Gulliver’s Travels is a 1726 novel written by Jonathan Swift. It is both an early English novel and a seminal satirical text in British Literature, remaining Swift’s best-known work and spawning many adaptations in both print and film.

The targets of Swift’s satire range from political structures in early 18th-century England to the national rivalry between England and France during the same period. Swift also lampoons science and educational trends that lean towards more speculative and abstract learning. Most significantly, the novel mocks human vices and bad habits, thereby both exposing and critiquing the darker sides of humanity.

This guide uses the Kindle Edition published by Open Road Media in 2014.

Plot Summary

The book is a fictional travel memoir written by Lemuel Gulliver, a man of humble origins, who satisfies his longing for travel and adventure by climbing aboard a merchant ship named the Antelope. During his initial voyage, the Antelope encounters storms and rough seas. Gulliver soon finds himself adrift in the sea, swimming and treading water to stay alive. He spots land and reaches shore, where he collapses from exhaustion.

When he awakes, he discovers that he is tied up with little beings marching up his torso. These little beings—no more than 6 inches in height—are named “Lilliputians,” and Gulliver will spend nearly three years living alongside them. Once the Lilliputians determine that Gulliver does not pose a violent threat, they begin to embrace him and accept him into their society. The Lilliputian society resembles many European societies, with an emperor and a royal court. Gulliver learns their language and offers to provide service to the emperor. One such service is a single-handed military defeat of Lilliput’s sworn enemy, Blefuscu: Gulliver wades across the gulf that separates the two islands, ties the Blefuscu naval ships together, and tows them all back to Lilliput. For this achievement, Gulliver is awarded the highest military title, Nardac (admiral).

All is going well for Gulliver until he stirs the envy of the current admiral and treasurer. Gulliver is accused of urinating within view of the royal palace, which, although true, was something he did to put out a fire at the queen’s quarters. The plot against Gulliver grows until he is served articles of impeachment. The verdict is that Gulliver should have his eyes removed. Sensing that his time is running out, Gulliver seeks the assistance of Lilliput’s rivals. Eventually, he discovers a capsized boat and returns to the open seas. He is rescued by a fellow Englishman at sea and returns to England.

Gulliver is in England a mere two months before embarking on another voyage, which is also driven off course by rough weather. He is sent out in a search party to find water on nearby land. Gulliver becomes separated from the crew and, when he returns to the boat, witnesses what appears to be a monster chasing his fellow crew members away. Gulliver is once again marooned alone in an entirely foreign land. This time, the inhabitants are giants, and the land is called Brobdingnag. A farmer takes Gulliver in as a souvenir, which saves him from harm. Gulliver then chronicles his life there and how he gets along living with giants. His perspective is the complete inverse of his experience in Lilliput, as he is now the diminutive one. One day, while visiting the seashore with the queen’s retinue, Gulliver is picked up and carried away by a bird. He is dropped into the ocean where he is once again rescued by a passing ship.

Undeterred, Gulliver takes to the seas again. This time, pirates overtake his ship. Gulliver is spared by the pirates but is set adrift in a canoe, with which he finds land. As he arrives on shore, he notices a floating landmass and soon discovers that it is the floating island of Laputa, which is inhabited by a king and royal family. Gulliver again learns a new language and spends time with the native inhabitants. He notices that these are peculiar people who are only interested in math, music, and astronomy. Their clothes do not fit, their houses are wobbly and askance, and their academic institutions are places where all kinds of bizarre and useless experiments take place. Gulliver then meets a governor who can summon the dead. He takes advantage of this opportunity by meeting with ancient historical figures such as Aristotle, Homer, and Julius Caesar. He also meets with more recent historical figures from England and discovers much that is distasteful about how people ascend to the royal court. Finally, Gulliver decides he has had enough and departs from the island chain. He goes to Japan, where he pretends to be Dutch, and eventually finds his way back to England.

For his fourth voyage, Gulliver is captain of a ship. He and his crew set out on their voyage, but soon many crew members become ill. Gulliver replaces these crew members but faces a mutiny. Gulliver is again set adrift and ends up in unchartered territory. He is there three days before he witnesses ugly, vicious animals approach him. He attempts to fend them off and is ultimately rescued by a horse. The horse guides Gulliver to a homestead where other horses live. Gulliver thinks that whoever resides there must be bright, intelligent people because of the way they have trained their horses. However, he soon learns that the horses—the Houyhnhnms—are themselves the intelligent ones.

Gulliver learns the horses’ language and holds counsel with the leader of the Houyhnhnms, who is perplexed to find a “Yahoo” (a human) able to use reason. Through Gulliver’s discourse with the master Houyhnhnm, he comes to loathe humanity and becomes cynical. Eventually, the Houyhnhnms order Gulliver to depart, to which he reluctantly agrees. When Gulliver returns home for the final time, he is spiteful and disdains all of humanity, including his own wife. He decides to become a recluse, buys horses, and communicates almost entirely with them rather than his fellow human beings.