История литературы / 20. Jonathan Swift. Gullivers Travels

Swift wrote a lot of books. The main ones are “Battle of the books”, “Tale of a Tub”, “Gulliver travels”, “Modest proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden for their parents & country” etc. JS was a very educated man, eager to solve the same problem Defoe tried to solve-the problem of being plausible. Swift inherited from Defoe: to make his books credible Swift gives us true-to-life details or factual details, but if Defoe uses enumeration, Swift resorts to comparison as the main means for creating his images (when you r brought to a strane world, u r doomed to rely on comparison and feeling of proportion) Sometimes he compared things & events, belonging to the same class, sometimes he used analogy for comparing things from different classes, and very often he used contrast. He developed Defoe’s devices that were meant to create perfect credibility. At the same time his book “Gulliver’s travels” was as much popular among children as Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe”. This is even more surprising because reading this book one finds out that this is the most savage satire on human race. Ex-part 1-Lilliput,ch 2 *He is taller by almost the breadth of my nail, than any of his court; which alone is enough to strike an awe into the beholders. His features are strong and masculine, with an Austrian lip and arched nose, his complexion olive, his countenance erect, his body and limbs well proportioned, all his motions graceful, and his deportment majestic. *His dress was very plain and simple, and the fashion of it between the Asiatic and the European; but he had on his head a light helmet of gold, adorned with jewels, and a plume on the crest. He held his sword drawn in his hand to defend himself, if I should happen to break loose; it was almost three inches long; the hilt and scabbard were gold enriched with diamonds. His voice was shrill, but very clear and articulate; and I could distinctly hear it when I stood up. -In this description S uses measurmentand factual details,that make the picture very plausible. The picture is so detailed, bec Gulliver was a physician by trade. His choice of the ch-rs wad predetermined by the social background of that time. The end of the 17th cent-the beginning of the 18^th presented a great paradox. It was the beginning of Enlightenement and the thorough studiesof natura sciences. People invented a microscope,began to view the world as a system. At that time the representatives of natural sciences were not limited and narrow-minded,they were philosophers! They looked for the laws of existence. The idea of a microscope of a petty world created a vision of one of the greatest paradoxes in life-“the bigger-the better”. And really-whom we depend upon?who makes our life better in many cases?who causes sickness and disease?-answers are clear. These forms of existence think they dominate the worls, but Swift was the 1^st who noticed ALL forms of life-big people and small people, and other forms, that may seem fantastic to us. If Defoe relied on homely details,Swift relied on proportion to make the tale plausible. S was from Dublin(Irish by origin). The Irish always insist that all greatest writers born there. The life of Jonathan Swift was very unhappy. He was born several months after his father’s death. He graduated from the university with little credit & then compensated this by years of studies. His attitude to humanity was formed by the bitterness of his own expectations. It was his critical mind & the developing feeling of hatred for the humanity being an animal. His early books (“Battle of the books”, “Tale of a Tub”) describe humanity not at its very best. There he criticizes people`s vanity. In the tale of a tub-the human vice of hypocrisy. S used irony and satire. It was all about human being animal. “Gulliver Travels” appeared when Swift was already middle-aged & then he became famous almost immediately. “Gulliver’s Travels” speaks of 4 journeys made by the main character. It describes Gulliver’s voyages to exotic countries. He made use of the fact that his country-men were very much interested in traveling. (again social background) His intention was t to pack his ideals & satire into a case made of stories about different countries. That’s why his books are very much popular among children & his country-men swallowed up the most bitter & biting satire on the political, moral & social drawbacks (he masked his intention to protect it). Swift commented on life & compared these exotic countries to the life that people led in England (drawbacks). 1^st person singular makes the adventures plausible.The 1st voyage is the voyage to the country of Lilliput. people are very small & live in the world where practically everth is 12 times smaller than in real life (the exact proportion is observed; comparisons make the book life-like). After a shipwreck Gulliver reached the shore of a strange country & remained senseless. He was captured & spent several months among his captors. This very fact serves Swift to create the satire on his own country. The small size of the lilliputes gives Swift an opportunity to show the pettiness of their desires & by this contrast he manages to criticize all the political sides of life in GB. It’s court of George I, Wigies & Tories & the religious controversy of England. The High-heel are Tories, the Low-heels are Wigies. The Big-Endians & the Little-Endians are Protestants & Baptists (from which side to break the egg). In the 2nd part (The voyage to Brobdingnag) the device that Swift uses is quite opposite in direction but similar in function. This is his voyage to the country of giants, who are 12 times bigger than a human being. Gulliver is taken to the court as an insect – he learns the language – tells the emperor about his country – the Emperor wonders now such insects can be so blood-thirsty. This proportion enables Swift to show how ferocious human beings are & this gives Swift an opportunity to criticize the wars & the intention of Britain to conquer the world. S’s satire and allegory - mocking attack against vices, stupidities, and follies, with an aim to educate, improve. Allegory - Swift's most important satirical tool. ( a device in which characters, situations, and places have a significance that goes beyond simply what they are in themselves). Allegory, like satire, is used to teach. His satire is a complicated affair. He satirizes even the reader by creating a great tension between what is and what appears to be. ( "What do you really think, beneath your nice appearance, polite ways, and evidence of intelligence?") It's hard not to fall into Swift's trap..

Swift uses these two books to accumulate necessary details.Children were amused with these2 books.

The 3rd voyage is the voyage to Laputa – a flying island. The inhabitants of the island(immortal)are scholars who live on the taxes they impose on the population of towns that are below, because they had managed to install magnets & if people do not pay they can descend & crush the town. Here S probably satirizes Newton and his achievements in science. He shows that science can`t be for science`s sake. It is a satire on the epoch, because S hates rationalism and the pride of a human being at his being clever.

The 4th voyage is the voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms. The name of a country was invented to resemble the neigh of a horse, because this is the land of clever horses. Here Swift’s fancy runs ride.

S wanted to prove that clever horses were wise, honest, truthful, because they did not have pockets. They had no sense of money. They knew nothing about property. It did not guide their lives & they did not depend upon it. But there were the other creatures in the country – Yahoo-human beings without reason (brainless). All of a sudden Gulliver, a human being, comes to the country. Horses cannot accept G because he very much reminds them of yahoos, & yahoos can`t accept him because he looks too civilized. G’s superiority in reason is recognized by the clever horses & all of a sudden it causes much embarrassment. The horses cannot understand how a human being makes use of a reason. Horses did not know anything about cunning & wickedness. Finally horses r horrified and e verdict is that Gulliver is worse than a yahoo. Yahoo is a mirror, in which human nature must see itself. Horses lack emotions – they do not know what life is. They feel no sorrow at the death of their relatives, they marry according to the wishes of their parents, and they were perfect because didn’t have property. No pockets to store property. Yahoos-brainless,they didn’t know if they did smth wrong,human beings did everything intentionally. No way out in this book (there cant be any perfect society). *The concept of PRIDE-human being experience it when consider themselves the cleverest of all-it is criticized. Here-political criticism. He is not tolerant to corruption and other vices here. When G returns home he cant reproach his family (remind of yahoos) and feels comfortable only in the stable. In all the 4 books he criticizes the system of society organization. The political structures and institutions-brought to ridicule, but here his intention changed-his misanthropy here borders on insanity, because no sane person could invent such an attack on humanity. Jonathan Swift-obviously a genius. Swift argues through images, gives images to prove who is right & who is wrong. This device was absolutely new. He is very convincing. He uses & arranges facts like Defoe, but invents proportion, comparison, uses images, not words as arguments. Images-up to the place,we can`t but believe.