Gulliver

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Gullivers Travels
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satire

• a literary work that makes fun of a subject by
  ridiculing and demeaning it.

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Elements of Satire

• Must attack an institution (government, politics,
  religion, education ect)
• Must be humorous
• Must use responsibility (in other words it cannot
  outwardly mock anything that could damage the
  writers reputation or ruin the fabric of
  society)

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• There must be a clear target (it cannot be
  obvious though)
• Formal Language (if it does not have this it
  becomes slap stick comedy)
• Becomes like a private joke it involves
  sophistication and everyone may not get it

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• Usually uses irony and wit
• Usually uses a common medium could be a poem,
  debate, news report, short story etc.
• A good satire should make the reader/watcher
  think

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• Satires purpose is to bring about change!
• This makes it different from a Parody which
  simply makes fun of an individual or institution
  for comic effect
• Satire usually asks us to see what is around us
  and consider it.

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Satire in Gullivers travels

• Big Endians and Small Endians
• This refers to the argument with the country
  across the sea as to which side of the egg to
  break
• This is a reference to the warring between France
  and England over land and religion. Remember
  both are Christian countries, but one is Catholic
  and the other Protestant.
• The reference to the Emperor cutting his finger
  as he broke the egg, is an allusion to King Henry
  VIII (remember the King with all the wives,
  father of Queen Elizabeth) who created the Church
  of England and broke the Catholic hold on
  England.

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Emperor of Lilliput

• The Emperor is actually a satire of King George
  I.
• He is the ruler that succeeds the throne after
  Queen Anne and is ruling when Swift writes the
  novel.
• King George was actually German and gains the
  throne through marriage.

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Satire in Gullivers travels

• The High Heels and the Low Heels
• This refers to the political parties in England
  at the time Swift is writing. The High Heels are
  the Tories (remember this party believes in the
  power of the King and the church)and the Low
  Heels are the Whigs (the party that believes in
  having a parliament that checks the power of the
  king).
• The Emperor at one point favors the Low Heels and
  wears them himself.
• Eventually the Emperor wears one low and one high
  heal. This is a direct correlation to King
  Georges attempt to appears as not to favor one
  party over another.

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Elections in Gullivers Travels

• In Gullivers Travels, Gulliver witnesses a
  strange ribbon dance that is used to choose the
  next elected officials in Lilliput.
• Swift is commenting on the absurdity of English
  elections. While the people could choose who
  would represent them in Parliament, the King
  could buy votes of both the people and parliament
  by promising Cabinet positions, land and titles.
  In other words, the elections did not represent
  the will of the people but rather their greed and
  are as absurd as choosing a government based on
  their ability to dance.

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Gullivers Travels

• Published in 1726 anonymously
• Can be read on 2 levels
• An entertaining and inventive fantasy
• A satire that rises to deep moral indignation
  against what Swift refers to as the animal
  called man

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• Narrator is Lemuel Gulliver, a well-meaning but
  not very bright Englishman who describes whatever
  he sees with simple innocence.
• A gull is a term for someone easily fooled or
  gullible
• it is up to the reader to see the truths that
  Gulliver misses

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Use of Satire

• A Voyage to Lilliput the English politicians
  and court are made ridiculous by being reduced to
  scale.
• A Voyage to Brobdingnag the immorality and
  cruelty of English society
• Voyage to Laputa showy displays of learning
• Houyhnhnms intelligent and noble horses govern
  the yahoos, a breed of filthy, brutish humans