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Irony in the Eighteenth Century It is common knowledge, that a lot of methods of expressiveness are common used in literature. Among them, undoubtedly, we may outline an irony. In general, the word irony goes from the greek mockery, so is a latent mockery, delicate ridiculing which makes a story originally expressive and bright. In this essay Id like to analyse some representative works, where the irony is being used. For the beginning, let us remember A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift.
It was one of his most outstanding works with its sharp irony. Here the author is thinking on the problem of a prodigious number of poor children, who has no any respectable future. Swift says, that he has a modest proposal on account of this problem: there could be prepared delicious dishes of one-year fat children, as it is a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food! He also humbly proposes some of his economic calculations on this matter. Moreover, he says, such actions would be useful in all fields: constant breeders wouldnt be burdened by the children more than one year, such food would give some pleasure to the rich, admirable gloves for ladies and summer boots for fine gentlemen would be produced, men wouldnt beat or kick their wives during the gestation etc.
In some word combinations like leave their dear native country talking about the children who feels nothing to their country or her lawful occupation of begging, talking about the mothers of such children or even calling a stealing an art the irony is quiet notable. Swift is openly ironical here but his irony is humane. In such way he condemns an oppression of the Irish people. Another work Id like to touch upon is Top of the Food Chain by T. Coraghessan Boyle. His novels in general represent a caustic satire on the American lifestyle.
Reading Top of the Food Chain appears a feeling like the story is swarming with insects. It is very impressive and bright. It is written with humour and seriously at the same time and with some portion of the irony. He spoke we might as well have been spraying Chanel No. 5 for all the good it did talking about the pest eradication and killing the insect vector or, describing the people, especially women, who were literally covered with insects day and night, he wrote so racked with the malarial shakes she cant even lift a Diet Coke to her lips it was pathetic, just pathetic, like something out of the Dark Ages, for example by the time we dropped the cats, well the people were pretty hungry. The action takes place in Malaysia. Even in his description of the place of action the author stays in his manner: Borneo wouldnt be Borneo without some damned insect blackening the air.
The third work I would like to talk about is Candide by Voltaire. It is a philosophical story. In the center of the developments is a young boy with the name Candide. Candide is a strange character, an ironical one.
Its a character of a naive, perhaps sometimes even silly person, but Candide is so by nature an by the education he received in his childhood. What regards the text, so it is full of irony! Even at the very beginning one can see that clearly: the meeting of Candide with some soldiers, drinking for the bulgarian King, becoming popular in the regiment as a hero after receiving only ten thrusts instead of 30 or more and so on. Voltaire also touches upon some religious motives here.
For example, when a preacher of charity shouted at Candide without giving him a piece of bread just because our hero knew nothing about Papa and about is he an antichrist or not. The talks about the death are calm and simple here, and the description of war, so horrible phenomenon for every nation in all times, is extremely ironical and humorist! For example, the sounds which are produced by some two armies are described like a music of pipes, oboes, drums, field-guns a music, which one cant find even in the hell! Candide always says what he really has on his mind, but the people not always accept that, the hero turned out that the world is not so wonderful as we was somewhen told. It should be mentioned, that the development of the events is very dynamic and this fact adds some brightness to the text and, by the way, as distinct from two another works described in this essay, only this story had a love subject. Bibliography: T.
Coraghessan, Boyle. Without a Hero, Top of the Food Chain. Swift, Jonathan. A Modest Proposal. Voltaire. Candide.
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