Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Gulliver's
Travels (1726)
Things to Consider:
Satire
Irony
Political/Historical
Parallels
Court Machinations
Terms to Know:
Lilliputians (1084)
Brobdingnagians (1084)
Laputans (1084)
Houyhnhnms (1084)
Yahoos (1084)
Discussion Questions (See Part
Two and Part Four ): 1081:
In what ways, according to
the editors, can Swift be considered a misanthrope? Explain.
1085-87:
Summarize Gulliver's
complaints in the opening letter.
Part
One: 1091-94:
Describe Gulliver's initial interaction with the
Lilliputians.
1102:
Explain the significance of the rope-dancers.
1105-6:
Explain the conditions under which Gulliver achieves
his liberty.
1109:
What is the nature of the war between Lilliput and
Blefuscu?
What is the historical symbolism of this conflict?
1116:
Why is ingratitude considered a capital crime?
1120-21:
Explain the articles of impeachment against Gulliver
and their historical parallels.
1124-27:
How is Gulliver able to return home?
Other Discussion Questions:
1080:
Describe Swift's religious
affiliation.
Why did Swift switch from the
Whigs to the Tories in 1710?
1082:
In what ways, according to
the editors, is Swift's poetry "unpoetic"?
1084:
Explain: "The travels,
like a fairy story, transport us to imaginary worlds that
function with a perfect fantastic logic different from our
own"(1084).
Explain: "Swift exercises our
sense of vision. But beyond that, he exercises our perceptions
of meaning" (1084).
1088:
Explain the Publisher's note
to the Reader.
1088-90:
Where does Gulliver make what fortune he has?
1091-93:
What is the effect of his use of authentic
Lilliputian terms and expressions?
1096:
Explain: "I had been for some hours extremely pressed
by the necessities of nature" (1096).
Why is Swift being so frank in his descriptions?
1096-97:
Describe the Emperor.
1097:
Explain Gulliver's treatment of the six men who have
shot arrows at him.
1098:
Describe the different possible courses of action the
court considers for their treatment of Gulliver.
1099-1100:
How many of the items discussed by the Lilliputians
can you identify? What are they describing?
1102:
What might the cushion represent? Explain.
Explain the significance of the blue, red, and green
threads.
1104:
Why does the Emperor order his army to march under
Gulliver's spread legs?
1108:
Who do the Tramecksan and Slamecksan represent?
1110-11:
How does Gulliver defeat the Blefuscudians?
1111:
How does the Emperor respond to the victory?
Explain: "Of so little weight are the greatest
services to princes, when put into the balance with a
refusal to gratify their passions" (1111).
1112:
Why does Gulliver interact on such friendly terms
with the ambassadors from Blefuscu?
1113:
Explain the problems associated with Gulliver's
saving of the burning palace.
1114:
Explain the Lilliputian laws regarding informers.
Why is fraud considered a greater crime than theft by
the Lilliputians?
1115:
Explain the images of Justice found in Lilliputian
courts of judicature.
1116-17:
Explain the Lilliputian system of education.
1122:
What punishment is ultimately resolved upon for
Gulliver?
Explain the discussion of the Emperor's lenity.
1124:
Why does Gulliver go to visit Blefuscu?
1126:
How long does he stay there? Why?
Part
Two:
Discussion Questions:
1130:
Why does Gulliver's crew
leave the island without him?
1132:
Explain: "[N]othing is great
or little otherwise than by comparison" (1132).
1135:
Why is Gulliver so disgusted
by the sight of the mistress's breast? What does this
experience lead him to conclude about English women?
1145:
What is the source of Gulliver's conflict with the
Queen's dwarf?
1151:
Describe Gulliver's interaction with the
Maids of Honor. (By the way, is their title at all ironic?
Explain.)
1157-58:
How does Gulliver describe the government of
England?
1160:
What final conclusions does
the King draw about England?
1165ff:
Why is Gulliver eager to
escape Brobdingnag? How is he able to do so?
1169:
Why does Gulliver express reluctance to
write his story?
1171:
Describe Gulliver's response to seeing his
family again.
Other Discussion Questions:
1130:
Why is Swift providing so
many technical terms on this page?
1132:
Explain: "[H]uman creatures
are observed to be more savage and cruel in proportion to
their bulk" (1132).
Describe Gulliver's initial
interactions with the Brobdingnagians.
1134:
Describe Gulliver's interaction with the
master's son.
1136:
Describe Gulliver's interaction with the
rats.
Why, again, must Gulliver describe his difficulties
going to the bathroom?
1137:
What do Grildrig and Glumdalclitch mean?
1138:
Why is Gulliver taken into town on the
next market day?
1140:
What does Gulliver do in
Lorbrulgrud? What is the significance of this city's name?
1141:
Why is Gulliver so pleased to be purchased
by the Queen? Why is Glumdalclitch happy?
1142:
How does the King view Gulliver?
What is a lusus naturae?
1144:
In what ways is the King's
consideration of England "contemptuous"?
1145-46:
Describe the insects Gulliver encounters.
1147:
Describe Gulliver's interaction with the
beggars.
1153-54:
Explain Gulliver's interaction with the
monkey.
1154:
Explain the King's response
to Gulliver's
professions of bravery regarding the monkey.
1158-60:
How insightful are the King's
questions in response to Gulliver's description?
Why doesn't Gulliver include his responses to
the King's questions?
1160-61:
Explain: "I artfully eluded
many of his questions, and gave to every point a more
favorable turn by many degrees than the strictness of truth
would allow" (1160-61). What exactly is Gulliver saying about his own
country?
1161-62:
Why is Gulliver so disappointed that the
King does not accept his offer to teach him the secrets of
gunpowder?
1162:
What is the significance of
their laws' containing no more than twenty-two words?
1163:
What does it mean to draw
"lectures in morality . . . from the quarrels we raise with
nature" (1163)?
1164:
What three causes of war have
existed in Brobdingnang?
Part Four:
1219:
Why is Gulliver so disgusted
to learn what a Yahoo is?
1222:
How does Gulliver compare to
the Yahoos?
1229-30:
What conclusion does his
master draw from Gulliver's discussion of war?
1236:
How has his interaction with
the Houyhnhnms
changed Gulliver's perception of humans?
1237:
What similarities does
Gulliver's master draw between the Yahoos of his country and
those of Gulliver's?
1249:
Why must Gulliver leave the Houyhnhnms?
1256:
What is Gulliver's stated
purpose in writing of his travels?
1257:
Explain: "I never suffer a
word to pass that may look like a reflection, or possibly give
the least offense" (1257). How accurate is Gulliver's
self-assessment here?
1258:
Explain Gulliver's view of
British colonial practices.
1259:
What one quality in Yahoos is
Gulliver least able to endure? Explain.
Other Discussion Questions:
1214:
Why does Gulliver's crew
revolt?
1215:
Why do they set him ashore?
1215-16:
Describe the Yahoos.
1217-18:
Describe the Houyhnhnms.
1221:
Why is Gulliver so
self-conscious about his description of his diet?
1223:
What is the etymological
meaning of "Houyhnhnm"?
Why does his master have
difficulty understanding the concept of clothing?
1225:
Why do the Houyhnhnms have difficulty
understanding the concept of lying?
1226:
Why does his master consider
Yahoos to have bodies ill-suited for the possession of reason?
1228:
Explain the discussion of
crime and vice.
1228-29:
Explain the causes of war
that Gulliver discusses.
1229:
Explain the "honorable"
practices of soldiers as described by Gulliver.
1230-31:
How does Gulliver describe
lawyers?
1232:
How does money provide an
Englishman with "his choice of the most beautiful females"
(1232)?
1233:
Explain: "[T]his whole globe
of earth must be at least three times gone round, before one
of our better female Yahoos could get her breakfast, or a cup
to put it in" (1233). Is Gulliver bragging here?
Explain.
How does Gulliver describe
the effects of alcohol?
1233-34:
How does Gulliver describe
the presence and effects of disease?
What are vomits, purges, and
clysters? What medical purpose do they serve?
1234-235:
How does Gulliver describe
ministers of the state?
1235:
How, according to Gulliver,
does one become chief minister?
What is an Act of Indemnity?
1236:
What, according to Gulliver,
"are the true marks of noble blood" (1236)?
1237:
Explain: "[R]eason alone is
sufficient to govern a rational creature" (1237).
Why do the Yahoos tend to
hate each other?
1239:
Describe the cure for Hnea Yahoo.
Describe the role of the
attendant to the ruling Yahoo.
1241:
Why, according to Gulliver,
are Yahoos unteachable?
Why are red-haired Yahoos
more libidinous and mischievous?
1242:
What conclusions does
Gulliver draw after a female Yahoo accosts him while he swims?
Explain the importance of
reason to the Houyhnhnms.
Explain the Houyhnhnm
view of children.
1243:
Explain the Houyhnhnm view of marriage.
Explain the Houyhnhnm system of education.
1244:
Identify the subject of the
chief debate among the
Houyhnhnms. What issues are involved in this debate?
1245:
What course of action does
Gulliver's master propose regarding the Yahoos?
1248:
What are the principle
subjects of Houyhnhnm
discourse?
1249:
How does Gulliver come to
view his fellow humans?
1250:
How does Gulliver respond to
the news that he must leave?
1252:
What plan does Gulliver
develop upon his departure?
Descrive Gulliver's
adventures in New Holland.
1253:
Describe Gulliver's
interaction with the Portuguese.
1255-56:
How does Gulliver respond to
his reunion with his family?
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