Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels - 1210 Words

The definition of a utopia is an imagined place or state in which everything is perfect. In book four of Gulliver’s travels Gulliver discovers a group of people called the Houyhnhnms and the group displays qualities of a possible utopia. The Houyhnhnms are very rational in their thinking, and try their best to stay away from entertainment and vanity. However the Houyhnhnms could not be considered creators of a utopia because they emphasized unrealistic rules and because of their treatment of the Yahoo people within their society. Instead it is the Lilliputians people who display the most signs of a potential utopia in Gulliver’s Travels. The theme of their being a possible utopia in Gulliver’s Travels can be seen throughout the†¦show more content†¦This self-importance is important to Swift’s satire in â€Å"Gulliver’s Travels† because even the smallest issue is made to be of great political and bureaucratic importance. To put emphas is on this theme in Swift, recalls that a war broke out between Lilliput and Blefuscu because of the proper way to break eggs after an Emperor many years before cut his finger on an eggshell. â€Å"Whereupon the Emperor published an edict, commanding all his subjects, under great penalties, to break the smaller end of their eggs. The people so highly resented this law, that our histories tell us there have been six rebellions raised on this account† (Swift 3253). This makes the issues that resulted in England seem equally as silly, especially because so much of the debate was based on how to interpret which end of the egg was the smallest. For the reader, the introduction to Lilliput sounds much like a smaller and more absurd England. As the description of the land and government continues it becomes clear that although the Lilliputians suffer from similar flaws that occur in English society like overbearing government, rebellions over minor issues, and over-regulating small aspects of life.Show MoreRelatedLockean Philosophy in Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels3527 Words   |  15 PagesAn Exploration of Lockean Philosophy in Gullivers Travels  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   Ricardo Quintana asserts in his study Two Augustans that even though Swift as a traditional philosophical realist dismissed Lockian empiricism with impatience, he recognized in Lockian political theory an enforcement of his own convictions (76). It may be argued, however, than when two contemporary authors, such as Locke and Swift, are shaped within the same matrix of cultural forces and events, they reveal through theirRead More English Society and Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels Essay1195 Words   |  5 PagesEnglish Society Exposed in Gullivers Travels  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   In Gullivers Travels, Swift takes us to many places that serve as a looking glass for the foibles of English society, but none of the places are as severe a censure of men as Houyhnhnmland. Here Swift has made a clear division of pure reason, embodied in the Houyhnhnms (maybe he was refering to horse sense), and raw passion, embodied in the Yahoos (which are coincidentally very manlike). Here Gulliver has to make the choiceRead MoreJonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels Essay4237 Words   |  17 PagesMadame Bovoary In the writings of the Jonathan Swift we can clearly see issues and concepts with regard to morality, ethics and relations come into play in our society and in Gullivers Travels, Swift brings those issues to the for front for everyone to see and analyze. The very concepts and beliefs that man holds dear Swift attacks and strongly justifies his literary aggression thought the construct of the society of the Houyhnahnms who truly leads a just and humane society that we as humansRead MoreEssay on Satirical Patterns in Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels932 Words   |  4 Pages Gulliver’s Travels:   Satirical Patterns  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jonathan Swift wrote a novel in 1776 called Gulliver’s Travels.   This novel along with all of his other writing followed a satirical pattern.   Because of Swift’s vast knowledge in politics he was capable of creating a masterpiece completely ridiculing the government found in England.   In Gulliver’s Travels, Swift brings us, the readers, to join him on journeys to worlds of complete nonsense.   These worlds are different ways that allow for SwiftRead MoreJonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels and Voltaires Candide: An Analysis739 Words   |  3 PagesThe author Joseph Conrad once remarked, Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men. In analyzing Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels and Voltaires Candide, it is intriguing and revealing how these male authors deal with women. Through understanding how these seminal works portray women one can gain the literary criticism tools to examine similar social issues in other texts. In Candide, there are repeated accounts of the sexual exploitation ofRead MoreEssay on Use of Satire in Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels729 Words   |  3 PagesEffective Use of Satire in Gullivers Travelsnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp; Jonathan Swifts story, Gullivers Travels, is a very clever story. It recounts the fictitious journey of a fictitious man named Lemuel Gulliver, and his travels to the fantasy lands of Lilliput, Brobdinag, Laputa, and Houyhnhmn land. When one first reads his accounts in each of these lands, one may believe that they are reading humorous accounts of fairy-tale-like lands that are intended to amuseRead More Personal Identity in Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels Essay1756 Words   |  8 PagesIdentity in Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels What establishes a person’s identity? What changes this personal identity? Psychologically, we have the ability to change our beliefs. Physically, our human bodies change. How do we frame the issue to better understand man’s inability to decipher his own self-identity, and more importantly, how do we know when and precisely where this change in identity occurs? Issues of personal identity are apparent in Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift. GulliverRead MoreEssay about Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels1664 Words   |  7 Pages Although Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift has long been thought of as a childrens story, it is actually a dark satire on the fallacies of human nature. The four parts of the book are arranged in a planned sequence, to show Gullivers optimism and lack of shame with the Lilliputians, decaying into his shame and disgust with humans when he is in the land of the Houyhnhmns. The Brobdingnagians are more hospitable than the Lilliputians, but Gullivers attitude towards them is more disgusted andRead MoreFigurative Language In The Third Book Of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels1579 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"And though I (†¦) understand all mysteries and all knowledge and have no charity, I am nothing.† /St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 13, 2 / Each of the four books of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels discusses one aspect of human nature. The discussions’ language is rather satirical than an earnest tone. The first book is about the physical aspect, the voyage to Brobdingnag focuses on the â€Å"Homo politicus†, the political man. The third book is about intellect, while in the landRead More Civil Laws and Religious Authority in Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels1269 Words   |  6 PagesCivil Laws and Religious Authority in Gullivers Travels  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In part one of Gullivers Travels, Swift present readers with an inverted world, not only by transplanting Gulliver to a land thats only a twelfth the size (a literal microcosm), but also by placing him into a society with different ethical and civil laws.   Swift uses these inversions not only to entertain the readers imagination, but more importantly, to transform our perspectives to understand alien worldviews (e.g. in part four