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Gulliver's Travels
Book

Gulliver's Travels

London, 1726

Literary Classic

  • Satire
  • Enlightenment

What It’s About

A Satire of Society

With Gulliver’s Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, the Anglo-Irish cleric and writer Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) created one of the most absurdist pieces of literature of his (and maybe even all) time. On four consecutive journeys out to sea, surgeon and prospective ship captain Lemuel Gulliver finds himself in strange lands and civilizations. There he meets the tiny Lilliputians; the giants of Brobdingnag; the erudite Laputians, who are highly intelligent but unable to cope with life; and finally the monkey-like Yahoos and their wise and rational rulers, the Houyhnhnms, who look like horses. Many readers consider Swift’s novel a classic of young adult literature, but in fact it isn’t as harmless as many people think. Behind the facade of adventure story and travel writing lurks a biting satire on English society during Swift’s time, as well as a harsh reckoning of humanity as a whole and its doubtful development.

Summary

The First Voyage: Lilliput

Trained surgeon and hopeful seafarer Lemuel Gulliver accepts a job as a surgeon on board a ship as he is struggling to make enough money as a doctor in London. A storm hits, and the ship sinks. Gulliver washes up on the shores of the island of Lilliput. When he awakes, he finds that a whole host of tiny people have tied him down with ropes. They shoot at him with arrows whenever he tries to move. Gulliver manages to convey to them that he means them no harm.

An official of the Emperor arrives and explains to Gulliver that although he is a prisoner, he will receive food and drink. The Lilliputians transport Gulliver to an ancient temple, the only building big enough to house him. The next day, Gulliver receives a visit from the Emperor and the Empress, and soon he starts to learn the local language and customs. He continues to petition to be set free, but despite the huge strain his presence puts on the local economy, the Emperor and his council refuse to let him go.

Entertainment in Lilliput

Gulliver starts to gain insight into Lilliputian...

About the Author

Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin on November 30, 1667, to English parents. His father, after whom he was named, died shortly before he was born, and his mother, Abigail Erick, sent him to live with his uncle Godwin Swift in England. Jonathan Swift returned to Ireland to attend Trinity College in Dublin. After finishing his studies in 1686, his mother found him a position as secretary and personal assistant to the English diplomat Sir William Temple. There, Swift met Esther Johnson, whom he nicknamed “Stella.” His relationship with her, as well as with another woman, Esther Vanhomrigh, whom he called “Vanessa,” is unclear. Under Temple’s influence, Swift published several political and religious essays and pamphlets, most of them anonymously under the pseudonym of Isaac Bickerstaff. His best-known work of this time is A Tale of a Tub, a satire against “the numerous and gross corruptions in religion and learning,” published in 1704. Other works include the critical poem A Description of a City Shower in 1710 and satires such as The Battle of the Books (1704) and A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick (1729). Swift was ordained a priest in Ireland in 1695 and was appointed vicar of Kilroot. Initially a staunch Whig supporter, Swift switched over to the Tories in 1710 as he couldn’t agree with the Whig stand on the situation in Ireland. He became editor of the Tory journal, The Examiner. Later, he was appointed dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, as a reward for his services. He continued writing throughout the 1720s and early 1730s, including poems as well as political pamphlets. He started working in earnest on his greatest and best-known satire Gulliver’s Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World in 1721 and finished it by August 1725. Its success was immediate. During this time, Swift had close friendships with the poet Alexander Pope and the poet and dramatist John Gay. Throughout his life, Swift suffered from a form of vertigo, known today as Ménière’s disease. He was declared of “unsound mind” in 1742 due to his increasing dementia, and he died on October 19, 1745, in Dublin.


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