Ready Reference Treatise: Gulliver's Travels

By Raja Sharma

“Gulliver’s Travels” by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift was first published in the year 1726.

The original title of the book was ‘Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships.’

“Gulliver’s Travels” is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the ‘travellers’ tales.’

The book is considered as Swift’s best known full length work. It is regarded as a classic of English literature.

It is said to have gained quick popularity right after its publication. In a letter to Jonathan Swift, John Gay wrote, "It is universally read, from the cabinet council to the nursery."

The book has never been out of print from the time of its first publication.

When it was first published, “Gulliver’s Travels” was declared a controversial book. It took Swift to have the entire original text published.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Mar 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301483945

Raja Sharma

Raja Sharma is a retired college lecturer.He has taught English Literature to University students for more than two decades.His students are scattered all over the world, and it is noticeable that he is in contact with more than ninety thousand of his students.

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Ready Reference Treatise: Gulliver's Travels

Raja Sharma

Copyright

Ready Reference Treatise: Gulliver's Travels

Raja Sharma

Copyright@2013 Raja Sharma

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Chapter One: Introduction

Gulliver’s Travels by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift was first published in the year 1726.

The original title of the book was ‘Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships.’

Gulliver’s Travels is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the ‘travellers’ tales.’

The book is considered as Swift’s best known full length work. It is regarded as a classic of English literature.

It is said to have gained quick popularity right after its publication. In a letter to Jonathan Swift, John Gay wrote, It is universally read, from the cabinet council to the nursery.

The book has never been out of print from the time of its first publication.

When it was first published, Gulliver’s Travels was declared a controversial book. It took Swift to have the entire original text published.

The editors have altered or removed many of the passages from time to time, particularly those passages which had more to do with bodily functions. Though those passages have been removed, the book still serves as a biting satire.

Jonathan Swifts accepts that the book is both humorous and critical, because it constantly attacks the British and European society through its descriptions of imaginary countries.

Gulliver’s Travels deals with a specific set of political conflicts, and only because of that the book is still in demand and widely read by the readers all over the world. It has never lost its charm.

The book has continued to retain its power because it depicts the human condition and its often despairing sketch of the possibilities for humanity to rein in its baser instincts.

Swift has drawn the sketches of the human behavior and human society so beautifully and so impressively that they can never lost their charm and time can’t affect them because they deal with the fundamental issues of any human society.

Chapter Two: Characters

Gulliver

Gulliver, the title character, is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. Through his detailed and vivid narration, it becomes quite evident that Lemuel Gulliver is a well educated and intelligent person.

In spite of being intelligent and educated, it comes to be known that his perceptions are naïve and gullible. He seems to have no emotional life, or at least he does not seem to be aware of the emotional aspects of life.

Most of his narration and comments are factual. At some places he becomes exaggerative and his verbiage becomes almost unbearable.

He presents what he sees through his own eyes in complete factual detail, but he does not see any kind of satiric connection between the lands he visits and his home country. He does not seem to be inclined to perceive the funny aspects of the realities he faces in those remote lands.

Owing to Gulliver’s simplicity and naivety, it becomes easy for the readers to pick on those points