Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels

A Modest Proposal (hypertext version) (Simple Text)

Historical background:

Age of Reason Influences

Intellectuals, philosophers and scientists such as John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton were opening the doors to exploration in many fields, asking new questions, and experimenting. They discarded the old idea that man is by nature sinful because of Adam and Eve's fall from grace in the garden of Eden. Man's ability to reason, they claimed, could save him from his tendency to sin. Man could create an utopia (utopia means nowhere in Greek), or perfect society, that solved problems of humankind. Swift vehemently disagreed. Remember, he was a conservative. He held on to traditional values. He also felt that reason could just as easily be misused for foolish or selfish purposes as good ones, and man could never rise above the tendency toward sin to be able to create utopia on earth. His satire of the folly of Enlightenment scientific and theological musings and experiments in Part III of Gulliver's Travels is followed by his portrayal of a utopian society, the Houyhnhnm's, into which man can never fit.

England's Emerging Empire

Gulliver, observing things outside of the empire, meets new cultures and is curious of the new customs that he encounters. He is quite surprised at times by the differences between his way of life and theirs. He discusses English institutions and customs at length with both the Brogdingnagians and the Houyhnhnms. He is confident, even arrogant, in his belief that once these foreigners hear of British ways, they will be impressed by his people. To his surprise, disappointment and frustration, they ask obvious questions about flaws and shortcomings of British institutions and customs. What does the Brabdinghagian King say about gun powder? The more Gulliver explains British ways, the more the reader sees that Gulliver is blind to his culture's own shortcomings. What is Swift's motive in creating this contrast through conflicts in the narrative?

The Effects of Colonization

Trace Gulliver's observation of the human conditions in the various places he visits. How do the various depict ions of living conditions, working conditions, and other cultural observations have an effect on an 18th reader (British citizens and colonial residents) as well as the modern reader. How does Swift show/dramatize otherwise political issues?

Other Literary Patterns in Gulliver Travels

Diction of Gulliver: follow the language of Gulliver in order to find some of Swift's satire of 18th century science. In the early 18th century, the French Academy of Science dubbed themselves "the immortals" because they believed that their work will be remembered forever. The Royal Society in London boasted the same notion, implicitly and explicitly in their texts. Thus, scientist attempted to use clear, flat prose without any figurative language that would leave the reader with more than one interpretation. Thus, Royal Society reporter reported simply the facts as they related and attempted to strip language of its connotative power. Where does Swift show us Gulliver's language mistakes?

Spiritual Autobiographies: after finishing Part IV, reflect how Gulliver loses faith, hope and charity. With this in mind, we have to ask if Swift creating a parody of the spiritual autobiography (a popular text in the early 18th century; similar to travelogues). Observe how the narrator looks back on the self as character; traces disillusion to illumination; close with salvation and conversation. Ponder below a passage from Danial Defoe's Robinson Crusoe:

• "I am cast upon a horrible, desolate island; void of all hope of recoverey.  I am singled out and separated, as it were, from all the world, to be miserible.  I am divided from mankind, a solitary; one banished from human society.  I have no soul to speak to or relieve me."

Swift's Metafiction: Swift calls into question the issue of authorship. The Letter to Sympson and to the reader from the publisher throw the issue of authenticity and authorship into doubt. How do these letters work for a preface of a text that, according to the author, relates "plain matter of fact in the simplest manner and style; because my principal design was to inform and not to amuse thee"(305).

Empirical v. Skeptic: intellectual stretch (large and small motif again). Trace and examine empirical information/truth that is assembled through direct observation. A skeptic argues that all knowledge is derived from our senses, but senses do not report the world accurately; thus, reliable knowledge is an impossibility. As a result, skeptics affirm nothing as absolute and remember that most beliefs are opinions. How does Swift play with these philosophical issues?

Genius of Swift's Satire:

Binary play: swift sets up this binary situations/relations. These constructions force us to think of third and other possibilities. Large/small; reason/madness. When he exaggerates two extremes, he forces the reader to construct another term.

Content for the above was copied and gleaned from a great teaching resourse: Novels for Students, Volumes 1-12. Comp. and Ed. Elizabeth Thomason. Michigan: Gale Group, 1999.