The Satirical Transformation Of Gulliver Essay - 1154 Words

The Satirical Transformation of Gulliver Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is difficult to come to terms with for a multitude of reasons. The most immediate problem is that of genre. How may Gulliver’s Travels be categorized? It’s a fiction; it’s written in prose; it’s a children’s tale; it’s a comedy; it’s a tragedy; however, to say this is to say very little. Clearly it’s satirical, but that is not to say it’s a satire. Arther E. Case, for example, thinks that it’s not a satire: â€Å"it would be more accurate and more illuminating to call it a politico-sociological treatise much of which is couched in the medium of satire† (Four Essays on Gulliver’s Travels p. 105). In response to Case’s classification, I offer a question: what’s the purpose of formal specification if there are numerous imprecise labels to which this work may conform? Swift’s masterpiece should be entitled to its own donnà ©e; thus, for the sa ke of this essay, I will shy from all comprehensive forms of categorization. Instead, I’ll consider Gulliver’s Travels on its own terms, sui generis, to interpret its unique presuppositions, many of which are expressed satirically. By allowing Gulliver, an uncritical lover of man, to become a hypercritical hater of man, Swift has it both ways: Gulliver functions as both the object and instrument of satire (Four Essays on Gulliver’s Travels 106). Perhaps one could reduce Gulliver’s voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms by describing it as a carefully devised fable; however, thisShow MoreRelatedThe Quarrel Between Two Princes1590 Words   |  7 Pagesfour of Gulliver?s Travels, by Johnathon Swift, as Gulliver begins explaining the state of England to the master Houyhnhnm, and more specifically, why princes in England go to war with one another. This passage is of particular import because it marks a dramatic shift in both tone and character development in Gulliver. While much of part four of Gulliver?s Travels is a satirical portrayal of England and its institutions, this quote coalesces that satire with disdain and self-loathing on Gulliver?s partRead More Satire in the Eighteenth Century Essay790 Words   |  4 Pagesprestige, for his house had a door and several windows and his hall was actually draped in tapestry (Voltaire 19).   It is apparent that the use of the hyperbole, among other elements, played a cruc ial role in the potency of satire.    Satirical works can often be united by common themes.   Anti-feminism, governmental reform, religious dissension, peace, social perversity, duplicity, idiosyncrasy, and poverty are frequently highlighted in works of satire.   Jonathan Swifts novel Gullivers