Gulliver's giant feet walking in the diminuative forest of the lilliputians

Gulliver's Travels

by Jonathan Swift

Start Free Trial

Bibliography

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

Bloom, Harold, ed. Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels.” New York: Chelsea House, 1986. A collection of criticism from the second half of the twentieth century, arranged in chronological order. Essays range from investigations of philosophical context and literary genre to psychoanalytic and deconstructionist approaches.

Brady, Frank, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of “Gulliver’s Travels”: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. A selection of essays examining the philosophical, religious, and scientific background of the work. Examines the literary sources and traditions the book reflects.

Carnochan, W. B. Lemuel Gulliver’s Mirror for Man. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968. Relates Swift’s satiric intention to the epistemology of John Locke to illustrate his theory of Augustan satire. An epilogue examines how Gulliver’s Travels anticipates later satirists Lewis Carroll, James Joyce, and Vladimir Nabokov.

Erskine-Hill, Howard. Jonathan Swift: “Gulliver’s Travels.” Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1993. A concise, accessible introduction. Final chapter surveys the work’s influence on fiction from Herman Melville to Nathaniel West.

Smith, Frederik N., ed. The Genres of “Gulliver’s Travels.” Newark, N.J.: University of Delaware Press, 1990. A collection of previously unpublished essays, each taking the standpoint of a different literary genre. An afterword suggests how the reader might navigate the work, given the multiplicity of genres it represents. Assumed is the basic indeterminacy of texts.

For Further Reference

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

Case, A. E. Four Essays on "Gulliver's Travels." Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1945. This insightful collection serves as an excellent starting point for critical essays on Swift. Notably, it includes the essay "Personal and Political Satire in Gulliver's Travels."

Foster, Milton P. A Casebook on Gulliver Among the Houyhnhnms. New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1961. This anthology comprises essays addressing the complex issues in the fourth book.

Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. Edited by Robert A. Greenberg. New York: W. W. Norton, 1970. This exceptional edition features annotations, excerpts from Swift's letters, critical essays, and a comprehensive bibliography.

Tuveson, Ernest. Swift: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1964. These essays are ideal for those pursuing an advanced study of Swift and Gulliver's Travels.

Ward, David. Jonathan Swift: An Introductory Essay. London: Methuen, 1973. This collection includes two particularly useful essays: one on the forms of satire and another offering an in-depth analysis of Gulliver's Travels.

Williams, Kathleen. Swift: The Critical Heritage. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1970. These essays are well-suited for advanced students studying Swift.

Media Adaptations

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

In 1996, a live-action miniseries of Gulliver's Travels was produced for television by Charles Sturridge, based on a screenplay by Simon Moore. The film featured Ted Danson as Gulliver, alongside Mary Steenburgen, Peter O'Toole, Ned Beatty, Alfre Woodard, Geraldine Chaplin, John Gielgud, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Omar Sharif. This adaptation, longer and more faithful to the book's plot than previous versions, introduces a new subplot involving Gulliver's wife (Steenburgen) and son. Despite these changes, much of Jonathan Swift's satire is preserved, and the special effects, created by Jim Henson Productions, are significantly superior to those in earlier adaptations. It is available on two videos from Hallmark Home Entertainment.

The 1939 animated film Gulliver's Travels, directed by Dave Fleischer with a screenplay by Dan Gordon, Ted Pierce, Isidore Sparber, and Edmond Seward, features the voices of Lanny Ross and Jessica Dragonette. This film was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Score and Best Song (for "Faithful Forever"). Although it omits several episodes from the plot and much of Swift's satire, the animation quality is exceptionally high for its time. It is available from Congress Entertainment, Moore Video, and Nostalgia Family Video.

The 1977 partially animated film Gulliver's Travels, directed by Peter Hung from a screenplay by Don Black, stars Richard Harris as Gulliver, alongside Catherine Schell, Norman Shelley, and Meredith Edwards, with voice performances by Michael Bates and Denis Bryer. This adaptation significantly alters the plot and removes much of Swift's satire, resulting in a film that can feel overly sentimental and childish. It is available from Video Treasures, Hollywood Home Entertainment, and Reader's Digest Home Video.

Featuring animation effects by Ray Harryhausen, The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960; also known as The Worlds of Gulliver) was directed by Jack Sher from a screenplay by Arthur Ross and Jack Sher. The film stars Kerwin Mathews as Gulliver, Jo Morrow, and June Thorburn. This version trims much of the plot to focus on Gulliver's adventures in Lilliput and Brobdingnag and introduces a romantic interest for Gulliver. However, much of Swift's satire is retained. It is available from Columbia Tristar Home Video.

Two animated adaptations of Gulliver's Travels from 1979 include a short version aimed at children, narrated by Vincent Price and available from AIMS Multimedia, and a slightly longer version by Hanna Barbera Productions, featuring the voices of Ross Martin and Janet Waldo, available from Worldvision Home Video, Inc. and Goodtimes Entertainment.

An unabridged audio reading of Gulliver's Travels, narrated by Norman Dietz, is available on eight cassettes (10 hours, 45 minutes) from Recorded Books, Inc., 1989. Abridged versions include an audio dramatization originally broadcast on NBC Theater, narrated by Henry Hull, available on one cassette from Metacom Audio Library Classics, 1991; and a dramatization read by Ted Danson, available on two cassettes from Simon & Schuster Audioworks, 1996.

Bibliography and Further Reading

Download PDF PDF Page Citation Cite Share Link Share

Sources

Erskine-Hill, Howard. Swift, Gulliver’s Travels. (Landmarks of World Literature) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Michael Foote, Introduction to Gulliver's Travels (includes quotes from early reviews), Penguin Books, 1985.

William Hazlitt, "On Swift, Young, Gray, Collins, Etc.," in his Lectures on the English Poets, 1818, reprinted by Oxford University Press, 1924, pp. 160-89.

Samuel Holt Monk, "The Pride of Lemuel Gulliver," in Gulliver's Travels: A Norton Critical Edition, 2nd Edition, edited by Robert A. Greenberg, 1961 and 1970, pp. 312-330.

Probyn, Clive T. Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels. (Penguin Critical Series) London: Penguin Books, 1989.

Sir Walter Scott, extract from The Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick's Dublin: Life of Swift, Vol. 1, 2nd edition, A. Constable & Co., reprinted in Swift: The Critical Heritage, edited by Kathleen Williams, Barnes & Noble, 1970.

Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver’s Travels. Edited by Peter Dixon and John Chalker; with an introduction by Michael Foot. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1967.

William Makepeace Thackeray, in his English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century, Smith, Elder & Co., 1853, reprinted in his The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century: The Four Georges, Etc., Macmillan, 1904, pp. 1-32.

Tippett, Brian. Gulliver’s Travels (The Critics Debate). Atlantic Highlands, N.J. Humanities Press International, 1989.

For Further Study

Frank Brady, "Vexations and Diversion: Three Problems in Gulliver's Travels," in Modern Philology: A Journal Devoted to Research in Medieval and Modern Literature, Vol. 75, 1978, pp. 346-367. This article provides a comprehensive overview of various approaches to Gulliver's Travels and analyzes its humor, historical context, and Swift's intentions. It represents a "soft" school interpretation.

Arthur E. Case, "The Significance of Gulliver's Travels," in Four Essays on Gulliver's Travels, Princeton University Press, 1945, pp. 97-126. This essay offers a critical assessment of Gulliver's Travels.

J. A. Downie, "Political Characterization in Gulliver's Travels," in Yearbook of English Studies, Vol. 7, 1977, pp. 108-120. Downie argues against the common interpretation of Gulliver's Travels as a political allegory, demonstrating the limitations of such a reading across all four books.

Jenny Mezciems, "Swift's Praise of Gulliver: Some Renaissance Background to the Travels," in The Character of Swift's Satire: A Revised Focus, edited by Claude Rawson, University of Delaware Press, 1983, pp. 245-281. This discussion explores how Swift employed Renaissance genres in writing Gulliver's Travels.

Frank Palmeri, Critical Essays on Jonathan Swift, G. K. Hall, 1993, pp. 1-10. This collection of essays examines Swift, his historical context, and the key themes and techniques in his work, including Gulliver's Travels. Palmeri's introduction provides an excellent historical overview of Swift criticism.

Ricardo Quintana, "Gulliver's Travels: Some Structural Properties and Certain Questions of Critical Approach and Interpretation," in The Character of Swift's Satire: A Revised Focus, edited by Claude Rawson, University of Delaware Press, 1983, pp. 282-304. This essay offers a detailed summary of formal and interpretive issues and discusses the main interpretations to date.

Edward J. Rielly, editor, Approaches to Teaching Swift's Gulliver's Travels, The Modern Language Association of America, 1988. This is an invaluable resource that includes descriptions of materials for teaching the text, discussions of various methods for introducing students to the work's themes, and a survey of assignments and syllabi to complement the book.

Richard H. Rodino, “‘Splendide Mendax': Authors, Characters, and Readers in Gulliver's Travels," in PMLA: Publication of the Modern Language Association of America, Vol. 106, No. 5, 1991, pp. 1054-1070. This study explores Gulliver's relationship with language, writing, and readers, demonstrating how the text can support both literal and figurative interpretations.

Pat Rogers, "Introduction," Gulliver's Travels (includes quotes from early reviews), Everyman's Library Edition, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1991. This introduction provides a comprehensive overview of the history of Gulliver's Travels, its creation, influences, and critical reception.

Peter J. Schakel, editor, Critical Approaches to Teaching Swift, AMS Press, 1992. This compilation of essays presents various critical approaches to Jonathan Swift's work, including several essays specifically on Gulliver's Travels, along with a bibliography for educators.

Frederik N. Smith, "Vexing Voices: The Telling of Gulliver's Story," in Papers on Language and Literature: A Journal for Scholars and Critics of Language and Literature, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1985, pp. 383-398. Smith delves into the relationship between Jonathan Swift and Lemuel Gulliver, questioning whether Gulliver should be seen as Swift's spokesperson.

Frederik N. Smith, editor, The Genres of Gulliver's Travels, University of Delaware Press, 1990. This collection of essays explores the influence of various eighteenth-century genres, such as travel narratives and novels, on Gulliver's Travels.

Paul Turner, Introduction to Gulliver's Travels (includes quotes from early reviews), Oxford University Press, 1986. This introduction offers a concise and informative overview of the work.

J. K. Welcher, "Gulliver in the Market Place," in Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, Vol. 217, 1983, pp. 125-139. Welcher examines the book's status as a bestseller in the eighteenth century and explores the portrayal of capitalism within the story.

Get Ahead with eNotes

Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.

Get 48 Hours Free Access
Previous

Historical and Social Context

Loading...