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 Assignment  Topic

 Gulliver’s Travels as an allegory

Name –Bhatt  Dhara Janakkumar

Roll No -06   MA-1

Year-2010-11

Submitted To–Ruchira madam

 

Gulliver’s Travels as an allegory

Preface: 

        Jonathan swift’s Gulliver's Travels is not merely the story of  Gulliver’s visit to the four islands but it tells something more some critics interpret the work as a political satire and also an allegory.

        An allegory is story in which double meaning run parallel throughout the text and the verbal meaning or the surface meaning is not enough for the appreciation of the work on hand.

The Desirability of Having a Historical Personality in one‘s mind:

        Gulliver’s travels contain a large number of allegories to contempary   political personality and events swift said,

“In describing the virtues and vices of mankind, it is convenient to have some eminent person in our eyes; from hence we copy our description”.

          Swift admitted that method of writing had a

“Though the present age may understand well enough the title hints we give the parallels we drew ,and the character we describe , yet this will all be lost to the text”

          Gulliver’s Travels was  most probably written during the period 1720-1725.Political allegory in this book are to the events of the end of queen Anne’s reign and to events during the reign of George-I.

England in the Disguise of Lilliput in part I of the Book :

        Reference to public events and public personality are most frequently in parts I and III of Gulliver’s Travels. The voyage to Lilliput in part I of the book contains the story of Gulliver’s shipwreck and his early adventures among the pigmies.  A Lilliputian lord tells Gulliver.

“We labor under two mighty evils a violent faction of home and danger of an invasion by a most potent enemy from abroad”.

        The Lilliputian lord goes on to refer to the two struggling parties, one party distinguished by its high heeled shoes the other by its low heeled shoes. The reference obviously is to the high church and law church parties or the Tories and the Whigs.

        The story of Gulliver’s first voyage becomes a kind of political allegory. The Emperor of Lilliput would in that case be a portrayal of George I who is a supporter of the Whigs by his determination to make use of only law heels in the administration of government ,and himself wearing heels lower than any member of his court.

        Finally, swift adds an ironical passage on the leniency and mercy of the execution which had taken place after the rebellion in 1715, and the précis of King George’s mercy which the government had published.

The Allegorical meaning of the Express’s annoyance with Gulliver:

        The incident of Gulliver’s extinguishing a fire in the apartment of the Lilliputian Empress relates to the circumstances in Swift’s own life. The Lilliputian Empress was filled with resentment at Gulliver’s action in extinguishing the fire by urinating upon it, and she decides never again to make use of use of that apartment.

        This incident is an allegorical representative of the fact that queen Anne was disguised with Swift’s ‘A Tale of Tub ‘, in spite of swift’s political service ,she could never be prevail upon to promote swift to a higher office in the church.

        Swift names of the Duchess of somerset ,the Archbishop of  York ,the Earl of Nottingham ,and Robert Walpole as his enemies.

Bolingbroke in Swift’s Mind:

        Another statesman who figures in Gulliver ‘s account of the circumstances and condition prevailing in Lilliput is Bolingbroke .Bolingbroke was very much in Swift’s mind in 1719 and 1720.

The Silken Thread in Lilliputian Symbolic of English Distinction:

        Then  there is the custom in Lilliput of awarding Silken threads of green ,red and blue colour agility in leaping over or creeping under a stick.

        The blue thread represents the order of the Garter which was bestowed on Walpole himself in 1726 ,after Which He become known to satirists by the title of  Sir Blue String.

Contemporary Allusion in the voyage to Brobdingnag:

        In the voyage to Brobdingnag there are n reference to actual Contemporary politics are only general .Some of the Institution and customs of Brobdingnag ara briefly described and praised ;for instance ,the brevity of the laws ,the cultivation of useful knowledge  rather than the simplicity of literary style in fashion .

        Gulliver has to admit that the working of the parliamentary government is vitiated by the method of selecting peer ,bishops and members of the House of common so that ,as that king points out , the original idea of the institution is,

“blurred and blotter by corruption “

The king of Brobdingnag as Swift’s Mouth piece on contempory topics :

             On most questions the king is not merely the mouthpiece of the Tory party but Swift and the opinion the king expresses are those which swift already stated in his pamphlets .

        Swift ‘s condemnation of gambling his complaint of  the neglected education of the upper classes , his theory of the best way of treating Dissenters and rooted animosity to lawyers ,all find expression of his letter  finds an epigrammatic opportunity crowd around the carriage and present .

“the most horrible show that while swift was entirely wrapped up in English political ,when he wrote part II of the book, Irish social condition were begging to occupy his thoughts when Part II was written “.

Part-II

Allegory  to political personality and Event :

        The book is stuffed with personal literary .and political allegory .On every page there are more or less abstruse reference which had a special meaning for the reader of Swift’s own time .For instance in part I. Lilliput and its diminutive people represent England ; Blefuscu is France ; Flimanp , the Treasurer , is Swift’s old enemy sir Robert Wa lpole   ,whereas Gulliver.

        It is now argued that incident represents the stopping of the terrible war against France by  unavoidable method , however deplorable those method might have been expression by the king in the following words;

“Whenever could make two ears of corn or two the blades of grass to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before ‘would do more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together”

        At the back of swift’s mind there is always the thought of Ireland .In a letter written in 1732,he made his meaning still clear .In that letters he wrote ;

“There is not an acre of land in Ireland turned to half its advantage ,yet It is better improved than the people ; and all these evils are effects of English tyranny ,so your sons and grand children will find it to their sorrow.”

 The Allusion to Dublin Begger:              

        Gulliver’s visit to the capital of Brobdingnage .As the carriage ,in which he and his nurse are being conveyed ,stops at a shop, the begger who were waiting for and.

Not Essentiai to know conditions in the 18^th century;

        Gulliver ‘s Travels ,it not essential to have social circumstances of the times of queen Anne. A knowledge of the political and social condition in some of the countries in the twentieth century would be enough to understand swift’s portrayal in Gulliver’s Travels of the various aspects of life in the eighteenth century.

                                   

Part III

Scientific allegory in part III :

        The scientific projects described in part III show Swift’s acquaintance  with a large variety of current projects and experiment and with the work of the members   of  the  royal society ,while the flying island owes something both to Gilbert’s theories of magnetism and the contempory  discussion arising in connection with Halley’s comet .

Political personalities in part I

        There are recongnizable elements of political allegory present in both part I and III, the allusion being to people and events in the England of Queen Anne and king George I

The neighboring kingdom of Blafuscu –is a thinly –veiled allegory of Bolingbroke’s fate subsequent to Queen ‘s death .It is also clear that Bolgolam points to the Earl of Nottingham and Flimnap to Walpole ,while Reldreasal  represents Charles .Viscount Townshend ,who succeded   Bolingbroke as Secretary of state .

Political Events in part I

        The fire in the Queen’s palace represents the war of Spanish successions ,and Gulliver ‘s extinguishing of it is the peace negotiated by Bolingbroke and oxford.

        The articles of impeachment draws up against Gulliver’s represent the charges made against oxford and Bolingbroke after the Queen ‘s death.

The political Allegory in part III

        The allegory of part I seems to have been carried forward in part III into the reign of George in I and to shadow forth the lamentable state of affairs brought to pass by the whigs.

        The character of Munodi was probably created with oxford in mind ,and the abandoned mill on his estate is very likely a symbol of south sea enterprise, established under oxford but going down to ruin under the whigs in 1720.