THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS AS A SATIRE
Jonathan Swift is one of the best satirist
of English literature. He belongs to the 18th century England . He is
always remembered for his 'A Tale Of A Tub', ' Gulliver's Travels' and ' The
Battle of the Books'. All these satires earned wide acclaim. In these three
satires, he vehemently satirised the follies and vices of the life of the time.
The political, religious and literary controversies are treated as major themes
in these satires. His satires are full of imagination, inventiveness and
rhetorical skill.
' The Battle
of the Books' is written on the famous controversies on the relative matters of
the ancient writers. In this controversy Swift took the side of Sir William
Temple, his patron. Temple
favoured the merits of the ancients. Bentley and Wotton challenged Temple 's views. The
battle started. In this battle Swift favours the ancients.
Swift has given this controversy a shape of
satire. This controversy is the major theme of ' The Battle of the Books'. This
beautiful satire deals with five incidents. The first of the five incidents
form the main body of the satire. This incident deals with the dispute between
the ancients and the moderns for the write to live on the highest peak of Parnassus
The second incident concerns the episode
of the spider and the bee. The spider is the symbol of the moderns and the bee
represents the ancients. With the help of this fable Swift wants to say that
like spiders the moderns put forth dirt. Like bees the ancients spread honey
and sweetness. Thus here Swift has proved the superiority of the ancients.
Later on the satirist presents the picture of the battlefield. Both the groups
stand against each other. The battle starts. These groups use all sorts of
weapons. On the one side there are Pollas, Homer, Pindar, Euclid, Aristotle and
Plato. Bacon, Dryden and some others are on the other side. At last the
ancients win the battle.
Thus ' The Battle Of The Books' is full of
criticism and satire. But it is rarely bitter. It is fluent and witty. Swift
has regarded the moderns as spiders and the ancients as bees.
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