IN THE ENGLISH LESSON
Gulliver ’ s Travels
Gulliver in Lilliput
Gulliver ’ s Travels , four-part satirical work by Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift , was published anonymously in 1726 as Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World . A keystone of English literature , it is one of the books that contributed to the emergence of the novel as a literary form in English . A parody of the then popular travel narrative , Gulliver ’ s Travels combines adventure with savage satire , mocking English customs and the politics of the day .
Summary
Gulliver ’ s Travels is a first-person narrative that is told from the point of view of Lemuel Gulliver , a surgeon and sea captain who visits remote regions of the world , and it describes four adventures . In the first one , Gulliver is the only survivor of a shipwreck , and he swims to Lilliput , where he is tied up by people who are less than 6 inches ( 15 cm ) tall . He is then taken to the capital city and eventually released . The Lilliputians ’ small size mirrors their small-mindedness . They indulge in ridiculous customs and petty debates . Political affiliations , for example , are divided between men who wear high-heeled shoes ( symbolic of the English Tories ) and those who wear low ones ( representing the English Whigs ), and court positions are filled by those who are best at rope dancing . Gulliver is asked to help defend Lilliput against the empire of Blefuscu , with which Lilliput is at war over which end of an egg should be broken , this being a matter of religious doctrine . Gulliver captures Blefuscu ’ s naval fleet , thus preventing an invasion , but declines to assist the emperor of Lilliput in conquering Blefuscu . Later Gulliver extinguishes a fire in the royal palace by urinating on it . Eventually he falls out of favour and is sentenced to be blinded and starved . He flees to Blefuscu , where he finds a normal-size boat and is thus able to return to England .
Gulliver in Brobdingnag
Gulliver ’ s second voyage takes him to Brobdingnag , inhabited by a race of giants . A farm worker finds Gulliver and delivers him to the farm owner . The farmer begins exhibiting Gulliver for money , and the farmer ’ s young daughter , Glumdalclitch , takes care of him . One day the queen orders the farmer to bring Gulliver to her , and she purchases Gulliver . He becomes a favourite at court , though the king reacts with contempt when Gulliver recounts the splendid achievements of his own civilization . The king responds to Gulliver ’ s description of the government and history of England by concluding that the English must be a race of “ odious vermin .” Gulliver offers to make gunpowder and cannon for the king , but the king is horrified by the thought of such weaponry . Eventually Gulliver is picked up by an eagle and then rescued at sea by people of his own size .
On Gulliver ’ s third voyage he is set adrift by pirates and eventually ends up on the flying island of Laputa . The people of Laputa all
IN THE ENGLISH LESSON
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