Free classic
A Modest Proposal
For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland, from Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
1 part · about 17 minutes to read
What the book is about
"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift is a satirical essay written and published in 1729. The work shockingly suggests that Ireland's poor could solve their economic troubles by selling their children as food to the wealthy. Through sustained irony and deadpan humor, Swift uses this outrageous premise to mock hostile attitudes toward the poor and expose the dehumanizing policies of British colonial rule. The essay remains celebrated for its dark wit and biting social commentary.
This summary comes from the Project Gutenberg catalogue, where it was written automatically.
- Ireland -- Politics and government -- 18th century -- Humor
- Political satire, English
- Religious satire, English
Chapters
A Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift, is in the public domain in the United States. Text from Project Gutenberg, eBook #1080, with thanks. Sureno removed Project Gutenberg's header and licence and set the text in large print; this is not an official Project Gutenberg edition. Outside the United States, check your own country's copyright rules before copying it.
