Criticism

Borkat, Roberta Sarfatt. “Moral Mathematics in Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal.” Eighteenth-Century Life 1, no. 3 (March 1975): 64–67.

Discusses Swift’s estimates of birth rates and birth weights based on new knowledge.

Coleborne, Bryan. “ ‘We flea the people and sell their skins’: A Source for A Modest Proposal.” The Scriblerian and the Kit-Cats 15, no. 2 (spring 1983): 132–133.

Offers a possible source for the work.

Gilmore, Thomas B., Jr. “Swift’s Modest Proposal: A Possible Source.” Philological Quarterly 47, no. 4 (October 1968): 590–92.

Offers a possible source for the work.

Greenberg, Robert A. “A Modest Proposal and the Bible.” The Modern Language Review 55, no. 4 (October 1960): 568–69.

Traces the influence of certain biblical phrases on A Modest Proposal.

Jacobs, Edward Crany. “Echoes of Micah in Swift’s Modest Proposal.” Éire-Ireland: A Journal of Irish Studies 13, no. 3 (fall 1978): 49–53.

Examines the influence of the Book of Micah on A Modest Proposal.

Powell, Fred. “Dean Swift and the Dublin Foundling Hospital.” Studies 70, no. 278 (summer/autumn 1981): 162–70.

Analyzes Swift’s childhood sources for the work.

Ross, Ian Campbell. “ ‘More to avoid the expence than the shame:’ Infanticide in the Modest Proposer’s Ireland.” Swift Studies 1 (1986): 75–76.

Discusses rates of infanticide in Swift’s Ireland.

Additional coverage of Swift's life and career is contained in the following sources published by the Gale Group: Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Vol. 41; Beacham’s Guide to Literature for Young Adults, Vols 5, 14; British Writers, Vol. 3; British Writers: The Classics, Vol. 1; British Writers Retrospective Supplement, Vol. 1; Children’s Literature Review, Vol. 53; Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography, Vol. 1660–1789; Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vols. 39, 95, 101; Discovering Authors; Discovering Authors 3.0; Discovering Authors: British; Discovering Authors: Canadian Edition; Discovering Authors Modules—Most Studied Authors Module, Novelists Module, Poets Module; Exploring Novels; Literature and Its Times, Vol. 1; Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, Vols. 1, 42; Literature Resource Center; Novels for Students, Vol. 6; Poetry Criticism, Vol. 9; Reference Guide to English Literature Ed. 2; Something About the Author, Vol. 19; Twayne’s English Authors; World Literature and Its Times, Vol. 3; World Literature Criticism; and Writers for Children.