Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) Gulliver's
Travels (1726)
Things to Consider:
Satire
Irony
Political/Historical
Parallels
Court Machinations
Terms to Know:
Lilliputians (1215)
Brobdingnagians (1215)
Laputans (1215)
Houyhnhnms (1215)
Yahoos (1215)
Discussion Questions (See Part
Two and Part Four ): 1212:
In what
ways, according to the editors, can Swift be considered a
misanthrope? Explain.
Part
One: 1218-22:
Describe Gulliver's initial interaction with the
Lilliputians.
1229:
Explain the significance of the
rope-dancers.
1232-33:
Explain the conditions under which Gulliver achieves
his liberty.
1236:
What is the cause of the war
between Lilliput and Blefuscu?
What is the historical
symbolism of this conflict?
1239:
Explain: "Of so little weight
are the greatest services to princes, when put into the
balance with a refusal to gratify their passions" (1239).
1243:
Why is ingratitude considered a capital crime?
1247-48:
Explain the articles of impeachment against Gulliver
and their historical parallels.
1252-55:
How is Gulliver able to return home?
Other Discussion Questions:
1211:
Describe Swift's religious
affiliation.
Why did Swift switch from the
Whigs to the Tories in 1710?
1212-13:
In what ways, according to
the editors, is Swift's poetry "unpoetic"?
1215:
Explain: "The travels,
like a fairy story, transport us to imaginary worlds that
function with a perfect fantastic logic different from our
own"(1215).
Explain: "Swift exercises our
sense of vision. But beyond that, he exercises our perceptions
of meaning" (1215).
1216:
Where does Gulliver make what fortune he has?
1219-21:
What is the effect of his use of authentic
Lilliputian terms and expressions?
1223:
Explain: "I had been for some hours extremely pressed
by the necessities of nature" (1223).
Why is Swift being so frank in his descriptions?
1224:
Describe the Emperor.
Explain Gulliver's treatment of the six men who have
shot arrows at him.
1225:
Describe the different possible courses of action the
court considers for their treatment of Gulliver.
1226-27:
How many of the items discussed by the Lilliputians
can you identify? What are they describing?
1230
What might the cushion represent? Explain.
Explain the significance of the blue, red, and green
threads.
1231-32:
Why does the Emperor order his army to march under
Gulliver's spread legs?
1235:
Who do the Tramecksan and Slamecksan represent?
1237-28:
How does Gulliver defeat the Blefuscudians?
1238:
How does the Emperor respond to the victory?
1239:
Why does Gulliver interact on such friendly terms
with the ambassadors from Blefuscu?
1240:
Explain the problems associated with Gulliver's
saving of the burning palace.
1241:
Explain the Lilliputian laws regarding informers.
1242:
Why is fraud considered a greater crime than theft by
the Lilliputians?
Explain the images of Justice found in Lilliputian
courts of judicature.
1243-44:
Explain the Lilliputian system of education.
1249:
What punishment is ultimately resolved upon for
Gulliver?
Explain the discussion of the Emperor's lenity.
1251:
Why does Gulliver go to visit Blefuscu?
1252-53:
How long does he stay there? Why?
Part Four:
1261:
Why is
Gulliver so disgusted to learn what a Yahoo is?
1264:
How does Gulliver compare to
the Yahoos?
1271-72:
What conclusion does his
master draw from Gulliver's discussion of war?
1278:
How has
his interaction with the Houyhnhnms changed Gulliver's perception of humans?
1279:
What similarities does
Gulliver's master draw between the Yahoos of his country and
those of Gulliver's?
1291:
Why
must Gulliver leave the Houyhnhnms?
1298:
What is
Gulliver's stated purpose in writing of his travels?
1299:
Explain: "I never suffer a
word to pass that may look like a reflection, or possibly give
the least offense" (1299). How accurate is Gulliver's
self-assessment here?
1200:
Explain Gulliver's view of
British colonial practices.
1301:
What
one quality in Yahoos is Gulliver least able to endure?
Explain.
Other Discussion Questions:
1256:
Why does Gulliver's crew
revolt?
Why do they set him ashore?
1257-58:
Describe the Yahoos.
1259:
Describe the Houyhnhnms.
1263:
Why is Gulliver so
self-conscious about his description of his diet?
1265:
What is the etymological
meaning of "Houyhnhnm"?
Why does his master have
difficulty understanding the concept of clothing?
1267:
Why do the Houyhnhnms have difficulty
understanding the concept of lying?
1268:
Why does his master consider
Yahoos to have bodies ill-suited for the possession of reason?
1270:
Explain the discussion of
crime and vice.
1270-71:
Explain the causes of war
that Gulliver discusses.
1271:
Explain the "honorable"
practices of soldiers as described by Gulliver.
1272-73:
How does Gulliver describe
lawyers?
1274:
How, according to Gulliver,
does money provide an Englishman with "his choice of the most
beautiful females" (1274)?
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" (1274). Is Gulliver bragging here?
Explain.
1275:
How does Gulliver describe
the effects of alcohol?
1275-76:
How does Gulliver describe
the presence and effects of disease?
What are vomits, purges, and
clysters? What medical purpose do they serve?
1276-77:
How does Gulliver describe
ministers of the state?
1277:
How, according to Gulliver,
does one become chief minister?
What is an Act of Indemnity?
1278:
What, according to Gulliver,
"are the true marks of noble blood" (1278)?
1279:
Explain: "[R]eason alone is
sufficient to govern a rational creature" (1279).
Why do the Yahoos tend to
hate each other?
1281:
Describe the cure for Hnea Yahoo.
Describe the role of the
attendant to the ruling Yahoo.
1283:
Why, according to Gulliver,
are Yahoos unteachable?
Why are red-haired Yahoos
more libidinous and mischievous?
1284:
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.
1285:
Explain the Houyhnhnm view of marriage.
Explain the Houyhnhnm system of education.
1286:
Identify the subject of the
chief debate among the
Houyhnhnms. What issues are involved in this debate?
1287:
What course of action does
Gulliver's master propose regarding the Yahoos?
1290:
What are the principle
subjects of Houyhnhnm
discourse?
1291:
How does Gulliver come to
view his fellow humans?
1292:
How does Gulliver respond to
the news that he must leave?
1294:
What plan does Gulliver
develop upon his departure?
Descrive Gulliver's
adventures in New Holland.
1295-96:
Describe Gulliver's
interaction with the Portuguese.
1298:
How does Gulliver respond to
his reunion with his family?
Why does Gulliver purchase
two horses?
Part
Two (not in the 11th edition):
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?
and
