The new of
the modern novel
is the realism. The story is set in the present and the behaviour of the
characters is very close to the reader. Time ,place, physical descriptions of
people are clearly indicated. Modern travel fiction,
is a novel that tells about travels, that were very common and popular. Some of
that travel fiction are also utopian fiction, here two distant world are be
ed, one of them is a modern imperfect world.
SWIFT: was born
in Ireland(catholic
country) in 1667, there he was educated and became a priest. He went to England , to
stay in the household of sir William temple where attended in a circle of
learned friend and use the library, rich of classical texts. He became one of
the most influential writers of the Augustan Age. He wrote satirical works against political corruption.
In Ireland
he became an hero because with his pamphlets. He was a brilliant polemist, we
can see that in his most important satirical works : THE BATTLE OF THE BOOK(he imagines a battle between the ancients
and moderns books) , A MODEST PROPOSAL(it is a pamphlet , politic,
he suggest to use Irish children ad food for the rich) , A TALE OF TUB( against the corruption of the Roman Church). GULLIVER's TRAVELS
GULLIVER's TRAVELS 1726
published anonymously, because of the allusion to contemporany
politics (novel) 4 book, Utopian narratives, on a first level of read , it's a
travel story, that is a popular genre. Gulliver (first-person narrator), a
ship's surgeon, makes a series of voyages into remote lands of the world. Swift
Mixes fantastic and real. 1
° BOOK, First voyage, Gulliver is shipwreck in the empire of Lilliput, that are small like insect, At first they make
Gulliver prisoner but after they trust him and try to use him in the war
against the neighbouring contry. At the end Gulliver
is allowed to leave the country. Lilliputian are only great in their thirst
for power, and exemplify the pettiness of world. 2° BOOK In the second voyage Gulliver lands
in the country of Brobdingnag, lived by giants. They
are highly civilized. The gigantic size of the people allow Gulliver to see
all the physical imperfection of man. 3°BOOKIn the third voyage, Gulliver lands in Laputa, a flying island, moved by a magnet. The inhabitants
despise all practical occupations, they are interested only in theoretical and
abstract knowledge. In their academy conduct absurd experiments. Is a direct satire against the philosophies
and science of England. 4°BOOK
Gulliver is with the degraded humanity of the Yahoos, monstruous
creatures, and with the superior intelligence of the clever horses. Gulliver
admit that the Yahoos are very similar to men and decide to stay forever with
the horses.
Defoe: was born in 1660 in London , in a puritan family. He was a
part-time writer. In 1703 he was imprisoned for satire. He was a spy for the
Tory and for the Whig. He wrote in prose pamphlets and travel books. He died in
1731 full of debts. In Robinson Crusoe is
Defoe's first novel the story
is told by a first-person narrator, and is a fake autobiography. It is about
the sea and the dangers of navigation , that were very popular character.
Robison born in York, he decided to take to the sea as a merchant. During one
of his trips, he is shipwrecked in a desert island with no other survivors. He build an house and some utensils, learns
how to cultivate the land. He writes on a diary every day of his life on
the island, and reads every day a Bible. One day, on the opposite side of the
island where he lives, founds a prisoner
that was going to be killed by a group of Indians. He saves him and calls him
Friday, as the name of the current day. The time is accounted very well. After 28 years passed alone on a desert island
Robinson develop a religious conversion, he understand that the man is not
alone in the world and that there is an order in the universe. Robinson
represents the English mercantile class that was beginning to colonize the
world, and is the model pioneer. He
represents the relation between colonist and native that will characterize the
British and European colonialism. Robinson trusts Friday, but use him ad a servant, don't teach him to use
a gun , teach him a little English, and force the Christian's God over Friday's
god.
