A Treatise on Good Manners and Good Breeding by Jonathan Swift

Kakatiya University Warangal 

I year Sem 2- Unit 2 Prose

A Treatise on Good Manners and Good Breeding 

Jonathan Swift

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A Treatise on Good Manners and Good Breeding. 

Q. 1.Write an essay on the theme of Swift's essay ' 'A Treatise on Good Manners and Good Breeding'( June 2023 KU) 

Q. 2. Why does Swift frequently rely on humour in his essay ' 'A Treatise on Good Manners and Good Breeding'? 

About the author

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) was born on November 30, 1667, in Dublin, Ireland. He was an Anglo-Irish author, well-known prose satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, and cleric. His famous novel is Gulliver’s Travels (1726). A Tale of a tub is a famous religious and political essay. 

Jonathan Swift defines good manners in his analytical essay, "A Treatise on Good Breeding and Good Manners." Swift establishes a distinction between good manners and good breeding.

Swift opines that good manners are an art and should suit the three degrees of people: our superiors, our equals, and our juniors. Persuading our superiors and our equals to eat or drink is considered a breach of manners. 

The three sources of ill manners are pride, ill nature, and a lack of sense. Swift says that good sense is the foundation of good manners. Good sense is a gift that only a few people possess, so our civilised nations laid down some rules for common behaviour. If there are no rules, foolish people may often quarrel for women or fight when they are drunk.Good manners are designed to regulate the conduct of people with weak understanding. These common forms soon became ceremonies or formalities.This over-civility made men more uneasy. . A great number of individuals felt apprehensive due to the excessive display of civility.   

Swift speaks about the four-day compulsion to lodge an honourable gentleman at the residence of a friend.

Swift narrates many incidents or foolish accidents happened due to ceremonies or over-civility

1. A vain person, in the process of saving the duchess from opening a door, knocked her down. 

2. Swift described a story from a birthday party in which a dish of sauce stained a distinguished lady when she turned her elbow to the person beside her. 

3. The Dutch envoy and his 13 year-old son broke two plates of China into twenty pieces while trying to prove their good manners. 

Good manners are the capability to engage in conversation with any individual without humiliating them . Individuals who are considered "best bred in the company" demonstrate this propensity for emotion neutrality during conversations the most effectively.

The faults of human nature are highlighted by Swift. "PEDANTRY" is one such significant flaw. Pedantry is the  quality of being too interested in formal rules and in minute details that are not important. 

Many believe that  royal court is the best place to acquire or practice good manners. But, Swift says 'good manners are not a plant of the court growth'. He recalls an incident narrated by Lord Bolingbroke which reflects I'll manners of royal court. The incident which happened  between Prince and Queen. 

Swift clearly makes the difference between good manners and good breeding. Good manners is the art of applying settled forms of general behaviour. Good manners,according to Swift, are acquired through practice as opposed to being inherited. On the other hand, extensive knowledge is required for good breeding. Good breeding is of much higher range than good manners. Additionally, it demands considerable effort and study.  Good breeding is superior to good manners. 

Swift says that ignorance of forms can not be regarded as ill manners because forms frequently change. The superficial young men were passionate to introduce and promote the new forms and fashions that they brought back with them from abroad. The worst bred person in the company is a young traveller just returned from abroad.