Jonathan Swift and Oliver Goldsmiths both used satire in their writings, but they used it for different purposes. The difference between them lay in two areas. Firstly, Goldsmith now is more recognized for his dramas and poetry, with plays such as "She Stoops to Conquer", whereas Swift is famous for his style and sarcasm, with works such as Gulliver's Travels and "A Modest Proposal".
Both authors heavily used satire to present ideas and themes, but they each had their own and distinct ways of using that satire. Swift deliberately wrote satirical works with the primary intention of provoking change, as his excellent "A Modest Proposal" shows. Swift wrote this article out of his outrage at the reluctance of the British government to do anything to improve the great suffering of the Irish during a time of famine and want, and so he proposed a ridiculous scheme that indicated the graveness of the situation and exposed the uncaring, cold nature of the British:.
In His "modest proposal", his ridiculous plan to present Irish babies as a food source to solve the famine is deliberately shocking and provoking. In the hope of provoking social change, swift lays out crazy ideas on how to end the famine in Ireland. He targets not only the Irish who are lazy and apathetic toward their own lives but also the English who have put the Irish in such a situation. In his novel, Swift takes on the community to task, as well as humanity as a whole. As such, his satirical work tends to be much more pointed in drawing out his targets and criticizing maybe in the form of mockery, whereas Goldsmith is more subtle, in his charming plays and works.
Goldsmith's works can be viewed more as more comedic and uplifting, with the situation in "She Stoops to Conquer being very comic and hilarious", even though he can briefly indicate from time to time that his writings also points towards deep social inequalities of women and their treatment in a predominantly male driven society.
