A Tale of a Tub

This article is about the satire by Jonathan Swift. For the 1633 play by Ben Jonson, see A Tale of a Tub (play).

Historical background

In the historical background to the period of 1696-1705, the most important political events might be the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, the Test Act, and the English Settlement or Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689. Politically, the English had suffered a Civil War that had culminated with the beheading of the king, years of Interregnum under the Puritan Oliver Cromwell, and then Parliament inviting the king back to rule in 1660. Upon Charles II's death, his brother, James II of England took the throne. However, when it was alleged that James was Roman Catholic and married to a Roman Catholic, James fled the country, and Parliament decided on the way in which all future English monarchs would be chosen. This method would always favor Protestantism over sanguinity.

Related Topics:
1696 - 1705 - Charles II - 1660 - Test Act - English Settlement - Glorious Revolution - 1688 - 1689 - Civil War - Interregnum - Oliver Cromwell - James II of England

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From the point of view of the politically aware Englishman, Parliament had essentially elected a king. Although officially the king was supreme, there could be no doubt that the Commons had picked the king and could pick another instead. Also, although there was now a law demanding that all swear allegiance to the monarch as head of the church, it became less and less clear why the nation was to be so intolerant.

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Religious struggles at the time were primarily between the Church of England and the dissenting churches. The threat posed by these dissenters was keenly felt by Establishment clerics like Jonathan Swift. While contemporary Great Britain praises and practices tolerance and contemporary Britons may find tolerance inherently virtuous, the dissenters of the late 17th and early 18th centuries were themselves quite intolerant. It was common enough for Puritans and other dissenters to disrupt church services, to accuse political leaders of being the anti-Christ, and to move the people toward violent schism, riots, and peculiar behaviors (including attempts to set up miniature theocracies). Protestant dissenters had led the English Civil War. The pressure of dissenters was felt on all levels of British politics and could be seen in the change of the British economy.

Related Topics:
Church of England - Great Britain - Anti-Christ - English Civil War

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The Industrial Revolution was beginning in the period between the writing and publication of A Tale of a Tub, though no one at the time would have known this. What Englishmen did know, however, was that what they called "trade" was on the rise. Merchants, importers/exporters, and "stock jobbers" were growing very wealthy. It was becoming more common to find members of the aristocracy with less money than members of the trading class. Those on the rise in the middle class professions were perceived as being more likely to be dissenters than members of the other classes were, and such institutions as the stock exchange and Lloyd's of London were founded by Puritan traders. Members of these classes were also widely ridiculed as attempting to pretend to learning and manners that they had no right to. Further, these "new men" were not, by and large, the product of the universities nor the traditional secondary schools. Consequently, these now wealthy individuals were not conversant in Latin, were not enamored of the classics, and were not inclined to put much value on these things.

Related Topics:
Industrial Revolution - Lloyd's of London

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Between 1688 and 1705, England was politically quite unstable. With the ascension of Queen Anne, political Establishment figures felt themselves particularly vulnerable. Anne was rumored to be immoderately stupid, and she was supposedly governed by her friend, Sarah Churchill, wife of the Duke of Marlborough. Although Swift was a Whig for much of this period, he was allied most nearly with the Ancients camp (which is to say Establishment, Church of England, aristocracy, traditional education), and he was politically active in the service of the Church. He claims, both in "The Apology for the &c." and in a reference in Book I of Gulliver's Travels, to have written the Tale to defend the crown from the troubles of the monsters besetting it. These monsters were numerous. At this time, political clubs and societies were proliferating. The print revolution had meant that people were gathering under dozens of banners, and political and religious sentiments previously unspoken were now rallying supporters. As the general dissenting position became the monied position, and as Parliament increasingly held power, historically novel degrees of freedom had brought an historically tenuous equipoise of change and stability.

Related Topics:
Queen Anne - Sarah Churchill

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