Concetti Chiave
- Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift were prominent authors at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
- Defoe's works highlight bourgeois values, while Swift's writings incorporate fantasy and biting satire.
- Both authors depict travel as an enjoyable experience rather than a melancholic one.
- "Robinson Crusoe" reflects Europe's belief in overcoming challenges through intelligence and force.
- "Gulliver’s Travels" presents a critique of colonialism, depicting the protagonist's disillusionment with his society.
Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift: Comparison
Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift were two fundamental authors of the period between the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century.
The works of Defoe focus on the themes of bourgeois mentality and values; instead, Swift's works are characterized by a fantastic and adventurous dimension that is associated with a harsh and disconsolate satire of English society of time and human nature.
A common point between the two authors is that, in both cases, the theme of travel does not have a melancholy expression, but is characterized as a pleasure and enjoyment experience.
Two great books have talked admirably to the titanic and perverse fairy tale of colonialism. "Robinson Crusoe" is the representation of Europe convinced that it can overcome any challenge by combining the will to disciplined application of intelligence, technology and brute force. Instead, "Gulliver’s Travels" by Jonathan Swift shows the dark side of colonialism. Gulliver, in fact, not only does not conquer anything but is subjugated by the higher "Houyhnhum"; Becomes a hostage to an alien civilization and when he returns home he realizes that he can no longer bear his old world after he has met such a scandalously different society. The British look ugly, dirty and primitive.
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