CliffsNotes on

Gulliver's Travels

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Book Summary

Jonathan Swift Biography

Early Years and Education
Swift's Career
Swift's Major Literary Works
About Gulliver's Travels

Summary, Analysis, and Original Text by Chapter

Book I: A Voyage to Lilliput: Chapter 1
Book I: A Voyage to Lilliput: Chapter 2
Book I: A Voyage to Lilliput: Chapter 3
Book I: A Voyage to Lilliput: Chapter 4
Book I: A Voyage to Lilliput: Chapter 5
Book I: A Voyage to Lilliput: Chapter 6
Book I: A Voyage to Lilliput: Chapter 7
Book I: A Voyage to Lilliput: Chapter 8
Book II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag: Chapter 1
Book II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag: Chapter 2
Book II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag: Chapter 3
Book II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag: Chapter 4
Book II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag: Chapter 5
Book II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag: Chapter 6
Book II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag: Chapter 7
Book II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag: Chapter 8
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 1
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 2
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 3
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 4
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 5
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 6
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 7
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 8
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 9
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 10
Book III: A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan: Chapter 11
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 1
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 2
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 3
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 4
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 5
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 6
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 7
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 8
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 9
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 10
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 11
Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 12

Character List

Character Map

Character Analysis

Lemuel Gulliver
The Lilliputians
The Brobdingnagians
The Houyhnhnms
The Yahoos

Critical Essays

Philosophical and Political Background of Gulliver's Travels
Swift's Satire in Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver as a Dramatis Persona

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Full Glossary for Gulliver's Travels
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Summary, Analysis, and Original Text by Chapter

Book IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms: Chapter 8

Gulliver visits the Yahoos but cannot reconcile himself to their vulgarity. They eat frogs and fish and kennel in holes. They stink, cannot be housebroken, and hurl excrement at one another. When Gulliver goes swimming, he is cornered by one of the amorous females who embraces his naked body and, Gulliver says, would have sexually assaulted him had his protector, the Sorrel Nag, not saved him. In contrast to the Yahoos, the Houyhnhnms govern themselves wholly by reason. They take good care of their young, but they do it on the grounds of reason. Accordingly, they breed for strength and comeliness; no Houyhnhnm marries for either love or money. Also, there is no adultery. Once every four years, Gulliver tells us, the Houyhnhnms meet for an assembly to settle all problems. Not surprisingly, there are few or no problems that need solving.


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