这部小说超越了时空限制，成为世界范围内老幼咸宜的不朽名篇。PreviewingWorkforAModestProposalQs:Doyouknowanybackgroundsofthistext?Whatisthenarrator’sproposal?Doyouthinkthatitismodest?Howdoyouunderstandthesubtitle?Whattoneisusedhere?AnalysisofAModestProposalOutline(4parts)Part1:Para1-7(thepresentsituationinIrelandexpectaproposaltosolvetheproblemofpoorchildrenbeggars)Part2:Para8-19(detailinghisproposal)Part3:Para20-28(illustratingtheadvantagesofhisproposal)Part4:Para29-33(supposinganobjectiontohisproposal)Part1WhatarethepresentsituationsinIreland?(Irelandfallsinpovertyandoverpopulation.Poorfemalebeggarswiththeirchildren,peopleinIrelandlackofnationalloyalty,theEnglishgovernmentisdevouringIreland)WhatisSwift'sattitudetowardthebeggarshedescribesintheopeningparagraph?Noticethenarrator’sdefenseforhisownproposal,andthestatisticaldata.(hiscomputationandeconomicmind)Part2Whatishisproposal?(Para10.120,000children,amongwhich20,00