Divinity and Wit: Swift's Attempted Reconciliation

• Published in: University of Toronto quarterly 1976-09, Vol.46 (1), p.15-30
• Main Author: Falle, George
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0042-0247; 1712-5278
• DOI: 10.3138/utq.46.1.15

Swift's assertion in a poem of 1714 that 'He reconcil'd Divinity and Wit" raises certain questions that are not without a characteristic Swiftian complexity. What precisely is involved in his use of the word 'Divinity: and what is his precise understanding of 'Wit' and its functions? If positive definitions are unlikely, one can perhaps begin negatively. It is generally admitted that in the formal sense Swift had little theology and less metaphysics. He was firmly of the opinion that in matters relating to Holy Writ disputation served little if any purpose, and he doubtless agreed with the statement of Tertullian (one of his favourite patristic authors) that 'd iscussion of the Scriptures can avail nothing except to lead, in some sort, to a sheer turning of the stomach or of the brain.' While he certainly had 'thoughts on religion: he avoided theological controversies and preferred to speak of 'Principles of Religion' in accordance with orthodox Christian doctrine 'as the Church holds it' (IX , 77). The matter of , Wit' is more vexing since it brings into play such rhetorical terms as irony and satire and at the same time must frequently be accommodated to a comic perspective and dimension. In ironic satire, which, as in A Tale of a Tub, focuses upon 'the numerous and gross Corruptions in Religion and Learning' (I, 1) - and one might include the 'Argument against Abolishing Christianity' - wit becomes a viable possibility; but in homiletic exhortations to right uses (either iron ic or non-ironic) is Swift successful in effecting the reconciliation of divinity and wit to the same degree? And again, when the spirit of comedy hovers over the area of wit, irony, and satire, can the implications of the human comedy be sustained without sacrificing the autonomy of discrete qualities? Here Gulliver's Travels is clearly a case in point. While the later work may lack the phantasmagoric verbal brilliance of the Tale, the evidence of wit, irony, and satire within the comic context provide a greater critical complexity. It is to questions of this kind that this paper will address itself.