Jonathan Swift and the Politics of Gulliver's Travels

This essay takes a look at the politics involved in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and compares events in the story to events in contemporary British history of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It discusses why the story of Gulliver’s travels has been enjoyed by generations of readers and if it has relevance to today’s society. In the first chapter Swift’s background is discussed and how he came to work in the church. In the following chapter a brief synopsis is given of the stories in question. The third chapter focuses on Swift’s own political views and what it is that he is writing about and criticizing. The fourth chapter discusses his technique of writing a satire and how he applies it to Gulliver’s Travels. Some events and their significance are inspected in the fifth chapter as well as some of Swift’s peculiar inclusions in the book and its appeal. The last chapter takes a look at the political significance of the book and how it reflected actual events in British politics at the time