PRESENTS A FRESH ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE HISTORY AND CREATIVE IMAGINATION
OF JONATHAN SWIFT Classic satires such as _Gulliver’s Travels, A
Modest Proposal, _and _A Tale of a Tub _express radical positions, yet
were written by the most conservative of men. Jonathan Swift was born
in Dublin and spent most of his life in Ireland, never traveling
outside the British Isles. An Anglo-Irish Protestant clergyman, he was
a major political and religious figure whose career was primarily
clerical, not literary. Although much is known about Swift, in many
ways he remains an enigma. He was admired as an Irish patriot yet was
contemptuous of the Irish. He was both secretive and self-dramatizing.
His talent for friendship was matched by his skill for making enemies.
He hated the English but yearned to live in England. _The Life of
Jonathan Swift_ explores the writing life and personal history of the
foremost satirist in the English language. Accessible and engaging,
this critical biography brings Swift’s writing and creative
sensibility into the narrative of his life. Author Thomas Lockwood
provides the historical and modern critical context of Swift’s prose
satires and poetry, as well as his political journalism, essays,
manuscripts, and personal correspondence. Throughout the book,
biographically contextualized descriptions of Swift’s most famous
works help readers better understand both the writing and the writer.
* Provides critical profiles of _Gulliver’s Travels_, _An Argument
Against Abolishing Christianity, Drapier’s Letters, _and Swift’s
other famous works
* Offers insights into Swift’s relationships with Esther Johnson,
“Stella,” and Esther Vanhomrigh, “Vanessa”
* Highlights Swift’s poetry and how verse writing was a vital part
of his creative being
* Summarizes and contextualizes lesser-known works such as _The
Conduct of the Allies_
* Addresses the historic critical bias against comedy or satire as
inferior forms of art, both in Swift’s lifetime and the present
_The Life of Jonathan Swift_ is an essential resource for general
readers of literature and literary biography, university instructors
and researchers, and undergraduate students taking courses in English
literature.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781118957189
Publisert
2023
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
John Wiley & Sons P&T
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter