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A Tale of a Tub was the first major work written by Jonathan Swift, having been composed between 1694 and 1697 and published in 1704. It is likely his most difficult satire, and possibly his most masterful. The Tale is a prose parody which is divided up into sections of "digression" and "tale." The "tale" presents a consistent satire of religious excess, while the digressions are a series of parodies of contemporary writing in literature, politics, theology, Biblical exegesis, and medicine. The overarching parody is of enthusiasm, pride, and credulity.