Deep Satire on Bourgeois Society - Essay Example

Deep Satire on Bourgeois Society of Jonathan Swift and John Gay The of the Deep Satire on Bourgeois Society of Jonathan Swift and John Gay The political and social life of England at the beginning of the XVIII century gave food for thought and a basis for writing sharply satirical works of literature, due to its unfair domination of the upper class and oppression of the rights of the lower one. Jonathan Swift and John Gay were active representatives of the creative workshop of that time and members of one ideological direction.

In any work of the writers, whether it is a verse, a play, or a poem, sounds a desire to show the reader shortcomings of the modern bourgeois society that is deemed to be far from the perfect one. However, satirists took into account the interests of poor people who are experiencing the most severe pressure from the elite of society. Let’s see how the authors passed through the prism of satire on different sides of the English reality of that period in “A Description of the Morning” by Jonathan Swift and “The Beggar’s Opera” by John Gay.

“A Description of the Morning” by Jonathan Swift is a verse that depicts the usual morning of the working class of the Englishman of the XVIII century. The author focuses on the details of the morning activities of people of different professions and occupations. Still, there is a hint of the imperfection of the operating social system which is realized in the line about the thieves who return to prison and pay the jailer “legal” fees. This is a satirical disclosure of corruption which is one of the main factors hated by Jonathan Swift as a sign or indicator of an unfair bourgeois society that has materialistic people in every class and who may only pull humanity down.

As a result, the verse is soaked through with a pessimistic mood of Swift. As for the uploaded excerpt of Stuart and Sitara’s answers on the basis of the analyzed works of the satirists, we can see that the most common idea about “A Description of the Morning” is the underlined division of people into two classes – upper and lower, which can’t be combined under any circumstances. “The Beggar’s Opera” by John Gay is the other example of a satirical perception of England’s life.

Still, there is a new fact, that the author doesn’t only write a collective satirical image, but finds its object in the real surroundings of his contemporaries. We can agree with Stuart and Sitara’s opinion that is a powerful social critique of the upper class. Gay considers those politicians who are in power and stuffing their wallets with people's money, they are no better than thieves and swindlers from the lower class. In some sense, the author justifies the representatives of the working class in the robbery who try to make use of the wickedness proved by the actions of statesmen, ministers, and courtiers.

So we can trace the theme of corruption which arises in the poem as well as in Swift’s verse. With the help of different means in his play, Gay achieves the combination of classes that was unacceptable. In closing, Jonathan Swift and John Gay made a great contribution to the understanding of the need to change the basic order of bourgeois society by means of deep satire in their works, which could not remain indifferent representatives of both upper and lower classes.