The writer and satirist Jonathan Swift said that "satire is a kind of glass, in which the spectators generally discover the face of all but the own" (Swift). Such viewers, as Swift mentions, use satirical fiction to convey social and political situations. In his satire A Modest Proposal, Swift uses rhetoric, blatant exaggeration, and insincerity to capture the audience's attention to the state of poverty in Ireland. John Gay also uses satire in his piece, The Beggar's Opera, to highlight the hypocrisy surrounding the treatment of the lower classes of society, hoping to correct the social and political vices that ruled London in the eighteenth century. Satire is used to challenge constructs regarding social class and poverty. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay A modest proposal is an attempt to “find a fair, cheap and easy method” of turning starving Irish children into “sound” and useful members of the Commonwealth” (Swift 3). Swift begins by deploring the miserable lives of the poverty-stricken Irish struggling to provide for their families in rags: “It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great city, or travel through the country, when they see the streets, roads, and cabin doors, crowded with female beggars, followed by three, four, or six children, all dressed in rags and pestering every passenger for alms. These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to spend all their time walking around begging for the sustenance of their defenseless children: those like them. grow up or become thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country to fight for the pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to Barbados” (Swift 3). The opening sentence offers a vivid and compassionate description of lower-class society in Ireland. Readers are presented with disturbing images of poverty, overpopulation, and hunger. In his introduction, the narrator is empathetic towards women and children, stating that mothers are “forced to spend all their time walking, begging for sustenance for their helpless children” (Swift 3). Using words like “forced” and “helpless,” Swift uses language to emphasize suggested notions of sympathy. Readers are left with images of helplessness. It can be inferred that the narrator places no blame on these beggars for their current position of poverty. As a solution to the harsh reality, the narrator suggests killing the children of poor families and serving them on the tables of the rich, thus alleviating the economic problems in Ireland. Swift uses outrageous exaggerations to impart social and political commentary. Readers begin to understand Swift's insincerity because of the general absurdity of his proposal. nutritious meat, when he only has a few particular friends or his own family to dine with him. Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, and will become popular among his tenants; the mother will have a net profit of eight shillings and will be fit for work until she has another child. Those who are more parsimonious (as I must confess the times require) can skin the carcass; whose artificially dressed skin will make admirable gloves for women and summer boots for refined gentlemen” (Swift 7-8). Since the Irish are unable to find a logical solution to the poverty in their country, the narrator hopes to inspire them to act rationally and take action on the pressing issue. Particularly interesting is the language Swift uses to describe children's flesh. It describes itas a sort of delicacy that “will make four plates of excellent nutritious meat” (Swift 7). Additionally, Swift comments on how a child's skin can make “admirable gloves for women” and “summer boots for gentlemen” (Swift 7-8). By using words like "admirable" and "excellent" to represent what can be gained from children, Swift attributes characteristics of wealth to the poor. With the proposal that children be fed to the nobility rather than to their starving parents, the “sympathetic” impressions within the introduction are quickly destroyed. Swift then uses rhetoric throughout his text, offering readers a “love-hate” relationship with the narrator. Swift's compassion towards the lower classes is greatly alleviated by the sense that beggars are responsible for their state of poverty. The poor are no longer perceived as powerless. His language here touches the popular belief that beggars are nothing more than lazy opportunists. Although he does not fully subscribe to this notion, Swift manages to demonstrate the social and political complexities through the use of satire surrounding the issue of poverty Beggar's Opera, John Gay criticizes political constructs by suggesting that morality is a luxury available only to those who can afford it. In the words of the Beggar, the opera explores how "the lords of the street imitate the lords of the street, or the lords of the street the lords." of the street" (Gay 91). Gay's depiction of poverty revolves heavily around the concept of equality and the constant comparisons he makes between the upper and lower classes: “Through all the employments of life every neighbor abuses his brother; Whore and thief they call husband and wife: all professions rogue each other: the priest calls the lawyer a swindler, the lawyer is a scoundrel of the divine: and the statesman, because he is so great, thinks his profession as honest as the my. (Gay 2).Gay uses wit and satire to shed light on the dark and corrupt structure of 18th-century English society. Unlike Swift who highlights the obvious distinctions between the two classes, Gay brings the elite down to the level of the poor by accentuating their immoral similarities. Instead of portraying the poor as humble beggars, they are similarly seen as people with money. The text is full of comic equivalences between the upper and lower classes, such as those made between priests and lawyers, statesmen and criminals. By making such comparisons, Gay is exposing the fraud that exists within the English justice system, ultimately hoping to eliminate the social and political vices that govern the country. Let's downsize humanity's superfluities. The world is greedy and I hate greed. A greedy individual, like a Jackdaw, steals what he has never been able to enjoy, in order to hide it. These are the thieves of humanity, for money was created for the generous and generous, and where is the harm in taking from another what he does not have the heart to make use of? (Gay 29)Matt's speech effectively illustrates the theme of hypocrisy present throughout the work, taking a socialist approach to human rights. Although there is a deep prejudice regarding the distribution of wealth among the rich, the calculation schemes used by the bandits – who befriend innocent young people at the gambling table only to rob them of their earnings – are anything but honorable. Contrary to Swift, Gay refuses to judge the poor for their moral errors. It can be concluded that the poor are not portrayed as immoral, but amoral. Living in such poverty, the lower class has little use for morality, except as a tool of manipulation. Satire is used to challenge constructs surrounding social class and poverty. Not so in his proposal. 2015.