Gulliver’s Travel, originally named ‘Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships’ is a satire novel published in 1726 by Irish writer Jonathan Swift. It consists of 4 parts, following the journey of Lemuel Gulliver to Liliput, land of the tiny folk; Brobdingnag, kingdom of giants; Laputa and Balnibarbi, where rulers rule from the floating island, as well as Luggnagg, an island of aged immortals, and Japan; and finally Houyhnhnms, ruled over by a cold and rational race of talking horses of the same name.

 This novel is an unapologetic critique of human nature, customs and preconceptions. Consider the human tendency to equate physical beauty with moral beauty, and contrast this tendency with the doll-like, vindictive Lilliputians and the ugly but compassionate Brobdingnag Gulliver met – what does this tell us? Also, based on the comments about European society and war by the wise and benevolent Brobdingnag king, what are your thoughts about the author’s opinions of the state of European government and the ongoing conflicts between religions? Through Gulliver’s interactions with the Houyhnhnms and Laputians, what opinion do you think the author has about rationality?

The book is also famous for openly mocking misogyny through its descriptions of women, e.g. when he described a Brobdingnagian woman – “no Object ever disgusted me so much as the Sight of her monstrous Breast, which I cannot tell what to compare with, so as to give the curious Reader an Idea of its Bulk, Shape, and Colour....” and the repeated use of the word “nauseous”. What do you see in Gulliver’s attitude and in the attitude of women towards him?