Unveiling Satire in Gulliver's Travels
undefinedSatire in Gulliver’s
Travels
Gulliver’s Travels: a satirical
approach
•
Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s travels” appears to be a travel log,
made to chronicle the adventures of a man, Lemuel Gulliver, on
the four most incredible voyages imaginable.
•
Primarily, however, Gulliver's Travels is a work of satire as Gulliver is
neither a fully developed character nor even an altogether
distinguishable persona; rather, he is a satiric device enabling
Swift to score satirical points.
•
Besides, in order to convey this satire, Gulliver is taken on four
adventures, driven by fate, a restless spirit, and the pen of Swift.
What is Satire? How it is injected into
the plot?
•
Satire pokes fun at social problems and human weaknesses,
often using exaggeration.
•
Swift ties his satire closely with Gulliver's perceptions and
adventures.
•
As Swift leads Gulliver on these four fantastical journeys, Gulliver's
perceptions of himself and the people and things around him
change, giving Swift ample opportunity to inject into the story
both irony and satire of the England of his day and of the human
condition.
Part 1: a little summary
In Gulliver's first adventure, he begins on a
ship that runs aground on a submerged
rock.
He swims to land, and when he awakens,
he finds himself tied down to the ground,
and surrounded by tiny people, the
Lilliputians.
Here, irony is present from the start in the
simultaneous recreation of Gulliver as
giant and prisoner.
Gulliver is surprised at the intrepidity of
these diminutive mortals, who dare
venture to mount and walk upon his body,
but he admires this quality in them.
The Lilliputians relate to him the following
story that in Lilliput, years ago, people
once broke eggs on the big end.
However, the present king's grandfather
once cut himself breaking the egg in this
manner.
So the King at the time, the father of the
present king's grandfather, issued an edict
that all were to break the eggs on the
small end.
Some of the people resisted, and they
found refuge in Blefuscu, and for six and
thirty moons past the two sides have been
at war.
Part 1: Satirical approach
•
For Swift, Lilliput is
analogous to
England, and
Blefuscu to France.
With this event of the
story Swift satirizes the
needless bickering
and fighting between
the two nations.
•
Thus in Gulliver's Travels, Swift
pokes fun at the human
tendency to equate physical
beauty with moral beauty
and physical ugliness with
being a morally bad person.
The tiny, dainty, pretty
Lilliputians seem doll-like and
good at first but turn out to
be petty, nasty, cruel, and
vindictive people who focus
on trivial things.
Part 4: a little summary
•
In this journey, Gulliver comes to the
land of the Houyhnhnms, which are
creatures that look like horses but
have the ability to reason.
•
Also, in this land are the Yahoos, of
which Gulliver could only say that
upon the whole, he never beheld in
all his travels so disagreeable an
animal, nor one against which he
naturally conceived so strong an
antipathy.
•
Swift brings Gulliver into contact
with a Yahoo once again and
Gulliver finds the difference
between himself and Yahoo.
•
Indeed, Gulliver finds that the only
difference between himself and the
Yahoo to be the Yahoo's lack of
cleanliness and clothes; otherwise,
a Yahoo would be indistinguishably
human.
Part 4: Satirical approach
•
In part 4, Swift's satire achieves its goal, and shows that
the flaws of humanity are overwhelming, and let to
continue, result in a total degradation of the humans.
•
As the “visited society" has an effect on Gulliver, he no
longer can be said to function as a constant or
impartial measure, however, this is the point that
Gulliver's perceptions change, and so do his narrations,
as a result, and through this Swift can convey his satire
and social commentary.
Conclusion
•
Taken on four voyages, Gulliver's ultimate travels are
to a greater understanding of human nature and its
flaws.
•
After the first voyage, his image of humanity is little
changed, likewise for the 2nd, although after this
point, Gulliver's image steadily declines until the
fourth voyage, when he meets the Yahoos. In this
way, Swift presents his commentary on the human
condition through Gulliver's Travels.
Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels is not just a travel log but a work of satire that cleverly critiques social issues and human weaknesses through the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver. Swift's use of exaggeration and irony in Gulliver's encounters with various societies reflects the satirical undertones aimed at mocking the England of his time and human nature itself. The narrative unfolds with Gulliver's journeys to Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the land of the Houyhnhnms, each serving as a canvas for Swift to inject his satirical commentary on politics, morality, and societal norms.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
You are allowed to download the files provided on this website for personal or commercial use, subject to the condition that they are used lawfully. All files are the property of their respective owners.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
Satire in Gullivers Travels
Gullivers Travels: a satirical approach Jonathan Swift s Gulliver s travels appears to be a travel log, made to chronicle the adventures of a man, Lemuel Gulliver, on the four most incredible voyages imaginable. Primarily, however, Gulliver's Travels is a work of satire as Gulliver is neither a fully developed character nor even an altogether distinguishable persona; rather, he is a satiric device enabling Swift to score satirical points. Besides, in order to convey this satire, Gulliver is taken on four adventures, driven by fate, a restless spirit, and the pen of Swift.
What is Satire? How it is injected into the plot? Satire pokes fun at social problems and human weaknesses, often using exaggeration. Swift ties his satire closely with Gulliver's perceptions and adventures. As Swift leads Gulliver on these four fantastical journeys, Gulliver's perceptions of himself and the people and things around him change, giving Swift ample opportunity to inject into the story both irony and satire of the England of his day and of the human condition.
Part 1: a little summary In Gulliver's first adventure, he begins on a ship that runs aground on a submerged rock. The Lilliputians relate to him the following story that in Lilliput, years ago, people once broke eggs on the big end. He swims to land, and when he awakens, he finds himself tied down to the ground, and surrounded by Lilliputians. However, the present king's grandfather once cut himself breaking the egg in this manner. tiny people, the So the King at the time, the father of the present king's grandfather, issued an edict that all were to break the eggs on the small end. Here, irony is present from the start in the simultaneous recreation giant and prisoner. of Gulliver as Gulliver is surprised at the intrepidity of these diminutive mortals, venture to mount and walk upon his body, but he admires this quality in them. Some of the people resisted, and they found refuge in Blefuscu, and for six and thirty moons past the two sides have been at war. who dare
Part 1: Satirical approach Thus in Gulliver's Travels, Swift pokes fun at tendency to equate physical beauty with and physical being a morally bad person. The tiny, Lilliputians seem doll-like and good at first but turn out to be petty, nasty, cruel, and vindictive people who focus on trivial things. For analogous England, Blefuscu With this event of the story Swift satirizes the needless and fighting between the two nations. Swift, Lilliput is the human to and moral ugliness beauty with to France. dainty, pretty bickering
Part 4: a little summary In this journey, Gulliver comes to the land of the Houyhnhnms, which are creatures that look like horses but have the ability to reason. Swift brings Gulliver into contact with a Yahoo once again and Gulliver finds between himself and Yahoo. the difference Also, in this land are the Yahoos, of which Gulliver could only say that upon the whole, he never beheld in all his travels so disagreeable an animal, nor one against which he naturally conceived so strong an antipathy. Indeed, Gulliver finds that the only difference between himself and the Yahoo to be the Yahoo's lack of cleanliness and clothes; otherwise, a Yahoo would be indistinguishably human.
Part 4: Satirical approach In part 4, Swift's satire achieves its goal, and shows that the flaws of humanity are overwhelming, and let to continue, result in a total degradation of the humans. As the visited society" has an effect on Gulliver, he no longer can be said to function as a constant or impartial measure, however, this is the point that Gulliver's perceptions change, and so do his narrations, as a result, and through this Swift can convey his satire and social commentary.
Conclusion Taken on four voyages, Gulliver's ultimate travels are to a greater understanding of human nature and its flaws. After the first voyage, his image of humanity is little changed, likewise for the 2nd, although after this point, Gulliver's image steadily declines until the fourth voyage, when he meets the Yahoos. In this way, Swift presents his commentary on the human condition through Gulliver's Travels.
