"As blushing will sometimes make a whore pass for a virtuous woman, so modesty may make a fool seem a man of sense"

Jonathan Swift’s pointed observation draws a parallel between appearances and reality, especially in the ways that social perception can be manipulated or misinterpreted. The image of blushing, a physical reaction often associated with innocence, modesty, or virtue, is here applied to a woman who is, by society’s standards, disreputable. The act of blushing, which ought to signal a depth of feeling or moral consciousness, can mask the truth of someone’s character and mislead observers into believing in a virtue that is not present. Swift uses the example provocatively, not to insult but to highlight the disparity between outward signs and inward reality.

Similarly, he turns his attention to modesty in men. Modesty, generally understood as a virtue, an unwillingness to boast or put oneself forward, might also function as a disguise. A fool, or someone lacking wisdom or insight, may, through the prudent display of modesty, be mistaken for a person of sense, intelligence, or prudence. Silence or restraint in speech, which can reflect deep thought or humility, can equally conceal ignorance. Those who refrain from speaking or acting, not out of intelligence but out of insecurity or lack of knowledge, can inadvertently gain the respect reserved for the wise.

Swift’s commentary is thus a caution about how superficial judgments based on outward signs can be misleading. Society often reads meaning into behaviors like blushing or modesty, imputing character where there is none. The deeper implication is a skeptical stance toward the certainty of our perceptions and the social conventions that enforce them. Genuine virtue or intelligence, he implies, resides beneath superficial expressions and cannot always be discerned by their outward signals, urging readers to look beyond faces and manners to apprehend true character.