Published as a pamphlet in 1729, A Modest Proposal is perhaps the most celebrated piece of satirical writing in the English language. In it, Jonathan Swift adopts the persona of a reasonable economic projector and earnestly proposes that the children of Ireland’s poor be sold as food for the wealthy — a monstrous suggestion delivered in the calm, utilitarian language of an economic tract, exposing the callousness of English policy toward Ireland with savage, unforgettable irony.
At barely a dozen pages, A Modest Proposal demonstrates the maximum destructive force of sustained irony. Download this free EPUB from Better Gutenberg and read the essay that redefined satire.