Concetti Chiave
- "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift is a romance of adventure, exploring various fantastical lands through the protagonist, Lemuel Gulliver.
- The story includes satirical elements aimed at philosophers and scientists, highlighting absurdity in the pursuit of impractical knowledge, as seen during Gulliver's visit to Laputa.
- The narrative contrasts rational societies, like the Houyhnhnms, with the brutish Yahoos, reflecting Swift's critique of human vices and societal corruption.
- Each setting in the novel, from Lilliput to Brobdingnag, serves as a symbolic backdrop to explore Swift's themes of human nature and civilization.
- Swift's style is noted for its simplicity and fluency, allowing the narrative to convey its satire and social commentary effectively, despite some long-winded descriptions.
Author: Swift, Jonathan
Title: Gulliver’s Travels
Period: 1667-1745
Time: 1726
Genre: Romance of adventure
Plot: The author tells the events in a linear way.
Adventures in Lilliput
The story begins when Gulliver decided to work on a merchant ship and he relates his shipwreck on the Island of Lilliput, where people are six inches tall. Gulliver is Lilliputians’ prisoner, but they become Gulliver’s friends so the king asks a military help to Gulliver but he doesn’t accept and he escapes.
In the second part Gulliver is accidentally left astore on Brobdingnag, where the inhabitants are as tall as steeples, but a farmer finds Gulliver and he uses him as a puppet for money. Gulliver returns in england with a big eagle.
Visit to Laputa
The third part deals with a visit to the flying island of Laputa, and its neighbouring continent and the capital city, Lagado. Here the satire is directed against philosophers, men of science, historians, projectors, with special reference to the south sea company. In Laputa Gulliver finds the wise man so wrapped up in their speculations as to be utterly helpless in pratical affairs. At Lagado he visits the Accademy of projectors, where professors are engaged in extracting sunshine from cucumbers and similar absurd enterprises. The Strulbrugs, a race endowed with immortality, so far from finding this a boon, turn out to be the most miserabile of mankind.
Encounter with the Houyhnhnms
In the fourth part Swift describes the country of the Houyhnhnms, who are horses endowed with reason; their rational, clean and simple society is contrasted with the filthyness and brutality of the Yahoos, beasts is human shape whose human vices Gulliver is reluctantly forced to recognize.
He finally returns home he recoils from his own family in disgust.
Narrator: the narrator is inside and real. The novel is narrated by Gulliver, he isn’t an omniscient narrator. When Gulliver travels his wiew point changes; sometimes Gulliver speaks for Swift and othertimes he doesn’t.
Characteristics of Gulliver
* Lemuel Gulliver: He is the protagonist of the novel and he is a doctor who loves to travel. This character is very determined to bring his travels to conclusion.
* Lilliputians: the inhabitants of Lilliput are very similar to the humans, excepts for their size, they are six inches tall. They are very busy, brave, astute but perfidious.
Characteristics of the Blefuscudians
* Blefuscodiani: the inhabitants of Blefuscu are physically alike the Lilliputians but they are more hospitable and friendly than the population of the near islands.
* The giants of Brobdingnag: the people who lives in Bobdingnag are similar to the humans, excepts for their size, they are ten metres tall. They are a society well organized.
Laputans and their culture
* Laputani: the inhabitants of Laputa are very strange; they are well educated above all in the fields of the astronomy, philosophy and science.
* Struldbruggs: they are immortal people whose principal characteristic is a little coloured mole on their forehead, wich changed with the passing of time.
Houyhnhnms and Yahoos
* Houyhnhnms: they are not human beings like the other characters of the book; for this reason it is underlined the incapacità of the men to live in peace, without any bad sentiments. The Houyhnhnms can prove a feeling of disgust against the Yahoo, animals alike to the human beings and to Guliiver.
Setting: Gulliver’s Travels has a variety of settings, each of wich symbolized one or more of Swift’s themes. As Gulliver voyages, his viewpoint changes according to the places in which he finds himself and the things that happen to him there.
Theme: the fondamental theme is the accusation of civil society. Swift underlines all corrupt aspects of society that he doesn’t share. In fact Gulliver tells that only sight of men.
Style and effect of the book
Style: the style of language is simple and nice.
Effect: I like this book for its semplicity and fluency, but the author has been very long-winded in some part, in some descriptiones… This book is unreal contrary to Robinson Crusoe, but it is very significant.
Domande da interrogazione
- What is the primary theme of "Gulliver's Travels"?
- How does Gulliver's perspective change throughout his travels?
- What is the significance of the Houyhnhnms in the story?
- How does Swift use satire in the depiction of Laputa?
- What role does Gulliver's character play in the narrative?
The fundamental theme of "Gulliver's Travels" is a critique of civil society. Swift highlights the corrupt aspects of society that he disagrees with, using Gulliver's experiences to illustrate these points.
Gulliver's viewpoint changes according to the places he visits and the experiences he undergoes. As he travels, his perspective is influenced by the different societies he encounters, such as the Lilliputians, Brobdingnagians, Laputans, and Houyhnhnms.
The Houyhnhnms represent a rational, clean, and simple society, contrasting sharply with the brutish and filthy Yahoos. This contrast underscores Swift's critique of human vices and the incapacity of humans to live peacefully without negative sentiments.
In Laputa, Swift satirizes philosophers, scientists, and projectors, highlighting their impracticality and absurd pursuits, such as extracting sunshine from cucumbers. This satire is particularly directed at the South Sea Company and reflects Swift's criticism of speculative and impractical endeavors.
Lemuel Gulliver, the protagonist, serves as the narrator and a vehicle for Swift's satire. As a doctor who loves to travel, Gulliver's determination to complete his journeys allows him to encounter various societies, each reflecting different aspects of human nature and societal flaws.
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