Comparing Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Terry Gilliam's Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Comparing Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Terry Gilliam's Adventures of Baron Munchausen

The tales of Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift, is a well known

story. For more then two and a half centuries, Gulliver's Travels has

been read by children for pleasure. Terry Gilliam's "The Adventures of

Baron Munchausen" is much the same. It can be compared to Gulliver's

Travels in many ways. "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" has been given

the subtitle "Gulliver Revived" for the following reasons; the adventures

both Gulliver and Munchausen partake, political hierarchy, and satire.

The adventures Gulliver experienced were much like those of Baron

Munchausen. The adventures of Munchausen, as well as the adventures of

Gulliver, were very outrageous. The stories described by both are hard for

the reader to believe. Although very entertaining, they are so farfetched

that one would find it difficult to consider as true.

Baron started off by telling his tales as he remembered them. He

took off in his hot air balloon in search of his magical friends. He first

went to the moon to look for Berthold. This was much like Gulliver's

travels to Lilliput, however, Gulliver did not go there intentionally.

Once on the moon, Munchausen set out to look for Berthold. He discovered

many things in his search. While being locked up for trying to romance the

queen, Munchausen accidentally stumbled upon Berthold. He then moved on to

search for the next of his companions. Munchausen fell off of the moon

into a vulcano where Vulcan, who was a Greek God, lived. He then sat down

to drink tea with Vulcan and discovered that Vulcan's servant was none

other then Albrecht. While in the home of Vulcan, Munchausen was

introduced to his wife, and fell in the love with the sight of her. Vulcan

saw this, disliked it very much, and became jealous. The same thing

happened to Gulliver, who had many enemies in Lilliput. Flimnap, Treasur

er of the Realm, long suspected, with absolutely no grounds, that Gulliver

was his wife's lover, "This Lord, in Conjunction with Flimnap the High

Treasurer, whose Enmity against you is notorious on Account of his Lady"

(Swift 56 ). Gulliver's enemies plotted against him, and accused him of

treason. Gulliver then fled from Lilliput.