Satire is a literary device which is intended to reveal human follies.

The satirist is fed up

with the existing condition of society and intents to make complete overhauling of the social
structure using ironical expressions, witty remarks and conceits. Satires are of different
kinds which include irony, Sarcasm, Lampoon and caricature. 18th century provided a
fertile ground for the development of satire in England. The literature of the period was
entirely confined to the depiction of activities happening around the royal circle. Coffee
houses emerged as the significant power centres to discuss the political activities. Almost all
the major writers of this period took keen interest in the composition of satirical works.
Prominent among those being John Dryden, Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. Dryden
wrote the Hind and the Panther, Absalom and Achitophel, Pope wrote the rape of the lock
and Dunciad and Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver`s travels, A tale of a tub and The battle of the
books. They wrote basically political satires to express their dissatisfaction over the existing
socio-political condition of English society. Swift was a great scholarly genius .But his talent
was not recognized by English society. His soaring political ambition suffered immensely
with people with lesser talent enjoying significant position by virtue of their proximity with
the royalty His repeated urge to accord due respect was turned a deaf ear. This growing
ignorance of his genuine demands sown the seeds of dissent in him and he turned rebellious
against royalty for elevating those having lesser talent to high pedestal. Through his
successive works Swift has highlighted the corruption prevailing in various sectors and
brought the govt. to the dock for step-motherly treatment for his political opponents. Swift
was an staunch supporter of the whigs who were unfortunately voted out of power which
virtually sealed his prospect of a significant position. Through his successive works Swift
has expressed his grudge and despair for ignoring the rightful claims of the deserving one
or righteous people. His first book Gulliver’s Travels is a political satire in which he has
laughed at the social structure through the successive voyages of Gulliver which gives
credence to those having lesser talent and requires a complete overhauling .During his
voyage to Lilliput or the country of the dwarfs he misconceived himself to be the most
powerful person on Earth but on the next voyage to the brobdingnag he was reduced to the
status of a dwarf himself and was forced to read the writings on the wall. It gave a severe
jolt to his misconception .Gulliver realized his mistake. His voyage to hunhumland is even
more significant where human beings are treated as horses and the later serving as their
masters. This episode is a more bitter or pungent remark on the work culture of human
beings who are relegated to even a lower position of that of a horse .Swift is known for his
harsh comments. Sometimes the charges of cynicist were labelled against him which are
virtually the outburst of the ill treatment which he meted out in English society and he gave
a fitting reply by his harsh comments forcing the authorities to reconsider their decision
and come out from the false paradise in the larger interest of society. It is suggested that
Swift worked with the stroke of the hammer in order to make his voice heard. In a pamphlet
entitled The Modest Proposal Swift has made a very harsh comment over the growing
population of Ireland and suggested that the infants should be sent to the slaughter house to
be cut into pieces and served as a meal to the affluent classes in the restaurants. Besides
adding substantially to the royal exchequer this move will help curb the growing population
of Ireland.
Jonatthan swift use different satirical technique

Gulliver’s Travels as a political satire

Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" is a pure piece of satire where he satirizes party politics,
religiousdifferences, and western Culture as a whole in ways still relevant to today's world.
But whatwe find mostly after reading "Book-1" is that it is an allegorical representation of
Englishpolitics. In where Swift depicts the total political corruption beginning from 16th
centuryand ending with 18th [Link] of the forms of political satire is embodied in the
first culture that is met by Gulliver. InGulliver's first adventure, he begins on a ship that runs
aground on a submerged rock. Heswims to land, and when he awakens, he finds himself tied
down to the ground, andsurrounded by tiny people, the Lilliputians. "Irony is present from
the start in thesimultaneous recreation of Gulliver as giant and prisoner" (Reilly 167).
Gulliver is surprised"at the intrepidity of these diminutive mortals, who dare venture to
mount and walk uponmy body" (I.i.16). The Lilliputians are the embodiment of England of
the time period. TheLilliputians are small people who control Gulliver through means of
threats. "...when in aninstant I felt above a hundred arrows discharged into my left hand,
which pricked my likeso many needles; and besides they shot another flight into the air, as
we do bombs inEurope" (Swift, 24). England was a small country that had Europe
(represented by Gulliver)and many other parts of the world under their [Link]
encounters the ridiculous nature of war. His first encounter of war is in the form ofa dispute
over the way to eat an egg. A former king took the right of personal preferenceaway from
his people by telling them to eat the egg from the small end instead of the largeend. Swift
relates this trait to the situations where a dominant ruler oppresses nations. It alsoshows
how a simple, ridiculous act can bring forth war. The fight continues throughgenerations,
soon the people continued to fight without really understanding why. Some ofthe people
resisted, and they found refuge in Blefuscu, and "for six and thirty moons past"the two sides
have been at war ([Link].48). For Swift, Lilliput is analogous to England, andBlefuscu to France.
With this event of the story Swift satirizes the needless bickering andfighting between the
two [Link] vehicles of Swift's satire were the peculiar customs of the nation of Lilliput.
Themethods of selecting people for public office in Lilliput are very different from that of
anyother nation, or rather, would appear to be so at first. In order to be chosen, a man
must"rope dance" to the best of his abilities; the best rope dancer receives the higher office.
“ thisdiversion is only practiced by those persons who are candidates for great
employments andhigh favour at court”. While no nation of Europe in Swift's time followed
such an absurdpractice, they did not choose public officers on skill, but rather on how well
the candidatecould line the right pockets with money.

Gulliver also tells of their custom of burying "their dead with their heads
directlydownwards...The learned among them confess the absurdity of this doctrine, but
thepractice still continues" ([Link].60). At this point in the story, Gulliver has not yet realized
thatby seeing the absurdity of the Lilliputians' traditions, that he might see the absurdity
inEuropean ones. With this Swift satirizes the conditions of [Link] in the same
passage, we get Flimnap. According to Swift: “Flimnap, the treasure isallowed to cut a caper
on the strait rope at least an inch higher than any other lord in thewhole Empire" Here
Swift's model for Flimnap , the most dexterous of the rope dancers, wasRobert Walpole, the
leader of the Whig and an extremely witty politician. His officialposition was like that of
treasurers."The capering on a tight rope symbolizes Walpole's dexterity in parliamentary
tactics andpolitical intrigues” (C.H. Firth, book - Political significance of Gulliver's
Travels)Again in the chapter 3 the kings cushions represents the Duchess of Kendal, One of
Georgei’s mistresses, whom Walpole was believed to have bribed in order to return in
power in1721. Thus, Swift was particularly antipathetic towards the Duchess and enjoyed
satirizingWalpole because during his time political corruption reached the highest
peak-"Walpole's regime (i.e. systems of Government) was full of more political
corruption."(Professor M. Shamsuddin, Swift,s moral satire)Again in chapter 4 , book 1,
swift also narrates the folly of the religious war between Lilliputand Blefuscu to immediate
European politics-“ there ( in Lilliput) have been two strugglingparties in this Empire, under
the name of Tramecksan and Slamecksan, from the high andlow heels on their shoes, by
which they distinguish themselves."Here two Lilliputians parties stand for English political
parties. The high heels representTories, the low heels Whigs. These two massacre the
English soil both politically and byreligion. In Swift's voice- "we computed the Tramecksan ,
or High heels , to exceed us innumber; but the power wholly on our side" refers to the
succession of Whigs in 1714 (i.e. theHanoverian succession) though the Tories were large in
number. Here, it should bementioned that at first Swift was Whig and later joined the Tory.
Again the king wassympathetic to the Whigs. He used them to support Hanover against
France and appointedthem to official positions to strengthen his position against the House
of Lords. Thus theLilliputians empire, who is George i, wears low heels which is censured by
[Link], we can say, religion was a political issue during Swift's time. Owing to a
minorreligious issue there caused a serious conflict and it also results in the division of the
nationinto two political groups. Many lives were taken and many kings were to lose their
powereven their life was taken

Gulliver Travel As an political AllegoryJonathan Swift was born in 17 th century and he

contributed to the 18 th century prose by writing essays. Satire is the powerful weapon of
swift and he attacks thesocial institution of his times directly in his works. Apart from being
a man ofletters, swift was active in the politics of his time. King George-I those ruled
theBritish empire in those days. There were two powerful parties known as Whigs andTory.
The king George-I favored the Whigs and in the beginning Swift supportedthe king George-

I and also the Whig But later, he became the victim of the king’s

indifluence and anger, He then started writing for me Tories. Apart from the politics in
religions also, there was the constant conflict between Catholics andProtestants. Swift
started thinking negatively about everything and his cynicismcould be traced out from his
works. His satire is always sharp, sometimes bitterand it real pessimistic vision of
[Link] is something ill or corrupted or morbid in his satire. Unlike the
innocentharmless sunny satire of Addition and Steels, Swifts satire creates adverse effect
inour minds. In his pamphlet he recommends with ironic seriousness that every Irish
woman should produce children for the Englishman’s fable. Irois is a literary

device by which an author uses words or expressions in which he more or less theexact
opposite of what he intends to convey. Their very contrariness is intended toshock the
reader, while highlight their real meaning. Swift exposed the patheticstate of the Irish
peasant whose only solution to poverty would be able to see theirchildren as deli

cacies for the English nobleman’s fable.

Swift took the holy orders and was ordained a priest of the Anglian church. He

wrote a witty allegory on the religious controversy of the time entitled “ A Tale ofa Tub ”. An
allegory is a literary device which con

sists of the use of symbol toexpress a deeper meaning. Serious ideas are symbolically
conveyed satire througha simple fable or [Link] swift was cynical about women
and skeptical of human relationships, a biographical study reveals his deep attachment to
two young women, EstherJohnson and Esther Vanhomrigh addressed by him as Stella and
Vanessa. This private correspondence with Esther Thomson, published as a journal to
Stellareveals the depth of his affection and the warmth and humor of Swift - the man.

Swift’s greatest literary work is GULLIVER’S TRAVELS published in 1728although Swift

professed to hate the species called “man”, he loved individuals

GULLIVER’S TRAVELS, apart from its great merit as a classic for children, is a

satire on human nature though swift posed as a cynic and misanthrope and hissatire was
harsh and bitter, he was steadfast in his concern for humanity and was

st as a critic. The principle aim of GULLIVER’S TRAVELS INSTRUCTS

and correct through ridicule, irony and sarcasm. The book exposes with greatintensity, the
ugliness of human nature, the conceit, pride and cruelty but theunderlying tone is
consistently one of compassion a desire to instruct humanity and put them on the right path
of [Link] allegory is a literary prose or verse which is structured in such a way that
itsmeaning could be read on two levels - a primary or literal level and a secondaryand more
complex level. An allegory is defined as a narrative in which thecharacters plot, setting and
occasion while making sense in themselves also signifya second layer of meaning where
they point at another set of people, events and

setting either from me writer’s social thilier or recent historical events. It is a

figurative mode of representation where ideas are conveyed through symbolismand

metaphor. Swift uses satire to highlight the allegorical elements in his tales andthus the
allegory functions as an excellent vehicle of criticism of the EnglishGovernment and its
activities. The allegory and the satire, in a sense, areinterwoven in extricably and [Link]
books of eighteenth century politics of England see in the book, we can find asit is often
studied as political or historical [Link] character and action are based on historical or
political personages and [Link] work as a critical interpretative frame and in
historical and politicalallegories, characters and actions in the text present people and
events in real life.

Gulliver’s Travels is political allegory in which th

e text contains symbolicreference the actual people and events in eighteenth century
England. Allegory andsatire are closely interwoven one form serving the other. In short
allegory means asimple that can be objects, characters, figures or colour used to represent
anabstract idea or concepts. Swift uses this novel to criticize the political condition
ofEngland at the 18 th century.

Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is not merely the story of Gulliver’s Travels

visits to the four islands but it tells something more. Some critics interpret the workas a
political satire and also as an [Link] allegory is a story in which double meanings run
parallel through the text andthe verbal meaning or the surface meaning is not enough for
the full appreciation

of the work on hand. The verbelum reading of Gulliver’s Travels suggest that

Swift tells one thing and means another thing. The first voyage of the book isregarded as a
sustained political [Link] critics like Michael Foot, W.A. Speak, Sir Charles firth and
A.E. case inquired

into the nature of Gulliver’s Travels. They tried to identify the events and the personalities
of the voyage to Lilliput with those in Swift’s England. It was argued

by firth that the account of Lilliputian was written in 1714 and partly after 1720.

He sought to explain the incident of the Lilliputian queen’s indignation atGulliver’s Travels
effrontery in extinguishing the palace fire with his copious urinewith reference to the
established fact inapt Queen Anne viewed “ A Tale of a Tub ”

with great anger and never forgave Swift for writing it. Moreover, the character ofFimnap
refers to Sir Robert Walpole and his skill on the rope symbolizes

Walpole’s desclerity in parliamentary tactics and political intrigues while which

the cushion that broke his fall represents the Duchesses of Kendal, one of George-
Imistresses. The coloured threads represent the orders of Thistle, Bath and [Link]
allegory has been divided into four sections referring to four voyages of the protagonis

t. First voyage refers many allegories and in this voyage Gulliver’s visit

to the island of the word Lilliput suggests very small things. The dimension of size
is symbolic and the dwarfishness of Lilliputians’ stands for triviality and

shallowness of the E

nglish Society of Swift’s time. Swift uses the tern high

-heelsand law-heels and they refer to Whigs and Tories of his times. To be precised
lowheels stands for Whigs and high heels stands for Tories. Similarly Big Endiansstands For
Catholics and little Endian stand for [Link] second voyage, Gulliver visits the island
of Brobdingnag next to Lilliput of thisland and in this voyage also we can find many
allegories which is used by Swift toshow the real life style of people at that time in
[Link] ExampleIn the Brobdingnag, the people are giants and everything is magnify on
a largescale and Swift has again used the dimension of size to highlight the
imperfectionsand deficiencies of human beings. Gulliver is disgusted at the sight of a
womanfeeding her child. There is the long description of the abnormal size of the breast
ofthe woman and man Swift praises the normal size and fair skin of English [Link] part-III
of the book we come across parody of the royal society that pursuesstrange scientific
experiments. There is a satire upon the projectors who holdschemes and projects connected
to different fields. The members of differentsociety carry on the experiments must are
Miraculous and unbelieving. Swiftattacks on the so called scientific inventions and fears, the
damage done tomankind through these experiments. Sometimes Swift becomes most bitter
andcynic in his satire. His dislikes and hatred for modern civilization becomes intensein the
fourth part. He also starts hating himself for being a part and parcel of theEnglish Society of
his time and he depicts all these things in

GULLVER’S TRAVELS by using allegor There are also several allegorical references like, The
main events of the time were

the “South sea Babble, the return to

the of Walpole, the return from the exile ofBolingbrook, the removal of Carteret from the
English cabinet, the supremacy ofWalpole and the struggle over woods patent in Ireland. It
was the period of the end

of Queen Annie’s reigh and the beginning of th

e George-I who was a Whig presented as a law heel. The reference of the neighborhood state
Blefuscue standsfor France and there is always the fear of attack from the enemy kingdom.

Gulliver’s Travels is interpreted as a political allegory because many eve

nts refer

to real political events of Swift’s own time. When Gulliver puts out the fire in the

palace of Lilliputian empress by urinate, the empress gets energy with him anddecides
never again to use the palace. This reference refers to Queen Anne whowas
disgusted with Swift’s publication of “A Tale of a Tub” and Swift’s political

career was at stake. He could not get promotion to me higher office in the [Link]
Lord Balgolam was that chief enemy of Gulliver in Part-I and herepresents the Earl of
Nottingham in real life. It was the earl of Nottingham who

stopped swift’s promotion. Bolingbroke was in close contact with Swift

throughcorrespondence. Swift identifies Gulliver’s condition in Lilliput with the condition

of Bolingbroke who was wrongly accused of Treason and exiled from England. Infact
Bolingbroke stopped war between England and France. The character ofFlimnap the lord
Treasurer of Lilliput refers to Robert Walpole of England whoinvolved in politics intrigues.
The silken threads awards to winners in Lilliput referto English [Link] green
thread represent the order of the thistle revived Queen Anne and the redthread represent
the order of the Bath revived by George-I and the blue threadrepresents the order of Carter
Bestowed on Walpole. The character of Raldresal

refers to lord Carter. The king of Brobdingang proves to be Swift’s mouth piece

contemporary topics and when Gulliver visits the capital of Boarding and meets

the miserable beggar’s allusion refers Dublin beggars.

There are several allegorical referrer to life in the Royal court of George-I in thefirst section
of the novel. The Flippancy and hollowness of court life are satirizedthrough the Lilliputian
ministers and their antics. The punishment decreed forGulliver, name of putting out his eyes
and starving him instead of putting him to

death at once is curiously reminiscent of the crown’s decree on lord Bolingbrook

and the earl of Oxford. They were accused of high misdemeanor instead of hightreason and
hence escape the death penalty, for the sentence only entailed a loss of

their titlesss and estates Lilliput’s hostility toward and the battle with Blefuscu

brings to mind the antagonism between England and France at the time The lat
seventeenth century was also the age of scientific enquiry and religiousskepticism. Charles-
II was a patron of me arts and science. In 1662 he establishedthe Royal society which
carried out scientific experiments and encouraged thegrowth of other branches of learning
In the Grand Academy of Lagado and itsoutlandish experiments, Swift found an avenue for
satirizing the Royal society, itsexperiment and publications. The scholars and philosophers
of Laputa were soconcerned with theoretical abstraction that the practical aspects of
everyday livingwere completely over looked. Laputu is an allegorical representation of
thedevelopments with regard to science in the century. The experiments in theacademy of
Lagado and those practiced in the lands below such as building ahouse from its roof
downwards and the modern methods of cultivation only leavethe general populace
miserable and the country ruined. This does not however,stop the scientists from
continuing with their [Link] a political memory of European civilization, Swift
presents the aspects of warand the European propensity for destruction, particularly in the
parallels that one

can draw between Lilliput’s desire to enslave an already defeated Blefescu and the

strained relationship between England and France. He also indirectly criticizes the

arrogance of European imperialists who “civilized” through brutally and

oppression while masking their chief motive which was greed. Patterns of war
anddestruction are woven into the allegorical motif here to explicate the existing political
situation that swift is [Link] :

Swift clarifies the objective of his allegory in Gulliver’s Travels. He says that

through satire he aims at correcting the vices of his society. He intends to attackthe evil of
his society and thereby to wake improvement. He hopes the betterment

social life of his time. Thus the category the Gulliver’s Travels has basically a

moral purpose. At times Swift becomes very laud while conveying his message
butotherwise he is not didactic and he has treated the topic taken up most skillfullyand
delicately. And the parts have deep implications and cut sharp satire on thecorrupted
English society of the 18 th [Link] out the text Swift continues reminding the
England of his time. There aredifferences of opinions among the critics to what extent Swift
has used allegory in

Gulliver’s Travels. However there are many references that tally with the social political life
of the English society of Swift’s time and therefore us to figure out

today.