Gulliver’s Travels

Gulliver’s Travels (1726) is Jonathan Swift’s chief masterpiece. Upon its publication, the work became an instant bestseller, enjoyed by children for its sensational adventures, and chuckled over by adults who recognized the targets of Swift’s barbs. Gulliver’s Travels thrills the reader with tales of strange peoples and lands, while satirizing European culture, politics, law, science, and religion, and questioning of the roles of Nature and Nurture in the actions of Humankind. Swift manages this balance through the description of outlandish places and peoples, each representing aspects of European society that he wished to criticize. The tiny but arrogant Lilliputians stand in for England, while the giant Brobingnagians represent the battle between power and goodness in Humankind. The Laputians serve as an excuse to criticize abstract, theoretical science, while the Houyhnhnms illustrate the triumph of reason and virtue. Over the course of his travels, Gulliver awakens to an awareness of the limits and faults of the society in which he was born, ultimately becoming quite critical of his own people, a mental evolution Swift wanted the reader to experience through Gulliver’s eyes. We, likewise, invite you to take up Swift’s challenge. Features: Original Cover Art, Contextual Introduction, Annotations, Study Questions