Women in the writings of Jonathan Swift

Abstract

This thesis is an examination of the development of Swift's technique for presenting his "new view of women". It will show: that in A Letter to a Young Lady on Her Marriage, Swift established a set of criteria by which marriage should be conducted; that in Cadenus and Vanessa, he portrayed a serious and intelligent young woman; that in the Journal to Stella, the poems to Stella, and On the Death of Mrs. Johnson, he praised a witty, intelligent, virtuous woman; and that in the satiric verses, he depicted the follies and vices of contemporary women. It will prove that, however sensible and articulate these works are, Swift did not discover his most powerful means of expression until the "unprintable" poems of 1730-31.