Jonathan Swift Biography, Life, Interesting Facts
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Jonathan Swift was a famous Anglo-Irish satirist, political pamphleteer, poet, and essayist. Born on November 30, 1667, he was also a cleric and served as the Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. Best known for the Horatian and Juvenalian style, Jonathan Swift did works like A Tale of a Tub, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, Gulliver’s Travel and A Modest Proposal. The Encyclopaedia Britannica regards him as a leading prose satirist in the English language. Swift wrote under the pennames like Isaac Bickerstaff, Drappiers Letters as MB Drapier and Lemuel Gulliver.
Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667, in Dublin, Leinster, Republic of Ireland to Jonathan Swift and Abigail Erick. Jonathan Swift was the second child of his parents. He father died seven months before his birth and was left in the care of his uncle Godwin Swift, as his mother decided to leave for England. Jonathan Swift was from a family with strong literally background and connections.
Jonathan Swift had his education at the Kilkenny College. In 1682, Jonathan Swift enrolled at the Dublin University, then “Trinity College, Dublin” where Jonathan Swift graduated with a B.A in 1686. While there he made friend with William Congreve. The Gracious Revolution in Ireland interrupted with his studies for a master’s degree and further forced him to leave for England in 1688.
While in England, Jonathan Swift gained employment with Sir William Temple as secretary and personal assistant at Moor Park, Farnham with the help of his mother. Sir Temple who was a retired English diplomat also introduced Swift to William III. Jonathan Swift gained the trust of Temple that, he shared matters of great importance with him. Due to ill health, he returned to Ireland in 1690 and returned a year after.
In 1692, Jonathan Swift graduated from Hart Hall, Oxford with an M.A. After his graduation, he became an ordained priest in the Church of Ireland gaining an appointment to the prebend of Kilroot in the Diocese of Connor in 1694. Due to the feel of being isolated, he left his post in 1696 returning to England to work with Temple at Moor Park, a position he held until Temple’s death. With his position,
Jonathan Swift helped prepare memoirs and correspondence of Temple for publication. Swift continued to edit Temple’s memoir even after his death on January 27, 1699. Jonathan Swift hopes that doing this would gain him the needed recognition and help him secure a position in England but that never happened. His work during this period rather earned him enmity from Temple’s family and friend especially with his sister Lady Giffard who was opposed to the indiscretions Swift had included in the memoirs.
Jonathan Swift then consulted King William for the available post, but that also failed. With this, he was forced to accept a position as secretary and chaplain to the Earl of Berkeley, a Lord Justice of Ireland. Unfortunately, upon reaching Ireland, Jonathan Swift found out the job has been allotted to someone else. He, therefore, gained a position in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin as the prebend of Dunlavin and living of Laracor, Agher, and Rathbeggan. Swift political pamphlet, A Discourse on the Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome was anonymously published in 1701.
Jonathan Swift studied at the Trinity College, Dublin and received a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1702.
Jonathan Swift published the satire The Battle of the Books, in 1704, as a response to critics of Temple’s “Essay upon Ancient and Modern Learning.” The same year, he came out with A Tale of a Tub and these two publications carved a niche for him as a good writer. It further gained his friendship with John Arbuthnot, Alexander Pope, and John Gay, which would lead to the formation of the Martinus Scriblerus Club in 1713. Being political at this time, Jonathan Swift was appointed an editor of The Examiner during the Tory administration. This led to the publishing of his political pamphlet The Conduct of the Allie