Gulliver’s Travels

Jonathan Swift is an Anglo-Irish satirist， essayist， political pamphleteer， poet and cleric. He is regarded by the Encyclopedia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language， and he is also known for being a master of two types of satire： the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. Swift’s greatest satire work， Gulliver’s Travels， was published in a 1726， which is considered to be both a satire on human nature and a parody of the \"travelers' tales\" literary sub-genre. The book became popular since it published， just like John Gay， an English poet and dramatist， said \"It is universally read， from the cabinet council to the nursery， for adults enjoy its irony and wit， and children interest in delightfully funny adventure tales of this book.

Gulliver’s Travels recounts the story of Lemuel Gulliver， a practical-minded Englishman trained as a surgeon who takes to the seas when his business fails. In a deadpan first-person narrative that rarely shows any signs of self-reflection or deep emotional response， Gulliver narrates the adventures that befall him on these four travels.

Gulliver’s first adventure begins in Lialliput when he wakes after his shipwreck to find himself bound by innumerable tiny threads and addressed by tiny captors. Latter， Gulliver is presented to the emperor， and eventually Gulliver becomes a national resource， used by the army in its war against the people of their enemy. But things change when Gulliver is convicted of treason for putting out a fire in the royal palace with his urine and is condemned to be shot in the eyes and starved to death. Gulliver escapes to Blefuscu， where he is able to repair a boat he finds and set sail for England.

Gulliver’s next sea voyage， which takes him to a land of giants called Brobdingnag. Here， all of people in Brobdingnag are giants. A farmer discovers him and initially treats him as little more than an animal， and he eventually sells Gulliver to the queen， who is entertained by his musical talents. On a trip to the frontier， accompanying the royal couple， Gulliver leaves Brobdingnag when his cage is plucked up by an eagle and dropped into the sea.

Next， Gulliver sets sail again and， after an attack by pirates， ends up in Laputa， where scientific research undertaken in it seems totally inane and impractical， and its residents too appear wholly out of touch with reality. After visiting the Luggnaggians and the Struldbrugs， the latter of which are senile immortals who prove that age does not bring wisdom， he is able to sail to and from there back to England.

Finally， on his fourth journey， Gulliver arrives in an unknown land. This land is populated by Houyhnhnms， rational-thinking horses who rule， and by Yahoos， brutish humanlike creatures who serve the Houyhnhnms. Gulliver sets about learning their language. He is treated with great courtesy and kindness by the horses. He wants to stay with the Houyhnhnms， but his bared body reveals to the horses that he is very much like a Yahoo， and he is grief-stricken but agrees to leave.

The 18th century is an age of Enlightenment. Many scientific discoveries were emerged with the effort of scientists， and rational spirits spread in the whole Europe， however， Gulliver’s Travels， unlikely mainstreaming literature at that time， is more likely the opposite of rationalism. The author wrote stories with fantastic imagination. Throughout vividly portrayal of local conditions and customs of Lilliput， Brobdingnag， Laputa and Houyhnhnme these four places， it is not so hard to find Utopian vision existed in this novel， Swift reflects then-European political and social condition， and depict his ideal kingdom in Utopian vision， For example， Lilliput represents England and European countries’ political corruption at that time. People in Lilliput are greed， selfish and lack of morality， while people in Brobdingnag are simple， honest and unspoiled. They lead in a simple life and feel comfort with their condition， just like ancient city-state citizens， strong and moral. Laputa is a Ireland where resident in such a group of people， such as king and his followers， who think about mathematic and musical problems all day which is far away from reality and hold a careless attitude to their wives and kids. It is said to be that Swift use these people to ridicule Royal Society of London at that time， and it also tells us Swift holds a skeptical attitude to science and rationalism. In Houyhnhnms. the roles between people and horse are reversed. The horse rules human. The Houyhnhnms seems like model citizens， while Yahoos is humble， cruel and lack of moral. Gulliver’s intense grief when he is forced to leave them suggests that they have made an impact on him greater than that of any other society he has visited. His derangement on Don Pedro’s ship， in which he snubs the generous man as a Yahoo-like creature， implies that he strongly identifies with the Houyhnhnms and feels disappointed by human. Houyhnhnms， indeed， is like an echo of Plato’s Republic where dreamed in the rejection of light entertainment. Throughout these four places， Swift used the Utopian vision to criticize then-society and build his “Republic

Gulliver’s Travels is a misanthropic anatomy of human nature； a sardonic looking-glass. Critics have suggested that Swift intended the novel to be both an attack on mankind and its follies and an honest assessment of mankind’s positive and negative qualities. It is also considered a critique of the greatest moral， philosophical， scientific， and political ideas of Swift’s time. The greatest and most lasting accomplishment of Gulliver’s Travels may be its ability to encourage readers of any society at any time to raise important questions about mankind’s limitations， how we can structure our institutions to bring out the best in people， and what it means to be human.

作者簡(jiǎn)介：

畢慕昀 女 湖南 常德 1993年9月28生 天津工業(yè)大學(xué)英語(yǔ)專業(yè)翻譯方向 300387