ferferferef

1183 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Jonathan swift modest proposal irony and humor

Satire in Gulliver's Travels

In the Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, he uses satire to criticize politics and humanity through the character Gulliver. Swift does this by satirizing humans through the Yahoos, poking fun the flaws of politics in Lilliput in correspondence to the British government, and showing the reader how disgusting human nature is through the eyes of Gulliver. This is significant because Swift is able to show that some of the actions of politics are absurd and have a negative impact on Britain. As well he is able to portray the flaws of humanity and how human nature is degenerating.
Throughout the narrative, Gulliver's encounter with the Yahoos is significant in the way that Swift satirizes human characteristics as a whole. This can be seen through the Yahoos desire to continuously fight with against other groups of people or even each other for no justifiable reason. The Yahoos also have immense greed for things that are not even that useful for them, or have no significant cause for them to posses in the first place, such as stones. They do however want those things as it equivalent to them as jewellery for humans. The Yahoos are used as an example of human greed and selfishness. The Yahoos are not visually appealing to Gulliver as he describes how he feels about them in his first encounter with them, In this journey, Gulliver clearly does not like the Yahoos and Swift satirizes the fact that it is odd that Gulliver is so disgusted by the Yahoos considering how close they are to humans. Gulliver is a human being who does not like a human-like race that is not human. He does not like that they are greedy, selfish, and violent, which is ironic because that is exactly how people of his own race act.
Sa...

... middle of paper ...

...rupt and immoral. As Gulliver realizes this, so does the reader, as Swift's hate for human nature is revealed through satire.
In the Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, satire is used to make the readers think critically about the world and the lifestyles of humans. Gulliver's criticism of the Yahoo's shows the intent of human to make fun of other humans just because everyone is different in some sort of way, and he satirizes this because it is not right. He shows the flaws of politics and its ability to negatively influence the life of the people who live under those rules. Finally Swift uses satire to show the reader how horrible human nature is, and to acknowledge that humanity is corrupt. Jonathan Swift's clever use of satire allows the reader to acknowledge the problems of the world, and see things from a different point of view, rather than their own.

Show More
Related

  • Lamuel Gulliver

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jonathan Swift is one of the best known satirists in the history of literature. When one reads his works, especially something like Gulliver’s Travels, it is easy for one to spot the misanthropic themes, which emerge within his characterization. Lamuel Gulliver is an excellent protagonist: a keen observer, and a good representative of his native England, but one who loses faith in mankind as his story progresses. He ends up in remote areas of the world all by accidents in his voyages. In each trip, he is shipwrecked and mysteriously arrives to lands never before seen by men. This forms an interesting rhythm in the novel: as Gulliver is given more and more responsibility, he tends to be less and less in control.

    Read More

  • Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels

    4236 Words  | 9 Pages

    ...lity for what it is but also gives me motivation to either make the world a better place. Through his writings he gives us a choice that I feel is vital and has the abilities to distinguishes his readers from good and evil, the just and unjust. This is a form of writing in relation to all societies that I have never seen before and I feel that it is vital for all to read Gulliver's Travels so that they can look within themselves and see who they are as individuals. Overall, it is my opinion that Jonathan Swifts works on Gulliver's Travels exemplifies a true literary masterpiece. It gives us a true description of society and how we as individuals interact with on another. It tells us of our "corrupt lawyers, politicians, avaricious doctors, mass slaughters in wars over trivial pretexts-aspects of our experience as well as of Gulliver's and reminders that this narrative Gulliver's and his experiences implicates the reader in the moral problem of how to judge-and perhaps how to change-society. In all there is a lot to learn from these writing and tell us a lot about society and how we as individuals need to gain a better understanding our ourselves as well as society as a whole.

    Read More

  • Juvenelian Satire in A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    Effectively ushering change in society or pointing out faults that have existed and gone unnoticed can be a daunting task for any social commentator. Often, blandly protesting grievances or concerns can fall upon deaf ears and change can be slow or non-existent. However, Jonathan Swift in his pamphlet A Modest Proposal, uses clever, targeted, and ironic criticism to bring the social state of Ireland to the attention of indolent aristocrats. He accomplishes such criticism through satire, specifically Juvenalian satire. Swift’s A Modest Proposal stands as an example of the type of satire that plays upon the audience’s emotion by creating anger concerning the indifference of the voice created. He complements such criticism with sophisticated, clever language which may be mistaken for the more docile Horatian satire. Yet, this urbane voice, coupled with irony and the substance of the proposals accentuates Swift’s motive to use anger as a force for action. Through his absurd/humorous proposals, stinging irony, and use of voice, Swift effectively portrays A Modest Proposal as a Juvenalian satire designed to stir emotions concerning the social state of Ireland.

    Read More

  • Sarcasm and Irony in Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal

    1501 Words  | 4 Pages

    Therefore, before an analysis can continue, one has to make the assumption that this is strictly a fictional work and Swift had no intention of pursuing his proposal any further. One of the other voices that is present throughout the entire story is that of sarcasm. In order to understand this further, a reader has to comprehend that Swift, becoming infamous after Gullivers Travels, was a member of the upper-class. Right from the first paragraph, Swift attempts to fool his readers by the sarcasm of the dreary scene that Swift presents. For example, he mentions that it is a melancholy sight to see beggars and their children on the street.

    Read More

  • Satire: Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason

    1466 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mad Magazine, The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live. In our society, satire is among the most prevalent of comedic forms. This was not always true, for before the 18th century, satire was not a fully developed form. Satire, however, rose out of necessity; writers and artists needed a way to ambiguously criticize their governments, their churches, and their aristocrats. By the 18th century, satire was hugely popular. Satire as an art form has its roots in the classics, especially in the Roman Horace's Satires. Satire as it was originally proposed was a form of literature using sarcasm, irony, and wit, to bring about a change in society, but in the eighteenth century Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and William Hogarth expanded satire to include politics, as well as art. The political climate of the time was one of tension. Any criticism of government would bring harsh punishments, sometimes exile or death. In order to voice opinions without fear of punishment, malcontented writers turned to Satire. Voltaire's Candide and Swift's Modest Proposal are two examples of this new genre. By creating a fictional world modeled after the world he hated, Voltaire was able to attack scientists, and theologians with impunity. Jonathan Swift created many fictional worlds in his great work, Gulliver's Travels, where he constantly drew parallels to the English government.

    Read More

  • Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels

    1624 Words  | 4 Pages

    Past the political satire and laughable motifs in the book Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, the purpose of this story is to show everything ignoble and tactless of the human species in general and that humans are truly disgusting. Also exploring the idea of a utopia. Swift uses the literary device of political satire to show how childish and ignorant human acts were. This is because during Swift's time in the eighteenth century, Britain was modernizing at this time. The reader follows the four narrative travels of the main character, Lemuel Gulliver. Each of the four voyages Gulliver has traveled to, is a different society that portrays one of the main ideals of the eighteenth century in Britain. The four places Gulliver has traveled to were Lilliput; being Gulliver's first voyage, Brobdingnag; his second voyage, Laputa; the third voyage, and lastly to the land of the Houyhnhms; being his last voyage and afterwards traveling back home to England. The experience from being exposed to these four societies has had a huge impact on how Gulliver now sees humans.

    Read More

  • Themes Of Gulliver's Travels

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    By looking at Gulliver’s Travels, one can see that Jonathan Swift included the themes human understanding and individual vs. society because men tend to overthink their work focusing too hard on it making them forget about the small things that make us enjoy life, and the feeling of being alienated from many groups when you are just being yourself. All which he had dealt with in his life first handedly experiencing the dark areas of politics, education and religion.

    Read More

  • Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels - Yahoos and Houyhnhnms

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the fourth voyage, Swift presents a case study for opposing states of nature, with the Yahoos representing the argument that man is governed by his passions, seeking his own advantage, pursuing pleasures and avoiding pain, and the Houyhnhnms representing the argument that man is governed by reason. If this is the case, then Swift’s misanthropy was such that he saw men as the foul and disgusting Yahoos, and made it plain that reform of the species was out of the question. A major fault with this theory is that it leaves no place for Gulliver. When attention is drawn to the figure of Gulliver himself, as distinct from his creator, Swift, he is taken to be the moral of the story. If you can't be a Houyhnhnm you don't need to be a Yahoo; just try to be like Gulliver. The trouble with this idea is that when taking a closer look at Gulliver, he isn't worth emulating. The final picture of him talking with the horses in the stable for four hours a day, unable to stand the company of his own family, makes him look foolish.   Another theory is that Gulliver made a mistake in regarding the Houyhnhnms as models to be emulated: so far from being admirable creatures they are as repulsive as the Yahoos. The Yahoos might be ruled by their passions, but these have no human passions at all. On this view, Swift was not advocating, but attacking reason.

    Read More

  • Satire

    2526 Words  | 6 Pages

    “Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own” (Swift). Such beholders, as Jonathan Swift astutely emphasizes, are intended, through guidance of satiric narrative, to recognize social or political plights. In some satires, as in Swift’s own A Modest Proposal, the use of absurd, blatant exaggeration is intended to capture an indolent audience’s attention regarding the social state of the poor. Yet even in such a direct satire, there exists another layer of meaning. In regards to A Modest Proposal, the interchange between the voice of the proposer and Swift’s voice introduces another medium of criticism, as well as the opportunity for readers to reflect on how well they may fit the proposer’s persona. In such as case, the satire exists on multiple levels of meaning—not only offering conclusions about moral problems, but also allowing the audience to an interpretation of their place among the criticism.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Feminism In Gulliver's Travels By Jonathan Swift

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this book you see many examples of how Swift uses Gulliver to express how he felt repulsed towards women. Jonathan Swift references to the body of women and their sexuality, which morally degrade women, and can come off very controversial to women as Swift is corrupting the view of women. Swift often attacks women and their physical characteristics, showing disgust towards them. Simple bodily functions of a woman being exaggeratedly described as disgusting sight. Gulliver expresses his views on how he hates females and considers them inferior to males. He envisions women as dirty animals, who tend to be ignorant, and full of

    Read More

  • English Satire in Gulliver’s Travels

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    One example of satire against the English society in Gulliver’s Travels is the political affairs of the Lilliputians. The Lilliputians to gain a high ranking office “competed for them by dancing on a rope for the entertainment of the emperor” (Orwell). The rope dancing is a direct shot at England’s election system, comparing it to doing ridiculous activities that have nothing to do with politics. Also, Jonathan Swift satirized the English Parliament directly by modeling Flimnap, a Lilliputian politician, after England’s first Prime Minister, Robert Warpole.

    Read More

  • Political Allegory in Gulliver's Travels

    415 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gulliver's Travels is a great novel written by Jonthan Swift. It is about voyages of Gulliver-main character-to different countries. Gulliver's Travels is a political allegory of England at Swift's time. the word allegory means a simple that can be objects, characters, figures or colors used to represent an abstract idea or concepts. Swift uses this novel to criticize the political condition of England at the 18th century and to make a satire of the royal court of George 1 . Gulliver's Travels has established itself as a classic for young people. Its appeal to young minds is due to the fact that it is, on the surface, an adventure story of strange wonderful lands. As a matter of fact, it is taken by the mature reader as an allegory work of England at Swift's time.

    Read More

  • Jonathan Swift's Influence on the Age of Reason

    1742 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jonathan Swift was one of the greatest satirist of all time. He is most famous for piece, Gulliver’s Travels. Swift’s works and lifestyle reflect the Humanities of The Age of Reason, thus giving the reader a glimpse of the common man’s life during this time. He was a very intelligent man who had a wide imagination. He faced some struggles in his life, but they never interfered with his mind.

    Read More

  • Abuse of power in Gulliver's travels

    1700 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels presents a narrator, Lemuel Gulliver, who recounts his various sea voyages to fantastical lands. During each voyage, Gulliver encounters different societies and customs to which Gulliver must adjust to. in order to be accepted into their society The entire novel serves as a commentary on how people everywhere have a tendency to abuse the power given to them.

    Read More

  • Political Themes in "Gulliver's Travel"

    1257 Words  | 3 Pages

    As one can see, Gulliver’s Travel is a good example of Swift’s idea of the English government. The novel satires the way the English government was superficial through the Lilliputian society and the type of government England should had through Brobdingnagians society. Swift was able to make a social statement through his utopia to “push an ideal, ideology, or political demand to its logical extreme in order to make it serve as a warning for society.” (A Novel Approach to Politics pg.21) The utopia served as a satirical comedy to reach out to England to show the mistakes of government.

    Read More

More about ferferferef

Open Document