On Satiric Skills in Gullivers Travels.docx

On Satiric Skills in Gullivers Travels.docx

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OnSatiricSkillsinGulliversTravels

OnSatiricSkillsinGulliver’sTravels

Ⅰ.Introduction

Gulliver’sTravelsisoneofthegreatestsatiricalworks,whichhasattractedreadersandcriticsfornearlythreehundredyearssinceitspublication.Anditsauthor,JonathanSwiftisalsoamasterofsatire.

1.1BriefIntroductionabouttheAuthorandHisWorks

JonathanSwiftwasborninDublinonNovember30,1667.Hisfather,anEnglishlawyer,diedbeforethebirthofhisson,whogrewuptobeagraduateofTrinityCollege,aTorypartymemberandahighlypoliticalwriter.SwiftservedassecretarytoSirWilliamTempleatMoorParkinSurreyfromtheyear1689to1695.AndSirWilliamTemplewhowasacourtier,statesmanandwriterhadthemostpowerfulinfluenceonSwift’sadultlife.ThetimeSwiftlivedinwasfullofchangesintheBritishpoliticalsituation.1688sawacoupde’tatinBritain,called‘TheGloriousRevolution”,anditwasendedupwiththecompromisebetweenthebourgeoisandthenobles,thefoundationofconstitutionalmonarchy.Andinsidetherulingclass,betweenthemajorparties—theWhigsandtheTories,inordertogetpowerandwealth,therewerealsoconstantcontradiction.

TheeighteenthcenturyinEnglishliteratureisanageofprose,andoneofthemostfamousandgreatestmastersinthefirstpartofthecenturywasJonathanSwift.Hislanguagewassimple,clearandvigorous.Hesaid:

“Properwordsinproperplaces,makesthetruedefinitionofastyle.”

Swift’sfirstnotableworks,TheBattleoftheBooks（thefullnameisAFullandTrueAccountoftheBattleFoughtLastFriday,BetweentheAncientandtheModernBooksinStJame’sLibrary）,writtenin1697butpublishedin1704,wasasatireuponbothpartiesandtheliteraryworldofthetime.Itwasnotamaturework,foritjustshowedsomebasicideasandstylesofSwift’sironicalallegory.Hisanothersatiricalmasterpiece,ATaleofaTub,publishedinthesameyearof1704,wasasatireuponthevariouschurchesoftheday.Itwasmorematureandseriousinhiswritingskills.Swift’spoliticalprosesarealsopopularandwellknown.In1729,AmodestProposal（thefullnameisAmodestProposal,forPreventingtheChildrenofPoorPeopleinIrelandfrobeingaBrudentotheirParentsorCountry;andforMakingthemBeneficialtothePublic）,oneofthemostaggressingsatiricalprosesinEnglishliteraturecameout.Swiftseemedtohavenodifficultyinfindingwordstoexpressexactlytheimpressionhewishestoconvey.Insimple,directandpreciseprose,SwiftwasalmostunsurpassedinEnglishliterature.

1.2MainIdeaandBackgroundKnowledgeoftheNovel

Gulliver’sTravelswasjustsetinthedarksituationinBritainwhichSwiftlivedin.WhathedescribedinthebookrespondedthingsandpersonsinBritainandEurope.Asamasterpieceofsatiricworks,manycriticshavegivencommentsondifferentaspectsofthework.Inthefirstthreevolumes,thesatirewasdirectedagainsttheEnglishpoliticalparties,philosophers,historiansandmenofsciences.Inthelastvolume,theclimaxofthebook,Swiftisattackingtheentirehumanrace.Heexposedthemostuglyaspectofhumanity,fromthefiguretothebehavior,andfromphysiologytopsychology.Therefore,Swiftandhisnovelhavereceivedattacksfromsomecritics.

ItwassaidthatGulliver’sTravelswastheoutcomeofan“assignedhomework”.AlongwithPopeandothergreatliteraryfigures,Swiftwasamemberofacertainclub.Thepurposeofthisclubwastosatirizethefoolishnessofmodernman.Eachmemberwasgivenatopic,andSwift’swastosatirizethecurrent“boom”intravelliterature.Thefinalresultwasthepublicationofthegreatwork—Gulliver’sTravelsintheyear1726.

Ⅱ.BriefIntroductionofSatire

SincethenovelofSwift,Gulliver’sTravels,isakeensatireuponthewholeBritishsocietyatthattime,inordertoanalyzethesatiricskillsofSwift’s,itisnecessarytoknowwhat“satire”isandwhatitsdefinitionis.

2.1DefinitionofSatire

AccordingtoAHandbooktoEnglishandAmericanLiterature,satireisaliterarymannerwithacriticalattitudewithhumorandwit.Thepurposeofsatireistoimprovehumaninstitutionsorhumanity.Truesatiristsareconsciousofthefrailtyofinstitutionsofhumandevisingandattemptthroughlaughternotsomuchtotearthemdownastoinspirearemodeling.Ifcriticssimplyabuse,theyarewritinginvective;iftheyarepersonalandsplenetic,theyarewritingsarcasm;iftheyaresadandmoroseoverthestateofsociety,theyarewritingironyorajeremiad.AsarulemodernsatiresparestheindividualandfollowsAddison’sself-imposedrule:

“topassoverasinglefoetochargewholearmies.”

Satireconsistsoftwomajortypes:

1.directsatire,inwhichthesatiricvoicespeaks,usuallyinthefirstpersonnarration,eitherdirectlytothereadersortoacharacterinthesatire.2.indirectsatire,inwhichthesatireisexpressedthroughanarrative.Charactersorgroups,whoarethesatirebuttareridiculednotbywhatissaidaboutthembutbywhattheysayanddo.Muchofthegreatliterarysatireisindirect;oneoftheprincipalformsofindirectsatireisMenippeansatire.Directsatirecanbefurtherdividedintotwotypes:

（1）Horatiansatire,whichisgentle,urbane,andsmiling.Itaimstocorrectbygentleandbroadlysympatheticlaughter.

（2）Juvenaliansatire,whichisbitingbitterandangry.Itpointswithcontemptandmoralindignationtothecorruptionandevilofhumanbeingsandinstitutions.AddisonisaHoratiansatirist,SwiftaJuvenalianone.

Forcenturiesthewordsatire,whichliterallymeans“adishfilledwithmixedfruits”,wasreservedforlongpoems,suchasthepoemsofJuvenalandHorace,Chaucer,Butler,PopeandLowell,Almostfromitsorigins,however,thedramahasbeensuitedtothesatiricspirit,andfromAristophanestoShaw,ithascommentedwithpenetratingironyonhumanfoibles.TherewasanotableconcentrationofitsattentiononHoratiansatireinthecomedyofmannersofRestorationAge.Butithasbeeninthefictionalnarrative,particularlythenovel,thatsatirehasfounditschiefvehicleinthemodernworld.

2.2FunctionofSatire

Ifthereaderswanttomakeclearthenovelthoroughlyanddeeply,itisnecessaryforthemtoknowtheauthor’swritingpurposefirst.ThewritingpurposeofSwiftistocriticizetheBritishsocietyatthattime.Therefore,allthewritingskillsSwiftemployedinhisnovelsuchassatiricskillsshouldserveasawaytoachievehiswritingpurpose.Thatistosay,thefunctionofsatireinGulliver’sTravelsisawayofcriticizingtheBritishsociety.

SwiftwasnotsatisfiedwiththecurrentsituationofBritishsocietyatthattime,butbecauseofsomehistoricalandpoliticalreasons,hecouldnotcriticizethesocietyorexpresshisdissatisfactiondirectly,therefore,hechoseanotherway.SwiftusedsatiretorevealthecorruptionofsocietyandexpresshisdisaffectiontowardtheBritishgovernment.SatireservedasapowerfulweaponforSwifttoattackthesociety,andthatwasthefunctionofsatireinGulliver’sTravels.

ⅢAuthor’sSatiricSkillsintheNovel

Becauseofthespecialhistoricalbackground,theauthorhademployedmanykindsofsatiricskillstoshowhispointofviewindirectly.

3.1Contrast

Byusingcontrast,theauthormadethedifferencemoreobviously,anditwasmucheasierforthereaderstomakesenseofSwift’ssatirictoneinthenovel.

3.1.1ContrastbetweentheMannerandContentofNarration

SwiftinvitedGulliverasthefirstpersontonarratethewholestories,whichmadehiswordsevenmoresatiric.Becauseforthemannerofthenovel,itwasadescriptionofGulliver’stravelstoseveralcountriesandregions,therefore,themannershouldbeformal.However,forthecontentofthenarration,itwas,onthecontrary,quiteridiculousandunimaginable.Forexample,inpartthree,whenGullivertraveledtoBalnibarbi,hewaspermittedtoseegrandacademyofLagado.Theauthormadealotofdescriptionofboththeacademyandtheprofessorsthere.FromGulliver’spointofview,hesawaman“withsootyhandsandface”,whohasbeen“eightyearsuponaprojectforextractingsunbeamsoutofcucumbers”.Fromthedescriptionofwhatthemansaidwecouldfindthathewassoconvincedthatfromthecucumberswecertainlycouldextractsunbeams,whichcouldbeusedtowarmtheairincolddays.However,itisknowntoeveryonethattoextractsunbeamsfromcucumberswasinfeasible.Anothertypicalexamplewasthat,whenGullivercontinuedtovisittheacademy,hesawanothermanwhose“faceandbeardwereofapaleyellow”and“hishandsandclothesdaubedoverwithfilter”.What’smore,theman’semploymentwasanoperationtoreducehumanexcrementtoitsoriginalfood.Fromthescientificpointofview,itwasthefunniestscientificproject.While,themanwas“themostancientstudentoftheacademy”whohasworkedonthisoperationfrom“hisfirstcomingintotheacademy”.Therewerecountlessexamplesintheacademy,whichshowedtothereadersthoseridiculousprojects.Butthosescientistsallinsistedontheiroriginalprojectsformanyyears.AndthescientistsoftheeighteenthcenturyinEnglandwerethetargetsofSwift’ssatire.Hemadefunofthesescientistsbecausetheydidnotserveforthepeople,butservedasatoolforthegovernment.However,thosescientificprogramscouldnotpromotethedevelopmentofsociety,buttohinderitsdevelopment.FromthiscontrastitisclearthattheauthornarratedthosefunnythingsinaseriousmannerinordertoshowushissatiricattitudetowardthosebogusscientistsoftheeighteenthcenturyinEngland.

3.1.2ContrastbetweenCharacters

Exceptthecontrastbetweentheman