Gullivers Travels Study Guide
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Gullivers travels study guide Continue Cummings Guides Home . Contact this site. ... Original name and byline. Gulliver's travels were originally called Travels to the remote nations of the world. The author was identified as Lemyl Gulliver, not Jonathan Swift. Swift refused to help herself not only to make the fictional Gulliver a real person, but also to protect himself from the wrath of the people he satirizes. Type of work .. Gulliver's Journeys is a novel of satire and adventure that has four main sections called books divided into chapters. A previous first book post from the publisher, Richard Sympson. He claims that Lemuil Gulliver is a real person known as Sympson. This message is followed by a letter to Simpson from Gulliver. Each of these prolegomen is, of course, fiction - the work of Swift's mischievous mind, designed to improve the realistic characteristics of his fictional narrator. Educated adults usually read the book as a satire on current events and social, cultural, religious political trends. Children usually read a book as an adventure story. The publication of the Expurgated and Unexpurgated Editions Book was published for the first time in 1726 in an abbreviated edition that removed excerpts deemed offensive. The second edition was published in 1735; it contains most, but not all, of the deleted passages. The third edition, containing the full novel, was published in 1899. Gulliver's Adventures in Journeys takes place between May 4, 1699 and December 5, 1715. Between 1715 and 1720, the fictional protagonist, Lemyl Gulliver, is rebuilt to life in England. In 1720 he began to write a report on his travels, and in 1727 he published them for publication. The action in history takes place in England, on the seas, on many strange islands, including in the air, and in various countries, including unknown and unknown. Characters. Lemuel Gulliver: English ship surgeon and accomplished sailor. Gulliver, the main character, tells about his travels on strange lands with amazing creatures and sights. He is one of five sons of a gentleman with a small estate in Nottinghamshire. Richard Sympson: A friend of Gulliver who writes an introduction to the story Gulliver says. Mary Burton Gulliver: wife of Lemuel Gulliver and daughter of Edmund Burton, hosiery. As long as Gulliver travels, she stays home. James Gates: A London surgeon under whom Gulliver studied medicine. Abraham Pannel: Captain Swallow, the ship on which Gulliver served as a surgeon for three and a half years. William Prichard: Captain Antelope, on which Gulliver travels to the East Indies. Lilliputians: Inhabitants of the country of Lilliput. They are no more than six inches tall. Their size symbolizes their pettiness and faint-naturedness government officials in England and other European countries. Emperor Emperor Lillyput: The ruler of Lilliputia, who calls himself under the August name Of Golbasto Momaren Evlame Gurdillo Sheffin Mulli Ulli Ge. He is a capricious ruler whose physical is represented by the intellect of his rule. He was compared to King George I of England (1698-1727), who ruled from 1714 to 1727. One of the main questions that concern the emperor and his subjects centers on which end of the egg to open the first, the big end or the small end. Those who argue in favor of the big end symbolize Catholics. Those who argue in favor of the small end, including the emperor, symbolize Protestants. Empress Lilliput: the emperor's wife. She loves Gulliver, but turns against him after he puts out the palace fire, choking on him. She represents the queen Anne (1665-1714), ruled England from 1702 to 1714. Anna became Swift's enemy after he published his irreverent Tale of the Pipe in 1704. Years later, she oppressed him by appointing him to the position of clergy in Ireland, not England. Skyresh Bolgolam: Lord Senior Admiral of Lilliput. After Gulliver helps the Lilliputians in their war against the blepkuskudians, Bolgolam, envious of Gulliver's success, becomes his enemy. Flimnap: Lord High Treasurer of Lilliput, who is highly skilled in dancing on a rope (actually a piece of white thread) sprawled above the ground. Flimnap becomes Gulliver's enemy. First, he says that the cost of meeting Gulliver's needs is a drain on the state's resources. Second, he accuses Gulliver of hanky-panky with his wife after hearing rumors that the woman had visited Gulliver privately. Flimnap represents one of Swift's political rivals, Robert Walpole (1676-1745), who became Britain's first prime minister. Walpole was a lim; Swift was a Tory. Reldresal: Secretary of the Lilliputian for Personal Affairs. Although he pretends to be a Gulliver supporter, he is plotting against him. Reldresal symbolizes the double deals of politicians. Blefuscudians: Inhabitants of the country Blefescu. They are similar in size to Lilliputians. They advocate the opening of eggs at the big end, in opposition to the position of the Lilliputians, and declare war on Lilliput. Betty: Gulliver's daughter. By the time he returns home from his first adventure in the land of the Lilliputians, she is married and has children of her own. Johnny: Gulliver's son. He is in a gymnasium at the time when Gulliver returns to England from Lilliput. John: Gulliver's uncle. He leaves Gulliver's estate, which gives 30 pounds a year, an amount that helps Gulliver support his family when he goes on another adventure after returning home from Lilliput. John Nicholas: Captain Adventure, a ship bound for western India, on which Gulliver is a passenger. Brobdingnagians: Inhabitants of the country Brobdingnag in the Arctic zone. They are as tall as church spires. that they are so great Gulliver can see all the flaws on on skin that repel him. However, unlike many rulers in Europe, they run an effective government and live an honest life. Their size symbolizes their governmental achievements. Brobdingnagian Farmer: The man who finds Gulliver in the field and takes him to the dinner table. King Brobdingnag: A capable ruler who contrasts sharply with corrupt officials in Britain. The queen of Brobdingnag: the wife of King Brobdingnag. She kindly treats Gulliver. Glumdalclitch: Nine-year-old daughter of farmer Brobdingnagian. She is small for her age - no more than forty feet tall. She is a kind child who takes care of Gulliver during his stay in Brobdingnag. William Robinson: Captain Hopewell, the ship that will take Gulliver to the East Indies. Laputans: Inhabitants of the flying island of Laputa. It is a race of scattered scholars and philosophers. Although they are well-ed in astronomy, mathematics and other subjects, they are woefully lacking in practical knowledge and are even trying to build a house from the roof down. Laputans represent dreamy idealists who cannot apply the theories they have promoted. King Laputa of the Balnibarbians: Inhabitants of the land of Balnibarbi. The Balnibarbi Projector Academy develops theories to improve society and apply them without testing them. The results are disastrous. Lord Munodi: Governor of Lagado, a town in Balnibarby. Unlike projectors, it uses only proven methods. The result is that he and the people he manages thrive. Governor of Glubdubib: The ruler of a tiny island of sorcerers and magicians. He has the right to call on any of the dead to serve him as he pleases within twenty-four hours. It allows Gulliver to choose the dead people to be called and interrogate them. Gulliver chooses Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Caesar, Brutus and others. Struldbrugs: Immortal people who continue to age, suffering endless sickness and infirmity. Robert Purefoy: Surgeon on the adventurer, the ship on which Gulliver is the captain. Mutineers: Doubtful people who take control of the adventurer, the ship that Gulliver captains. James Welch: The adventurer of the crew who informs Gulliver that the rebels are installing Gulliver ashore. Schnmns: Intelligent horses that create an exemplary society in which all members respect each other equally. They are so morally advanced that they never lie or hate. In fact, they don't even understand what lies and hate are. Yahoos: Ugly, disgusting creatures in the land of houyhnhmns. They live like animals, but they look like humans. They serve Houyhnhmns as an animal project. Houyhnhmns tells Gulliver that there was nothing that made Yahoos more odious than their indistinguishable appetite to absorb everything that came their way, whether it was herbs, roots, berries, damaged animals, or all mingled together: and it was peculiar in their character that they fonder of what they could get rapine or stealth, at a great distance, than much better food provided for them at home. If their prey is kept, they will eat until they are ready to burst; then nature pointed them to a certain root, which gave them a general evacuation. Don Pedro de Mendes: The Portuguese captain of the ship who rescues Gulliver and treats him well, helping him to return to England. Plot Summary by Michael J. Cummings... © 2005......... After serving three and a half years as a surgeon aboard Swallow, dr. Lemyl Gulliver returns to London. There he marries and receives patients. However, since his practice cannot support himself and his wife, he goes out to sea again to earn a living, this time for six years on two different ships. When he returns home again, he opens a practice at a new place and then another. Yet his business cannot prosper. He could overpay his patients, like most other doctors, and enjoy a comfortable life. But because he's honest, he refuses to do so. Instead, he signs up as a surgeon on another ship, Antelope, and leaves Bristol, England, on May 4, 1699, en route to the South Seas.