Swift as Christian Satirist

Abstract

<p>This thesis aims to examine the Christian foundation of Swift's satires with special emphasis on A Tale of a Tub. Swift's special contriburtion to the Christian ironic tradition will receive attention along with the Christian framework in which the satires are set. In preparation for the thesis I have read and used the Hebert Davis edition of the complete prose works in fourteen volumes. As a supplement to, not a substitute for, the complete prose works, I have read the significant studies of Swift's satires from the eighteenth century to the present in conjunction with a wide cross-section of the most recent criticism.</p>