The Power of Words in 'Gulliver's Travels'

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses the book, 'Gulliver's Travels' by Jonathan Swift. The paper focuses primarily on the power of the words that make up this famous literary work. The paper takes a look at the common point between Gulliver's conversation with the various people he encounters during his travels, Swift's irony, and the book itself being considered a fairy tale for children and a bitter satire of the government of England and of humankind as a whole at the same time.

From the Paper:

"The power of words in Gulliver's Travels cannot be totally elucidated if one does not pay attention to the strength of Swift's own message, through the scrutiny of satire, irony, sarcasm and humour, all of them hiding the true meaning of words and indulging in plays on words of all kinds. We will see that the power of the writer's words is to have multiple meanings -that is to say, Swift's words convey different messages, and their real significance is often hidden beneath the plainness of the style. Our analysis will try to highlight that satire and irony, even if they have limits in their turn, can be seen as the ultimate power of words in Gulliver's Travels."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Frank Brady, "Vexations and Diversion: Three Problems in Gulliver's Travels," in Modern Philology: A Journal Devoted to Research in Medieval and Modern Literature, Vol. 75, 1978, pp. 346-367.
• Arthur E. Case, "The Significance of Gulliver's Travels," in Four Essays on Gulliver's Travels, Princeton University Press, 1945, pp. 97-126.
• J. A. Downie, "Political Characterization in Gulliver's Travels," in Yearbook of English Studies, Vol. 7, 1977, pp. 108-120.
• Jenny Mezciems, "Swift's Praise of Gulliver: Some Renaissance Background to the Travels," in The Character of Swift's Satire: A Revised Focus, edited by Claude Rawson, University of Delaware Press, 1983, pp. 245-281.
• Frank Palmeri, Critical Essays on Jonathan Swift, G. K. Hall, 1993, pp. 1-10.

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