A Tale of a Tub
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1704
- Form
- Satire
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 150 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendA Tale of a Tub and Other WorksOxford World's Classics, 2008Includes The Battle of the Books and The Mechanical Operation of the Spirit, with notes that unpack the allusions.
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Swift's first major work, published anonymously, is a prose satire on corruptions in religion and learning. Its narrative thread is an allegory of three brothers, Peter, Martin and Jack, standing for the Roman, Anglican and dissenting churches, who twist their father's will to justify altering the coats he left them. This story is repeatedly interrupted by digressions in the voice of a modern hack writer, on critics, on madness, on digressions themselves, that parody the pedantry and self-importance of contemporary authors. It was published with The Battle of the Books.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns A Tale of a Tub are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
