Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels is a satirical novel by Jonathan Swift, published in 1726.
The book follows Lemuel Gulliver through fantastical voyages—to Lilliput, where inhabitants are six inches tall; to Brobdingnag, land of giants; and elsewhere.
Swift uses these adventures to mock human nature, politics, and society.
The title now evokes any journey through strange or absurd circumstances: My day at the DMV was a real Gulliver's Travels.
- misanthropyHatred of humankind
- human follyMankind's tendency toward foolishness
- human natureInborn behavioral tendencies shared universally
- satireMockery exposing vice
- social commentaryAnalysis of societal conditions
fantasy · floating island · allegory · shipwreck · Lilliputians · little people · adventure · sea voyage · rationality · cultural relativism · voyages · political critique · utopia · colonialism · Jonathan Swift · travelogue · ethics · Swift
- Voyage StoriesOdyssey, Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island, Moby Dick, Life of Pi
- 18th Century WorksCandide, Pamela, Tom Jones, Dangerous Liaisons, Clarissa
- British novelsPride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist
- Satirical NovelsAnimal Farm, Candide, Catch-22, A Modest Proposal, Don Quixote
- Swift WorksA Modest Proposal, Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Yahoos
- Early NovelsDon Quixote, Pilgrim's Progress, Robinson Crusoe, Cassandra, Cleopatra
Gulliver's TravelsPollyanna
Excessively positive person
Pamela · Clarissa · Robinson Crusoe · Little Women · Anne of Green Gables