Jonathan Swift (1667--1745)

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Jonathan Swift (1667--1745)
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Introduction to Gullivers Travels

• Jonathans best fictional work
• was published in 1726
• Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World,
  by Samuel Gulliver.
• The book contains four parts, each dealing with
  one particular voyage during which Gulliver meets
  with extraordinary adventures on some remote
  island after he has met with shipwreck, piracy
  and other misfortunes.

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Lemuel Gulliver

• Narrator of novel
• Middle-aged, middle class, British
• Intelligent, well-educated
• Naïve
• Unaffectionate to wife
• A doctor on a Royal Navy ship who washes up on
  the shores of several fictional countries.
• Upon returning to England, he is painfully aware
  of his countrys flaws.

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• Mrs. Mary Burton Mrs. Mary Burton is Gulliver's
  wife. He only states her name at the beginning of
  the novel, and thereafter refers to her as his
  wife. She is mentioned only during his rare time
  in England.

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• Captain William Pritchard Captain Pritchard is
  the head of the ship named Antelope. He controls
  Gulliver's first voyage in which a storm
  overtakes the ship, leaving Gulliver stranded on
  the strange land of Lilliput.

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A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT

• The first part tells about his experience in
  Lilliput
• The emperor believed himself to be the delight
  and terror of the universe, but it appeared quite
  absurd to Gulliver who was twelve times as tall
  as he.
• In his account of the two parties in the country,
  distinguished by the use of high and low heels.
• Religious disputes were laughed at in an account
  of a problem which divided the Lilliputians
• Should eggs be broken at the big end or the
  little end?

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Main Characters

• Lilliputians
• Inhabit Lilliput
• Only 6 inches tall
• Prone to conspiracies and jealousies
• Emperor
• Ruler of the Lilliputians
• Despite small size, loves being in control,
  exercising his power, and his large palace

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Gulliver visits LilliputMeets the Lilliputians

• He finds that the population is split between
  'Big Enders' and 'Little Enders
• The Emperor who is keen to go to war with
  Belfuscu and the defecting 'Big Enders
• The Empress who originally likes Gulliver, but is
  then offended when he urinates on buildings to
  put out a fire

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A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG

• Second Journey to Brobdingnag
• In the second part, Gulliver is left alone in
  Brobdingnag where people are not only ten times
  taller and larger than ordinary human beings, but
  also superior in wisdom. Gulliver now found
  himself a dwarf among men sixth feet in height.
  The king, who regarded Europe as if it were an
  anthill.
• Gulliver sold and used as a slave, mostly used
  for entertainment purposes
• Discusses history and policies of his native
  country with the King

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Main Characters

• Brobdingnagiants
• Giants that inhabit Brobdingnag
• Reasonable, gentle
• The Queen
• Sweet, kind
• Humorous, witty
• The King
• Intellectual, rational
• Does not know much about politics

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A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, BALNIBARBI,LUGGNAGG,
GLUBBDUBDRIB, AND JAPAN

• The third part deals mainly with his accidental
  visit to the flying Island, where the
  philosophers and designers devote all their time
  and energy to the study of some absurd problems.
  Their scientists are engaged in projects for
  extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers, turning ice
  into gunpowder and making cloth from cobweb.

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• Laputans Inhabitants of the flying island of
  Laputa which has diameter of 7837 yards.
• Munodi A Lord who lives in Lagado the metropolis
  of Balnibari
• Professors of various academies who take up
  Gulliver's suggestions
• Governor of Glubbdubdrib
• Struldbruggs who offer eternal life but become
  progressively senile in doing so.
• Maldonada A port
• Guldubdribb land of sorcerers
• Glangluenstand port of embarkation from Luggnagg
• Xamoschi landfall in Japan
• Nangasac where he meets Captain Theodorus
  Vangrult with whom he sailed back to England.

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A VOYAGE TO THE COUNTRY OF THEHouynhms

• Final Journey to the Country of the Houyhnhnms
• Horses rule the deformed Yahoos
• Gulliver banished from their society
• Feel he is a threat to their civilization
• Aware he has a resemblance to a Yahoo

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Summary of Last Book

• The last part is the most interesting account of
  his discoveries in the Houyhnhnm land, where
  horses are endowed with reason and all good and
  admirable qualities, and are the governing class.
  
• Contrary to the Houyhnhnms, the Yahoos possess
  every conceivable evil. They are malicious,
  spiteful, envious, unclean and greedy. Gulliver
  admires the life and ways of the horses, as much
  as he is disgusted with the Yahoos, whose
  relations remind him of those existing in English
  society to such a degree that he shudders at the
  prospect of returning to his native.

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Main Characters

• Yahoos
• Yahoos an uncouth human-like race
• Dirty, hairy, primitive, but human-like
• Many different kinds
• Blonde, redheaded, dark-haired
• Servants of Houyhnhnms
• Houyhnhnms
• A horse-like race who rule over the unruly
• Live in peaceful, simple society
• Rule with reason and truthfulness
• Do not even have the word lie in their
  vocabulary

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The end of the novel

• The author takes his last leave of the reader
• proposes his manner of living for the future
• gives good advice, and concludes.

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THEMES

• The main object of the satire in Gulliver's
  Travels is human nature itself, specifically
  Man's pride as it manifests in pettiness,
  grossness, rational absurdity, and animalism.
  Gulliver's character, as a satirical device,
  serves Swift's ends by being both a mouthpiece
  for some of Swift's ideals and criticisms and as
  an illustration of them. Thus, criticism on human
  nature are made through Gulliver's observations
  as well as through Gulliver's own transformation
  from a naive individual... into a wise and
  sceptic misanthrope,

• As we travel with Gulliver through the voyages,
  Swift brilliantly peels away our pretensions,
  layer by layer, until he shows us what we are and
  challenges us, intensely and urgently, to be
  better. In Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift
  continues to vex the world so that it might
  awaken to the fact that humankind needs saving,
  but it has to save itself.

• The solution to the human dilemma is not as
  simple as Gulliver's rejection of humanity, and
  Swift's final success, in terms of stimulating
  response, is that, after masterfully dissecting
  and presenting the problem, he leaves the
  application of his lessons to the judicious
  reader.