Early psychoanalytic critiques of literary works were concentrated on examining works of literature to gain insights into the author’s personal influences on his work. Such critiques therefore remained within the traditional field of psychoanalysis. For instance, Ben Karpman wrote that, “Gulliver's Travels furnish abundant evidence of the neurotic make-up of the author and discloses the presence in him of a number of perverse trends indicative of fixation at the anal-sadistic stage of libidinal development (Karpman 29).” However, critics like Ernest Jones came out of this traditional approach to analyze the text and not the author, such as he did with Hamlet. A psychoanalytic critique provides insights into motivation, catharsis, projection, death, ego and many such factors present in the literary work. Many underlying factors in a literary text can be brought out through a psychoanalytic lens. It is the best approach to determine reader response about a text or analyze the psychological elements present in it. Swift’s Gulliver's Travels is a satirical work and satire like psychoanalysis tends to take an interest in the personality of humans and their behavior. In his voyage to gain self-knowledge Gulliver represents and discovers human frailties and the nature of ego.
Gulliver’s travels is not just another adventure story, behind the facade of the adventurous narrative lies a critique of the ego, human behavior as well as the politicians. Freud says that, "In each individual there is a coherent organization of mental processes; and we call this one's ego. It is to this ego that consciousness is attached (Freud 630) ". This also involves "Self-reflection, the traditional fundamental principle of consciousness" (Felman '87, 61). Gulliver’s travel to the Island of the Lilliputians and the Brobdingnagians exposes his ego, frailty as well his moral position. In the land of the Lilliputians, Gulliver was a giant, both in terms of size and in morals. The Lilliputians were moral politicians. Among them, Gulliver is perceived to be a giant as well as a normal man when it comes to morals. Carnochan says that in Gulliver’s travels Swift’s satire serves as a counterpoint to the "Lockean notion of reflection” (Carnohan 142), and the view that man is a rational being. The ego is like a mirror and symbolizes vanity and self-reflection. He points out that “it may sharpen reality or it may delude it" (Carnochan 176). In Gulliver’s travels, the mirror image or the ego is used to create a sense of inflation of Gulliver’s pride. In the end, Gulliver’s self-knowledge proves to be more problematic to him than his vanity. Having felt like a giant among the Lilliputians and tended to by hundreds of servants, Gulliver reaches the land of the Brobdingnagians. Here, he feels disappointed, the expectations of his ego are not met. He expected the temple of the largest city-Lorbrulgrud, to be taller, only to realize that it was just 3,000 feet tall.
Again, Gulliver is treated like a small kid in their outings with Glumdalclitch, they are accompanied by the governess- the women who was the kids' tutor. He is even placed in a special box during these outings. Soon after Gulliver learns the language of the Brobdingnagians, the king asks him if he is a Whig or Tory and then laughs. For the king, it really does not matter what Gulliver is as he is so small and inconsequential. Hearing stories of England the King also decides that the country is a lousy place. This is a great blow to Gulliver’s ego. He disrespected and unrecognized. The fear to express his disappointment could be seen in his disgusted looks. His freedom is infringed here. In front of the Lilliputians he was a giant as he considered himself to be moralistic and humane. But in the land of the Brobdingnagians his role is reversed and he becomes the midget as the Brobdingnagians are morally superior to him and also work hard.
However, Gulliver’s ego cannot deal with this blow and he tends to find fault with their humanity. He decides to seek solace in talking about the hungry and anger looks on the faces. In focusing his attentions on their very human nature, he damages his own self. Having developed a revulsion for breasts and the skin of the Brobdingnagians, Gulliver finds that he is no longer attracted to his wife. Thus his selfX awareness becomes more problematic than his vanity in the story. Gulliver is also a proud man. He thinks that the treacherous politics of England is normal and doesn't want to admit to the King that it is bad. He lies to save face. But the king sees through his lie and calls the English odious vermin. Gulliver calls the King and his men physically gross only because he realizes that he can never be morally superior as they are. It would take his people years to reach the moral utopia of the Brobdingnagians and Gulliver would rather find fault with them than accept the truth. In the end, Gulliver’s own frailty is revealed. His ego becomes the better of him and constantly strives to find fault with the rest, be it the Lilliputians or the Brobdingnagians so that he could feel bigger and better about himself.
In Conclusion an analysis of Gulliver on the basis of text alone would reveal much more than just the ego and human behavior. The text is a veritable treasure trove through which various things can be analyzed.
Works Cited
Freud, Sigmund. The Ego and the Id. New York: Createspace. 2010.
Felman, Shoshana. ed. Literature and Psychoanalysis: The Question of Reading: Otherwise. Baltimore & London: Johns Hopkins UP. 1977.
Carnochan, W.B. Lemuel Gulliver's Mirror for Man. Berkeley: U of California P, 1968.
Karpmann B. Neurotic traits of Jonathan Swift as revealed by Gulliver's Travels. Psychoanal Rev. 29 (1942) :65-84.
Johnathan, Swift. “Gulliver’s Travels” The Norton Anthology World literature. Third edition Volume D. Martin Puchner :269-314
