Modern Literature: Gulliver’s Travels
Modern Literature: Gulliver’s Travels
What is becoming of the world? A modernist author before writing would ask a similar question. Modernism often refers to a “movement towards modifying traditional beliefs in accordance with modern ideas” and Irish novelist Jonathan Swift has written works that question the very idea of human morality; he is best known for Gulliver’s Travels, a familiar story to young and old in which Lemuel Gulliver narrates his adventures in strange islands. , Not only was this novel meant for entertainment, but also it is full of his indignation and matters of concerns the author felt necessary to address. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Swift moved to England; since, he criticized English ideologies that are targeted in his novel. Mastering the art of satire, Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels portrays a work of modern literature in the eighteenth century by criticizing British government, emphasizing the pointlessness of domination and by stating the flaws of humanity and society in a relatively newer genre of a travelogue. Shipwrecked, Gulliver finds himself on the island of Lilliput tied down and made prisoner by its inhabitants; humans that are six inches tall. In Gulliver’s famous first voyage, Swift described England as being Lilliput; although relatively smaller in size and structure, it was a dominating force and had the potential to conquer other nations. There are two parties in Lilliput distinguished by the height of their shoes, the “high heels” and the “low heels”. Gulliver explains that, “his Majesty hath determined to make use of only low heels in the administration of the government” while “the heir to the crown, [had] some tendency towards the high-heels; [because] one of his heels is higher than the other”. Swift satirized the British government by creating a similar, yet ridiculous government system in Lilliput. The two parities of English government at the time were the Whigs and the Tories, of which, King
What is becoming of the world? A modernist author before writing would ask a similar question. Modernism often refers to a “movement towards modifying traditional beliefs in accordance with modern ideas” and Irish novelist Jonathan Swift has written works that question the very idea of human morality; he is best known for Gulliver’s Travels, a familiar story to young and old in which Lemuel Gulliver narrates his adventures in strange islands. , Not only was this novel meant for entertainment, but also it is full of his indignation and matters of concerns the author felt necessary to address. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Swift moved to England; since, he criticized English ideologies that are targeted in his novel. Mastering the art of satire, Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels portrays a work of modern literature in the eighteenth century by criticizing British government, emphasizing the pointlessness of domination and by stating the flaws of humanity and society in a relatively newer genre of a travelogue. Shipwrecked, Gulliver finds himself on the island of Lilliput tied down and made prisoner by its inhabitants; humans that are six inches tall. In Gulliver’s famous first voyage, Swift described England as being Lilliput; although relatively smaller in size and structure, it was a dominating force and had the potential to conquer other nations. There are two parties in Lilliput distinguished by the height of their shoes, the “high heels” and the “low heels”. Gulliver explains that, “his Majesty hath determined to make use of only low heels in the administration of the government” while “the heir to the crown, [had] some tendency towards the high-heels; [because] one of his heels is higher than the other”. Swift satirized the British government by creating a similar, yet ridiculous government system in Lilliput. The two parities of English government at the time were the Whigs and the Tories, of which, King