Comedy and Madness in Swift: The Idiosyncrasies of Lemuel Gulliver
Keywords:
Comedy, Swift, Madness, Dramatis Persona, Gulliver, Satire, Humour, Travel, Misanthropy, CaricatureAbstract
Jonathan Swift has gone down in popular and theoretical history as both a visionary satirist and a confirmed misanthrope. This paper will revisit and challenge the latter assignation by questioning whether the protagonist in Swift’s seminal work Gulliver’s Travels is, as is often supposed, a ‘human instrument’ used to further Swift’s own misanthropic agenda.
By engaging with theories of humour, comedy, and affect, the paper argues that Gulliver is neither wholly psychologically real nor a mere vehicle for misanthropy. He is, instead, a caricature; an exaggeration of an English coloniser endowed with considerable flaws. Seen in this light, it becomes clear that Gulliver’s misanthropy is used for comedic effect, and not with the intention of infecting the reader with the same disdain for humanity.
Through this close analysis of the character of Lumuel Gulliver, the paper reemphasises what critics often lose in a reading which presupposes that Gulliver is a mouthpiece or spokesperson for Swift; namely that Gulliver’s Travels is hilarious, and can be read as a light-hearted, joyful, and, in some ways, affectionate ridicule of the human condition.
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