Gulliver’s Travels, Essay Example

Introduction

This paper explores the novel of Gulliver’s Travels and in particular Part 1: A Voyage to Lilliput.  We examine the authors use of satire and in particular how the novel satirizes the court of King George 1st of England.  The comparison of the Court of Lilliput to the English court is both compelling and profound and illustrates the literary skills of Jonathon Swift (author) at this time.  The story tells of the traveller “Gulliver” who becomes shipwrecked and washed ashore on the strange kingdom of Lilliput.  He awakes on the beach only to find that he has been captured by a race of midgets 1/12th the size of a normal human being.  The people are inhabitants of neighbouring rival countries of Lilliput and Blefuscu.  Once Gulliver assures the people of his good intentions and that he wishes them no harm he is released.  He later becomes a favourite of the King and court of Lilliput and the book focuses mainly on his observations of the court.

Gulliver assists the Lilliputians with their conflict against the Blefescuans and manages to steal their fleet of ships. The King then wants Gulliver to help enslave his enemies and make them a province of Lilliput.  Gulliver refuses to take this additional step which earns him the displeasure of the King.  The King tells Gulliver that he is treasonous and sentences him to be blinded.  With the help of a good friend Gulliver escapes to Blefuscu and it is here where he locates and retrieves an abandoned boat.  His voyage into the ocean sees him rescued by a passing boat and safely returned to England.

How did Swift use Gulliver to use the Court of Lilliput as a satirical example of King George 1sts Court ?  How was the author perceived at the time ?  What political points was Swift attempting to make in Gulliver’s travels ?  It is first necessary to understand the background of King George 1st and his court.

The Court Of King George 1st

King George 1st was a Saxon King and reigned in England from 1660 to 1727.  King George spent much of his time away from England presiding over his vast Hanoverian Estates in Germany. It was during his time that the power of the monarchy in England declined and towards the end of his reign the first real parliament was formed with a Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole. It was perhaps fitting that King George eventually died on his native soils of Hanover.  King George was ridiculed by his British subjects and intensely disliked because of his inability to speak the English language.  It was later discovered that in addition to speaking fluent German, French , Dutch and Italian, he actually did speak English and was able to write equally well.  He avoided this because of his disdain and contempt of his court and the people.  King George only came to Britain at 54 years of age because he was invited. He was always a King of Hannover and the people jeered and reviled him because of this.  ” In the satiric work of Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” and George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” both authors make a distinction between country vs. court or in Orwell’s case, country (people) vs. government.” (Anon).

Gulliver’s Travels demonstrates  the  satire of the country vs. court distinction by comparing English government to Lilliput.  At this time the English Government were controlled by the Whigs political party . Gulliver was illustrated as being a Tory, and the Lilliputians as being power-hungry Whigs. Cleverly he used the  heels of their shoes in order to identify both parties. In Lilliput the High-Heels represented the Tories and the Low-Heels represented the Whigs.  George I was known to favour the  Whigs, so the Lilliputian emperor favoured the Low-Heals. But the Prince of Wales favoured both parties, and thus the Lilliputian heir to the throne wore one High-Heel and one Low. In other words he was in decisive and could not make his mind up, thus bending with what ever wind prevailed at the time.  In learning about the Lilliputian Government Gulliver spotted  that their government officials were chosen by rope dancing. To Gulliver and the reader these practices seem ridiculous and idiotic, but to the Lilliputians they see these practices as normal. “Swift uses this scene to satire the British government at this time. The British government also elected their ministers in a same foolish manner.”  (Anon)

These political satires also need to be put in context with the Author who was born in Ireland  and gained an MA from Oxford University and later became an ordained  Minister in the Church of Ireland.  He had a profound dislike of the English political system and ” how British economic policies are keeping Ireland in a state of underdevelopment and poverty.”  (Fonseca).  The concept of the “absent landlord king” further frustrated him as the politicians’ had free reign over the political aspects of Ireland.  Swift was seen as a staunch supporter of the Whigs, however as the party started to distance itself from the Church, he conducted a pamphlet campaign against them  which they described as treasonous.  This moved Swift firmly over into the Tory party. With the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the Tories fell from favour and Swift  quickly returned to Ireland.  Swift served as  Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin for the remainder  of his life.  He was particularly bitter for 7 years until 1720 when he went on the offensive for several years before his death in 1745.

The Satricalwit of Swift

Throughout all four parts of Gulliver’s Travels the author demonstrates his mastery of the use of satire.  He demonstrates the use of all eight types ranging from parody, understatement, irony, hyperbole, sarcasm, invective, inversion and wit. ” In Gulliver’s Travels, Swift satirises monarchs, wars and political quarrels, which were all based on actual events of the early eighteenth century. Eventually, Gulliver comes to observe all of human nature as deplorable. Throughout his travels Gulliver represents the common man, which enables the reader to relate to him. He is often bemused by the strange customs and petty grievances which may be familiar to a contemporary reader.”  (Markham).

In the Voyage to Lilliput Swift uses satire to ridicule elements of British Society. Satire being defined as ‘ mock or exaggerated humour to slyly ridicule faults etc, adding a tone of sarcasm to the text. Here Swift uses this to great effect ridiculing British Society.  In particular focusing upon the triviality of war, a fickle government and an ungracious human society.  In the trivialisation of war  he depicted how both the British and Lilliputian engaged in warfare for the most petty of reasons. In Lilliput this is explained when Gulliver obtains his freedom; he explains the meeting between himself and Redresal.  Redresal, the Principle Secretary of Private Affairs tells Gulliver about the great war raging between the two nations of Lilliput and Blefuscu and the argument over which one shall break an egg before it is eaten.  The comparison of wars between Britain and European nations and the bitterness between England and Ireland, all fought over similar petty reasons.

Swift used Gulliver’s travels to explain another train of British Society, namely  humanity’s ingratitude.  An example of this in a  “A voyage to Lilliput” was where the Emperor’s wife’s apartment catches on fire.  Gulliver is aroused from sleep by the Lilliputians and asked to extinguish the fire.  In his keenness to assist he departs leaving his coat behind.  When at the fire he finds that the Lilliputians buckets of water are useless and without his coat to extinguish the fire he simply urinates on the fire.  Shortly after this incident he  leave Lilliput and travels to Blefuscu.  Upon arrival he is called upon by  a court official, and is told that he is charged with treason.  Further he is presented with details of his execution  (blinding); the charges being made for his display of public urination.  An incredible act of ingratitude from the  Lilliputians, which in turn satirizes and shows Swifts’ disgust at the way the aristocracy in British Society behaved.  Obviously influenced here by the treatment of the English towards the Irish people and George 1st disdain for the people of Britain.

Swift also introduces us to satire in his depiction of the arbitrary ways of the government.  He demonstrates this  in showing the manuscript when the Emperor entertains Gulliver, with particular reference to the  performance of “Rope Dancing.”  ” Rope Dancing is the Emperors method of selecting government officials.  The applicants must dance and jump on slender threads that are suspended a mere two feet above the ground.  Whichever dancer jumps the highest receives the position.”  (Dreaming).   This satirizes the arbitrary ways so typical of those positions bestowed in Britain.  Such positions all so often rewarded in accordance with social standing, favours to the aristocracy and in return for pecuniary benefits.  These unfortunate arbitrary  ways of the British government are successfully satirized in “A Voyage to Lilliput”, with the entrance test of rope dancing and the similar treatment or performance of acts in Britain.

The use of satire in  “Gulliver’s Travels” highlights a number of  faults with British Society at this time.   The first of these being the trivial and petty nature of warfare, explained by Swift in the dealings of the manuscript  where a war breaks out over which end an egg shall be broken.  This can be related to the war between Ireland and Britain, which was fought over religion. In fact the context may be further explored over the wars in Europe where religious interests were at the core of the argument.  The second concept relates to human beings lack of gratitude.  In “A Voyage to Lilliput”  where  Gulliver is charged  with urinating in public, despite the fact that this saved the Lilliputians by putting out the fire.  Finally, government positions were granted in Lilliput other than a meritorious process.  This can be related to the existing ways one may have obtained a government position at the time in Britain.  ” Swift certainly appears to be dealing with themes of a very adult nature. For example, he is questioning the inherent corruptibility of human beings. He is also examining the religious leadership and governments of European states. With this in mind, there are parallels to be drawn between Gulliver’s Travels and Voltaire’s  Candide, which was written some thirty years later. Both Voltaire and Swift have the same gritty satire and cynicism of human nature. ”  (Markham)

Conclusions

In telling the saga of Gulliver’s Travels Swift clearly elucidates in his satire the  social behaviour, pretensions and  societal behaviour patterns of the English aristocracy ” Ewald states that, “As a satire, the main purpose of Gulliver’s Travels is to show certain shortcomings in 18th century English society…”  (Galloway) . Most of the first voyage lampoons court intrigue and the arbitrary fickleness of court favour. The rank and favour of the Lilliputian ministers being dependent on how high they can jump over a rope literally illustrates this figurative point.

Gulliver falls out of favour  owing to the fact that he does not align himself with the Kings longing for more power.  The two political parties rivalry is  differentiated by the height of their heels.  Thus illustrating how little substantive difference there was between Whig and Tory.   “Swift also highlights the pretensions of politics by informing the reader of some of the laudable and novel ideals and practices of Lilliputian society such as rewarding those who obey the law, holding a breach of trust as the highest offense, and punishing false accusers and ingratitude, but shows that, like humans, even the Lilliputians do not live up to their own standards when they exhibit ingratitude for Gulliver’s help and accuse him of high treason. ”  (Markham)

Works Cited

Anon. Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” and George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” . 2009. 11 12 2009 <http://www.e-scoala.ro/referate/engleza_orwell_satire.html>.

Dreaming, Alaiya. An alalystical essay featured on the satire found in “A Voyage To Lilliput”. 24 11 2000. 11 12 2009 <http://mb.sparknotes.com/mb.epl?b=468&m=17675&p=2&t=49960>.

Fonseca, Gonalo. Jonathon Swift. 2008. 11 12 2009 <http://homepage.newschool.edu/het//profiles/swift.htm>.

Galloway, Shirley. Swift’s Moral Satire in Gulliver’s Travels. 1994. 12 12 2009 <http://www.cyberpat.com/shirlsite/essays/gulliv.html>.

Markham, Smantha. Jonathan Swift’s Tale of Incredible Voyages . 12 6 2009. 11 12 2009 <http://victorian-fiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/gullivers_travels>.