Swift's Concern for the Irish People
Swift is concerned about how his people are being treated unfairly by the British and recognizes the need to address the problem of the increasing number of needy women begging on the streets of London. The discriminatory policies of the British government are to blame, not the desire of these underprivileged women with many children to scavenge in the streets.
The Relationship between the Irish and the British
Over the ages, the Irish have endured hardship and oppression. The average man has not benefited from the relationship between the Irish king and the British. The social-economic and religious factors resulted in the establishment of three categories of people, the British who were the rulers and controlled most of the economic activities, the Protestants, and the Catholics.
The Hostility and Begging
The hostility between Irish and British was mainly because of the religion, the European invaded their land, forced them to abide by the protestants rule, they also robbed them of their lands, the situation which forced the Irish to resort to begging so that they can gather for their children’s need.
The Impact of British Control
The condition is also made worse by the fact that the Irish parliament was controlled by the British; therefore, they passed the laws that discriminate the Catholics and the Protestant even more. There was also the problem of absentee landlords, they owned large pieces of land and leases to the Irish at the higher rent. The parliament also passed acts that restrict the exportation of cotton, cattle and any other product from Ireland to American Colonies. The Acts increased economic problems and add burden to the lower class who were the majority in the country. In addition, people did not know of birth control measures, and that is the reason why the ladies in the street have a lot of kids that she cannot provide for all of them.
Swift's Anger and Critique
Swift was angered by the situation in the country and the suffering of his Irish people, the poverty rate was so high, the high number of women who are begging on the streets with a lot of children. Swift uses irony and satires to describe the situation and offer the solution to the problem. The people had become habituated to the situation and they seem not ready to change. (Swift)
The Nature of Life in Irish Society
The streets are full of ladies who are begging for their survival instead of making the honest livelihood through working. The ladies are strolling to beg money from the pedestrians, so that they can support their kids, who as they grow up they are likely to be thieves or go out of the country to fight. This state shows the nature of life the Irish people were living under the British government. The condition also, shows how people appeared do not care about the poor in the society; everybody is passing the beggars without giving the lasting solution to the problem.
The Historical Context of Female Beggars in Ireland
In this story of increasing number of female beggars in the street, Swift demonstrate a situation where in history the country could not use a modest method to solve their problems, but, instead, they go beg from the street this history is the clear picture of the life of the Irish during the 1700s. It also shows the British government policies towards the Irish people. The government ignored their poverty level and continues subjecting them to begging in the streets for lack of alternative way of life. This situation, therefore, led to a large number of women to fill the Cabin doors.
Social, Political, and Religious Factors
The historians have attributed the situation to social, political and religious characteristics. Despite the Anglo-Irish hostility towards the English for not showing interest in the Ireland affairs, there was little sympathy from the native catholic. The country had different social classes; the dominant group was the Anglo-Irish who were very powerful, the Protestants who owned the large part of the land, and the poor catholic who were involved in farming, and working as the casual laborer in the textile industries. The majority of the lower class (catholic) was living in abject poverty and their means of survival were either stealing or begging in the streets. (Kiberd)
Effects of Land Confiscation and British Control
There was a big problem in the country; too many children were born into the lower class. The parents were not able to gather for the needs of the kids, having a problem in making both ends meet, ladies resorted to begging. This was the biggest challenge, according to Swift. The problem was further accelerated by unfair trading with the British, high rate of lands, too high rent and landlords benefiting too much at the expenses of the poor. The Irish people were being destroyed slowly by the English.
Historical Injustices and the British Rule
The poverty rate must have been consequences of past social, political and religious complexity; the effect is can still be felt nowadays. The status of the Irish during the middle ages is described as feudal in regards to the British. The genesis of this problem is attributed to the treaty signed between the king of England and the king of Ireland (1154-1189). The agreement was that the king of Ireland would safeguard England against Norman Invaders. Two centuries later King Edward settles the dominance of Britain over Ireland. The British dominance marked the beginning of the oppression of the Irish by the British.
Continued Suffering and Discrimination
After many complexities in a history of the relationships between Irish and Britain, the status of the Irish people becoming worse after every successive government. During the reign of Charles I, the Irish had lost their lands and property to the government, the land belonging to the Irish was confiscated and handed over to the English landlords, the landlords rented the land and houses to the Irish at the highest rate.
Economic Impact and Restrictions
During the 1668 revolution, the Irish unsuccessfully supported the Catholic King James, they supported hoping that their land that was confiscated by the British would be restored to them. After the revolution, the Irish were subjected to more suffering and discrimination. The leadership of the country excluded the Catholic and the Protestants the right to own property, or influence. The Catholics were further forced to accept the protestant faith. When the Irish lost their land, it had detrimental effects on their political position because during the period the access to the political class depended on the amount of land owned by one.
Effects of British Control on Irish Economy
The problem was still witnessed in the eighteenth century, the upper class confiscated the land belonging to the Irish, and within hundreds of years, and more than eighty percent of the Irish had lost possession of their land. As a result, a new class of landowners emerged, and what makes it worse is that the majority of Irish landlords lived in England.
Discriminatory Laws and Economic Impact
In addition, the Irish parliament which was controlled by British passed penal laws restricting the Anglican Protestants the right to own property and any other privileges within the country, the catholic were not allowed to hold any public office and were denied the rights to participate in politics. Most of the public offices were held by the British and only the Irish Anglican.
British Control and Economic Exploitation
Another aspect that accounts for the poverty rate among the Irish to go higher was the deleterious influence of Britain over the Irish economy. The British were in full control of exploitation of Ireland natural and economic resources. The parliament passed three laws that had a great impact on the economy of the state, the first rule was navigation act, and the Act prohibited the Irish to export any product to the British colonies. The second is the cattle Act, which imposed exorbitant duties to the livestock imported from Ireland to Britain. The duties imposed to the cattle means there was no export of cattle and that was the major and critical sector to the Irish economy. The final law was the wool Act, the law restricts the country from exporting any woolen products, and these acts brought the nation into a state of bankruptcy.
Social-Economic Divide and Absentee Landlords
However, although the country had a common enemy, they were divided by social-economic and religious status. The British who were the ruling class lived a lavish life in England and uses agents to lease the lands to the lower class at a higher rate. The effect of absentee landlord made the land unprofitable to farm, And as a result, the large portion of the land become pasture.
Economic Crisis and Corruptions
The social –economic crisis of Ireland reached a peak in the 1720s, this decade started with a crisis which was known as the south sea bubble, the formation of the company led the country into financial crisis, and the national debt increased significantly. The economic treaties between the company and international trade partners led to the collapse of the economic condition of the country. Also, the fear of the spread of plagues which was already affecting France brought more trouble in the country. Corruption and big scandals were the cause of high poverty rate among the middle and the lower class. (Moneva)
The Need for Change
The history shows that the current suffering of the Irish people is as a result of historical injustice, the British invaded their land and took their land; they are denied an opportunity to practice farming because the Anglo-Irish imposed heavy duties on their land rates. Also, the situation is made worse when the parliament passed the laws which forbid them from exporting their products into European colonies. The landowners lease the land at high, thus the poor Irish person cannot afford. When the lower class fails to make their end meets, they resorted to street begging to sustain their families.
Solutions and Political Reforms
These street beggars have a lot of children who are likely to become thieves, or they can run out of their country and go fight for European nations. The country needs to find the solution to the problem; all the stakeholders should come up with means of eliminating street begging and make the children productive and useful to the society, otherwise, they are the burden to both the parents and the country. The historical injustices should be reviewed and lands that were confiscated from the poor Irish restored, the series of social and political factors are to blame for the state of the nation.
Works Cited
Kiberd, Declan. "Irish Literature and Irish History." Kiberd, Declan. Irish History. Foster: Oxford, 1989. 275-338.
Minerva, Maria Angeles. "A Modest Proposal in the Context of Swift's Irish Tracts." A Modest Proposal (2006): 20-32.
Swift, Jonathan. "Swift's Modest Proposal." Abrams, M.H. In The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. 1048- 1060.
