A Modest Proposal For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick

About this book

"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift is a satirical essay written and published in 1729. The work shockingly suggests that Ireland's poor could solve their economic troubles by selling their children as food to the wealthy. Through sustained irony and deadpan humor, Swift uses this outrageous premise to mock hostile attitudes toward the poor and expose the dehumanizing policies of British colonial rule. The essay remains celebrated for its dark wit and biting social commentary.

Reading guidance

Language difficulty is an AI estimate based on sampled text.

Reader and content guidance is an AI estimate based on the title, author, source summary, contents and selected excerpts. Unseen portions have not been assessed.

Recommended age: 16+ (AI estimate)
Independent enjoyment requires maturity to recognise the cannibalism proposal as satire and to follow its political argument; younger teens could read it only with teacher support explaining irony and historical context. Based on named-book metadata and selected excerpts; unseen text was not assessed. This is guidance, not an official age rating; individual reading ability varies.

Source: Project Gutenberg · Public domain in the USA.

Report a file or book information problemReport a copyright concern about this book