Esther Vanhomrigh

Esther Vanhomrigh was a woman with whom Jonathan Swift, the renowned Anglo-Irish satirist, had a complex relationship. Swift tutored Vanhomrigh when she was young, and she later followed him to Ireland in 1714, despite his attempts to maintain a distance. Her letters reveal a passionate attachment to Swift, though their relationship appears to have been strained, and she reportedly turned against him before her death in 1723. The precise nature of their relationship remains a subject of scholarly discussion. Swift is famous for his literary works, including Gulliver's Travels, A Tale of a Tub, and "A Modest Proposal". He also wrote a series of letters to Esther Johnson (Stella) and her companion, Rebecca Dingley, known as the Journal to Stella.12