Gulliver's Travels: A Signature Performance by David Hyde Pierce
Summary
Jonathan Swift's classic 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels is one of the most famous and influential works of English literature. This satirical masterpiece follows the fantastical voyages of Lemuel Gulliver to strange lands populated by tiny Lilliputians, giant Brobdingnagians, impractical academics, and noble talking horses. Through Gulliver's adventures, Swift discusses human nature and satirizes European society and politics. While often adapted as a children's story, the original novel contains biting social commentary and dark humor aimed at adult readers. The most famous film adaptation is the 1939 animated version produced by the Fleischer Studios.
Plot
In Jonathan Swift's satirical novel Gulliver's Travels, the protagonist Lemuel Gulliver embarks on four voyages to fantastical lands. On his first voyage, Gulliver is shipwrecked and finds himself in Lilliput, a country of tiny people. He becomes involved in their politics and wars before escaping. His second voyage takes him to Brobdingnag, a land of giants, where he is treated as a curiosity and has several adventures before returning home.
Gulliver's third voyage involves several stops, including the flying island of Laputa and Glubbdubdrib, where he can summon historical figures from the dead. In Luggnagg, he encounters the immortal but miserable struldbrugs. On his fourth and final voyage, Gulliver discovers a land ruled by intelligent horses called Houyhnhnms, who keep humanoid creatures called Yahoos as servants. Gulliver comes to admire the rational, simple lifestyle of the Houyhnhnms and grows to despise humans, seeing them as comparable to the brutish Yahoos.
Upon returning home after his fourth voyage, Gulliver has difficulty readjusting to life among humans. The book ends with him living as a recluse, preferring the company of horses to people. Through Gulliver's adventures, Swift satirizes various aspects of human nature and society, including government, science, and human pride.
Themes
• Satire of human nature and society
• Exploration of moral relativism
• Critique of political systems and institutions
• Examination of reason vs. emotion
• Tension between individual and society
• Dangers of unchecked scientific progress
• Development of misanthropy and alienation
Setting
Jonathan Swift's satirical novel Gulliver's Travels takes place in the early 18th century, during a time of British colonial expansion and scientific advancement. The story unfolds across multiple fictional lands that Gulliver visits on his sea voyages, each representing an exaggerated version of European society and human nature.
The fantastical lands that Gulliver explores span the globe, from the tiny kingdom of Lilliput near Sumatra to the giant realm of Brobdingnag on the northwest coast of North America. Other locations include the flying island of Laputa over the Pacific Ocean and the country of the Houyhnhnms in the southern Atlantic. Swift uses these diverse settings to satirize different aspects of European culture, politics, and philosophy.
Within each land, Swift creates detailed societies and environments that serve as mirrors to 18th century Europe. The miniature Lilliputian court parallels the pettiness of British politics, while the impractical experiments in Laputa mock scientific institutions like the Royal Society. The idyllic Houyhnhnm society provides a stark contrast to human civilization, allowing Swift to critique the very foundations of reason and morality in his contemporary world.
Characters
• Lemuel Gulliver: The protagonist and narrator. An English surgeon and sea captain who embarks on four fantastical voyages.
• Mary Burton Gulliver: Gulliver's wife, who remains in England during his travels.
• Emperor of Lilliput: The tiny ruler of Lilliput, who initially welcomes Gulliver but later turns against him.
• Empress of Lilliput: The emperor's wife, who dislikes Gulliver after he urinates on the palace to extinguish a fire.
• Flimnap: The Lilliputian treasurer, often interpreted as a satire of British politician Robert Walpole.
• Reldresal: A Lilliputian friend to Gulliver who warns him of plots against him.
• Farmer of Brobdingnag: The giant farmer who first discovers Gulliver and exhibits him as a curiosity.
• Glumdalclitch: The farmer's 9-year-old daughter who cares for Gulliver in Brobdingnag.
• King of Brobdingnag: The giant king who keeps Gulliver as a court curiosity and discusses European politics with him.
• Queen of Brobdingnag: The king's wife, who is amused by Gulliver.
• Lord Munodi: A lord of Balnibarbi who shows Gulliver around and explains the land's odd customs.
• Gulliver's Houyhnhnm Master: The rational horse who takes in Gulliver and teaches him about Houyhnhnm society.
• Don Pedro de Mendez: The Portuguese captain who rescues Gulliver and treats him kindly, despite Gulliver's misanthropy.
Quick facts
• David Hyde Pierce, famous for playing Niles Crane on Frasier, narrates this Audible version of Swift's classic novel.
• The book was originally published in 1726 under the pseudonym Lemuel Gulliver.
• Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels as a satire on human nature and a parody of travelers' tales popular at the time.
• The novel is divided into four parts, each recounting a different voyage to fantastical lands.
• The Lilliputians Gulliver encounters in Part I are only about 6 inches tall.
• In Part II, Gulliver travels to Brobdingnag, where he is a miniature person among giants.
• Swift invented several fictional languages for the novel, including Lilliputian and Brobdingnagian.
• The flying island of Laputa in Part III satirizes impractical scientific theories and experiments.
• In the final part, Gulliver meets the rational horse-like Houyhnhnms and the brutish humanoid Yahoos.
• The term “yahoo” meaning an uncouth or rowdy person entered the English language from Swift's novel.
About the author
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet, and cleric who became one of the foremost prose satirists in the English language. Born in Dublin, Swift was educated at Trinity College and later became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral. He is best known for works such as Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, and A Tale of a Tub, which showcase his biting wit and satirical style.
Swift's writing often employed pseudonyms and anonymity, allowing him to freely criticize politics and society. He was a master of both Horatian and Juvenalian satire, using techniques like irony, exaggeration and parody to expose human follies and vices. His most famous work, Gulliver's Travels, ostensibly a children's fantasy, is actually a scathing critique of human nature and Enlightenment philosophy.
Though he began his career aligned with the Whigs, Swift later became associated with the Tory party. He was deeply involved in politics of both England and Ireland, using his pen to influence public opinion on issues like England's relationship with Ireland. Swift's pamphlets, such as the Drapier's Letters, protesting British economic policy in Ireland, helped cement his reputation as an Irish patriot.
In his later years, Swift suffered from Ménière's disease and possibly other mental afflictions. He died in 1745, leaving much of his fortune to found a hospital for the mentally ill in Dublin. Swift's literary legacy is profound - his incisive satire and innovative style influenced countless writers after him, and works like Gulliver's Travels remain widely read today. He is remembered as one of the greatest satirists in English literature, whose sharp wit exposed the flaws and hypocrisies of his era.