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(1) The first or early period lasted from probably

1592 to 1595 full of youthful love and

imagination. Among the plays that are typical of

these years are such brilliant comedies as The

Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream,

The Taming of the Shrew, Two Gentlemen of

Verona .He also wrotehis famous tragedy

Romeo and Juliet, and historical plays Richard II

and Richard III.

Right: David Garrick as Richard III, by William Hogarth,

1745

(2) The second period, from 1595 to 1601, shows tremendous progress in Shakespeares

dramatic art. There is less exaggeration, more realism, and a deeper insight into human nature.

Among the plays of this period are comedies The Merchant of Venice,Much Ado AboutNothing,As You Like Itand Merry Wives of Windsor; and some historical plays, Henry IV andHenry Vamong others.

(3) The third period, from 1601 to 1608, may be characterized

as one in which he felt that the time was out of joint, that life

was a painful fever. His only son and heir had been dead by

the time when his father died in 1601, after his career was

ruined. His best friends suffered what he calls, in Hamlet, "the

slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." In 1601 Elizabeth

executed the Earl of Essex for treason, and on the same

charge threw the Earl of Southampton into the Tower. Even

Shakespeare himself might have been suspected. The great

plays of this period are such powerful tragedies as Julius

Caesar,Antony and Cleopatra,Hamlet, Othello, Coriolanus,

Macbeth and King Lear.

Right: Scene from Othello, a modern ballet.

(4) The plays of his fourth period, 1608-1613, are marked with calm strength and sweetness.

The fierceness and violence ofOthello and Macbeth are forgotten. In 1608 Shakespeare's

mother died. Her death and the vivid recollection of her kindness and love may have beenstrong factors in causing him to look on life with kindlier eyes. The greatest plays of this period

are such comedies as Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest, and a historical play

King Henry VIII.

VOCABULARY NOTESbaptize tremendous - ; exaggeration

insight - ; outrageous - ; ;

execute treason

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ROMEO AND JULIET

The play, set in Verona, begins with a street brawlbetween Montague and Capulet supporters. The twonoble families have been adversaries for years.Romeo of the Montague family secretly attends the

ball at the Capulet house where he meets and falls inlove with Juliet, a thirteen-year old Capulets daughter.After the ball Romeo sneaks into the Capulet orchardand overhears Juliet at her window vowing her love tohim in spite of her family's hatred of the Montagues.Romeo shows himself and they agree to be married.With the help of Friar Laurence, who hopes toreconcile the two families through their children'sunion, they are secretly married the next day.Juliet's cousin Tybalt, learning that Romeo sneakedinto the Capulet ball, challenges him to a duel. Romeo,now considering Tybalt his kinsman, refuses to fight.

Romeos friend Mercutio decides to fight on Romeo'sbehalf. Mercutio is fatally wounded when Romeo attempts to break up the fight. Grief-strickenand wracked with guilt, Romeo confronts and kills Tybalt.The Prince exiles Romeo from Verona and declares that if Romeo returns, "that hour is his last."Romeo secretly spends the night in Juliet's chamber. Capulet, misinterpreting Juliet's grief,agrees to marry her to Count Paris, who has already made his proposal, and threatens todisown her when she refuses to become Paris's "joyful bride." Juliet visits Friar Laurence forhelp, and he offers her a drug that will put her into a death-like coma for "two and forty hours."The Friar promises to send a messenger to inform Romeo of the plan, so that he can rejoin herwhen she awakens. On the night before the wedding, she takes the drug and, when discoveredapparently dead, she is laid in the family crypt.The messenger, however, does not reach Romeo and, instead, Romeo learns of Juliet's death.Heartbroken, Romeo buys poison and goes to the Capulet crypt. He encounters Paris who hascome to mourn Juliet privately. Believing Romeo to be a vandal, Paris confronts him and, in thebattle that follows, Romeo kills Paris. Still believing Juliet to be dead, he drinks the poison. Julietthen awakens and, finding Romeo dead, stabs herself with his dagger. The feuding families andthe Prince meet at the tomb to find all three dead.Friar Laurence tells the story of the two "star-cross'd lovers". The families are reconciled bytheir children's deaths and agree to end theirviolent feud. The play ends with the Prince'selegy for the lovers: "For never was a story ofmore woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

The plot of this story of true and tragic love is wellknown in all parts of the civilized world. Thedeaths of Romeo and Juliet are necessary sincetheir families are enemies, and death is the onlyway out of their hopeless situation.

VOCABULARY NOTESbrawl - ; adversaries ,

reconcile ,

kinsman

crypt feud

elegy ; ,

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HAMLET

The story opens on a chilly night at Elsinore, the Danish royal castle. Hamlet, Prince ofDenmark, is informed that a ghost that looks like the dead King Hamlet appears in the castleevery night. Hamlet decides to see the Ghost himself. That night, the Ghost appears again. It

tells Hamlet that hethe elder Hamletwas murdered by his brother Claudius by pouringpoison in his ear. The Ghost demands that Hamletavenge him; Hamlet agrees. He decides to investigatehis fathers death first. In order not to be suspected bythe murderer he behaves as if he is not completelysane.

The point is that after King Hamlets death Claudiusbecame the king and married widowed Queen Gertrude,Hamlets mother. Claudius tells Polonius, his trustedchief counselor, to keep an eye on Hamlet. Polonius hastwo children: Laertes and Ophelia. Ophelia is courted by

Hamlet. Both Polonius and Laertes warn Ophelia thatHamlet is surely not serious about her. Shortlyafterward, Ophelia is alarmed by Hamlet's strangebehavior, reporting to her father that Hamlet rushed intoher room, stared at her, and said nothing (see thepicture on the right). Polonius assumes that the "ecstasyof love" is responsible for Hamlet's "mad" behavior, andhe informs Claudius and Gertrude.

Alerted by Hamlet's continuing deep mourning for his father and his increasingly strangebehavior, Claudius sends for two of Hamlet's acquaintancesRosencrantz and Guildenstern

to find out the cause of that. Hamlet greets his friends warmly but quickly finds out that theyhave been sent to spy on him.

Hamlet remains uncertain whether the Ghost has told himthe truth, but the arrival of a troupe of actors at Elsinorepresents him with a solution. He will have them stage aplay, The Murder of Gonzago, re-enacting his father'smurder. He wants to see Claudiuss reaction to seeing thescene of the murder. The whole Royal Court watches theperformance. When the murder scene is presented,Claudius abruptly rises and leaves the room, which Hamletsees as proof of his uncle's guilt.

Gertrude summons Hamlet to her room to demand anexplanation. On his way, Hamlet sees Claudius in prayer,but hesitates to kill him, reasoning that death in prayerwould send him to heaven (see the picture on the right). Anargument erupts between Hamlet and Gertrude. Poloniusis spying on the scene from behind the curtain. Hamletnotices that and, believing it is Claudius hiding behind thecurtain, stabs wildly through the cloth, killing Polonius. TheGhost appears, urging Hamlet to treat Gertrude gently, butreminding him to kill Claudius. Unable to see or hear theGhost herself, Gertrude takes Hamlet's conversation with it

as further evidence of madness.

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Claudius, now fearing for his life, finds a legitimate excuse to get rid of the prince: he sendsHamlet to England on a diplomatic mission, accompanied (and closely watched) byRosencrantz and Guildenstern. Alone, Claudius discloses that he is actually sending Hamlet tohis death.

At Elsinore, overwhelmed by grief

at her father Polonius's death,Ophelia runs mad. Her brother,Laertes, returns from France,horrified by his father's death andhis sister's madness. Claudiusconvinces Laertes that Hamlet isresponsible; then news arrivesthat Hamlet is still alivethestory is spread that his ship wasattacked by pirates on the way toEngland, and he has returned to

Denmark. Claudius wants to kill his nephew. He

suggests a fencing match between Laertes andHamlet. The tip of Laertess sword is poisoned sothat a mere scratch would mean certain death.Claudius, unsure that capable Hamlet couldreceive even a scratch, plans to offer Hamletpoisoned wine if that fails. Ophelia commitssuicide drowning.In the Elsinore churchyard, two gravediggersenter to prepare Ophelia's grave. Hamlet arriveswith his friend Horatio and finds there the skull ofa jester whom Hamlet once knew, Yorick ("Alas,Poor Yorick; I knew him, Horatio."). When

Ophelia's funeral procession approaches, hermournful brother Laertes curses Hamlet as thecase of her death. Hamlet tells him about his ownlove and grief for Ophelia.

Later that day, Hamlet tells Horatio how heescaped death on his journey, disclosing thatRosencrantz and Guildenstern have been sent totheir deaths instead. Horatio suspects the plot to

kill Hamlet during the fencing match.Despite Horatio's warnings, Hamlet acceptsthe challenge and the match begins. Afterseveral rounds, Gertrude toasts Hamletagainst the urgent warning of Claudiusaccidentally drinking the wine he poisoned.Laertes attacks and pierces Hamlet with hispoisoned blade. Hamlet manages to useLaertes's own poisoned sword against him.Gertrude falls and, in her dying breath,announces that she has been poisoned.In his dying moments, Laertes makes peacewith Hamlet and reveals Claudius'smurderous plot. Hamlet stabs Claudius with

the poisoned sword, and then forces him to drink from his own poisoned cup to make sure hedies. In his final moments, Hamlet names Prince Fortinbras of Norway as the probable heir tothe throne. Horatio attempts to kill himself with the same poisoned wine but is stopped byHamlet, as he will be the only one left alive who can give a full account of the story.

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Hamlets tragic weakness is hesitation, inability to act when action is needed. He is too much of

a thinker to survive in the cruel world of intrigue, treason, jealousy and murder.

VOCABULARY NOTESvenge - ()

sane - , court (v)

acquaintance

re-enact ()

stab , ,

overwhelm - ,

fencing

heir

TASK: Compare the original text of famous Hamlets monologue with the translation. Which do

you like best?

To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous

Fortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them: to die, to

sleep

No more; and by a sleep, to say we end

The heart-ache, and the thousand Natural

shocks

That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummationDevoutly to be wished. To die to sleep,

To sleep, perchance to Dream; Ay, there's

the rub,

For in that sleep of death, what dreams

may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause. There's the respect

That makes Calamity of so long life:

For who would bear the Whips and Scorns

of time,

The Oppressor's wrong, the proudman'sContumely,

The pangs ofdespisedLove, the Laws

delay,

The insolence of Office, and the Spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,

When he himself might his Quietus make

With a bare Bodkin? Who would Fardels

bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after

death,

The undiscovered Country, from whose

bourn

No Traveller returns, Puzzles the will,

And makes us rather bear those ills wehave,

Than fly to others that we know not of.

Thus Conscience does make Cowards of us

all,

And thus the Native hue of Resolution

Is sicklied o'er, with the pale cast of

Thought,

And enterprises of great pitch and

moment,

With this regard their Currents turn awry,

And lose the name of Action. Soft younow,

The fair Ophelia? Nymph, in thy Orisons

Be all my sins remember

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Hamlet and the Ghost Hamlet, Claudius and GertrudeOfelias madness

, . , ? . . , , . ? . .... ? .

, ? . . , , , , , ! ,, , , , , , ! , , , , ,

, . !! ! , .

Translated by B.Pasternak

, , !

:

,

?

, , ,

:

, .

.

, ; ! ,

?.. - .

,

?

. ,

.

,

, ,

,

,

, ,

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?

,

, ?

,

, ?

, ,

, . - ,

,

. ! ,

! ,

.

Translated by P.Kulish

KING LEAR

Aging King Lear wants to retire from power.He decides to divide his realm among histhree daughters, and offers the largest shareto the one who loves him best. His daughters

Goneril and Regan both proclaim that theylove him more than anything in the world,which pleases him. For his younger daughterCordelia, there is nothing to compare her loveto, nor words to properly express it; shespeaks honestly which infuriates him. In his anger hedisinherits her, and divides the kingdom betweenRegan and Goneril. The Duke of Kent, King Learscounselor, objects to this unfair treatment. Lear isfurther enraged by Kent's protests, and banishes himfrom the country. Cordelia leaves and marries the Kingof France.

Lear announces he will live alternately with Goneril andRegan, and their husbands, the Dukes of Albany andCornwall respectively. Goneril and Regan soon showtheir ingratitude. They deprive King Lear of his servantsand shelter. In the key scene Lear is spending a stormynight outdoors accompanied only by his jester. Unableto sustain the hardships Lear enters the state ofinsanity but regains his lost humanity and sees hismistakes. Later, he is joined by Kent who comes toprotect the poor old man.

Meanwhile Cordelia brings the French army to her dearfathers rescue. Lear is taken to her, recognizes hisdaughter and restores his sanity. Goneril, Regan and the Dukeof Cornwall lead the British army into battle. The French aredefeated, Cordelia and Lear captured. The Duke ofGloucesters illegitimate son Edmund enjoys his power, beingthe lover of both Regan and Goneril, and orders to kill Lear andCordelia. Lears youngest daughter is executed, and her fatherdies of broken heart. Goneril poisons Regan for jealousy toEdmund, and later commits suicide because her plan to kill herhusband and to marry Edmund is revealed. Edmund is put for atrial by combat and is killed by his brother Edgar who wasbanished from home after Edmunds faked evidence of himbeing guilty of attempting a murder of his father.

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Right: The Globe theatre in Shakespeares times.

In the end England receives a new king. There are two versions ofthe final part: either Edgar or Duke of Albany (former Gonerilshusband) is crowned.

Shakespeare skillfully embeds a subplot into the main story. Learstragedy is paralleled by that of Duke of Gloucester, who trusts thewrong son, Edmund, and rejects the faithful one, Edgar. It is Edgarwho guides his blinded father around, and later avenges him byslaying Edmund. The two tragedies are interwoven throughout theplay. The most memorable scene is the meeting of the insane Learand the blind Gloucester on the road near Dover.

Right:Cordelia, by William Yeames

Another subplot tells about Goneril and Regan competing inadultery, seeking attention of the same lover Edmund. Their end is sad: their unfaithfulness

leads them to death.

First performed in 1605, this is considered to be the greatest of Shakespeares tragedies

reaching into the deepest places of the human spirit. Lears biggest weakness is his openness

to flattery, which makes him an easy target for conspiracy and manipulation. Its intricate plot

containing several subplots makes it extremely difficult to retell, and next to impossible to stage.

Right: The stage of the Globe theatre in Shakespeares times.

VOCABULARY NOTESrealm -

banish ( )ingratitude

illegitimate

faked ,

flattery

conspiracy ,

CONCLUSION

Shakespeare created a new epoch in world literature.

The ideas of the Renaissance, the struggle for happiness and freedom are expressed in his

works in a most realistic way.

Quite often the Bard of Avon shows the darkest side of things in his tragedies. Yet in the same

tragedies we can feel his firm belief in a better future for mankind. Peace is finally established

between the Montague and Capulet families: bloodshed is over. Adultery and blind lust pay

Gertrude back with death; the evil murderer Claudius receives capital punishment. The

Kingdom of Denmark is ruled by a noble and powerful monarch (Fortinbras of Norway). Horatio

is alive to tell us the tragic story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. England receives a trustworthy

king (Edgar or Albany) after every last villain is wiped off the scene.

The development of Shakespeares universal and realistic characters makes him different fromhis predecessors whose characters remain mostly static and do not change all through their

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plays. They speak the realistic language that has developed into modern English being very

close to it even at that time.

William Shakespeare died about four hundred years ago but scholars still research his works

making new discoveries; his plays are staged all over the world where you can hardly find a

theatre where they have never been performed. Every actor and actress dreams about playing

a Shakespeares character, and for those lucky ones whose dream came true it was the peak of

their artistic careers. His native Stratford-upon-Avon has become a place of pilgrimage and a

centre of tourism.

VOCABULARY NOTES

adultery

capital punishment

villain

predecessor

Below: The restored Globe theatre today.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Why is Shakespeares birthday celebrated on April 23?

2. Why Shakespeare is called the Bard of Avon?

3. Give a brief characteristic of each period of Shakespeares literary activities.

4. Why Romeo and Juliets death was inevitable?

5. Why Hamlet could not survive?

6. What destroyed King Lears life?

7. Why do people read Shakespeare today?

MODULE 5

The Enlightenment Period

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The period that followed the Restoration of the

British monarchy made merchants and other

middle-class representatives quite active and

important from the social point of view.

Journalism was born, as political struggle

involved broad masses of English population.

Newspapers appeared, publishing pamphlets

which not only reported the events but

explained them to the readers.

From the point of view of philosophy it was a

pragmatic and rational age. Literature reflected the ideas of middle class and prose became

more popular than poetry. The study of man and the origin of his good and evil qualities was the

central problem for the writers of the time. Some intellectuals, known as enlighteners, believed

that an individual was virtuous by nature and vice was due to ignorance only. They wanted to

bring knowledge (light) to people through education, which was supposed to do away with allthe evil and establish harmony in the society.

Unit 15

Daniel Defoe

(1660 1731)This Unit is based on Oksana MARYNENKOs project work of 2011

Right: Daniel Defoe by Michael Van der Gucht, 1706

EARLY YEARSBorn Daniel Foe, he was an English writer, journalist, and

pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe.

Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the

novel, as he helped to popularize the form in Britain and is

among the founders of the English novel. A prolific and versatile writer, he wrote more than 500

books, pamphlets and journals on various topics (including politics, crime, religion, marriage,

psychology and the supernatural). He was also a pioneer of economic journalism.

Little is known about the birth and early childhood of Daniel Defoe, as no baptism record exists

for him. It is likely that he was born in London, England, in 1660. James Foe, his father, was a

butcher by trade and also a Protestant Presbyterian, which means that he did not belong to the

Church of England. He wanted his son to be a minister (Presbyterian priest), but Daniel chose

commerce. Daniel Defoe added the De to his original last name Foe when he was forty.

In 1684 Defoe married Mary Tuffley, who made him 3,700 pounds richer. They had seven

children. Defoe participated briefly in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, a Protestant uprising,

but escaped capture and punishment. From 1685 through 1692 he engaged in trade in London

as a wholesale agent, an importer of wine and tobacco, and part owner and insurer of ships.

However, he was not a successful businessman and went bankrupt several times. He was

much more successful as a pamphleteer, a career which he had started in about 1682.

VOCABULARY NOTES

enlightenment - proponent ,

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Presbyterian -

go bankrupt

prolific - ,

versatile

JOURNALIST AND SECRET AGENT

In 1702 Defoe wrote a highly ironic pamphlet The Shortest Way with the Dissenters in which he

ridiculed the church authorities. It took them a year to understand that

Defoe had not praised them. The author was arrested and sentenced

to seven years in prison and being put into pillory (see the picture on

the left). Somehow he managed to write his famous Hymn of the

Pillory, which had never been published but, instead, was put into

circulation by his friends. It had immediate public success, and when

Defoe was put in stocks the crowd cheerfully greeted him singing his

Hymn.

He was released five months later in exchange for becoming a

government agent. Defoe continued to serve the government as

journalist, pamphleteer, and secret agent for the remainder of his life.

As far as we can judge now he was allowed to freely express histhoughts in his pamphlets thus establishing contacts with different

groups opposing the government, and report about these contacts to the government.

VOCABULARY NOTES

ridicule

praise

pillory -

in stocks

ROBINSON CRUSOE

At the age of fifty-nine, after a full career as businessman, government servant, political

pamphleteer, and journalist, Defoe began a career as a novelist. Within six years he produced

six novels, all of which gave him his greatest fame.

In 1719 Defoe published his most lasting work, The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of

Robinson Crusoe.

Full title

Although commonly referred to as simply Robinson Crusoe the books complete, original title

as it appears on the title page of the first edition (see the picture below) is The Life and

Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight

and Twenty Years, all alone in an uninhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the

Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck,wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as

strangely deliverd by Pyrates.

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Plot summaryThe story is based squarely on the true experience of

Alexander Selkirk, the sailor who spent five years (1704

1709) on a desert island in the Pacific.

Robinson Crusoe sets sail from the Queen's Dock in Hull on a

sea voyage in August 1651, against the wishes of his

parents. He suffers a number of misfortunes such as, for

example, in the hands of Barbary pirates. Finally Crusoe is

shipwrecked off the South Americas coast and finds himself

marooned on an uninhabited island. The reader witness

Robinsons resourcefulness in making tools, equipment,

clothes and a shelter. After years of loneliness one day

Robinson is terrified to see a mans footprint on the beach.

Following the trail he comes across cannibals feast. Using

his firearms he makes the savages retreat and rescues a

young native man who was about to be eaten by

them. Robinson names the native Friday after the

day of his rescue, and trains him as his servant and

friend. Together they rescue an English captain from

his mutinous crew. The mutineers are overcome; the

captain restores his authority and takes Robinson

accompanied by Friday to England.

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marooned

trail

mutiny

decent

savage

Right : Robinson recovers whatever he can from the

shipwreck

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What made pamphlets in the newspapers so

popular?

2. Why Defoe was put in stocks?

3. What happened to Robinson Crusoe?

4. What are the most prominent features ofRobinsons character?

5. How do you understand Robinsons motto: TO

BE IN TROUBLE TROUBLED IS TO HAVE

YOUR TROUBLE DOUBLED?

6. What makes Defoe a true writer of the

Enlightenment?

Jonathan Swift

(1667 1745)

Jonathan Swifts Biography

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer

and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. He

probably is the most outstanding prose satirist in the English language.

Jonathan Swift was born on 30 November 1667 in Dublin, Ireland. His father died early, and notmuch is known about the life of young Jonathan. His relatives took care of him and he was sent

to Kilkenny College. In 1682 he attended Dublin University (Trinity College, Dublin), receiving

his B.A. (Bachelor of Arts degree) in 1686. Political troubles in Ireland forced him to leave for

England.

In 1688, he received a position as secretary and

personal assistant of Sir William Temple, a prominent

English diplomat in his estate at Moor Park, Farnham.

Swift received his M.A. from Hertford College, Oxford

in 1692. With Temples death in 1699 Swifts career in

England came to the end. He went back to Ireland

and soon became a priest in St. Patricks Cathedral,

Dublin (see the picture on the right).

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In February 1702, Swift received his Doctor of Divinity degree from Trinity College, Dublin.

During his visits to England in 1702 1713 Swift publishedA

Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books (1704) and began to

gain a reputation as a writer. Also in these years Swift became

increasingly active politically. From 1707 to 1709 and again in

1710, Swift was in London, representing the interests of the

Irish clergy.

In 1713 he returned to Ireland and received the position of

a dean in St. Patricks Cathedral.

Once in Ireland, Swift began writing pamphlets in support of

Irish causes. Such his works as Proposal for Universal Use of

Irish Manufacture (1720), Drapier's Letters (1724), andA

Modest Proposal(1729), earned him the status of an Irish patriot.

Also during these years, he began writing his masterpiece, Travels into Several Remote

Nations of the World, in Four Parts, by Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, and then a captain of

several ships, better known as Gulliver's Travels.

His health declined in the last decade of his life, and his mind failed. Swift died on October 19,1745, leaving the money to start a hospital for mentally disabled. He is buried in St. Patricks

Cathedral in Dublin where he had served as a dean for so

many years.

VOCABULARY NOTES

estate

dean ,

masterpiece

surgeon , ()

Swifts Works

A Tale of a Tub, (see the illustration on the right) the first

Swifts major work, published in 1704, is probably his best

satire. The Tale is a prose allegory telling about the life of

three brothers each representing one of the main branches

of western Christianity (the Roman Catholic Church, various

Protestant churches and the Church of England). The

brothers have inherited three wonderful coats (representing

religious practice) by their father (representing God), and

they have his will (representing the Bible) to guide them.

The will says that the brothers cannot make any changes to

their coats, but they start to alter their coats from the very

beginning.

The Battle of the Books is a short allegoric satire

published together withA Tale of a Tub in 1704. It depicts a

literal battle between books in the King's Library as ideas

and authors struggle for supremacy (see the illustration on

the right).

In 1729, Swift publishedA Modest Proposal for

Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland Being aBurden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making

Them Beneficial to the Public, a satire in which the

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narrator, with intentionally grotesque logic, recommends that Ireland's poor escape their poverty

by selling their children as food to the rich:

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young

healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food...

VOCABULARY NOTES

inherit

literal

supremacy

intentionally

Gullivers Travels

Gulliver's Travels was written in 1726

and amended in 1735. It is a four-part

satire on human nature.

Part I:A Voyage to LilliputOn his first voyage, Gulliver is

washed ashore after a shipwreck and

awakes to find himself a prisoner of a

race of people one-twelfth the size of

normal human beings, less than

6 inches (15 cm) high, who are

inhabitants of the neighbouring and rival countries of Lilliput and

Blefuscu.

After he promises to behave himself well, he is given a residence in

Lilliput and becomes a favourite of the court. From there, the bookfollows Gulliver's observations on the Court of Lilliput.

Gulliver helps the Lilliputians in the war with their neighbours the

Blefuscudians by stealing their fleet (see the picture on the right).

However, he refuses to attack Blefuscu, displeasing the King and

the court. Gulliver is charged with treason and sentenced to be

blinded.

With the assistance of a kind friend, Gulliver escapes to Blefuscu,

where he finds an abandoned boat and sails away. He is picked up

by a ship and rescued.

Part II:A Voyage to Brobdingnag

Gullivers ship loses its way in storms and forced to go in to land for

want of fresh water. The land is inhabited by giants. Gulliver is

abandoned by his companions and found by a farmer who is 72 feet (22

m) tall. He brings Gulliver home and his daughter cares for Gulliver.

The farmer treats him as a curiosity and exhibits him for money. The

word gets out and the Queen of Brobdingnag wants to see the show.

She loves Gulliver and he is then bought by her and kept as a favourite

at court.

The queen orders to build a small house for Gulliver so that he can be

carried around in it. He calls it his "travelling box." In between small

adventures such as fighting giant wasps and being carried to the roof by

a monkey, he discusses the state of Europe with the King.

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The King is not impressed with Gulliver's accounts of Europe, especially upon learning of the

usage of guns and cannons. On a trip to the seaside, his travelling box is seized by a giant

eagle which drops Gulliver and his box right into the sea where he is picked up by some sailors,

who return him to England.

Part III:A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan

After Gulliver's ship is attacked by pirates, he is marooned on a small island. Fortunately he is

rescued by the flying island of Laputa, a kingdom devoted to the arts of music and mathematics

but unable to use them for practical purposes.

While on Laputa, he tours the country as a guest and sees the ruin brought about by blind

pursuit of science without practical results. This part is considered to be a satire on the Royal

Society (English Academy of Sciences) and its experiments.

However, Swifts description of scientific achievements on Laputa presents some surprising and

mysterious details.

Mystery # 1

Laputa looks and performsjust like a UFO propelled by a

magnetic engine, which the

author describes in detail.

Some experts say that such engine can be

built and the only problem is the size of the energy source. Laputa's

technique of throwing rocks at rebellious surface cities also seems the first time that aerial

bombardment was mentioned as a method of warfare.

Mystery #2

Laputan astronomers were reported by Swift tohave discovered two moons of Mars. In reality Phobos

and Deimos (on the right) were discovered 150 years

later.

Mystery #3

Laputa has a word machine that is nothing less than a giant mechanical computer used for

making sentences and books. Compare its illustration (on the left) with the 1971 Intel 4004

Microprocessor (on the right).

Part IV:A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms

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Gulliver returns to sea as the captain of a ship. While at sea he faces a mutiny on board and

is marooned in the land where he comes first upon a race of ugly creatures called Yahoos.

Soon afterwards he meets a horse and understands that the horses (in their language

Houyhnhnm or "the perfection of nature") are the rulers and the Yahoos are human beings in

their most primitive form.

Gulliver becomes a member of the horse's household. He

admires the Houyhnhnms and their lifestyle, rejecting Yahoos even

though he himself looks like them. However, an Assembly of the

Houyhnhnms rules that Gulliver, a Yahoo with some semblance of

reason, is a danger to their civilization and he is expelled.

He is rescued by a Portuguese ship, and is surprised to see that

Captain Pedro de Mendez, a Yahoo, is a wise, courteous and

generous person. He returns to his home in England, but he is

unable to live among Yahoos and remains most of the time in his

house, avoiding his family, and spending several hours a day

speaking with the horses in his stables.

The book has three major themes:

a satirical view of European system of government;

a satirical view of unimportant differences between religions;

an inquiry into whether men are naturally corrupt or whether they become corrupted.

The story follows a pattern:

Gulliver's misadventures go from bad to worse - he is first shipwrecked, then abandoned,

then attacked by strangers pirates), then attacked by his own crew.

Gulliver's attitude hardens as the book progresses first he is sincerely surprised by the

viciousness and politicking of the Lilliputians; but in the end he thinks that the disgusting

behavior of the Yahoos reflects the behavior of people in general.

Part 1: Lilliput Part 2:

Brobdingnag

Part 3: Laputa Part 4: Country

of the

Houyhnhnms

Gulliver

(as compared

to local

people)

BIG

/feels superior/

SMALL

/feels inferior/

IGNORANT

(does not

understand)

INTELLIGENT

(but is not

understood)

Country COMPLEX SIMPLE SCIENTIFIC NATURAL

Government

(as compared

to Englands)

WORSE BETTER WORSE BETTER

The book contains some distinct messages such as:

No form of government is ideal. In Brobdingnag they enjoypublic executions and have streets infested with beggars. The

honest and noble Houyhnhnms who have no word for lyingare ready to kill a filthy Yahoo and dont see how Gulliverdiffers from a Yahoo.

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Specific individuals may be good even where the race is bad Gulliver finds a friend in

each of his travels.

Despite the depth of the book, it is often classified as a children's story because of the

popularity of the Lilliput section. It is still possible to buy books entitled Gulliver's Travels which

contain only parts of the Lilliput voyage.

VOCABULARY NOTES

observation

abandon ,

curiosity

pursuit , ,

propel ,

household

expel

politicking

filthy

Jonathan Swift and His Works

Check-up

Task 1: Fill in the blanks with one word

1. Jonathan Swift was born on 30 November 1667 in___________, Ireland.

2. In 1688, he received a position as ___________and personal assistant of Sir William

Temple.

3. Sir William Temple was a prominent English ___________.

4. Swift received his M.A. from Hertford College, ____________.

5. His works earned him the status of an Irish ____________.

6. He received the position of a dean in St. Patricks ______________.

7. The Lilliputians are _____ cm high.

8. Gulliver helps the Lilliputians in the war with their neighbours by stealing their

_________.

9. Gullivers visit to Brobdingnag ends whenhis travelling box is seized by a giant

_________.10.The third part ofGullivers Travels is considered to be a satire on the

___________Society.

11. Houyhnhnm means the perfection of ___________" in the local horses language.

12. In each of his travels Gulliver finds a _______________.

Task 2: Mark the statements True or False

1. A lot is known about the life of young Jonathan.

2. Swifts career in England came to the end because of Temples death.

3. Swift returned to Ireland and never visited England since then.

4. The three brothers in the Tale of a Tub represent main branches of western Christianity.5. The Battle of the Booksis set in the Kings Library.

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6. In his Modest ProposalSwift suggests that poor Irish people sell their children as

slaves to Americas plantations.

7. Gulliver is sentenced to be blinded becausehe refuses to attack Blefuscu.

8. The King of Brobdingnag is greatly impressed with Gulliver's accounts of European

affairs.

9. Gulliver is rescued by the flying island of Laputa after being attacked by pirates.

10.In the third part ofGullivers Travels Swift describes a computer.

11. In the end of the fourth part Gulliver thinks that all the people are similar to the Yahoos.

12. Specific individuals are no better than the rest of the race.