• -was born in Dublin, Ireland
• -was a member of the Scriblerus Club with Pope
• -became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, in 1713. St. Patrick's is an Anglican church, not Catholic.
• -was an advocate of Irish rights
• -became senile c. 1738.

Characteristics of his works:

Swift desired a world of reason and beauty but saw the conflict or man's actions and despaired over the difference between man's potential and his actual actions.

He believed that if he satirized what was wrong with society in his works, society would see itself and its wrong actions and would correct them. Unfortunately, most of those who were being satirized never saw themselves in the mirror of his works.