Über den Autor Jonathan Swift
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Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), the master of irony and political satire, lived in a world he both scorned and dissected with merciless wit. Born in Dublin to English parents, he was orphaned before he could know his father. Raised by an uncle, educated at Trinity College, and reluctantly ordained as an Anglican clergyman, Swift found himself torn between ambition and disenchantment. His early years as secretary to Sir William Temple in England introduced him to the corridors of power, but it was his return to Ireland that sharpened his pen. In pamphlets, sermons, and essays, he lashed out at corruption, absurdity, and human folly. A Tale of a Tub (1704) mocked religious excesses, while The Drapier's Letters (1724) turned him into a national hero for defending Irish economic interests. Yet it was Gulliver's Travels (1726) that cemented his legacy. A fantastical voyage through lands of giants and tiny men, floating islands and savage horses, it was, beneath its adventure, a scathing indictment of politics, science, and human nature itself. Swift's final years were marked by illness and isolation, his mind darkened by what he saw as the world's relentless descent into folly. He died in Dublin, leaving behind a legacy of razor-sharp satire that continues to challenge, provoke, and delight.
