《-格列佛游记--》的批判性分析(英文版).doc

《 格列佛游记 》的批判性分析
A C ritica l A na lysis of Gu lliver’s

T ravels

Abstract: B ased on Gulliver’s four voyages in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels this paper ana2
lyzes the au thor’s satirical view of the state of European governm ent and religions, and inquiry into the
corruption of men and his desire to establish a harmonious and democratic Houyhnhm - like society.
Key words: satirical; Houyhnhm - like society; Gu lliver’ s Travels

The nam e of Jonathan Swift is one of the very
greate st nam es in English literature, and The Ta le of
a Tub and Gu lliver’s Travels are two of the greatest
sa tires in the English language.
Jonathan Swift wa s born of English parents in
Dublin in 1667 and becam e a product of Irish cul2
ture and learning. He was educa ted a t the Kilkenny
School and Trinity College in Dublin, and becam e
an a ssistant to author and dip lom at SirW illiam Tem 2
ple. He left this position after Temple died in 1699
to earn his priest’ s ordination. He worked as a
clergyman in Ireland, traveling throughout the Unit2
ed Kingdom , and exp loring his frustrations with so2
c iety through his w ritings. He wrote about the pover2

ty he saw among the peop le, the typical daily life of
city folkand the p roblem s he w itnessed in the social
order. It is this w riting that makes Swift one of the
most renowned satirists of English soc iety and B ritish
history. He believed that social conventions were
outdated and m ust be changed, and qualities of
m ind ( and not physical beauty) should be the foun2
dations of love. He also found a heavy interest in
politic s, taking up weight in the Tory party of Eng2
land’ s governm ental party system. F rom such ob2
se rvations in government and religion, and love and
gender inequality, Swift produced an enormous body
of work. H is writings fall into several categorie s, in2
c luding poetry, short stories, political essays, and
novels. In 1742, he was dec lared of unsound m ind,
and died in 1745 in Dublin.
①作者简介 : 李 　江 , 云南大学大学外语教学部讲师 (云南 昆明 ,
Gu lliver’s T ra vels is the immortal work of Jon2
a than Sw ift. The book becam e trem endously popula r
as soon as it was published in 1726, and can be
justly ranked am ong the best nove ls of the world lit2
e ra ture and has not lost its significance even to the
current socie ty. It is a c lassic which always a rouses
the interest of every child to share Gulliver’ s ad2
ventures into fantastic lands, and m akes every m a2
ture reader brood over his bitter satire on the hum an
race. In it, Swift explore s gender differences, poli2
tics, class, money, race, science education,
exploration, love, physica l strength, physical
beauty, and then satirize on them bitingly. Through
depicting the experiences of his four voyage s to dif2
ferent lands, Gulliver intensely satirize s the hypo2
c ritica l, greedy, decep tive and aggre ssive na ture of

the hum an socie ty. He a lso mocks the corrupt re li2
gious and political system s in his hom eland, Eng2
land, which is caught in constant wa rs and vio2
lence. He hopefully desire s to e stablish a harmoni2
ous and democratic Houyhnhm - like soc iety which
is ba sed on reason and w isdom. W hen he can not
reach his ideal society before the c rue l reality, he
turns to paying attention to his own moral up lift w ith2
out ca ring for others, and becom es a comp lete pes2
sim ist who tries to escape from the real world.
Gullive r m akes four deep - sea voyages, which
are desc ribed in the four pa rts of the book. In Part
One, “A Voyage to L illiput”, Gulliver finds him 2
se lf tied down by a race of dwarfs who are only one
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思想战线 2009年人文社会科学专辑 第 35卷 №12009 Vo l135
twe lfth the size of his own. This is his first travel,
using destructive weapons.
(
Lu,
70
)
H is
second

in which he visits L illiput
Gulliver is faced with the
voyage shows us the filthy m ental and physical char2

m inute peop le,
ca lled L illiputians.
He
judges
the
acte ristics of m an.
Gulliver’ s first owner in B rob2

country’ s inhabitants he m ee ts to be as perfect and
innocent as their appea rances. He refers to the L illi2
dingnag represents the
is constantly displayed
selfishness of m an.
in public, abused
Gullive r
for the

putian
empe ror
as “ His
Impe rial
M aje sty” and
profit of
the owne .
W hen his owne r finds out
that

blindly agrees to perform
any dem anded service,
e2
Gullive r is weakening,
he sells him immediately,
at

ven though
he could
ea sily ove rpowe r the
tiny na2
a high price in orde r to m ilk eve ry last penny out of

tion.
Gulliver is used as
the Emperor’ s
absolute
Gullive r.

weapon to conque r his world of two islands.
It is on2
In Pa rt Three,
“A Voyage to Laputa ”,
Gul2

ly afte r his
service s have
been
exp loited,
Gullive r
liver is pulled up to a flying floating island tha t hov2

rea lizes how crue l and deceitful the L illiputians truly
e rs above ground.
On the floating island of Laputa,

are and his personality begins to transform.
Swift al2
Gullive r meets
the Laputans who
run
their world

so criticize s the
re ligious beliefs of the L illiputians.

through m athema tics
and
science,
and
allow
their

In L illiput,
M inisters are chosen strictly on tightrope
land to be dic tated by a giant lode stone a t the cente r

walking or stick jum ping.
If they do well,
they are
of the
island.
Eventually,
Gulliver grows wea ry of

able
to m ainta in
their positions
as m inisters.
Sw ift
the se people,
for they cannot communicate w ithout

also criticizes
the English political parties.
H is use
the help of a flappe r.
So,
he journeys to the islands

of the term s H igh Heels and Low Heels to compare
below and m eets diffe rent races of peop le.
Gulliver’

the m eaningle ss
battles of the W higs
and
Tories
is
s third voyage,
to
the
floating
island of Laputa
is

quite ironic.
He also mocks the religion war that was
one of the most satirical of the whole book.
In this

going on in England,
through the use of the wa r be2
voyage Sw ift criticizes the Royal Society of England,

tween L illiput,
and its nearest neighbor,
B lefuscu.
in which
he
says
is
composed of
usele ss philoso2

( Zhu,
74)
phers,
inventors,
and
scientists.
In
the
view
of

In Part Two,
“A Voyage
to B robdingnag”,
Gullive r,
he regarded the science of Laputa a s p seu2

Gullive r face s a world with everything being twelve
doscience,
which is distorted and abused by Lapu2

tim es its norma l size.
B ecause of his unfavorable ex2
tans.
( Sun,
100 - 101)

periences on L illiput,
Gullive r approaches the B rob2
In Pa rt Four,
“A Voyage to the Houyhnhn -

dingnagians w ith suspic ion and contempt.
A lthough
m s”,
Gulliver becom es
trapped
in a world where

this
race
is
far more
benevolent
and
trustworthy,
horses represent civiliza tion and
reason,
while hu2

Gullive r give s
it more
criticism
and
disrespect
It
m ans,
referred to a s Yahoos,
turn out
to be wild,

becom es obvious
tha t his dissatisfac tion
rela tes
di2
savage
and
ignorant.
After
the
horses,
ca lled

rec tly to
his
inferiority
among
these
huge
beings.
Houyhnhnm s,
m ake him
rea lize how corrup t hum an

Gullive r him se lf adm its:
beings is,
Gulliver begins to love the ir virtuous soc i2

Th is m a de m e
ref lect how
va in
an
a ttem pt
it
is
e ty.
A t the end of his story,
he says:

fo r a m an
to
endeavor d oing
h im self
honour am ong
B u t the Houyhnhm s,
w ho live und er the govern 2

those w ho a re ou t of a ll deg ree of equa lity or com pa ri2
son w ith him. A n d yet I ha ve seen the m ora l of m y
own behavior very f requen t in Eng land since m y re2
m en t of R eason,
ities they posses,
leg or an arm ,
a re no m ore p roud of the good qua l2
than I shou ld be for not w an ting a
wh ich no m an in th is w its w ou ld

tu rn,
w here a
little con tem ptible va rlet,
w ithou t the
boast
of,
a lthough
he
m ust
be m iserab le w ithou t

least
title
to
birth,
person,
w it
or
comm on
sense,
them.
I dwell the lon ger upon this subject f rom
th e de2

sha ll presum e to look w ith
im portance,
and pu t h im 2
s ire I have to m ake the society of an Eng lish Ya hoo by

self upon a foot w ith the grea test persons of
the king 2
any m eans
n ot
in supportable,
and
therefore
I
here

d om.
(Sw ift,
110)
en treat
those who
have a ny
tinctu re
of
th is
absurd

Gullive r is beginning to get involved in the mor2
vice,
tha t
th ey
w ill
no t
presum e
to
appea r
in
m y

a l controversie s he observes,
and
then
satirize
the
sigh t
(Sw if t,
305)

socia l and political conditions he observed.
Even the
The Houyhnhnm s compare Gulliver and the Ya2

King criticizes the cruelty of hum an m ass - killing by
・92 ・
hoos
and
find m any
sim ila rities
between
the
two.

The only difference
is that Gullive r,
and m ankind,
sm a ll island un inh abited,
《格列佛游记 》的批判性分析 ★
李 　江 ★
yet sufficien t by m y L abou r

has learned the benefits of clothing,
and he now and
to furn ish m e w ith N ecessa ries of L ife,
w h ich I w ou ld

again could be a rational c reature.
deep ly shocks Gullive r because he
That comparison
him se lf realizes
have though t a g rea ter H app iness than to be first m in 2
ister in the politest Cou rt of Eu rope; so h orrible w as

tha t he is so si
ilar to those savage crea tures.
So he
the Idea I conceived of retu rn ing
to
live in
the society

tries his best to hide his body from
the view of the
and under the Governm en t of Yah oos.
For in such a

Houyhnhnm s
unde r
the
guise
of
already
ragged
S olitude as I desired,
I cou ld
at
least en joy m y own

clothing,
and he argue s:
Though ts,
an d
ref lect w ith D elig ht on
the V irtues of

I wan ted
no
fence aga inst f raud
or oppression;
those in im itable Houyhnhnm s,
w ithout any O pportu 2

here w as neither physician
to
destroy m y body,
no r
n ities of m y ow n S pecies.
(Sw ift,
291)

law yer to ru in m y fortune;
no
inform er to w a tch m y
The
tragic
he ro
returns
hom e
in
exile.
His

w ords a nd
actions,
or fo rge accusations a ga inst m e
hom ecom ing is the most a liena ting experience of all

fo r h ire;
h ere w ere no g ibers,
censu rers,
backbiters,
“Gulliver is
an odysseus
gone
sour,
a
homecome r

pickpockets,
h ighw aym en,
houseb reakers,
a ttor2
who,
in a
satiric version of narrative
rest,
is
de2

n eys,
baw ds,
buffoons,
gam esters,
politicia ns,
pressed and dra ined by his very re sources a s a hu2
( )

w its,
splenetic,
ted ious
ta lkers,
con trovertists,
rav2
m an be ing. ”
R iche tti,
75 - 76
Gulliver deve l2

ishers,
m u rders,
robbers,
virtuosos;
no
lead ers
o r
op s a satirical view of the state of European govern2

fo llowers
of
pa rty
and
faction,
no
encou ra gers
to
m ent and religions,
and an inquiry into the corrup2

vice,
by seducem en t o r exam ples:
no dungeon,
ax2
tion of m en.
He hopefully desires to establish a har2

es,
g ibbets,
w h ipping posts,
or p illo ries;
no cheat2
monious and
democ ra tic
Houyhnhm
-
like
society.

ing
shopkeepers or m echan ics:
no
prid e,
van ity,
o r
B ut because he can not find a way out of the rea l so2

affecta tion:
no
fops,
bu llies,
d ru nka rds,
strolling
c iety to embrace his Houyhnhm ian ideal,
he choo2

w hores,
or
poxes:
no
ra nting,
lew d,
expensive
se s to retire into his own inner world and become s a

w ives:
n o
stupid
p roud
pen dan ts:
no
im portuna te,
comp lete pessim ist who tries to escape from
the
real

overbearing,
quarrelsom e,
noisy,
roa rin g,
em pty,
world.
Tha t’ s Gulliver’ s individua l tragedy,
and

conceited,
sw ea ring
com pan ions:
no
scound rels,
the
tragedy of the whole hum an soc iety as well.

ra ised f rom
the dust upon the m erit of their vices,
o r

nobility th row n in to it on a ccoun t of their virtu es:
no
Reference:
[ 1 ] Sw ift Jonathan:
Gulliver’ s Travels,
Beijing:
Foreign L an2

L ords,
(Sw ift,
fidd lers,
279)
Jud ges
or
dancing
-
m asters. ”
guages teaching and Research Press,
1996.

W hen Gulliver
is expe lled
from
the
island
by
[ 2 ]
Richetti,
John,
ed:
The
Cam bridge
Compan ion
to
the

the
Houyhnhnm s,
he
returns
to
England
alte red.
Eigh teenth
Press, 1998.
Cen tury
N ovel1London:
Camb ridge
University

W hen he finally returns hom e after his voyages,
he
[ 3 ]
Zhu,
Yanm ei: “The A rt of Iron y in Sw ift’s L illipu t”.
Beau ty

discovers that he cannot endure the company of othe r
hum ans, inc luding his w ife, and he even fa int2
& Ti es,
Vol.
3 (2005) : pp173～74.

swhen
his
w ife
kisses
hi .
He
gets
worse
and
[ 4 ]
Zhu,
Yanm ei: “A Commen t on the C riticism of the E ighteen th

worse,
and cannot even bea r to look at his own re2
C entu ry L ife in England in Sw ift’s Gulliver’s Travels”.
Jou r2

flection because he
knows what degeneration
it
re2
nal of Adult Education
(2003) pp169～71.
in
Hebei Un iversity,
Vol.
5 No.
2

presents.
He no longer cares to look upon his fam i2
[ 5 ] Sun ,
Shaoxian. “On the S cien ce Su bject in Gu lliver’s Travels”

ly,
and spends all his
ti
e with
the
two horse s he
Fo reign Literatu re Studies, Vol.
4
(2002) :
pp199 ～102.

buys to keep in his nea rby stable.
hom e, he even i agine s:
M y D esign w as, if possib le,
B efore he returns
to d iscover som e
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蝶
起 )

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