Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) has proven a perennial but elusive subject of literary biography. In the absence of conclusive evidence, questions about his relationships, his health, and his political views all remain open to interpretation, as does their impact on his work. In parallel to an extensive body of literary biography, but also sometimes in opposition to it, fiction and drama also have been important media for the interpretation of his life. Swift’s own autobiographical writing, which extends to prose, poetry, and memorial inscription, complicates the picture further. Covering the autobiographical, personal, and political dimensions, this chapter offers an overview of the changing and enduring preoccupations of Swift biography, which can be broadly defined as a creative enterprise as well as a documentary one.