Jonathan Swift's response to the challenge of modernity : a reading of Gulliver's Travels.

In Gulliver's Travels Swift does obliquely what he does in his sermons and non-satirical writings more directly: he defends a settled social order, which was held together morally by a common Christian religion and led politically by men of property and liberal education, or by gentlemen. Swift defends this order not as perfect but as preferable, despite its imperfections, to the proposed and emerging modern alternatives. In the settled order he sees better prospects for what he calls in one of his sermons "the present happiness of mankind." By this he means the measure of happiness available to human beings in this world, which he describes in the same sermon as intended by God to be "a place of trial" rather than anything like the "place of rest [that men] would make it." Modernity is presented in the Travels as an attempt—or as a set of similar and similarly dangerous attempts—to transform the world into a place of rest, and Gulliver is decisively modern in his attraction to each of these attempts.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Condra, Clinton Charles, 1984-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Clinton, W. David.

• Swift.
• Politics.
• Philosophy.
• Morality.
• Modernity.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/10680

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/10680