Gulliver's Travels

Lemuel Gulliver: English ship surgeon and accomplished seaman. Gulliver, the main character, narrates the story of his voyages to strange lands with amazing creatures and sights. He is one of five sons of a gentleman with a small estate in Nottinghamshire.

Richard Sympson: Friend of Gulliver who writes an introduction to the story Gulliver tells.

Mary Burton Gulliver: Wife of Lemuel Gulliver and daughter of Edmund Burton, a hosier. While Gulliver travels, she remains at home.

James Gates: London surgeon under whom Gulliver studied medicine.

Abraham Pannel: Captain of the Swallow, a ship on which Gulliver served as surgeon for three-and-a-half years.

William Prichard: Captain of the Antelope, on which Gulliver travels to the East Indies.

Lilliputians: Inhabitants of the country of Lilliput. They are no more than six inches tall. Their size symbolizes their pettiness and the small-mindedness of many government officials in England and other European countries.

Emperor of Lilliput: Ruler of Lilliput, who calls himself by the august name of Golbasto Momaren Evlame Gurdilo Shefin Mully Ully Gue. He is a capricious ruler whose physical represents the intelligence of his rule. He has been compared with England's King George I (1698-1727), who ruled from 1714 to 1727. One of the main issues that concern the emperor and his subjects centers on which end of an egg to open first, the big end or the small end. Those who argue in favor of the big end symbolize Roman Catholics. Those who argue in favor of the small end, including the emperor, symbolize Protestants.

Empress of Lilliput: Wife of the emperor. She likes Gulliver but turns against him after he extinguishes a palace fire by urinating on it. She represents Queen Anne (1665-1714), who ruled England from 1702 to 1714. Anne became an enemy of Swift after he published his irreverent A Tale of the Tub in 1704. Years later, she slighted him by appointing him to a clergy position in Ireland instead of England.

Skyresh Bolgolam: Lord High admiral of Lilliput. After Gulliver helps the Lilliputians in their war with the Blefuscudians, Bolgolam--envious of Gulliver's success--becomes his enemy.

Flimnap: Lord High Treasurer of Lilliput, who is highly skilled at dancing on a rope (actually a piece of white thread) stretched above the ground. Flimnap becomes Gulliver's enemy. First, he says the cost of providing Gulliver's needs is a drain on the state's resources. Second, he accuses Gulliver of hanky-panky with his wife after hearing a rumor that the woman visited Gulliver in private. Flimnap represents one of Swift's political rivals, Robert Walpole (1676-1745), who became Britain's first prime minister. Walpole was a Whig; Swift was a Tory.

Reldresal: Lilliput's secretary for private affairs. Although he pretends to be a supporter of Gulliver, he plots against him. Reldresal symbolizes double-dealing politicians.

Blefuscudians: Inhabitants of the country of Blefescu. In size, they resemble the Lilliputians. They favor opening eggs on the big end, in opposition to the position of the Lilliputians, and declare war on Lilliput.

Betty: Gulliver's daughter. By the time he returns home from his first adventure in the land of the Lilliputians, she is married and has children of her own.

Johnny: Gulliver's son. He is in grammar school at the time that Gulliver returns to England from Lilliput.

John: Gulliver's uncle. He leaves Gulliver an estate that yields 30 pounds a year, a sum that helps Gulliver support his family while he goes off on another adventure after returning home from Lilliput.

John Nicholas: Captain of the Adventure, a ship bound for western India on which Gulliver is a passenger.

Brobdingnagians: Inhabitants of the country of Brobdingnag in the Arctic region. They are as tall as church steeples. Because they are so big, Gulliver can see all the imperfections on their skin, which repel him. However, unlike many rulers of Europe, they operate an effective government and live upright lives. Their size symbolizes their government achievements.

Brobdingnagian Farmer: Man who finds Gulliver in a field and hosts him at his supper table.

King of Brobdingnag: Capable ruler who contrasts sharply with corrupt officials in Britain.

Queen of Brobdingnag: Wife of Brobdingnag's king. She treats Gulliver kindly.

Glumdalclitch: Nine-year-old daughter of the Brobdingnagian farmer. She is small for her age-no more than forty feet tall. She is a kindly child who cares for Gulliver during his stay in Brobdingnag.

William Robinson: Captain of the Hopewell, a ship that takes Gulliver to the East Indies.

Laputans: Inhabitants of the flying island of Laputa. They are a race of absent-minded scientists and philosophers. Although they are knowledgeable in astronomy, mathematics, and other subjects, they are woefully lacking in practical knowledge and even attempt to build a house from the roof down. The Laputans represent dreamy idealists who cannot apply the theories they propound.

King of Laputa

Balnibarbians: Inhabitants of the land of Balnibarbi. Balnibarbi's Academy of Projectors develop theories to improve society and apply them without testing them. The results are disastrous.

Lord Munodi: Governor of Lagado, a town in Balnibarbi. Unlike the projectors, he applies tested methods only. The result is that he and the people he governs thrive.

Governor of Glubbdubdrib: Ruler of a tiny island of sorcerers and magicians. He has the power to call anyone from the dead to serve him as he pleases for twenty-four hours. He allows Gulliver to select dead persons to be called forth and to question them. Gulliver chooses Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Caesar, Brutus, and others.

Struldbrugs: Immortal humans who continue to age, suffering endless illness and infirmity.

Robert Purefoy: Surgeon on the Adventurer, a ship on which Gulliver is the captain.

Mutineers: Unsavory men who seize control of the Adventurer, the ship that Gulliver captains.

James Welch: Adventurer crewman who informs Gulliver that the mutineers are setting Gulliver ashore.

*hnhmns: Intelligent horses who establish an exemplary society in which all members respect one another equally. They are so morally advanced that they never lie or hate. In fact, they do not even understand what lying and hatred are.

Yahoos: Ugly, repulsive creatures in the land of the houyhnhmns. They live like animals but resemble humans. They serve the Houyhnhmns as draft animals. A Houyhnhmns tells Gulliver that "there was nothing that rendered the Yahoos more odious, than their undistinguishing appetite to devour every thing that came in their way, whether herbs, roots, berries, the corrupted flesh of animals, or all mingled together: and it was peculiar in their temper, that they were fonder of what they could get by rapine or stealth, at a greater distance, than much better food provided for them at home. If their prey held out, they would eat till they were ready to burst; after which, nature had pointed out to them a certain root that gave them a general evacuation."

Don Pedro de Mendez: Portuguese ship captain who rescues Gulliver and treats him well while helping him to return to England.