1. Swift is usually charged with being a misanthrope. Does your reading of Gulliver’s Travels justify this? 2. Can we read Book 1 of Gulliver‘s Travels without being conscious of the satire? Give reasons in support of your answer. 3. Which episodes in Book I of Gulliver’s Travels make you feel that the book is a satire rather than merely an adventure story? Give reasons in support of your answer. 4. Describe the picture of Brobdingnagian society as given by Swift in Book II of Gulliver’s Travels. What evils of contemporary society was it designed to expose? 5. What are the objects of Swift’s satire in Gulliver’s Travels Book I and II? 6. “Swift’s picture of Brobdingnagian society is not merely a piece of satire but also a vision of society as he would like it to be.” Discuss.
7. Examine the complex use of irony that Swift makes in Gulliver’s Travels Book I and II. 8. “The Voyage to Lilliput” is the neatest and most diverting of the four voyages . . . It holds our interest chiefly as imaginative narrative.” Discuss. 9. “Though Gulliver makes the error of identifying himself and the other human beings completely with the Yahoos, we and Swift do not.” Do you agree with this view? Give a reasoned answer. 10. Bring out the significance of Gulliver’s voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms in terms of irony and satire. 11. Bring out the significance of Gulliver’s voyage to Laputa. 12. Comment of the narrative technique of Swift in Book I and II of Gulliver’s Travels. What does Swift achieve by this technique. 13. In Gulliver’s Travels Swift holds up a mirror to human defects and depravity. Elaborate. 14. Beneath the comic storyline of Gulliver’s Travels lies the savage satire of Swift. Illustrate with examples.
