1. Jonathan Swift

2. BIOGRAPHY
Jonathan Swift was born in Ireland in 1667 of English parents
His works are characterized by his polemical genius
(expressed in various literary genres)
A great satire
Swift, through sharp satire, criticises society because it is very poor; in order to fight poverty he writes a satirical work named “A Modest Proposal”
Utopian narrativies
Gulliver’s Travels in which he mixed utopian fiction and travel writing in a novel form. It was first published in 1726 in Dublin
In 1742 he died because of an illness that caused the loss of his mental power

3. THEMES The four books First book Second book Third book Fourth book
GULLIVER
Goes on voyages
Narrator and protagonist
Surgeon on ships
Ordinary man
The four books
First book
Small Lilliputians exemplify the meanness and pettiness of the world
Second book
The gigantic allows Gulliver to see the physical imperfections of man
Third book
The voyage to Laputa is a direct satire of contemporary England
Fourth book
Gulliver is faced with the degraded humanity of the Yahoos and at the same time with the superior intelligence of the wise horses

4. The first voyage: «the empire of Lilliput»
On his first voyage Gulliver is shipwrecked in the empire of Lilliput.
Lilliputians were very small people. They look like insects compared to Gulliver.
At the beginning Lilliputians make Gulliver a prisoner, but gradually they come to trust him. Gulliver is allowed to leave the country on a boat.
The second voyage:
«The country of Brobdingnag»
On his second voyage Gullivers lands in the country of Brobdingnag.
Here is a population of giants.
These giants are civilized and treat Gulliver with great kindness.
He is used as a toy. Gulliver leaves the country by accident: the house box in which he is kept is picked up by an eagle and it’s lost in the open sea.

5. The third voyage: «Laputa»
On his third voyage Gulliver lands in Laputa. Laputa is a flying island moved by a magnet. The inhabitants have heads bent to one side and an eye turned inward.
They live in badly built houses and their fields are badly worked because they despise all manual works. In their Scientific Accademy absurd experiments were conducted and their laws were abstract. Laputians were totally out of touch with reality.

6. The fourth voyage: «The land of Houyhnhnms»
Gulliver’s final voyage is set in the land of Houyhnhnms. These are intelligent and rational horses. This land is also inhabited by the Yahoos, cruel and filthy creatures.
Gulliver admits that these creatures are very similar to the men. He decided to stay with Houyhnhnms for ever but they don’t want a Yahoo with them, so he has to leave.