gulliver's travels voyage 1 summary

A Summary and Analysis of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Gulliver’s Travels , first published in 1726 and written by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), has been called one of the first novels in English, one of the greatest satires in all of literature, and even a children’s classic (though any edition for younger readers is usually quite heavily abridged).

How should we respond to this wonderfully inventive novel? Is it even a ‘novel’ in the sense we’d usually understand that term? Before we launch into an analysis of Gulliver’s Travels and consider some of these questions, it’s perhaps worth recapping the plot (briefly).

Gulliver’s Travels : summary

Gulliver’s Travels is structurally divided into four parts, each of which recounts the adventures of the title character, a ship’s surgeon named Lemuel Gulliver, amongst some imaginary fantastical land.

In the first part, Gulliver is shipwrecked and knocked unconscious on the island of Lilliput, which is inhabited by tiny people. They take Gulliver prisoner, tying him to the ground, and he encounters the rival factions among the Lilliputians, such as the Big Endians and Little Endians, whose enmity started because they disagree over which side of a boiled egg to cut.

Then, he is enlisted into a campaign the Lilliputians are waging against a neighbouring island, Blefuscu. Gulliver drags the enemy fleet ashore so their invasion is foiled, and the Lilliputians honour and thank him – that is, until he refuses to be further drawn into the two countries’ war, at which moment they turn against him. It doesn’t help when he urinates on a fire to help put it out.

Gulliver takes refuge on Blefuscu, until a boat is washed ashore and he uses it to return to England, where he raises money for his family before embarking on a second voyage.

This time, in the second part of Gulliver’s Travels , our hero finds himself in Brobdingnag, a country which is inhabited by giants, rather than miniature people. When his ship runs aground, it is attacked by giants, and Gulliver is taken prisoner and given to the princess of Brobdingnag, a forty-feet-high girl named Glumdalclitch, as her plaything.

After arguing with the King over political matters – with Gulliver defending English attitudes and the King mocking them – Gulliver is picked up by a giant eagle and plopped into the sea, where he is rescued by a ship.

In the third part of the novel, Gulliver finds himself taken prisoner once again, this time by pirates, and taken to the floating island of Laputa. On a nearby island, Balnibarbi, he meets mad scientists and inventors who are engaged in absurd experiments: trying to extract sunbeams from cucumbers, or building a house from the roof down.

On a neighbouring island, Glubbdubdrib, Gulliver meets some magicians who can summon the dead; they summon numerous historical figures for him, including Julius Caesar, Homer, and Aristotle.

After this, on the island of Luggnagg, Gulliver meets the Struldbrugs: creatures who are immortal. However, this simply means they are foolish and weak than old men back in England, because they’ve had much longer to develop more folly and more illnesses.

Gulliver leaves Laputa behind, becoming a ship’s captain and continuing his voyages. Next, he encounters apelike creatures who, when he attacks one of their number, climb a tree and start discharging their excrement upon his head. (Excrement turns up a lot on Gulliver’s Travels , and Swift seems to have been obsessed by it.)

Gulliver is saved from a literal shower of sh … dung by the arrival of a horse, but this turns out to be a horse endowed with reason and language. Indeed, Gulliver soon learns that these horses rule this strange land: the horses, known as Houyhnhnms, are the masters, and the apelike creatures, known as Yahoos, are their semi-wild slaves. What’s more, Gulliver is horrified to learn that the Yahoos bear more than a passing resemblance to him, and to the human form!

What follows in this fourth part of the novel is a lengthy debate between Gulliver and the Houyhnhnms, who repeatedly show up the folly or evil of human behaviour as Gulliver describes it to them: war, money, and the legal system are all calmly but firmly taken apart by the intelligent horses.

However, Gulliver comes to prefer the company of the Houyhnhnms to the Yahoos, especially when he discovers, to his shock, that female Yahoos are attracted to him as one of their own kind. Gulliver resolves to stay with his new equine friends and shun humanity forever. He admires, above all else, the Houyhnhnms’ devotion to reason over baser instincts or desires.

But he is not allowed to stay with them for long. Fearing that he may inspire the Yahoos to rise up against their horsy overlords, they tell him to leave, and Gulliver regretfully builds a boat, is picked up by a Portuguese ship, and makes his way back to England. However, he struggles to readjust to human society, after he has spent time among the Houyhnhnms, and he prefers to pass his time in the company of the horses in his stable.

Gulliver’s Travels : analysis

We often celebrate great works of literature for their generosity of spirit: we talk of Shakespeare’s ‘humanity’, of Wordsworth’s empathy, George Eliot’s humanistic ability to feel for another person. But Swift is in quite a different tradition. He was disgusted by us all with our filthy bodies and rotten, wrong-headed attitudes.

Yet he wrote a great work of literature in Gulliver’s Travels , which tells us much about who we really are, especially through his depiction of the Yahoos, and who we could be, through Gulliver’s conversations with the Houyhnhnms.

Perhaps the key aspect of the novel here is its satire: it means that we can never be sure when Swift is being serious and when he is pulling our leg, when he is inviting us to share Gulliver’s views and when he wishes us to long to clout the silly fool round the head. That, too, is one of the signs of a timeless novel: its multifaceted quality. Gulliver’s Travels has more facets than you can shake a mucky stick at.

The same difficulty of interpretation – or divining authorial intention and meaning – often attends great works of satire. Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1516), which was probably an influence on Swift and Gulliver’s Travels , is similarly difficult to analyse in terms of its author’s own views. Critics can’t quite agree whether More is pulling the reader’s leg in Utopia or sincerely offering a vision of a perfect world.

There are, however, some clues that much of the book, if not the whole thing, is supposed to be satirical: it’s hard to see the staunchly Roman Catholic More seriously advocating divorce by mutual consent, something that is encouraged in the book, nor is it likely that he was in favour of women priests, very much a feature of More’s looking-glass island republic.

So the same issue probably attends Gulliver’s Travels . Is Gulliver right to view the Houyhnhnms as the pinnacle of rational humanism – something that actual humans should aspire to emulate? Or should we be shocked by the Houyhnhnms’ proposal that the Yahoos should be forcibly sterilised, even exterminated, as a decisively in human attitude towards their fellow living creatures?

Swift’s disgust with his fellow humans was real, especially in the last few decades of his life when he wrote Gulliver’s Travels , but this does not mean he was not acutely aware of the dangers attendant on such misanthropy. It’s one thing to have a dim view of the human race as falling short of what they could achieve; it’s quite another to suggest that, because they succumb to wars and other dangerous follies, they deserve to be wiped from the face of the earth.

It’d be like a satirist writing in the present century suggesting that, because humans have been the main drivers behind climate change, the best thing would be for all human life to be annihilated from the planet. It’d be a solution to the problem (or part of it), but it wouldn’t be a very morally humane one.

And is Swift’s book, for all that, a novel as such? Like Robinson Crusoe , Defoe’s pioneering work published seven years earlier, Gulliver’s Travels presented itself to the reader as a genuine account, recounting four voyages made by Lemuel Gulliver.

Readers embarking on their journey of reading the book in 1726 may well have been forgiven for thinking it a travel book, like the bestselling books by explorers of the day such as William Dampier (who was one of the first to travel to Australia, around whose coast Swift locates the islands of Lilliput and Blefuscu). But then the book takes a fantastical turn and we gradually realise we are in a work of the imagination.

So it’s perhaps best to answer the question ‘is Gulliver’s Travels a novel?’ with a cautious ‘yes … but only if we bear in mind it was written before the word “novel” had even first been applied to works like Gulliver’s Travels .’

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4 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels”

I heard that the severe-faced Swift claimed to have laughed only twice in his life – once when Tom was swallowed by a cow on stage in Henry Fielding’s “Tom Thumb the Great” (the little man with a great soul – or mirror image of Prime Minister Robert Walpole, aka “The Great Man” – presumably “with a diminutive soul” in Fielding’s satire). I can’t remember the other time Swift laughed. But he can sure get others to do so!

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Gulliver's Travels

50 pages • 1 hour read

Gulliver's Travels: Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Before You Read

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Part 1, Chapters 5-8

Part 2, Chapters 1-4

Part 2, Chapters 5-8

Part 3, Chapters 1-6

Part 3, Chapters 7-11

Part 4, Chapters 1-6

Part 4, Chapters 7-12

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

Gulliver’s Travels is a 1726 novel written by Jonathan Swift. It is both an early English novel and a seminal satirical text in British Literature, remaining Swift’s best-known work and spawning many adaptations in both print and film.

The targets of Swift’s satire range from political structures in early 18th-century England to the national rivalry between England and France during the same period. Swift also lampoons science and educational trends that lean towards more speculative and abstract learning. Most significantly, the novel mocks human vices and bad habits, thereby both exposing and critiquing the darker sides of humanity.

This guide uses the Kindle Edition published by Open Road Media in 2014.

Plot Summary

The book is a fictional travel memoir written by Lemuel Gulliver , a man of humble origins, who satisfies his longing for travel and adventure by climbing aboard a merchant ship named the Antelope . During his initial voyage, the Antelope encounters storms and rough seas. Gulliver soon finds himself adrift in the sea, swimming and treading water to stay alive. He spots land and reaches shore, where he collapses from exhaustion.

When he awakes, he discovers that he is tied up with little beings marching up his torso. These little beings—no more than 6 inches in height—are named “Lilliputians,” and Gulliver will spend nearly three years living alongside them. Once the Lilliputians determine that Gulliver does not pose a violent threat, they begin to embrace him and accept him into their society. The Lilliputian society resembles many European societies, with an emperor and a royal court. Gulliver learns their language and offers to provide service to the emperor. One such service is a single-handed military defeat of Lilliput’s sworn enemy, Blefuscu: Gulliver wades across the gulf that separates the two islands, ties the Blefuscu naval ships together, and tows them all back to Lilliput. For this achievement, Gulliver is awarded the highest military title, Nardac (admiral).

All is going well for Gulliver until he stirs the envy of the current admiral and treasurer. Gulliver is accused of urinating within view of the royal palace, which, although true, was something he did to put out a fire at the queen’s quarters. The plot against Gulliver grows until he is served articles of impeachment. The verdict is that Gulliver should have his eyes removed. Sensing that his time is running out, Gulliver seeks the assistance of Lilliput’s rivals. Eventually, he discovers a capsized boat and returns to the open seas. He is rescued by a fellow Englishman at sea and returns to England.

Gulliver is in England a mere two months before embarking on another voyage, which is also driven off course by rough weather. He is sent out in a search party to find water on nearby land. Gulliver becomes separated from the crew and, when he returns to the boat, witnesses what appears to be a monster chasing his fellow crew members away. Gulliver is once again marooned alone in an entirely foreign land. This time, the inhabitants are giants, and the land is called Brobdingnag. A farmer takes Gulliver in as a souvenir, which saves him from harm. Gulliver then chronicles his life there and how he gets along living with giants. His perspective is the complete inverse of his experience in Lilliput, as he is now the diminutive one. One day, while visiting the seashore with the queen’s retinue, Gulliver is picked up and carried away by a bird. He is dropped into the ocean where he is once again rescued by a passing ship.

Undeterred, Gulliver takes to the seas again. This time, pirates overtake his ship. Gulliver is spared by the pirates but is set adrift in a canoe, with which he finds land. As he arrives on shore, he notices a floating landmass and soon discovers that it is the floating island of Laputa, which is inhabited by a king and royal family. Gulliver again learns a new language and spends time with the native inhabitants. He notices that these are peculiar people who are only interested in math, music, and astronomy. Their clothes do not fit, their houses are wobbly and askance, and their academic institutions are places where all kinds of bizarre and useless experiments take place. Gulliver then meets a governor who can summon the dead. He takes advantage of this opportunity by meeting with ancient historical figures such as Aristotle, Homer, and Julius Caesar. He also meets with more recent historical figures from England and discovers much that is distasteful about how people ascend to the royal court. Finally, Gulliver decides he has had enough and departs from the island chain. He goes to Japan, where he pretends to be Dutch, and eventually finds his way back to England.

For his fourth voyage, Gulliver is captain of a ship. He and his crew set out on their voyage, but soon many crew members become ill. Gulliver replaces these crew members but faces a mutiny. Gulliver is again set adrift and ends up in unchartered territory. He is there three days before he witnesses ugly, vicious animals approach him. He attempts to fend them off and is ultimately rescued by a horse. The horse guides Gulliver to a homestead where other horses live. Gulliver thinks that whoever resides there must be bright, intelligent people because of the way they have trained their horses. However, he soon learns that the horses—the Houyhnhnms—are themselves the intelligent ones.

Gulliver learns the horses’ language and holds counsel with the leader of the Houyhnhnms , who is perplexed to find a “Yahoo” (a human) able to use reason. Through Gulliver’s discourse with the master Houyhnhnm, he comes to loathe humanity and becomes cynical. Eventually, the Houyhnhnms order Gulliver to depart, to which he reluctantly agrees. When Gulliver returns home for the final time, he is spiteful and disdains all of humanity, including his own wife. He decides to become a recluse, buys horses, and communicates almost entirely with them rather than his fellow human beings.

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Gulliver's Travels

By jonathan swift.

• Gulliver's Travels Summary

Gulliver goes on four separate voyages in Gulliver's Travels . Each journey is preceded by a storm. All four voyages bring new perspectives to Gulliver's life and new opportunities for satirizing the ways of England.

The first voyage is to Lilliput, where Gulliver is huge and the Lilliputians are small. At first the Lilliputians seem amiable, but the reader soon sees them for the ridiculous and petty creatures they are. Gulliver is convicted of treason for "making water" in the capital (even though he was putting out a fire and saving countless lives)--among other "crimes."

The second voyage is to Brobdingnag, a land of Giants where Gulliver seems as small as the Lilliputians were to him. Gulliver is afraid, but his keepers are surprisingly gentle. He is humiliated by the King when he is made to see the difference between how England is and how it ought to be. Gulliver realizes how revolting he must have seemed to the Lilliputians.

Gulliver's third voyage is to Laputa (and neighboring Luggnagg and Glubdugdribb). In a visit to the island of Glubdugdribb, Gulliver is able to call up the dead and discovers the deceptions of history. In Laputa, the people are over-thinkers and are ridiculous in other ways. Also, he meets the Stuldbrugs, a race endowed with immortality. Gulliver discovers that they are miserable.

His fourth voyage is to the land of the Houyhnhnms , who are horses endowed with reason. Their rational, clean, and simple society is contrasted with the filthiness and brutality of the Yahoos , beasts in human shape. Gulliver reluctantly comes to recognize their human vices. Gulliver stays with the Houyhnhnms for several years, becoming completely enamored with them to the point that he never wants to leave. When he is told that the time has come for him to leave the island, Gulliver faints from grief. Upon returning to England, Gulliver feels disgusted about other humans, including his own family.

Gulliver’s Travels Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Gulliver’s Travels is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Swift used exaggeration, parody, and irony to satirize politics and the human nature. Blind adherence to traditions without reflection is what he criticizes through caricature. In this way, in Lilliput, Gulliver becomes a giant in comparison with...

How old is Guillver?

An additional preface, attributed to Gulliver, added to a revised version of the work is given the fictional date of April 2, 1727, at which time Gulliver would have been about 65 or 66 years old.

What does Gulliver do with his penknife?

He cuts the strings that the rabble ringleaders were bound with.

Study Guide for Gulliver’s Travels

Gulliver's Travels study guide contains a biography of Jonathan Swift, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Gulliver's Travels
• Gulliver's Travels Video
• Character List

Essays for Gulliver’s Travels

Gulliver's Travels essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.

• The Child-like Scientist: A Study of the Similarities Between Jonathan Swifts' Gulliver's Travels and Voltaire's Candide in Reference to Satire Developed through Naivete
• Book Four of Swift's Gulliver's Travels: Satirical, Utopian, or Both?
• Gulliver's Travels and the Refinement of Language and Society
• The Duality of Book Four of Gulliver's Travels

Lesson Plan for Gulliver’s Travels

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Gulliver's Travels
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Gulliver's Travels Bibliography

E-Text of Gulliver’s Travels

Gulliver's Travels e-text contains the full text of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.

• THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER
• PART I--A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT
• PART II--A VOYAGE TO BROBDINGNAG
• PART III--A VOYAGE TO LAPUTA, BALNIBARBI, LUGGNAGG, GLUBBDUBDRIB,
• PART IV--A VOYAGE TO THE COUNTRY OF THE HOUYHNHNMS

Wikipedia Entries for Gulliver’s Travels

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Gulliver's Travels

Jonathan swift.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Gulliver's Travels: Introduction

Gulliver's travels: plot summary, gulliver's travels: detailed summary & analysis, gulliver's travels: themes, gulliver's travels: quotes, gulliver's travels: characters, gulliver's travels: symbols, gulliver's travels: literary devices, gulliver's travels: quizzes, gulliver's travels: theme wheel, brief biography of jonathan swift.

Historical Context of Gulliver's Travels

Other books related to gulliver's travels.

• Full Title: Gulliver’s Travels , or, Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships
• When Written: 1720-1725
• Where Written: Dublin, Ireland
• When Published: 1726
• Literary Period: Augustan
• Genre: Satire
• Setting: England and the imaginary nations of Lilliput, Blefuscu, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the land of the Houyhnhnms
• Climax: Gulliver’s decision to reject humankind and try his best to become a Houyhnhnm
• Point of View: First person

Extra Credit for Gulliver's Travels

By Gulliver, About Gulliver. Although contemporary editions of Gulliver’s Travels have Jonathan Swift’s name printed as author on the cover, Swift published the first edition under the pseudonym Lemuel Gulliver.

Instant Classic. Gulliver’s Travels was an immediate success upon its first publication in 1726. Since then, it has never been out of print.

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