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18th Century Political Satire As Exemplified By Jonathan Swift Through "Gulliver's Travels", Carol Hargis

Honors Theses

During the seventy-eight years of Jonathan Swift's life, from 1667 to 1745, English satire was in its heyday. The stinging bit of the pen became recognized as one of the strongest political weapons, and those who possessed the natural gift of creating this weapon were sought high and low by those who desired to sway public opinion. There are really three main reasons why this period, in particular, was an age of satire. "First, it was a time of radically changing values, when intensely held convictions were in conflict with each other, and a new world order was emerging. Second, …