• Home
• Articles
• Essays
• Add site

Gulliver's Travels through Historical Prism

Gulliver's Travels through Historical Prism


Jonathan Swift was one of the British satirists of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He was very well known at the time he lived due to his political pamphlets and being a political journalist. Today most of the people remember Swift's name, when they hear title of his most famous book Gulliver's Travels. Nowadays this book is usually considered to be fairy-tale for children, though originally it was intended to something entirely different than simply a book for kids. Swift's desire was to write a satirical book about England: its political and general life. People that lived in the early 18th century didn't need much time to understand what the author wanted to show in his book, but today's readers first need some studying to do in order to understand some of the places in the book as they meant to be understood.

In Chapter III of Part 1 Gulliver describes few different aspects of Lilliputian society and few important things happen. Firstly, Gulliver describes how positions at the court of Lilliputian Emperor are assigned. "When a great office is vacant either by death or disgrace (which often happens) five or six of those candidates petition the Emperor to entertain his Majesty and the court with a dance on the rope, and whoever jumps the highest without falling, succeeds the office" (Swift 32). Secondly, Lemuel Gulliver describes some of the various entertainments, which are performed for the Emperor, like the parade of the Lilliputian army, which might seem for modern reader very weird. "He desired I would stand like a Colossus, with my legs as far asunder as I conveniently could. He then commanded his General … to draw up troops in close order, and march them under me..., with drums beating, colours flying, and pikes advanced" (Swift 36). Thirdly, Gulliver is finally set free by the Emperor.

Now let's look at the first part of the novel in more detail, though the prism of the early 18th century and Jonathan Swift's life, and then at this chapter itself. The Lilliputians symbolize humankind's wildly excessive pride in its own existence. Swift intends the irony of representing the tiniest race visited by Gulliver as by far the most vainglorious and smug, both collectively and individually. While the Emperor of the Lilliputians - tyrannical, cruel, corrupt, and obsessed with ceremony - probably, represents in a satirical way George I, King of England (from 1714 to 1727) and at the same time symbolizes the bad government. The Lilliputian Empress, possibly, is representing Queen Anne, who blocked Swift's advancement in the Church of England. In Lilliput there are two political parties – the Low-Heels and the High-Heels. They represent two British political parties Whigs and Tories, respectively. There are, also, two different groups among Lilliputs – Big-Endians and Little-Endians – that, most probably, represent different branches of Christianity (like Catholics and Protestants).

Now let's get a closer look at the Chapter III. Swift begins chapter with Gulliver describing some of the "inner" characteristics of Lilliputian political system. He first mentions how political offices become occupied. The main criterion for the Emperor is person’s ability to jump the highest without taking a tumble. Gulliver sees such a way of choosing politicians as ridiculous and arbitrary, by this Swift is, probably, intends this episode to be a satire of England's system of political appointments, which he is considering to be similarly arbitrary. From time to time chief ministers in the middle of their carriers are asked to show their skill, and they again have to perform the same action as when they got their positions.

Flimnap, the Lilliputian treasurer, is admired by others for his ability to jump "at least an inch higher than any other lord in the whole empire" (Swift 32). There is really big chance that he symbolizes Robert Walpole, the leader of the Whigs, who was Swift's enemy since he became a member of Tory after being with the Whigs for six years or so. Gulliver informs us that during one of such competitions "Flimnap would have infallibly broke his neck, if one of the King's cushions, that accidentally lay on the ground, had not weakened the force of his fall" (Swift 33). The King's "cushion" might represent George I's mistress, who helped Walpope in his return to power after a "fall".

So, this "hiring system" might be very injurious to many candidates, Gulliver has seen "two or three candidates break a limb". How does such a weird and dangerous practice can justify someone as being good enough to hold the office? Here again we come to absurdity of Lilliputian government system in the Gulliver's eyes, and of England's system in the Swift's eyes.

Let's now look at the Emperor in more detail. He, as previously was said, very obsessed with some sort of ceremonies and shows. The process of assigning positions at the court is one of them. Another one is only performed before Emperor, Empress, and first minister. Candidates are to undergo trial of dexterity very different from the "rope jumping". They have to go either above or under the stick that Emperor and/or first minister hold. Whoever does this the best receives blue silken thread, next one gets red one, and the third is reworded with the green. Swift uses these kinds of "shows" to make some parallel between the Lilliputian Emperor and George I. He also wants to compare Lilliputian ruler with the British monarchical system, mainly in the fact neither of them is willing to accept views of others easily, although both of the systems have some sort of advisors to the monarchs.

Jonathan Swift was politically active between 1707 and 1713. Till 1710 he was a secretary to Sir William Temple, who was a prominent Whig, consequently Swift himself was a member of Whig party. Whigs were pretty tolerant towards Catholics, while Swift favored representatives of the Anglican Church. This is why from 1710 till 1714 Jonathan was a member of Tory party, and one of the most influential members of the English government. As editor of the Tory party organ he was one of the most famous political journalists of the time. But in 1714, with the death of Queen Anne, Whigs got into the parliament and George I became King of England. That is what we see in the Lilliputian Empire: when the current Emperor (George I) succeeded the throne, he took administrative posts from the High-Heels and gave them to the Low-Heels (Whigs).

During entire chapter Gulliver hopes to be freed and tries to gain trust of the Lilliputs, but he definitely doesn't need to do this, because he can easily get away from them. Lilliputs as well don't realize own insignificance comparing to the Gulliver, even seeing that he is a thousand time greater than they are. Even when they free Gulliver, they do it with such a pride; they think they control him, but the truth is that Gulliver could escape whenever he wanted to and crash all of the Lilliputs. All these points make the document that Gulliver signs meaningless, because he can easily violate all of them without any concern for his own safety. In Lilliputs Swift satirizes people's tendency to think of themselves as of something really powerful and significant.

Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels can be seen by some people as pure fairy-tale for children, but, if someone will just make a little effort to understand what the author really wanted the readers to see, he or she will easily understand that there is much more than simple kids stuff in this novel. A person will see Swift's perception of the British political system in the early 18th century, most of which was shaped due to own experience. Through the very good use of the satirical tools to show political parties, monarchs, and humans' characteristics that he didn't like.




Works Cited

Greenblatt, Stephen (ed). Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th edition, Volume 2. New York: W W Norton & Co Inc, 1999.
Morgan, Kenneth O. The Oxford History of Britain. Oxford: Oxford Paperbacks, 2001.
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. London: Penguin Books, 1994.
"Swift, Jonathan." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. 18 Feb. 2006 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=7027>.

Posted by: Kate L. Rizal

Best Custom Writing Sites

Sites that provide custom writing services are better alternative to downloading pre-written paper samples, especially if you temporarily can't handle writing your own paper for some reason, and can not afford risking your course and reputation for plagiarism detection failure. The prices for custom written essays are affordable, but if you need 15-pages long master level report overnight, you better prepare to spend a noticeable sum.