Satire as a Corrective Force

Although sometimes called the Age of Reason, the period from 1660 to 1800 offered the antithesis of a reasonable and just society. Several writers of conscience turned to satire to remind readers of moral and social concerns. These selections in your book offer a cross section of the foibles and failings of English society:

From Gulliver’s Travels: Spoofing the popular genre of travel literature, Swift pokes fun at the inflated  view the English have of themselves.

From A Modest Proposal: Swift’s outrageous solution to the problems of the poor in Ireland underscores the callous attitudes of the English toward the Irish.

Heroic Couplets: These bits of wisdom culled from several of Pope’s works offer examples of his satirical techniques.

from An Essay on Man: This philosophical poem uses antithesis to portray a paradoxical view of humanity.

from The Rape of the Lock: This mock epic trivializes the petty concerns of the leisure class, whose problems are minor compared to those of the poor.

An Appetite for Experience

This Great, Wide World: The Restoration and the eighteenth century were times of great intellectual and artistic achievement. Several genres flourished during this period, reflecting the great appetite for life that marked the lives of their writers. Each selection offers a look at the wide-ranging interests, experiences, and activities that were a part of this age.

from The Diary of Samuel Pepys: this detailed diary contains firsthand accounts of some of the great public events of seventeenth-century England.

from A Journal of the Plague Year: Defoe’s semifictional reconstruction of the bubonic plague that ravaged London in 1665 still fascinates readers.

from A Dictionary of the English Language/Letter to Lord Chesterfield: Johnson’s dictionary and his letter provide pointed examples of eighteenth-century wit.

from The Life of Samuel Johnson: Boswell’s biography successfully captures not only the details of Johnson’s life, but the age as well.

from Faust: a quest for experience leads to a bargain with the devil.

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard: Gray’s inmensely popular poem inmortalizes the lives of humble, ordinary people.