Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. He was the author of the satirical prose novel Gulliver's Travels (1726) and the creator of the fictional island of Lilliput. He is regarded by many as the greatest satirist of the Georgian era and one of the foremost prose authors in the history of English and world literature.Swift also authored works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704) and An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1708). He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—including Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, and M. B. Drapier—or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. In 1713, he was appointed the dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin , and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swift." His trademark deadpan and ironic style of writing, particularly in later works such as A Modest Proposal (1729), has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian." [6] He is also credited with inventing the popular woman's name "Vanessa" through his poem Cadenus and Vanessa (1726).