Roman Satiric Modes in English Verse Satire, 1660-1740, with special reference to Swift's Horace and Pope's Juvenal

This thesis questions the traditional dichotomy between the satires of Horace and Juvenal, a binary satiric theory that has strongly influenced twentieth-century readings of Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. It is argued that the works of both Horace and Juvenal are too complex to be reduced to a single well-defined ‘type’ of satire. Hence, the popular labelling of Pope as a ‘Horatian’ satirist and Swift as a ‘Juvenalian’ satirist is shown to be as synthetic as the duality between Horace and Juvenal itself.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the Restoration theory of satire as a background for the study of Pope and Swift. Chapter 2 is a close reading of Juvenal, which questions the conventional portrayal of him as ‘the angry satirist’. Chapter 3 challenges the widespread characterisation of Pope as a Horatian satirist, and argues that even in his Horatian poems he has as much in common with Juvenal. Chapter 4 offers a close reading of Horace, which disputes the popular portrayal of him as ‘the smiling satirist’. Finally, Chapter 5 debunks the exclusive reading of Swift as a Juvenalian satirist, demonstrating his frequent use of Horace’s own satiric tactics.
The aim throughout the thesis is to establish a less polarised and more nuanced understanding of the relationship between Juvenal and Horace, which can encourage a subtler appreciation of Pope and Swift as satirists.