Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels

Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels is a classic novel that was published in 1726. It tells the story of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon who travels to four different lands: Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the land of the Houyhnhnms. Each of these lands represents different aspects of society and culture during Swift's time. He even travels briefly to Japan! 

During the early 18th century, Britain was in the midst of the Enlightenment, a time of great intellectual and cultural change. The Enlightenment emphasised the importance of reason, science, and progress, and it had a profound impact on British society. Swift was a prominent figure during this period, and he was known for his satirical writings that criticised the social and political institutions of his time.

One of the main themes of Gulliver's Travels is the idea of power and authority. In Lilliput, Gulliver finds himself in a land where the tiny inhabitants are obsessed with hierarchy and order, despite their small size. This reflects Swift's criticism of the rigid social structure of his time, where the upper class held all the power and the lower classes were forced to obey.

In Brobdingnag, Gulliver encounters giants who see him as a mere insect. This land represents the opposite extreme of Lilliput, where the powerful dominate the weak. Swift uses this contrast to highlight the flaws of both systems and to suggest that a more balanced and egalitarian society is needed.

In Laputa, Gulliver visits a floating island where the inhabitants are obsessed with mathematics and science, but are completely detached from reality. This land represents the dangers of excessive intellectualism and the need for practicality and common sense.

Finally, in the land of the Houyhnhnms, Gulliver encounters a race of intelligent horses who live in harmony with nature and have no concept of lies or deceit. This land represents Swift's ideal society, one that is based on reason, morality, and a deep connection to nature.

Gulliver's Travels is a satirical commentary on the society and culture of Swift's time. It explores themes of power, authority, reason, and morality, and it offers a vision of a more just and equitable society. Its enduring popularity and relevance make it a classic work of literature that continues to captivate readers around the world.

Excerpt and analysis

Excerpt from Part I, Chapter IV

It is allowed on all hands, that the primitive way of breaking eggs, before we eat them, was upon the larger end; but his present Majesty's grandfather, while he was a boy, going to eat an egg, and breaking it according to the ancient practice, happened to cut one of his fingers. Whereupon the Emperor his father published an edict, commanding all his subjects, upon great penalties, to break the smaller end of their eggs. The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell us, there have been six rebellions raised on that account; wherein one Emperor lost his life, and another his crown. These civil commotions were constantly fomented by the monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they were quelled, the exiles always fled for refuge to that empire. It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end. Many hundred large volumes have been written upon this controversy: but the books of the Big-Endians have been long forbidden, and the whole party rendered incapable by law of holding employments.

Analysis

This passage describes a furious argument in Lilliput about which end of a boiled egg people should break – the big end or the little end. Jonathan Swift uses this completely daft dispute to make fun of real-world conflicts. This technique is called satire. He shows how a tiny, unimportant difference (which end of an egg) leads to incredibly serious results: new laws, rebellions, emperors being killed or losing their thrones, and even thousands of people choosing to die rather than change how they break their eggs.

Swift isn't really interested in eggs, of course. He's using this absurd situation to criticise things he saw as foolish or dangerous in his own time. The fight between the Big-Endians (traditionalists) and the Little-Endians (following the new law) is likely a dig at the bitter religious wars between Catholics and Protestants in Europe, or perhaps the fierce arguments between political parties like the Whigs and Tories in Britain. The rival island of Blefuscu, which meddles in the conflict, clearly represents England's long-time rival, France.

The genius of Swift's satire here is how he makes something huge and deadly spring from something utterly trivial. By exaggerating the situation – thousands dying over egg-breaking! – he makes us readers step back and think. Are the real-world conflicts we take so seriously, whether religious or political, sometimes based on differences that are just as fundamentally unimportant? Swift uses this funny, memorable image to criticise human stubbornness, intolerance, and the often ridiculous reasons behind deadly serious arguments.

Discussion

If you could visit any of the lands that Gulliver travels to in Gulliver's Travels, which one would you choose and why? 

Activity: Modern-day satire cartoon

Your Goal: Create a quick cartoon that makes fun of or criticises a modern problem, using satire like Jonathan Swift did in Gulliver's Travels.

What You Need: Paper & pencil, or a device.

Think Like Swift: Remember how Swift used silly or strange ideas (like tiny people or egg wars) to critique real problems? You'll do the same.

Instructions

1. Choose a Problem: Pick a problem in the world today that you want to critique (keep it suitable for class!).

2. Be Satirical: How can you make fun of it? Think about exaggerating it or putting it in an absurd situation, like Swift did. Sketch or jot down an idea.

3. Draw Your Cartoon: Draw your idea. Keep it simple! Stick figures are fine. The satirical point is what matters.

4. Add a Caption: Write a short title or sentence under your cartoon to help explain your point.

Finished? Be ready to quickly show your cartoon and explain the problem you chose and how you tried to satirise it!

Further reading

Nokes, David. Jonathan Swift, A Hypocrite Reversed: A Critical Biography. Oxford UP, 1985.

This comprehensive critical biography examines Jonathan Swift's life and works, placing his writing, including Gulliver's Travels, within its complex historical and personal context. Nokes explores the development of Swift's satirical voice, linking his political frustrations, religious views, and personal experiences to the targets and methods of his satire. For understanding Gulliver's Travels, this biography is valuable for providing insight into the author's likely intentions and the specific contemporary events and figures Swift may have been criticising through his satirical creations like Lilliput or Laputa. It helps ground the satire in the author's lived reality.

Phiddian, Robert. "Are the Houyhnhnms Horses? The Semiotics of Satire in Gulliver's Travels." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 35, no. 3, Restoration and Eighteenth Century, Summer 1995, pp. 455-73. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/450972.

Phiddian's article delves into the complex satire of the final part of Gulliver's Travels. He analyses how Swift uses the Houyhnhnms (rational horses) and Yahoos (bestial humans) not just as simple representations but as part of a challenging satirical argument about reason, nature, and humanity. The article explores the "semiotics" – how signs and symbols work within the text – to argue that Swift's satire is deliberately provocative and resists easy interpretation. This is useful for studying how Swift constructs his satire at a deeper level, particularly in the controversial fourth voyage.

Rawson, Claude. "The Character of Swift's Satire." The Cambridge Companion to Jonathan Swift, edited by Christopher Fox, Cambridge UP, 2003, pp. 49-71.

This chapter provides a focused overview of the key features of Jonathan Swift's satire across his works, with relevance to Gulliver's Travels. Rawson discusses Swift's characteristic techniques, such as irony, parody, and the use of fictional personae or worlds to critique real-world follies and vices. He examines the often harsh and unsettling nature of Swift's satirical vision. This source is helpful for defining the specific tools Swift employs in Gulliver's Travels and understanding his general approach to satirical writing, placing the novel within his broader career as a satirist.

Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Robert DeMaria, Jr., Penguin Books, 2003. Penguin Classics.

This is the primary text of the novel itself. It recounts Lemuel Gulliver's voyages to the fantastical lands of Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the country of the Houyhnhnms. The narrative functions as a vehicle for Swift's satire, using Gulliver's encounters with different societies—tiny people obsessed with trivialities, giants viewing humans as vermin, absurdly abstract scientists, and rational horses—to expose and criticise aspects of human nature, politics, science, and philosophy in early 18th-century Britain and Europe. Any analysis of Swift's satire must begin with a close reading of this foundational work. This edition also provides helpful introductory material and notes.