A Tale of a Tub

Just finished Jonathan Swift's A Tale of a Tub which was a work of satire. I hate to admit it, but I found this treatise very confusing. If it was not for the endnotes I would have had utterly no idea what was going on. That's really the issue with satire. It almost always has to be topical. If someone in 2276 watches an episode of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report they not get the satire because they'll have a different frame of reference. I did feel much better when I research and found that Tub is considered Swift's most difficult piece of satire. It is basically an allegory about different sects of Christianity, but he also takes breaks in his narrative to make digressions which lampoon various other issues such as literature, politics, theology, and medicine. The allegory tells the story of three brothers, Peter (St. Peter who represents the Catholics), Jack (John Calvin who represents the dissenting Protestants such as Baptists, Presbyterians, etc.), and Martin (Martin Luther who represents the Church of England). Their father (God) gives them each a fine coat (religious practice) and a will (The Bible) which had explicit instructions to guide them.

Next on the list is A Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. However, it has not came in from Amazon yet so I shall continue reading this collection of Jonathan Swift's prose. They are all rather short and I can finish them quickly...

Digression Upon My Last Sentence

That's what she said!

Continuation of the Blog Post About A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift

They also have interesting titles:

A Full and True Account of the Battel Fought Last Friday, Between the Antient and the Modern Books in St. James' Library.

When I Come to be Old.

A Meditation upon a Broomstick

A Discourse Concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit

A Tritical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind.

An Argument to Prove That the Abolishing of Christianity in England, May as Things Now Stand, Be Attended with Some Inconveniences, and Perhaps Not Produce Those Many Good Effects Proposed Thereby.

The Examiner No. 14 (Thursday, November 9, 1710)

A Letter to the Whole People of Ireland, by M.B Drapier, Author of the Letter to the Shopkeepers, and etc.

Directions to Servants Rules That Concern All Servants in General

A Character, Panegyric, and Description of the Legion Club.