《格列夫游记》——读后感

不论是不是真正读过，或者通读过，大约谁都知道《格列夫游记》是一部世界名著。在中国读者中，乔纳森.斯威夫特的名字或者不如莎士比亚、狄更斯、萧伯纳来得响亮，可是这些响亮名字的作品，真正读过的又有几人呢？相反，小人国、大人国的故事倒差不多称得上家喻户晓了。在“家喻户晓”的同时《格列夫游记》在一般人的心中仿佛成了一本儿童读物，那么到底是不是呢？如果不是，它究竟又是怎样的一部书呢？

《格列夫游记》是一部奇书，但我不同意有些评论家的观点，认为这是一本儿童读物，神奇的想象，夸张的手段，寓言的笔法，固然是一般儿童读物普遍的特点，但《格列夫游记》是以其杰出的讽刺而垂名世界文学史的。而斯威夫特的大名，至少在英国讽刺作家中，至今仍罕有其匹。

《格列夫游记》一共由四部分组成，第一卷利立浦物游记和第二卷布罗卜丁奈格游记写于一七二一年至一七二二年之间。第四卷慧因国游记先于第三卷，写于一七二三年。第三卷比较松散，铺的面较开，以勒皮他游记为主，兼及巴尔尼巴比，拉格奈格，格勒大锥和日本四个地方的游记，从一七二四到一七二五写了两年。四个部分应该说是相互独立的，表面上的某种联系或者对照也许只存在于第一卷和第二卷之间。格列夫由小人国中的“巨人山”一下变为大人国中的可怜的矮子。当然，不论是从正面颂、还是从反而颂，斯威夫特的情感和思想，在四个部分中都是一以贯之的。那就是不留情面地对十八世纪前半期的英国社会进行全面的批判，尤其对统治阶级的腐败、无能、无聊、毒辣、荒淫、贪婪、自大等作痛快淋漓的鞭挞，范围也似乎要越出十八世纪的初期的英国，而将茅头指向罪孽深重、愚蠢肮脏，毫无理性的整个人类。

第一卷是标准的讽刺。虽说大家现在都承认小人国实际就是暗指英国利立浦特宫廷也就是英国宫廷的缩影，但人们还是不得不佩服斯威夫特惊人的想象力。他何以会想得出小人国这么一个点子来的呢？格列夫与利立浦特人之间的大小比例为1：12。这一比例在全书中从头到尾都得到严格遵守，不曾出一点差错。从写作技巧上讲，这种视觉上的选择是天才的，而它所产生的效果则是无处不在的幽默。我们当然知道作者是在讽刺，在挖苦，然而这种讽刺和挖苦是理性的、冷静的，甚而至于是较温和的。作者还没有完全激动起来，他只是在煞有其事的给你讲故事，讲一连串在读者看来是闻所未闻的有趣故事。

读者就是这样被他——斯威夫特——这些故事给迷住了，忘记了他的每一个故事其实差不多都是有所指的。不论是“高跟党”还是“低跟党”，“大端派”还是“小端派”，甚至于像财政大臣这样具体的人，都可以从当时的英国上层社会找到他们的影子。有些评论家甚至认为，那么一些“有所指”的讽刺，其实也完全适用于整个人类，而并不仅仅限于英国。

第一卷中讽刺是正面的、直接的。格列夫俨然以巨人的身份在由袖珍的人、事、物组成的立利浦特雄视阔步。虽然他也时常受到骚扰，经历种种不如意。在大街上走路必须时刻注意，以免不小心就将人踏死，或者将房屋踩塌，可他永远是居高临下的，无论皇帝还是大臣，任其自傲自狂，在格列夫的眼中，永远只是一群荒唐愚蠢的，微不足道的小动物。这里的比例是1：12，格列夫从头至尾享受着“俯视”的便宜和痛快。当然，就是这么一个小人国，其内部和腐败的纷争，也终有一天会将其自身毁灭。

第二卷布罗卜丁奈格游记与第一卷适成对比，格列夫来到了大人国，一下子

由“巨人山”缩为“格里尔特里格”。置身大人国，自己仿佛变成了一个利立浦特人。比例倒了过来，成了12：1。格列夫的视角一下由居高临下变为处处仰视。这一强烈的对照手法是有象征意义的。这种反讽相当尖刻，具有叫对方无法还手的力度。斯威夫特也显然越说越没有顾忌了。

不论作者是出于何种考虑，第三卷的出现多少有点破坏了《格列夫游记》作为一个整体的形式的完美性，就组成第三卷的那一系列断片来说，本身也缺乏力度，结构显得较为松散。涉及的范围扩大了，可更多的倒好像是作者在说笑话，许多地方还谈不上是讽刺。第三卷充当了一种缓冲剂，缓和了第二卷和第四卷之间强烈的感情。

第三卷是由五个游记组成的。勒皮他游记是第一个，它讽刺的主题显而易见，就是英国对爱尔兰的统治和剥削。在接下来的巴尔尼巴比游记中，斯威夫特的讽刺是直接的，不加掩饰的，讽刺的对象是拉格多大科学院。此外，斯威夫特还讽刺了文学和历史学的所谓新批评主义的方法。

第四卷慧因国游记看来是最有争议的一部分了。斯威夫特在这一卷里到底想告诉我们一些什么？两百多年来，人们对这一问题的探讨已远远超出了学术的范围。《格列夫游记》一出版就受到了广泛的欢迎。但几乎就在斯威夫特刚刚告别人世之后，一场旷日持久的针对第四卷的抨击就开始了。斯威夫特到底是不是反人类的呢？人类的发展，一方面展示了它的真正的文明和美德，同时也更全面地，更清楚地暴露了它的堕落和丑恶。而讽刺作家不过在这条路上走得更远罢了。其实，批判或讽刺往往并非出于恶意，倒可能是因为更深的爱；也许是“怒其不争”吧。

这就是斯威夫特的反人类吗？如果是，我们也就不妨接受吧，我们由此看到了最强烈，最深刻、最有力度、最不妥协的讽刺，《格列夫游记》的价值和斯威夫特的伟大也正基于此。

读《格列夫游记》，仿佛徜徉在作者斯威夫特的想象力的海洋中，他用或辛辣、或讽刺、或讥嘲的笔触，构造了一个妙想天开的奇特世界。奇特的国家，奇怪的人物，以及主人公的奇异遭遇，组成了斯威夫特或理想、或反理想的国度，让读者们既沉迷于他的天马行空的想象，又为书中深刻的内涵而动容。使《格列夫游记》成为世界文学史上的一块里程碑。

 

第二篇：《 格列佛游记 》的批判性分析(英文版)

《格列佛游记 》的批判性分析

Travels

A CriticalAnalysis of Gulliver’s

Abstract: BasedonGulliver’s fourvoyages inJonathan Swift’sGulliver’s Travels this paperana2 lyzes theauthor’s satirical viewof the state of European government and religions, and inquiry into the corruptionofmen, and his desire to establisha harmoniousanddemocratic Houyhnhm - like society.

Key words: satirical; Houyhnhm - like society; Gulliver’s Travels

The name of Jonathan Swift is one of the very greatestnames in English literature, andTheTaleof a Tub and Gulliver’s Travels are twoof the greatest satires in the English language.

Jonathan Swift was born of English parents in Dublin in 1667 and became a product of Irish cul2 ture and learning. Hewas educated at the Kilkenny School and Trinity College inDublin, and became an assistant to authoranddiplomat SirWilliam Tem2 ple. He left thisposition after Temple died in1699 to earn his priest’s ordination. He worked as a clergyman in Ireland, traveling throughout theUnit2 ed Kingdom, and exploring his frustrationswith so2 ciety throughhiswritings. Hewrote about thepover2 ty he saw amongthepeople, the typical daily lifeof cityfolkand the problems hewitnessed in the social order. It is thiswriting that makes Swift one of the most renowned satiristsofEnglish societyandBritish history. He believed that social conventions were outdated and must be changed, and qualities of mind (and notphysical beauty) should be the foun2 dations of love. He also found a heavy interest in politics, takingupweight in the Torypartyof Eng2 land’s governmental party system. From such ob2 servations in government and religion, and love and gender inequality, Swiftproducedanenormous body ofwork. Hiswritingsfall into several categories, in2 cludingpoetry, short stories, political essays, and novels. In1742, hewas declaredofunsoundmind, and died in 1745 inDublin.

Gulliver’s Travels is the immortal work ofJon2

athanSwift. The bookbecame tremendouslypopular as soon as it was published in 1726, and can be justly ranked among the best novels of theworld lit2 erature and has not lost its significance even to the current society. It is a classicwhich always arouses the interestof every child to share Gulliver’s ad2 ventures into fantastic lands, andmakes everyma2 ture reader broodover hisbitter satire on the human race. In it, Swiftexploresgenderdifferences, poli2 tics, class, money, race, science, education, exploration, love, physical strength, physical beauty, and then satirize on them bitingly. Through depicting the experiences of his four voyages to dif2 ferent lands, Gulliver intensely satirizes the hypo2 critical, greedy, deceptive and aggressive nature of the human society. He alsomocks the corrupt reli2 gious and political systems in his homeland, Eng2 land, which is caught in constant wars and vio2 lence. He hopefully desires to establish a harmoni2 ous and democratic Houyhnhm - like societywhich is based on reason andwisdom. When he can not reach his ideal society before the cruel reality, he turns topayingattention tohisownmoral upliftwith2 out caring forothers, and becomes a complete pes2 simistwho tries to escape from the realworld.

Gullivermakes fourdeep - sea voyages, which are described in the four parts of the book. In Part One, “A Voyage toLilliput”, Gulliver finds him2 self tied down by a race of dwarfswho are onlyone

①作者简介: 李 江 , 云南大学大学外语教学部讲师 (云南 昆明 , 650091)。

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- twelfth the size of his own. This is his

first travel, in

which he visitsLilliput Gulliver is

facedwith the m

inute people, called Lilliputians. He judges the country’s inhabitants he

meets to be as perfect

and innocent as their

appearances. He refers to theLilli2 putian emperor as

“His Imperial Majesty”

and blindly agrees to

perform any demanded service, e2 ven though he could easily overpower the tiny na2 tion. Gulliver is used as the Emperor’s absolute weapon to conquer his world of two islands. It is

on2 ly after his services have been exploited, Gullive

r

realizes how cruel and deceitful the

Lilliputians truly are and his personality begins to transform. Swift

al2

so criticizes the religious beliefs of the

Lilliputians. InLilliput, M inisters

are chosen strictlyon tightrope walking

or stick jumping. If they do well, they are able to maintain their positions as ministers. Sw

ift

also criticizes the English political parties. His use of the terms High Heels and

Low Heels to compare the meaningless battles of the

Whigs and Tories is quite ironic. He alsomocks the religionwar thatwas goingon in England, through the use of the

war

be2 tweenLilliput, and its nearest neighbor, B

lefuscu. (Zhu, 74)

In Part Two, “A Voyage to Brobdingnag”, Gulliver

faces a world with everything being twelve times its normal size. Because of his unfavorable

ex2 periences

onLilliput, Gulliver approaches the

Brob2 dingnagianswith suspicion and contempt. A

lthough

this race is far more benevolent and trustworthy, Gulliver gives it more criticism and disrespect I

t

becomes obvious that his dissatisfaction relates di

2

rectly to his inferiority among these huge beings. Gulliver

himself

admits:

This made me

reflect how vain an attem pt it i

s

for a m an

to endeavor doing himself honour among

thosewho are out of all degree of equality or com pari2 son with him. And yet I have seen the m oral of m y own behavior very frequent in England since m y re2

turn, where a little contem ptible varlet, without the least title to birth, person, w it or comm on sense,

shall presume to look with importance, and put him 2

self upon a footw ith the greatest persons of

the king2 dom. (Swift, 110)

Gulliver is beginning to get involved in the

mor2 al controversies he observes, and then satirize the social and political conditions he

observed. Even the

using destructive weapons. ( Lu, 70 ) His second voyage shows us the filthymental and

physical char2 acteristics of

man. Gulliver’s first owner in

Brob2 dingnag represents the selfishness of

man. Gulliver is constantly displayed in public, abused for the profit

of the owne. When his owner finds out that Gulliver

isweakening, he sells

him immediately, at a high price in order to

milk every last penny out

of Gulliver.

In Part Three, “A Voyage to Laputa ”, Gul2 liver is pulled up to a flying

floating island that

hov2

ers above ground. On the floating island of

Laputa, Gulliver meets the Laputans who run their world

through mathematics and science, and allow their land to be dictated by

a giant lodestone at the center of the island. Eventually, Gulliver grows weary of these people, for they cannot communicate

without

the help

of a flapper. So, he journeys to the islands below andmeets different races of

people. Gulliver’ s third voyage, to the floating island of Laputa is one of the

most satirical of the whole book. In this voyage Swift criticizes the Royal Society of

England, in which he says is composed of useless philoso2 phers, inventors, and scientists. In the view of Gulliver, he regarded the science

ofLaputa

aspseu2 doscience, which is distorted and abused by

Lapu2 tans. (Sun, 100

- 101)

In Part Four, “A Voyage to the Houyhnhn - m

s”, Gulliver becomes trapped in a world where

horses represent civilization and reason, while hu2 mans, referred to as Yahoos, turn out to be wild,

savage and ignorant. After the horses, called

Houyhnhnm

s, make him realize how corrupt human beings is, Gulliver

begins to love their

virtuous soci2 ety. At the end

of his story, he says:

B ut the Houyhnhm s,

who live under the govern2

m ent of Reason, are nom ore proud of the good qual2 ities they posses, than I should be for not wanting a leg or an arm, which no m an in this wits would

boast of, although he m ust be m iserable w ithout them. I dwell the longer upon this subject from the de2

sire I have to make the society of an English Yahoo by any m eans not insupportable, and therefore I here entreat those who have any tincture of this absurd

vice, that they will not presum e to appear in m y sight (Swift, 305)

The Houyhnhnm s

compare Gulliver

and the Ya2

King criticizes the crueltyofhumanmass- killingby hoos and find many similarities between the two. ?92?

The only difference is that Gulliver, and

mankind, has learned the benefits of clothing, and he now

and again could be a rational creature. That comparison deeply shocks Gulliver because he himrealizes

self

that he is so si ilar to those savage creatures. So he tries his best to hide his body from the view of the Houyhnhnm

s under the guise of already ragge

d

clothing, and he argues:

I wanted no fence against fraud or oppression;

here was neither physician to destroy m y body, nor lawyer to ruin my fortune; no informer to watch m y

words and actions, or forge accusations against me for hire; herewere no gibers, censurers, backbiters

,

pickpockets, highwaym en, housebreakers, attor2 neys, bawds, buffoons, gamesters, politicians,

wits, splenetic, tedious talkers, controvertists, rav2 ishers, m urders, robbers, virtuosos; no leaders or followers of party and faction, no encouragers t

o

vice, by seducem ent or exam ples: no dungeon, ax2

es, gibbets, whipping posts, or pillories; no cheat2 ing shopkeepers or m echanics: no pride, vanity, or affectation: no fops, bullies, drunkards, strolling

whores, or poxes: no ranting, lewd, expensive wives: no stupid proud pendants: no im portunate, overbearing, quarrelsom e, noisy, roaring, em pty, conceited, swearing com panions:

no scoundrels,

raised from the dust upon them erit of their vices, or nobility thrown into it on account of their virtues:

no

Lords, fiddlers, Judges or dancing - m asters. ” (Swift, 279)

When Gulliver is expelled from the island b

y the Houyhnhnm

s, he returns to England altered.

W

hen he finally returns home after his voyages,

he

discovers that he cannot endure the companyofother humans, including his wife, and he

even faint2

swhen his wife kisses hi .

He gets worse and

worse, and cannot even bear to look at his own re2

flection because he knows what degeneration it re2

presents. He no longer cares to look upon his fami2 ly, and spends all his ti e with the two horses he buys to keep in his nearby stable. Before he returns home, he even i

agines:

M y D

esign was, if

possible, to discover some

《格列佛游记 》的批判性分析★

李 江★

small island uninhabited, yet sufficient by m yLabour to furnish m ewith Necessaries of Life, which Iwould have thought a greaterHappiness than to be firstm in2 ister in the politest Court of Europe; so horrible was

the Idea I conceived of returning to live in the society and under the Governm ent of Yahoos. For in such a Solitude as I desired, I could at least enjoy my own

Thoughts, and reflect w ith Delight on the V irtues of those inim itable Houyhnhnm s, without any O pportu2 nities of m y own Species. (Sw ift, 291)

The tragic hero returns home in exile. His homecoming is the most

alienating experience of

all “Gulliver is an odysseus gone sour, a homecomer

who, in a satiric version of narrative rest, is de2 pressed and drained by his very resources as a hu2

man” ( R iche tti, 75 - )

being. 76 Gulliver devel2 ops a satirical view of the state of European govern2 ment and religions, and an inquiry into the corrup2

tion

ofmen. He hopefully desires to establish

a har2 monious and democratic Houyhnhm - like society. But because he can not find a

wayout

of the real so2 ciety to embrace his Houyhnhm

ian ideal, he choo2 ses to retire into his

own innerworld and becomes a complete pessimistwho tries to escape from the real world. That’s Gulliver’s individual tragedy, and the tragedy of the

whole human society aswell.

Reference: [1

] Swift Jonathan:

Gulliver’ s Travels,

Beijing: Foreign Lan2

guages teaching and Research Press, 1996.

[ 2 ]

Richetti, John, ed: The Cambridge Companion to the

Eighteenth

Century

Novel1London:

Cambridge University

Press, 1998.

[3] Zhu, Yanmei:“TheArt of Irony in Sw ift’sLilliput”.

Beauty

& Ti es, Vol. 3 (2005): pp173～74.

[4] Zhu, Yanmei:“A Comment on theCriticism of the Eighteenth

CenturyLife in England in Sw ift’s Gulliver’s Travels”.

Jour2

nal of Adult Education in Hebei University, Vol. 5 No. 2

(2003) pp169～71.

[5] Sun, Shaoxian. “On theScienceSubject in Gulliver’s Travels”

Foreign Literature Studies, Vol.

4 (2002) : pp199～102.

(责任编辑 蝶 起

)

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