The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift
"The Battle of the Books" is a satirical work by Jonathan Swift, published in 1697, that explores the conflict between ancient and modern learning. Written during a period of intense debate over the value of classical knowledge versus newer philosophies, the text serves to support Swift's patron, Sir William Temple, amidst this controversy. The narrative unfolds in a fictional library where a mock-epic battle is staged between advocates of ancient wisdom, represented by figures like Aristotle and classical poets, and proponents of modern thought, led by philosophers such as Descartes and Hobbes.
Swift personifies the two sides through characters such as the bee, symbolizing classicism with its productive and beneficial nature, and the spider, representing modernism with its self-serving and tangled constructs. The ensuing conflict includes humorous exchanges and chaotic battles that illustrate the perceived shortcomings of both modern and ancient thinkers. While the ancients ultimately gain the upper hand, the resolution remains inconclusive, reflecting the ongoing debate in Swift's time. The work is notable for its sharp wit and engaging commentary on intellectual discourse, which has influenced subsequent literary and philosophical discussions.
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The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1704
Type of work: Essay
The Work
Swift wrote The Battle of the Books in 1697 to buttress his beleaguered patron Sir William Temple in a controversy over the relative merits of ancient learning and modern learning. Gentlemen with old Tory money or new Whig pretensions affected a haughty disdain for the new philosophy of Descartes and the new social science of Hobbes, and their disdain affected Swift. They saw in modernism a childish self-absorption, disregard for the classics, disrespect for traditional authorities, and bad manners. Swift ridiculed the new trends by contrasting them with the sound wisdom and graceful art of the old masters.
In the library of Saint James, the modern books square off against the ancients in a mock-epic battle. Before they clash, a bee breaks through a spider’s web, to the discomfiture of both. The spider chides the bee for destroying its intricate trap. Wiping off the obnoxious threads of the web, the bee spurns the spider for erecting such a petty and disgusting contrivance. Their witty sparring goes to the heart of their differing natures. The spider represents modernism; the bee, classicism. They hurl vituperative charges at each other. The bee accuses the spider of spinning everything out of his own guts, such as the regurgitated threads of its web and the venom that it injects into entangled flies. The spider accuses the bee of being no better than a thief, visiting one beautiful flower after another only to steal nectar and flee. The bee replies that the flowers are multiplied, not destroyed, by his beneficial rapine; he returns to the hive with honey and wax, thus furnishing sweetness and light.
Armed with their ink made of bitter venom, the moderns issue an ultimatum to the ancients: either abandon their glory-smitten summits of prestige or let the moderns come with their spades to level the peaks that overshadow the lower tops of modern mountains. When the ancients refuse, the moderns close ranks. The bumblings of a modern librarian have caused confusion on the shelves. René Descartes has been set beside Aristotle, Plato shoulder-to-shoulder with Thomas Hobbes, and Vergil hemmed in between the modern poets John Dryden and George Wither. The ancients are captained by Temple and Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom. The moderns are led by Momus, god of faultfinding, who calls on the malignant deity Criticism in her cave, where she dwells with Ignorance, her father and husband; Pride, her mother; and her children, Noise, Impudence, Dullness, Vanity, Positiveness, Pedantry, and Ill-Manners. Criticism comes to the library to rally her troops, but the moderns fall into disarray. Descartes is felled by Aristotle’s arrow. The poet Abraham Cowley hurls his spear at the poet Pindar, but misses. Pindar disables a dozen or so of the Cavalier poets. The modern poet Dryden swaps armor with Vergil (Dryden had translated his epic poem Aeneid into English), but he finds Vergil’s helmet nine times too big for him. Homer slays the modern poet John Denham. Another modern poet, John Oldham, falls to Pindar. Clearly, the ancients have carried the day, but peace talks are convened, and the matter ends inconclusively.
Swift’s mockery is devastatingly effective, witty, and fun. His sarcastic jest is proven true: Some of these modern authors would have been all but forgotten were it not for Swift’s record of their clash with the ancients.
Bibliography
Barnett, Louise K. Jonathan Swift in the Company of Women. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Connery, Brian A., ed. Representations of Swift. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2002.
Ehrenpreis, Irvin. Swift: The Man, His Works, and the Age. 3 vols. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1962-1983.
Quintana, Ricardo. Swift: An Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965.
Robinson, Elaine L. Gulliver as Slave Trader: Racism Reviled by Jonathan Swift. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2006.
Tuveson, Ernest Lee, ed. Swift: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1964.
Van Doren, Carl. Swift. New York: Viking Press, 1930.
Williams, Kathleen. Swift: The Critical Heritage. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1970.
Wood, Nigel, ed. Jonathan Swift. London: Longman, 1999.