Jonathan Swift (1667--1745)

1. Jonathan Swift (1667--1745)

2. Introduction to Gulliver’s Travels • Jonathan’s 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.

3. 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 country’s flaws.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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?”

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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.

15. Main Characters Yahoos • Yahoo’s 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

16. 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.

17. 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.”