Concetti Chiave
- Swift's Gulliver's Travels drew inspiration from well-documented travel collections by Richard Hakluyt and Samuel Purchas, depicting realistic fictional lands.
- The 18th century was marked by a widespread fascination with exploration, reflected in popular literature like Swift's and Defoe's works.
- Swift's contemporary, Daniel Defoe, shared a similar intrigue for sea voyages and exploration, evident in his novel Robinson Crusoe.
- The era was characterized by numerous sea expeditions and discoveries, with sailors returning with tales of new continents and exotic creatures.
- Renowned explorer James Cook's voyages, including his discovery of Australia, were emblematic of this age of geographical discovery.
Swift's inspiration for Gulliver
The countries which Gulliver visits are not real ones, but Jonathan Swift describe the appearance of the people, their kind of government, and their habits and manners in realistic detail. Scholars believe that Swift used two famous collections of travel stories when writing Gulliver’s Travels.
* Richard Hakluyt’s Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, published in 1600, describes the voyage of Sir Francis Drake around the world, Sir Walter Raleigh’s voyage to Venezuela, and John Davys’s Artic voyage.
* Samuel Purchas published his Purchas his Pilgrimes, containing a History of the world in Sea Voyages and Land Travell by Englishmen and others in 1625. This book has detail of voyages to India, China Japan and Africa, as well as a description of a voyage to Florida.
18th century fascination with exploration
Sea voyages, and the discovery of new countries, were a very popular theme for 18th century writers. In fact, Swift’s contemporary, Daniel Defoe, wrote his very successful novel Robinson Crusoe in 1719. Defoe was also fascinated by idea of sea voyages, adventure and exploration. Like Lemuel Gulliver, Robinson Crusoe’s adventure begins when his ship sinks during a bad storm. Robinson is shipwrecked on a desert island where he must use his ingenuity and intelligence in order to survive.
The age of geographical discovery
This was a great age of geographical discovery, and there were, many expeditions exploring the sea and oceans of the world. There were stories of unknown continents in the Pacific Ocean, and of wonderful riches. Sailors brought back strange animals from their voyages, and some of them told fantastic tales about James Cook, who discovered Australia in 1770. His An account of a voyage round the World was published in 1773.
Domande da interrogazione
- What inspired Jonathan Swift in writing Gulliver's Travels?
- How did the 18th-century fascination with exploration influence literature?
- What characterized the age of geographical discovery in the 18th century?
Jonathan Swift was inspired by famous collections of travel stories, particularly Richard Hakluyt’s "Principall Navigations" and Samuel Purchas's "Purchas his Pilgrimes," which detailed various sea voyages and discoveries.
The 18th-century fascination with exploration greatly influenced literature, as seen in works like Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" and Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe," both of which feature themes of sea voyages and adventure.
The age of geographical discovery in the 18th century was marked by numerous expeditions exploring the world's seas and oceans, tales of unknown continents, and sailors returning with stories of strange animals and fantastic adventures.
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