Madison (Mimi) Taylor

Gulliver’s Travels through the decades

The timeless novel Gulliver’s Travels has been taken to the “big screen” multiple times. The version I decided to watch (mainly due to the availability on YouTube) was the 2010 version with Jack Black starring as Gulliver.

Beginning with the story structure, this version is very different from the novel we read in class. In the movie, Gulliver works in a newspaper office as a mail clerk. This is a verrrry different situation than novel Gulliver who was a traveler and seaman. There is also a definite difference when it comes to Gulliver’s love life. Gulliver in the novel is married with children and often reflects upon how he misses them (most when he’s in the land of the giants) however in the movie, Gulliver has a huge crush on one of the women in his office. It is this crush that motivates him to take an assignment for the newspaper that ultimately causes him to end up in Lilliput. While both and movie and novel land Gulliver on Lilliput via a storm and ship wreck, the movie version has Gulliver crash somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, a location notorious for mysterious crashes.

The reactions immediately following Gulliver’s arrival in the novel and movie are very different. In both, Gulliver awakens frightened and confused about the teeny people. After this, the story begins to diverge again. In the novel, Gulliver is treated as a treasure from the start. The people are intrigued by him. In the movie, the Lilliputians treat him as a prisoner and he even wakes up in a giant cave-prison back in Lilliput. After making a friend, Horatio, in prison movie Gulliver is sentenced to a life of hard labor. This is drastically different than in the novel.

The enemies of Lilliput attack while Gulliver is working, this loosely correlates to the novel because both include an attack. This attack results in a fire and Gulliver solves this the same way in both interpretations – he pees on the castle. This action has opposite consequences in the novel and movie. In the novel, we know that this action gets Gulliver banished. In the movie, Gulliver is praised and becomes a hero of Lilliput.

This alters the plot in the movie. He is a hero of the kingdom so he is allowed to stay in the movie and does not go to the land of the giants until the end when he kicked out when the Lilliputian enemies invade. In the land of the giants, he does not have a positive relationship with the little girl like in the book.

There are are multiple times in which the movie references details found in the novel. Gulliver is referred to as the “Beast” in the movie which is similar to “Man Mountain” in the novel. The movie characters also reference the special form of speech by the Royal Lilliputians however they mock it.

While the movie was very enjoyable, it was definitely modernized to appeal to a younger and more diverse crowd.

King Lear’s dangerous pride

Shakespeare is an author that students are either excited for or dread with all they’ve got when they see his name up next on the syllabus. I have always enjoyed his works and therefore was intrigued to begin reading King Lear.

I was very interested that the basic framework for the start of the play considers the issues with medieval inheritance guidelines. In those days, it was typical for the patriarch to pass his fortune down to the eldest male of the family. As someone who loves history and has taken a European history course, I have read a lot about this and it immediately caught my eye.

King Lear runs into a problem with this task because he has three daughters. Of the three, only two of the three have married. Okay, no big deal, he decides that he will divide his fortune up based on how well his daughters can proclaim his love for them.

This is where I started to question Lear’s decision making and ability to handle authority. It seems to me that pride clouds his capability to make informed and productive choices.

To start, he decides to divvy up his kingdom because he wants to remain king but doesn’t want the work. It is pride that prompts the idea to selfishly keep his title without the duties and responsibilities of actually being king. Instead of passing the title or keeping any of the work, he has too much pride to lose the position that places him as a leader.

He then orders his daughters to declare their love for him to determine how much of the kingdom they get. There is no other excuse for this than King Lear wanting to hear how loved and wonderful he is. In this way, his pride plays a major role again. It backfires because all of his daughters understand that this contest is to determine their future power and two of the three play into it as much as possible. Goneril and Regan both exclaim how they love Lear as much as life or how he gives them the most happiness they could imagine. Both of these declarations play right into Lear’s desire and need to boost his ego and play into his prideful nature.

It isn’t until his third daughter, Cordelia, makes a notion that she understands the game and isn’t willing to play into the prideful characteristics that Lear gets unsettles. She recognizes that she will never be able to declare her love with words as well as she can act on it every single day. When she refuses to contribute to this game, Lear goes so far as to completely banish her from his kingdom. He also banishes a loyal helper, Kent, for trying to show Lear what his youngest daughter meant.

Lear is unable to understand the magnitude of his actions because he is so overwhelmed with his damaged pride. We know his decision to banish his youngest daughter and loyal helper are outlandish because Shakespeare makes a point to include some reactions of other characters, including the two Princes battling for Cordelia’s love when the incident occurs.

This battle between King Lear’s ability to make sound decisions and option to side with his Pride will be very interesting to pay attention to as the play progresses!

Gulliver’s Travels, chapters 1-4

I was pleasantly surprised to discover how entertaining this story was and how well it flowed. I knew it wouldn’t be in the same old English as Chaucer and Spencer, however the modern language was aided with great amounts of imagery which made for an encompassing literary experience. Within this novel, Swift creates multiple journeys for our main character through which he is able discover abroad and reflect upon situations domestically in England. In doing so, he is able to satirize many events and express his personal opinions masked by fiction.

Swift does a wonderful job of creating the main character of “Captain Gulliver,” giving him enough of a background for us to understand his immediate situation of waking up in the kingdom of Lilliput. From there, I love how he presents the story through Gulliver’s perspective, which broadens as he learns more and more about where he is.

While I know that this literary work is presented as a satire, it is worked into the novel so you don’t always immediately recognize it. Our “Norton Anthology” book leaves foot notes at the bottom of each page when a satirical reference is made. Personally, I was surprised to see how much material he pulled directly from history or his life.

Until reaching chapter four, in which the war over cracked eggs was discussed, there was little sarcasm or exaggerating which screamed satire. As with the “Butter Battle Book,” this piece literature seems to simply present a fictional story line and adventurous plot. While small children and those who are unaware of a deeper meaning may just enjoy the fantasy and excitement, there is a very prevalent underlying meaning to nearly everything. Swift then goes a step further to present those particular things in a light that reflects his personal opinions about them.

For example, the description of the Lilliput emperor is said to satirically idealize George I, whom was seen as “gross” to most British (p 2499.) The constant plea for liberty for Gulliver’s freedom with the contrasting threat of starvation or rebellion suggest the Irish situation while under England (p 2501.) Satirical references span from religion, government/monarchy, wars, and even executions…and this was only chapters one through four!

The first section of this book captivated me through its easy to read structure and whimsical plot line. This literary work has left me wanting to read more and I am excited to see what all develops within the next chapters!