Gulliver's Travels Comparative Analysis of

Gulliver's Travels Comparative Analysis of the Roles of Females in "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift Eighteenth century English society was characterized by its rapid development as a nation and one of the bastions of human civilization. However, with its sophistication and complexity comes a culture of corruption and moral disintegration as society becomes more involved with their worldly possessions and the need to obtain greater power and influence possible.

This is the social environment that Swift was in when he wrote the classic novel, "Gulliver's Travels." While in general, the novel criticized various aspects of English society, it is remarkable that he also delved into the issue of the female's role or function in a society that is highly patriarchal yet modern in its philosophy and perspective.

Through symbolic representations of groups of creatures that Gulliver has encountered in his travels, Swift was able to depict the different scenarios at which females are treated -- that is, either they are oppressed, considered equal to males, or more superior than males. Symbolically represented by the Yahoos, European Yahoos, and Huoyhnhnms, these female typologies (in terms of their social roles/functions) are discussed in detail in the texts that follow.

It is worthy to note that among the three groups represented in the novel, it is the Huoyhnhnms which has managed to illustrate an egalitarian order of society, specifically in terms of how males and females are treated in the Huoyhnhnm country. The Huoyhnhnms are horse creatures who reason and think logically as humans do. In fact, in the novel, "Yahoo" is the term given to humans with physical and mental characteristics of the lowest form.

In the novel, males and females are treated equally and are considered complements of each other -- that is, females have roles that are different from males, yet of the same level of importance to the Huoyhnhnman society. Females are given the role of nurturing and rearing their children, among other functions such as domestic management.

The role of the female as nurturer and domestic helper in the Huouyhnhnm society is because the horse creatures are not willing to entrust the care of their children to the Yahoos, who act as servants of the Huoyhnhnms. Among the European Yahoos, which Gulliver belongs to, the stereotypical female remains a fixture.

That is, females remain subservient to males, and are considered 'objects' to be used or individuals to be detested, as Gulliver described females as either nagging wives or "that prostitute female Yahoos acquired a certain malady, which bred rottenness in the bones who fell into their embraces." Thus, among European Yahoos, males assume the "important" roles and positions, while females are relegated to what are considered "trivial" roles (i.e., domestic management and being objects of sexual desire.