Lesson

Jonathan Swift. “Gulliver’s Travels”.

Jonathan Swift is one of the greatest XVIII century satirists. His bitter satire
was aimed at the contemporary social order in general, and at the policy of English
bourgeoisie toward the Irish in particular. That’s why the Irish people considered
Swift their champion in the struggle for the welfare and freedom of their country.

Swift was born in Dublin of poor English parents. His father died before the
child was born. The boy was dependent on the charity of his uncle. He was
educated at Kilkenny school and Dublin University, Trinity Collage, to become a
clergyman. At school Swift was fond of history, literature and languages. After
graduating from the collage he went to London and became a private secretary to
Sir William Temple at Moor Park, near London. J.Swift improved his education at
Sir William’s library and in 1692 te took his Master of Art degree at Oxford. He
got a place of vicar in Ireland and worked there for a year. Afterwards he returned
to Moon Park.

After Temple’s death Swift went to Ireland. He felt lonely there and asked
his friend Esther Johnson from Moor Park to come to him. Throughout his life he
kept an eye on the political events in the country. When Swift went to London he
attended the coffee – houses, talked with the journalists and tried to meet new
people and understand the spirit of the time. From 1710 – 1713 he was one of the
most important figures in London. He was courted and flattered by lords and
statesmen, admired by ladies. His conversations are described in “Journal to
Stella”, that contain his letters to Esther. The journal is an intimate picture of the
XVIII century life. In his work Swift appears as a lyrical writer.

In 1713 Swift was made Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. His best
known literary work “Gulliver Travels” was written there. In Ireland he was the
miserable condition of people oppressed by the English ruling classes. His
pamphlets criticized the English colonial policy in Ireland and made him very
popular. He became a national hero to the Irish people for his role in their struggle
against England. In his pamphlet “A Modest Proposal…..” (1729) he attacks
English exploitation of the Irish peasants. Swift pretends to suggest that the large
families should sell their children as food to the rich landlords.

In 1728 Esther died. Swift’s health was also poor. A brain disease clouded
his intellect in his old age. He died in Dublin, in 1745, leaving all his property to
found St. Patrick Asylum for lunatics and incurables. It stands today as the most
suggestive monuments of his peculiar genius.

A satire “A Battle of the Books” (1967) marked the beginning of the Swift’s
literary career. It depicts a war between books of modern and ancient authors. The
work is an allegory and reflects the literary discussion of the time. Some people
said that the ancient authors were better, other praised the moderns. As the dispute
was stupid Swift does not tell reader which side won battle.

Swift’s first success was “A Tale of a Tub” (1704) in which he satirized the
Church. The tale is of the three sons, Peter, Martin, and Jack. The represent the
Catholic Church, the Church of England and the Protestant Dissenters. The sons
have been left by their father a coat with instructions how to wear it. Through the
behavior of the brothers Swift gives an ironic history of the development of
Christianity.

“A Tale of a Tub” is an anti – religious satire. The title of the book has a
double meaning and explains the idea of the book;

1. “A Tale of a Tub” means a nonsense story told as a joke;

2. In the preface to the book Swift tells his readers of an old custom seamen
had when at sea: if a whale began to fallow the vessel, they threw an
empty tub into the water to divert the whale’s attention from the ship.
 The empty tub symbolized religion, which diverts people from the need to
fight for their right and is useful in controlling the nation. The ship is the
symbol of the state.

“Gulliver’s Travels”.
J.Swift’s masterpiece “Gulliver’s Travels” (1726) made him one of the
greatest English prose writers of the XVIII century. It has been translated into mant
languages. It is popular as a children’s book, but it was meant for adults. The book
is a skillful satire in which Swift attacks his contemporary world and the social and
political system of England.

The book describes the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship’s surgeon. It

has four parts: Gulliver’s voyage to 1) Lilliput 2) Brobdingnag 3) Laputa 4) the
country of Houyhnhnms and Yahoos.

On the first voyage Gulliver is shipwrecked and finds himself in Lilliput. To

his surprise people are only “six inche high” there but they have the same vices
and faults as the English: shallow interests, corruped laws and evil customs. Their
two struggling parties, the Big – Endians and Little – Endians, distinguish
themselves only by the high and low heels on their shoes. They drive the country
into war over the question whether an egg should be broken on its big or its little
end. The statemen obtain posts by dancing on a tight rope. Whoever jumps the
highest before the king gets the highest post. In this way Swift satirizes the English
court and aristocracy. He laughs at the Tories and Whigs, the main political parties
of that time in England. Swift hated the English state system and looked for a
better one. He belived in an ideal enlightened monarch. Gulliver meets such a king
on his second voyage to Brobdingnag. This isa country where giants is governed
by common sense, reason and justice which is not the case in England. But even a
clever king cannot do much for his people.

When Gulliver’s box is carried off by an eagle and dropped into the sea he
is rescued by an English ship. It takes Gulliver a long time to get used to the
littleness of the houses, trees and the people once back in England. As far as the
people are concerned it is their moral littleness that suprises Gulliver.

In the third part the author takes Gulliver to Laputa and the Academy in
Lagado. In this part Swift laughs at every kind of impractical science and
philosophy. The Laputants neglect practical matters to indulge in theory. Their
houses are ill – built without one right angle. They are odd, clumpsy and unhandy
people in their common actions and behavior. Laputa is a flying island. It may be
put in a position that it can deprive the lands underneath “of the benefit of the sun
and the rain and afflict in the inhabitants with death and diseases”. The flying
island helps the king to exploit his people. In the book it is a symbol of England’s
domestic and colonial policy.

In the description of the Academy Swift satirizes all kind of invertors for
their attempts to improve everything. They want to extract sunbeams from
cucumbers, to soften marble for pillows, to simplify the language by abolishing
words and express themselves by things,carrying them about etc. This kind of
science either serves tyranny, increases the profits of the rulling classes or is
simply scholasticism.

It is in Book IV that Swift’s satire is the bitterest. He saw the evils around
him but could not find a way out. He could only give a warning to mankind by
describing Yahoos and suggest an imaginary social order by picturing the land of
horses. The Houyhnhnms are race of noble horses that live according to the laws of
“reason and nature” in an ideal country, free from the vices of capitalist society.
Serving them and despised by them are beastly Yahoos, animals in the shape of
men. Swift warns men that they will degenerate if they do not lead the life of
reason. On the other hand the life of reason lead by the Houyhnhnms is dead. They
do not know love, friendship, fear or sarrow. They live prudently, avoiding all
passions, suffering from no diseases. Gulliver admires their way of life and thinks
they have an ideal country. He speaks with Houyhnhnms about England. He tells
them about wars and their causes and praises English war policy, but the reader is
made to see the stupidity of England’s state system.

As a result of his travel, the honest and well – meaning Gulliver comes to
realize that evil is present wherever men exist. Swift wrote to his friend writer A.
Pope: “Principially I hate and detest an animal that called man; although I heartily
love John, Peter, and Thomas and so forth.” In his book the great satirist
represents good and kind individuals but attacks mankind as a whole. Swift’s book
is a description of utopian countries, but in fact it is the most realistic depiction of
his contemporary society. The reader is conscious of his anger in every line. He
wanted to improve world by satirizing its follies and institution.

References:

1. Swift, Jonathan (2003). DeMaria, Robert J (ed.). Gulliver's Travels.

Penguin. p. xi.
2. Swift, Jonathan (2009). Rawson, Claude (ed.). Gulliver's Travels. W. W.
Norton. p. 875. ISBN 978-0-393-93065-8.
3. Gay, John. "Letter to Jonathan Swift". Communion. Communion Arts
Journal. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
4. "The 100 best novels written in English: the full list". TheGuardian.com.
17 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
5. Case, Arthur E. (1945). "The Geography and Chronology of Gulliver's
Travels". Four Essays on Gulliver's Travels. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
6. Ehrenpreis, Irvin (December 1957). "The Origins of Gulliver's Travels".
PMLA. 72 (5): 880–899. doi:10.2307/460368. JSTOR 460368. S2CID
164044839 – via JSTOR.
7. Clive Probyn, Swift, Jonathan (1667–1745), Oxford Dictionary of
National Biography (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2004)
8. Swift, Jonathan (1980). Isaac Asimov (ed.). The Annotated Gulliver's
Travels. New York: Clarkson N Potter Inc. p. 160. ISBN 0-517-539497.