Preview

Gulliver's Travels: Satire's Paradise

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3296 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gulliver's Travels: Satire's Paradise
An Irish bishop was forced by Jonathan Swift to say that Gulliver's Travels, "was full of improbable lies, and for his part he hardly believed a word of it." (Brady 1) In a way the bishop was correct as six-inch people, giants, immortal humans, intelligent horses, and deformed creatures, all races presented in Swift's novel, don't exist. Gulliver's Travels, by far, was the most popular, influential, and controversial novel. For nearly three centuries, authors, professors, and critics have tried to fully decipher the purpose and meaning of his farfetched characters. A common conflict many critics arise at when researching or reading Gulliver's Travels is whether to identify it as a novel or a satire. (Knowles 3) The details and characters of the literature can be argued in either way. Whatever the identity of the work, Gulliver's Travels proved to be influential and controversial to the degree that within two weeks of its publication not only did it become, "‘the conversation of the whole town," but was also sold out. (Downie 262)
Before any more is mentioned about the influence or aspects of this literature, it is first important to fully comprehend the meaning of satire with which Gulliver Travels is identified many times. Satire is the use of wit to depict idiocy, flaws, and illogicality. Inversely, it is a type of condemnation, which uses jesting to formulate its position; hence satire is essentially directed critical of fault, particularly those submitted as levelheaded scheme. Also, satire is frequently aimed at against those in authority, headship, or influence. It generally uses circuitous forms of joking, such as irony, exaggeration, and parody, to make its statements; troubles are tackled implicitly; for example, admiring that which merits criticism or taking a dreadful or feeble proposal to its bizarre conclusion. (Jaffebros)
Written in a first person narrative of Lemuel Gulliver, the story and characteristics of Gulliver's Travels can easily be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The adult reader can easily identify with the ludicrousness of the scene. Politics, rationality and morality do not seem to be compatible in Lilliput. “The Role of Gulliver” by John Brooks Moore argues that “Swift, obviously enough, desires to communicate his own thoughts and passions regarding human beings to the readers of his book” (451). Moore feels that Gulliver is the medium through which Swift is able to comment on the Lilliputian systems of government and electoral processes as a method of commenting on real life scenarios of the same…

    • 2116 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Not So Modest Proposal

    • 1403 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In our society, satire is among the most prevalent of comedic forms. This was not always true, for before the 18th century, satire was not a fully developed form. Satire, however, rose out of necessity; writers and artists needed a way to ambiguously criticize their governments, their churches, and their aristocrats. By the 18th century, satire was hugely popular. Satire as an art form has its roots in the classics, especially in the Roman Horace's Satires. Satire as it was originally proposed was a form of literature using sarcasm, irony, and wit, to bring about a change in society, but in the eighteenth century Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and William Hogarth expanded satire to include politics, as well as art. The political climate of the time was one of tension. Any criticism of government would bring harsh punishments, sometimes exile or death. In order to voice opinions without fear of punishment, malcontented writers turned to Satire. Voltaire's Candide and Swift's Modest Proposal are two examples of this new genre. By creating a fictional world modeled after the world he hated, Voltaire was able to attack scientists, and theologians with impunity. Jonathan Swift created many fictional worlds in his great work, Gulliver's Travels, when he constantly drew parallels to the English government.…

    • 1403 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout Voltaire's Candide and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, the main characters of the works (Candide and Gulliver respectively) serve as vehicles for satire through which the authors can convey their views. It is important to note that both Candide and Gulliver serve as irons throughout the book; that is to say, the reader is shown irony through the actions of these characters, while at the same time the characters are naïve and remain oblivious to their situation (on a satiric level, at least).…

    • 775 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Two novels use satire to criticize human weakness. In ‘Gulliver’s Travel’, Swift makes up a horse society Houyhnhnm and a brutal animal Yahoo. Gulliver has to admit that human beings are yahoos after a series comparison between human and yahoo. Vices of human beings are exposed by the Swift’s satiric tone. In ‘Candide’, Voltaire presents a story of the voyage of Candide. By describing how Candide travel around the world and the ridiculous circumstances he encounters, Voltaire also use satire to reveals the corruption of human beings. Both of them follow the philosophic thinking which is passion verses reason. They are questioning human nature. What’s more, both authors create an inexistent society by imagination, horse society Houyhnhnm and gold city Eldorado. By comparing to reality world, the civilization of imaginary societies is more rational for human beings. This is how satire works. Creating a perfect world and comparing to corrupted society, it’s easier to convince readers. Satire is the tool of two authors presents their essential purposes that criticize the human weakness and questioning the human nature.…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Satire means irony. People use satire to expose folly or vice. Interestingly, in Voltaire's Candide and Swift's Gulliver's Travels, they both use satire to express their profound observations. They have some similarities; such as they both criticize the human weakness. They also have many differences between them. In "Candide", Voltarie offers sad themes by jokes and criticism. The story itself presents a distinctive outlook on life through author's satiric tone. Candide's experiences reveal to us that the world is a terrible place. Human beings are born to suffer in this world. On the other hand, Swift has continuously criticized the human race. He has never mentioned one of the good qualities of the human beings. Compare to the Houyhnhnm ? a horse society that the main character Gulliver admires the most, Swift satirizes the bad characters and behaviors of the human beings.…

    • 920 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Swift reveals the negative side of the Europeans in the 18th century. He satirizes Gulliver and the different inhabitants Gulliver comes across. By using size, Swift shows the dreadful sides of the Europeans and their faults. Although some readers say that Swift uses size in Gulliver’s Travels to satirize people positively, he uses satire to reveal the negative side of people showing their human pride, existence, and knowledge.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gulliver sails across the wide expanse of an ocean on a voyage, just as Icarus, son of Daedalus did on a pair of wax welded wings. Both met their disasters on the waters of their journeys. Gulliver was ignorant and naïve and Icarus proud and arrogant. Both expressed having weakness as only human nature can have. Bruegel’s painting, ‘Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”, portrays this artist’s opinion of the Greek legend as well as human nature in relation to moral dilemmas. Jonathan Swift, the writer of Gulliver’s Travels, also uses his written art to voice his opinion regarding morality and the follies of mankind. These men used their talents in such a way as to try and awaken and affect change in the society of their time.…

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Out of all the sections of "Gulliver's Travels" part four is the most revealing and satirical of human nature. Swift challenges the reader to examine the rationale of human beings and to question what is actually considered knowledgeable and important. As part four progresses through each chapter, Swift creates an upside down universe for the reader, as well as Gulliver, to examine, forcing both the reader and Gulliver to either compare themselves to the Houyhnhnms or to the Yahoos.…

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Modest Proposal

    • 2940 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Yet, astonishingly, a book of 1726 by Swift, almost equally savage in its satirical intentions, becomes one of the world's best loved stories - by virtue simply of its imaginative brilliance. It tells the story of a ship's surgeon, Lemuel Gulliver.…

    • 2940 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathon Swift, Gulliver continually proves how he is playing the role of a mock-hero. As many of the classic heroes hold traits such as bravery, intelligence, and leadership, Gulliver’s character pokes fun at that classic idea. Many epics consist of great heroes going on treacherous journeys where they come across man-eating beasts or other large feats, where as in Gulliver’s Travels, he goes on a journey where he doesn’t have to overcome any great obstacles or fight for his survival. The satirical nature of the story begins right at the start of the tale when the narrator begins to explain the character of Gulliver and the qualities he posses. From that point forward the mock-heroic style of writing has begun and his journey across the sea can be compared to epic journeys such as Odysseus’, and all the life threatening obstacles he must overcome. Once the journey is even complete, their returns to their home are even comparable in a satirical manor. The theme of Gulliver being portrayed as a mock-hero can be traced throughout the entirety of the story.…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jonathan Swift's ultimate satirical masterpiece, Gulliver's Travels, scrutinizes human nature through a misanthropic eye. More directly, it examines the bastardization English society underwent. The brilliant tale depicts the journey of Lemuel Gulliver, an Englishman, and his distorted encounters. Examining the prominent political and social conflicts of England in the eighteenth century, Swift's critical work causes much controversy. Gulliver's Travels leads him to places of opposite environments and presents him with different opportunities. Through Gulliever's journey, Swift ridicules Gulliver as an individual character, and also as a product of England's social practices.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gulliver's Travels

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A zoomed in look, on Gulliver’s second voyage he was not the giant but the small puny subject to a world of over sized people. On this voyage Gulliver meets the King of the Brobdingnagians…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s adventures and experiences satirize many aspects of human nature. Pride and arrogance are reoccurring themes that make up the most of Swift’s satire. While pride and arrogance is currently demonstrated by athletes such as Usain Bolt, it is also show by the characters in Gulliver’s Travels.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In Jonathan Swift’s satire, “Gulliver’s Travels”, the representation of women can be seen, at a superficial level, as offensive and extremely misogynistic and in broad lines corresponding to the image of the woman in Swift’s contemporary patriarchal society. The woman was almost objectified, thus reduced to her physical appearance and its status as obedient wife, whose sole purpose was to attend to her husband’s need. This perception of women was what triggered the emerging feminist movement. With pioneers as Mary Wollstonecraft with her XVIIIth century “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”, the philosophy of feminism has reached its peak in the XXth century, starting with Simone de Beauvoir’s “The Second Sex”. Using a parallel between Mary Wollstonecraft and Simone de Beauvoir’s concepts of the image of the woman in canonical thinking, the aim of this essay is to discuss feminine representations in Gulliver’s Travels and the way in which Swift’s view of the nature of women coincided or not with the existing ones in his contemporary society. In this manner, we can conclude that perceiving Swift as a fierce misogynist is rather a hasty conclusion and, in fact, he used his masterpiece as a way of emphasising the wrong perception and cultivation of the female nature in the Augustan Age. Published as Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts; by Lemuel Gulliver in 1726, Gulliver's Travels is a satire against the Augustan society, focusing its tirade on institutions such as government, arts, education and individuals alike. His vehemence in illustrating each of the book’s sections has lead to the conception that Swift is a misanthropist and a misogynist in particular, given the fact that he often used women to illustrate the most appalling aspects of human decadence. Nevertheless, taking into account the fact that being both a convinced religious man (he was an Anglican clergyman) and a humanist (he…

    • 2342 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Irish writer and clergyman, Jonathan Swift was born in an age of “The Satirist”. His novel Gulliver’s Travels (1726, amended in 1735), regarded as the best among his full-length works, is treated as both a satire on human nature, party politics and religious differences, and a parody of the “traveller’s tales”. Therefore, the story of A Voyage to Lilliput is looked upon as a political allegory in which the relationship among the Lilliputians and the events they are involved in provide us with a political history of the early eighteenth century, between 1708 and the early 1720s. In the words of C. H. Firth, “Swift is telling a story which began in the reign of Anne and ended in that of George I.”…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics