Prose 1

MA English Part 1
Paper 4 (Prose) All Important notes
Prose
All Important Questions
 Bacon as a Moralist
 Bacon’s prose style
 Bacon' s Philosophy of Life As Revealed in His

Essays
 SWIFT'S PROSE STYLE
 Jonathan Swift as a Misanthrope.
 Swift's social satire in "Gulliver's Travels"
 Heaney’s prose style
 Seamus Heaney Arguments in the Favour of Poetry
 What is culture and what is imperialism and how

does Edward Said relate the two?
Notes Prepared By Prof. Tahir Islam

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Prose
All Important Questions
Bacon as a Moralist
Bacon is not a true moralist. His morality is a saleable morality. He is a moralist-cum-worldly
wise man. Bacon appears as a moralist in his essays, for he preaches high moral principles and
lays down valuable guidelines for human conduct. Some of his essays show him as a true lover
and preacher of high ethical codes and conducts.
One cannot deny the fact that Bacon was a “Man of Renaissance”. He had a deep insight in
human nature. He knew that man is naturally more prone to evil than good.On one hand, he
preached high moral principles and on the other hand, he also expressed a mean capacity by
compromising upon those morals for the sake of worldly success. For this reason, William
Blake, a spiritual poet says about his essays:
“Good advice for Satan’s Kingdom.”
Blake considers any utilitarian advice contrary to God’s ways, but Bacon does not bother for
that. Bacon discusses man as he “appears” and not as he “ought to appear”.
In his essay “Of Great Places” Bacon certainly shows a high morality when he condemns or at
least dislikes the practice of ‘wrongs’ on part of high officials.
“In place there is license to do good and evil; where of the latter is a curse.”
Afterwards he appreciates the power of doing good.
“But power to do good, is true and lawful end of aspiring.”
But besides these moral approaches, he also supports the idea of adopting certain disloyal means
to reach a high position.
“It is good to side a man’s self whilst he is in the rising and to balance himself when he is
placed”.
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Thus, like a moralist, Bacon preaches the noble dimensions of great place, but with this
statement his purely utilitarian approach also comes forth with all its power.
In the essay “Of Truth” he appears to be a ‘genuine’ admirer of truth and seems to install the
love of truth in his readers.
“It is heaven upon earth, to have man’s mind move in charity, rest in providence and turn upon
the poles of truth.”
But he also points out that
“Falsehood is like an ‘alloy’ in gold and silver, which makes the metal work better even though
it reduces, the value of the metal”.
He says:
“A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure.”
By putting this he has diluted all the effect of his own words said in the praise of the truth.
One can find the same strange mixture of high ethics and utilitarianism in the essay “Of
Revenge”. In this essay Bacon condemns revenge by saying:
“Revenge is a kind of wild justice.”
And
“One who studieth revenge, keeps his own wounds green.”
He expressed that there is no place of revenge in high society and it is a high quality to forgive
an enemy. Hereafter, Bacon spoils the effects by putting that in some cases man is justified in
taking revenge, if the avenger can save his skin from the eyes of the law. He says:
“But then let a man take heed the revenge be such as there is now law to punish; else a man’s
enemy is still forehand”.
“Of Simulation and Dissimilation” is another example of the strange mixture of morality and
prudence.
“The best position and temperature is; to have openness in fame and opinion; secrecy in habits;
dissimulation in seasonal use; and power to feign, if there be no remedy.”
Bacon’s morality has also been described as a cynical kind of wisdom. This impression is
confirmed by even those essays which deal with strong private relations between men. “Of
Friendship”, “Of Parents and Children”, “Of Marriage and Single life” and “Of Love”, all depict
a certain kind of utilitarianism and worldly benefit. Here Bacon expresses a definite failure of
emotions, for he takes the pure matters of heart in terms of their uses and abuses.
In short, though Bacon’s essays portray morality and high ethical standards, yet he does not
appear as an ideal moralist and these are but the “flashes of morality”. He is not a true moralist.
Bacon’s prose style

He is considered as the father of modern English prose. His style proves English language can be
use to express the complexity of thought in clear and short sentences. He is one of the greatest
writers of English prose of his age.
His later essays are different from his earlier ones. In the beginning he had written them in his
dairy. But when he observed the fame of his essays he thought to embellish his later essays. All
his essays fulfill the requirements of an essay.
He bounds the interest of the reader through his dynamic writing. Althoug he expresses some
characteristics of Elizabeth prose yet his manner is much different from these writers. In fact,
Bacon has borrowed the style of Montaigne French prose writer. But some difference
Montaigne has written personal essays but Bacon has written in an impersonal manner.
He knows very well how to summarize a length statement in just small line and must of his
statements can be expanded to several pages. He usually starts his essays with a striking
statement which is a characteristic of modern prose. These statements come down like strokes of
hammer on the mind of the reader.
“Man in great places are thrice servants”
Because of his this aphoristic style, most of his sayings are considered as proverbs and
quotations. He gives a philosophy insight into human nature. Whatever he says is truth about
man and his terse style makes these truths certainly remarkable.
“A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wound green”
His essays are in fact, a treasure house of practical wisdom. He also uses the method of
“antitheses” He simply balances his statement by giving the positive and negative or good and
bad and sometimes, various directions of a subject. When he gives a statement, he immediately
counterbalances it.
Sometimes, he gives a definite conclusion but usually he leaves the result to the reader. And this
is also a modern aspect of his writing. Same example of his antithetical and multidimensional
sentences are given below:
“Children sweeten labours ; but they make misfortune more bitter”
“Wives are young men’s mistresses; companions for middle age; and old men’s nurses”
The rhetorical quality of Bacon also proves the strength of his style. He has great power to attract
and persude his readers, even though he may not convince them.
“A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure”
Similarly this sentence also attracts our attention.
“He that hath wife and children hath given hostage to fortune”
Bacon also uses imagery and figurative language in his essays which is a Renaissance trait. In his
later essays the use of imagery is even stronger. He is quite expert in the use of similes and
metaphors. He draws his analogies from mythology, Bible, astronomy, philosophy, nature
observation, domestic objects, navigation, war, the sea or the garden.
“Those that want friends to open themselves unto are cannibals of their own
hearts.”
Bacon’s essays also show his love for learning and wisdom, for he uses the sayings and
quotations of the legends and heroes of the past. One can easily find a vast range of quotes of
great philosophers like Aristotle and Plato, kings like Caesar and other well known figures of the
golden times to make his style more scholarly.
Though Bacon’s essays are enriched with knowledge and wisdom but there is not even the
slightest touch of humor in them, still one gets amused on reading them.
His witty, condense and pithy style has made them so much interesting. He has discussed almost
all angles of life with remarkable brevity.
To Conclude, Bacon’s essays clearly portray his love for knowledge and wisdom, his wide range
of experience and the influence of Renaissance on him. For it is possible only for a learned and
well experienced man, as Bacon was, to say so much, with great depth, in few words.
Bacon' s Philosophy of Life As Revealed in His Essays

Francis Bacon, (1561-1626) the most influential and resourceful English writer, is a practically
wise man. His essays are store-house of wordy wisdom and practicality. We find a touch of
reality and practicality in his views towards truth studies love, friendship etc. Now we are going
to discuss his views.
Bacon is very much frank is expressing his view towards truth in the essay "Of Truth". Truth,
according to Bacon, lacks the charm of variety which, falsehood has. Truth gives more pleasure
only when a lie is added to it. He believes that, falsehood is a source of temporary enjoyment as
it gives the people a strange kind of pleasure. So the essayist says:
"... a mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure"
To Bacon, a liar is brave towards god but cowards towards men. A liar does not have courage to
tell the truth to the people but he shows courage to tell a lie disobeying god. As the essayist
comments:
"For a lie faces God, and shrinks from man."
This is indeed a paradox. It means that a man does not fear god when he tells a lie.
Bacon's attitude towards study is completely practical. He emphasizes the function of studies. To
him, reading improves the natural abilities of man. Through reading a person becomes a full man
and by discussion he becomes a ready man. Then he needs writing to which makes a learner's
idea clear and accurate. As Bacon says:
"Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man."
At first, a man should carefully, then discuss the ideas and finally write them.
Again, Bacon suggests us how we should read the books. The books should be read according to
their importance. There are some books which are read only for pleasure, a number of books are
to be memorized but a few books are to be read deeply with hard work and concentration. As the
author says:
"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."
Bacon points out that, study enlighten human character by removing darkness of fault and follies.
Study becomes fruitful only when it is combined with experience.
Bacon also mentions the benefit of reading various subjects in "Of Studies"
"Histories make men wise, poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep"
Bacon is very practical in treating love. He considers it just one of many passions of human
mind. He does not pay extra favour to it emotionally; rather he sees love as a "child of folly" in
his essay "Of Love". As he comments:
"Nuptial love maketh man kind; friendly love perfecteth it, but wanton love corrupteth and
embaseth it."
Moreover in Bacon's view, the wives and the children are the hindrance in the way of the
success. As he says:
"He that hath wife and children hath given hostage of fortune"
In his essay "Of Marriage and Single Life" he tells the readers the practical benefit of wives. In
his own speech:
"Wives are young men's mistress; companions for middle age, and old men's nurses."
In the essay "Of Revenge", he shows a certain high morality by saying that-
"Revenge is a kind of wild justice". A man takes the revenge on the person by whom he is
oppressed. So if he takes revenge, it will be a justice. But at the time when a man takes revenge
he takes it more aggressively than he is oppressed. This is why Bacon calls the revenge a kind of
wild justice. So he suggests us to be aloof from taking revenge.
In his essay "Of Parents and Children", he shows both the utility and the futility of having
children. As he says:
"Children sweeten labour, but they make misfortune more bitter."
Last of all, we say that, Bacon is very exact to his views and thoughts. His essays are the hand-
book of practical wisdom full of morality and practicality as well as enriched with maxims.
Jonathan Swift as a Misanthrope.

In a letter that he wrote to Alexander Pope with regard to this book, he makes several points.
Firstly, he says that the chief end of all his labours is
“to vex the world rather than divert it”
. Secondly, he declares that he has
“ever hated all nations, professions and communities and all his love is toward
individuals”. `
Explaining this remark, he says that he hates the tribe of lawyers, physicians, etc, but he
loves particular lawyers and physicians. He goes on to say in this connection that principally he
hates and detests that animal called man.
In fact Swift is not a complete misanthrope, he hates mankind collectively but loves
particular individuals in all categories and classes of people. His main subject in writing
Gulliver’s Travels was to shake people out of their complacency and to make them aware of their
own faults and shortcomings. Connected with this chief aim, was Swift’s desire to expose the
shortcomings, follies and injustices perpetrated by particular individuals such as Robert Walpole,
Queen Anne and other.
Swift’s satire becomes mare amusing when Gulliver speaks of the conflict between the
Big- Endians and the Little- Endians in Lilliput is actually represents the conflict between the
Roman Catholics and Protestants. Flimnap the treasurer represents Sir Robert Walpole who was
the prime minister of England from 1715 to 1716 and then again from 1721 to 1742. Dancing on
a tight rope symbolizes Walpole’s skill in parliamentary tactics and political intrigues the
annoyance of the Empress of Lilliput with Gulliver for extinguishing a fire in her palace is a
satirical allusion to Queen Anne’s annoyance with Swift for having written “A Tale of a Tub”.
Then there is another satire of a general kind in part I. For instance, the Lilliputians bury
their dead with their heads directly downwards because they hold an opinion that in eleven
thousand moons, the dead will rise again. Another interesting point is that children in Lilliput are
not bought up or educated by their parents but is the responsibility of the state. Swift is here
ridiculing the Lilliputians who after all represent human beings reduced to a small scale.
In part ll,not only are the men and women here huge in size, but the animals like cats,
rats and monkeys and insects like bees, wasps are also enormous sizes. In part II, Swift satirizes
the ugliness, the coarseness, and the foulness of the human body by making us look at human
beings through a magnifying glass. Not only is the description of the beggars disgusting but even
the maids of honour at the Royal Court produce a disgusting effect upon Gulliver, becomes a
very offensive smell comes from their skins.
When Gulliver has given to the King an account of the life in his own country, the king
has a hearty laugh. The Kings view was that the history of Gulliver’s country seemed to him to
be only ‘a heap of conspiracies, rebellions, murders, massacres, revolutions, banishments and
very worst effects that avarice, faction, hypocrisy, perfidiousness, cruelty, rage , madness, hatred,
envy, lust, malice and ambition could produce’. Swift is here ridiculing human pride and
pretention. These comments of King almost sum up Swift’s own cynical views about mankind in
general.
In part III, Swift ridicule on theoreticians and academies. At the academy of

projectors in Lagado, the projectors are busy finding methods to extract sunbeams out of
cucumber, to convert human excrement into its original food, to build houses from the roof
downwards to the foundation, to obtain silk from cobwebs. All this was intended as a satire on
the kind of work the Royal Society in England was doing in those days. Swift here ridicule
scientists, academies and intellectuals.
In part IV, the satire becomes universal. The target of attack in part IV, is all
mankind. In the first three parts of the book Swift had largely confirmed his attention to England
and to the European countries, but now he widens the scope of his satire to cover all mankind.
The Yahoos represents not only Englishmen or Europeans in general, but all human beings. The
evils which master Houyhnhnms has discovered in Yahoos are to be found in human beings all
over the world.
In part IV, Yahoos who are described as unteachable brutes, cunning, gluttonous, are
represents the human beings. But contrast with the Yahoos, the Houyhnhnms are noble and
benevolent animals who are governed by reason. The Houyhnhnms, on the contrary, are morally
so good that there is no word in their language for lying or falsehood. This is how Gulliver
expresses his feelings about the Yahoos:
‘Yet I confess I never saw any sensitive being so detestable on all

accounts; and the more I came near them, the more hateful they
grew, while I stayed in that country.’
Swift’s very concept of horses being superior to human beings shows his cynicism
and misanthropy.
Gulliver also tells his host that war in European countries was due sometimes to the
ambitions of Kings and sometimes to the corruption of ministers. Gulliver speaks of the
numerous deadly weapons which the European nations employ. Similarly, he gives a vivid
account of the destruction that war causes:
‘Ships sunk with a thousand men, twenty thousand killed on each side; dying groans, limbs flying
in the air, smoke, noise, confession, trampling to death under horses’ feet; flight, pursuit,
victory; field strewed with carcasses left for food to dogs, and wolves, and birds of prey;
plundering, stripping, ravishing, burning, and destroying.’
The effect of Gulliver’s description on his master is one of disgust with the human
species.
The whole of this account by Gulliver is an exposure of the evils of wars and the
wickness of lawyers and judges. Gulliver also says that many people on his country ruin
themselves by drinking, gambling, and debauchery; and that many are guilty of such crimes as
murder, theft, robbery, forgery, rape, and sodomy.
Infact the Houyhnhnms becomes models for human being. Another thing that human
beings have to learn from the Houyhnhnms is the control of population. According to Gulliver,
this lesson was known to horses in the eighteenth century.
Swift does not hate mankind. He was therefore justified in saying in his letter to
Pope that though he hated communities and professions, he loved particular individuals, he
writes:
‘I have ever hated all nation, professions, and communities but principally I hate and detest that
animal called man……Upon this great foundation of misanthropy the whole building of my
Travels is erected.’
To conclude we can say that this great artist was not a misanthrope but a humanist
and a moralist of a very high order.
Heaney’s prose style

Seamus Heaney an Irish poet and writer was awarded the noble Prize in 1995. In the course of
his careers, he contributed to the promotions of artistic and educational cause, both in Ireland and
abroad.
Heaney’s approach is rational, scientific and it is imaginative as well. This is a paradox that
Heaney is scientific and imaginative at the sometime. But he does convey his thought in an
impressive and convincing way. He seeks balance and does justice to both reality and
imagination. He lives to convey his thought and meaning through appropriate language and
words and he avoids all superfluous expressions. His approach is anecdotal. Heaney’s style is
that he begins by giving examples or by telling stories. He developes an argument with the help
of stories, as he begins his essay “The Redress Of Poetry” with the story of fantastic crew from
some other world ariving on the earth.
Heaney’s style is a blend of the classical and the romantic. He also has an intuitive approach. He
very much bases his arguments on the sixth sense though he is a practical thinker. Thus like the
romantics, he believes in institution and like the neo-classics, he believes in reason and practice.
He is also didactic. He believes that the poet has a responsibility and that is to respond the
questions raised by life. He believes that poetry gives lessons. This is Heaney’s mysticism.
Heaney is an idealist too. He is of the view that poetry gives an alternative view of life—a view
of what life ought to be is desirable as well as possible.
Heaney’s approach is historical. He sees the issues of poetry in the historical perspective. For
instance, he starts the essay with Plato’s condemnation of poetry. Another aspect of his classical
approach is that he believes in authority. He quotes other writers, critics and poets in his favour.
This is a classical style of argumentation . His arguments are based upon other’s views besides
his own reason. There are many textual references in his writings, such as references to the
poems of Robert Frost, Hardy, George Herbert and his own poetry. There are allusions from
Poetry as well as from prose. Heaney’s well known for his antithetical style which has also been
very popular among the schoolmen. Heaney is very much conscious of Paradoxes-
“Creators/Creative, heaven/earth, soul/body, eternity/Home, life/death, Christ/man, grace/guilt,
virtue/sin.” All these antitheses help Heaney a lot in his defence of poetry.
Heaney’s Prose style has the qualities of precision and meaning through appropriate language
and words. His use of proper words in proper places is in a straight forward manner. His prose
style is aphoristic But his aphorisms are not as striking as those of Bacon. Still there is a glimpse
of his tersness of thought. As he says;
“Poetry is comprehensive of events but not itself productive of new events”
“Life raises questions; Poetry answers them”
“Poetry leads from delight to wisdom”
These kinds of paradoxes, balances, counter balances, comparisons and contrasts are typical of
Heaney’s prose style. He also appeals to the common sense of the everyday practice of life to
bring a point home. As he says we condemn English by using the English language .Through
language and Media we have already been influenced by what we condemn. This creates another
Paradox, and it is a culture paradox. Heaney uses linguistic paradox as well as a culture paradox.
Heaney talks of force can be physically expressed as one shaking with excitement. Like Eliot
Heaney also believes in a personal mind and a communal mind. The two become one, as in the
case of Irish Poets, Poetry and Politics become one .The individual poet has the same feelings of
liberation does not become a proganda.
Heaney’s approach is partly religious, partly intuitive, partly anecdotal and partly rational. Thus
it is a blend of the neo-Classic, the Scientific, the romantic and the pragmatic. He is versatile and
practical thinker. He, unlike the schoolmen, is not dogmatic. He talks, argues analyses and
critically evaluates the commonly held beliefs and then gives own philosophy the basis of the
opinions of different critics, poets and writers and all this makes his essay “The Redress Of
Poetry” a literary achievement.
Seamus Heaney Arguments in the Favour of Poetry

Q: How far is Seamus Heaney justified in seeking the redress of poetry? (P.U. 2005)
The subject that Seamus Heaney has treated, the redress of poetry, is not a new subject. The
nature and purpose of poetry has been a subject of practical importance to everyone who has an
interest in poetry. Heaney builds different assumptions for the redress of poetry. The question is
that whether, poetry is a useful activity in society; whether poetry is an aesthetic or a pragmatic
work.
There have been a lot of discussions whether poets and poetry are of any use in the complexities
and miseries of life or not some are of the view that the poets are worthless people and some
condemned them as idle people. As plato is among the haters of poets and poetry. He had
banished the poets from his ‘Republic’.
Aristotle was of the view that the poets are essential to keep balance in society and they took us
towards the ideal. There were others also who kept defending poetry against all kinds of
objections for instance, Sydney asserted that
‘The poet takes us to the ideal’.
So did Shelley support poetry because poetry teaches the perfect. Oscar wild said that life
should imitate art because art presents the perfect. Arnold went to the extent of saying that all
that now goes in the name of religion or philosophy will be replaced by poetry.
Sidney wrote in “Apology for Poetry” “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the World”.
Heaney makes a fresh attempt to defend poetry in this age of science and technology when
everyone Is becoming a utilitarian and even education has been commercialized.
Poetry and Philosophy are now considered idle mental luxuries while commerce, computer and
business administration have been given the name of education. Heaney starts his thesis by
distinguishing two planes of existence. Here he quotes George Herbert’s poem ‘Pulley; which
suggests that the mind and aspiration of the human beings turned towards the heavenly inspite of
all the pleasures and penalties of being upon the earth. This can be done by poetic sixth sense
which provides a passage from the domain of the matter of fact; into the domain of the
imagination. Here Heaney also quotes the same explanation of religious experience by John
Donne. Donne says God throws down in order to rise up. It s a religious paradox that sin brings
man closer to God. This is how Heaney concludes that these paradoxes are captured only by
poetry.
Heaney is of the opinion that the world of reality and the world of imagination are two different
worlds but they depend upon each other and they reinforce each other and this is the subject of
his poem “Squarings”. From this story, Heaney concludes that there are two worlds, our
everyday world and the world of visionary crew. Heaney keeps moving between the world of
fact and the world of imagination. He quotes from Pinskey to support his argument. Pinskey in
“Responsibilites of The Poet” says that the poet has a responsibility to answer. He is to answer
the question raised by life. Life raises questions and poet gives answers.
Seamus Heaney defends poetry on the ground of utility also. He says poetry focuses from delight
to wisdom. He says the world of poetry is an answer to the world of fact. Life creates anxieties;
Poetry tries to relieve them. Life disturbs but poetry consoles. It shows man the right path and
poetry has a power of sustaining man in difficulties. These are the pragmatic advantages of
poetry. Heaney also defends poetry on the level of its aesthetic utility. We get pleasure out of
words. Man comes to wisdom through delight, not to delight through wisdom. Man studies
poetry to amuse himself and to satisfy his soul but in this psychological state he gets wisdom as
well. Thus, poetry is a pleasurable study of life.
Poetry can very pleasantly and easily explore the subjects which are generally denied by social,
racial, sexual, and political prejudices and all this is done through the linguistic medium. But the
poet has to take care that while discussing these issues poetry should not be sacrificed, Heaney
says that the poets should not narrow down their scope by limiting poetry to certain dimensions
of time and space. It should be free from any restriction. Some demand that the poets should
write against the common trend to shock the minds of the people. They should write
revolutionary poetry.
But the impact of poetry is not practical, it is psychological. Poetry does not force man to go and
fight. But poetry shows what is wrong and what is right. If poetry becomes practical, according
to Heaney, it will not remain poetry, it will become a propaganda. It is not the nature of poetry.
Heaney quotes Wallace Stevens in order to evaluate his argument. Wallace says! Poetry creates
an alternative world to the world of fact. Poetry suggests what life ought to be. Poetry makes
sketches and plans. It shows possibilities; it shows what is desirable.
Moreover, Poetry is about man. Poetry promotes, love of men. Poetry shows that all men are
human beings and they deserve sympathy. But politics tells us that some people deserve
sympathy and some deserve our wrath. Poetry speaks of love for all people: Politics forces
people to kill other people. In fact politics divides men. If poetry becomes politics then it will not
remain poetry, it will become a propaganda and in this way it will divide humanity into friends
and foes. For instance, the Irish men who were killed in the rising of 1916 . But he is also sorry
for the Englishmen who died in the fight. Talking about the humanitarian zeal of poetry. Heaney
says, that zeals considers both enemies and friends as men. He does not discriminate between the
Irish People and the English people. Both were fighting for their ideals. That is exactly what
poetry conveys to us, everyman whether black or white; Irish or English has the same feeling,
passions and blood.
Heaney raises an interesting point here which is also shared by Edward Said in “Culture and
Imperialism” that the sensibility of the people of the colonies is coloured by the sensibility of the
imperial masters. As the Irish condemn the English but they use the English medium.
Imperialism has inculcated in their minds a culture that they tried to reject. But this is also a very
healthy experience. The Irish hate the English, still they love Shakespeare and Keats.
To conclude, Heaney tries to demonstrate that poetry has a function in life, though not
ostentatious. The poet does nothing on purpose, but poetry is a medium which by its very nature
serves a purpose. This can be understood with reference to a statement by Wordsworth that his
poetry has a purpose. It is not meaningless activity. But this purpose is not imposed upon poetry.
Since Wordsworth lives a purposeful life, therefore whatever he does has a purpose in it. Heaney
believes that poetry cannot be subjected to any particular direction and not limited to any certain
aspect of society. He emphasizes that poets should elevate their services on universal level and
poetry should be above all racial, social and political prejudices. This is how he evaluates
brighter sides and aspects of poetry in his essay ‘Redress of Poetry”
Swift's social satire in "Gulliver's Travels"

“Gulliver’s Travels” is a great work of social satire. Swift’s age was an age of smug
complacency. Corruption was rampant and the people were still satisfied. In “Gulliver’s
Travels”, there is a satire on politics, human physiognomy, intellect, manners and morality.
In the first voyage to Lilliput, Swift satirizes on politics and political tactics practiced in
England through Lilliputians, the dwarfs of six inches height. He satirizes the manner in which
political offices were awarded by English King in his time. Flimnap, the Treasurer, represents Sir
Robert Walpole who was the Prime Minister of England. Dancing on tight ropes symbolizes
Walpole's skill in parliamentary tactics and political intrigues. The ancient temple, in which
Gulliver is housed in Lilliput, refers to Westminster Hall in which Charles I was condemned to
death. The Lilliputians were highly superstitious:
“They bury their dead with their head directly downwards because they hold an opinion that
after eleven thousand moons they are all to rise again.”
Gulliver’s account of the annoyance of the Empress of Lilliput on extinguishing fire in

her apartment is Swift’s satirical way of describing Queen Anne’s annoyance with him on
writing “A Tale of a Tub”. Swift’s satire becomes amusing when Gulliver speaks of the conflict
between the Big Endians and the Little Endians. In this account Swift is ridiculing the conflicts
between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. High Heel and Low Heel represent Whig and
Tory – two political parties in England.
In the second voyage to Brobdingnag, there is a general satire on human body, human
talents and human limitations. Gulliver gives us his reaction to the coarseness and ugliness of
human body. When Gulliver gives an account, to the King of Brobdingnag, of the life in his own
country, the trade, the wars, the conflicts in religion, the political parties, the king remarks that
the history of Gulliver's country seems to be a series of conspiracies, rebellions, murders,
revolutions and banishments etc. King mocks at the human race of which Gulliver is the agent.
“The most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the
surface of the earth.”
Swift here ridicules human pride and pretension. The sight is, indeed, horrible and
disgusting. Among the beggars is a woman with a cancer in her breast.
“It stood prominent six feet, and could not be less than sixteen in circumference … spots and
pimples that nothing could appear more nauseous.”
There is a man with a huge tumor in his neck; another beggar has wooden legs. But the
most hateful sight is that of the lice crawling on their clothes. This description reinforces Swift
views of the ugliness and foulness of the human body.
In the third voyage to Laputa, there is a satire on human intellect, human mind and on
science, philosophy and mathematics. However, his satire is not very bitter. We are greatly
amused by the useless experiments and researches, which are going on at the academy of
Projectors in Lugado. Here scientists wants to extract sunbeams out of cucumbers, to convert
human excrement into its original food, to build house from the roof downward to the
foundation, to obtain silk from cobwebs and to produce books on various subjects by the use of
machine without having to exert one’s brain.
“Their heads were inclined either to the right or to the left, one of their eyes turned inward, and
the other directly up to Zenith”
In the fourth voyage to Houyhnhnms, there is a bitter poignant satire on human moral
shortcomings. The description of the Yahoos given to us by Gulliver is regrettable.
“Yet I confess I never say any sensitive being so detestable on all accounts; and the more I came
near them, the more hateful they grew.”
By contrast, the Houyhnhnms are noble and benevolent horses who are governed by
reason and lead an ordered life. It is, indeed, a bitter criticism on the human race to be compared
by the Houyhnhnms. The satire deepens when Gulliver gives an account, to the master
Houyhnhnms, of the events in his country.
He tells him that war in European countries was sometimes due to the ambition of kings and
sometimes due to the corruption of the ministers. He speaks of the numerous deadly weapons,
employed by European nations for destructive purposes. Many people in his country ruin
themselves by drinking, gambling and debauchery and many are guilty of murders, theft,
robbery, forgery and rape. The master speaks of the lascivious behavior of the female Yahoos.
By contrast, the Houyhnhnms are excellent beings.
“Here was neither physician to destroy my body not lawyer to ruin my fortune; no informer to
watch my words and actions … here were no … backbiters, pickpockets, highwaymen, house-
breakers … politicians, wits … murderers, robbers … no cheating shop-keeper or mechanics, no
pride, vanity or affectation.”
They hold meetings at which the difficulties of their population are discussed and
solved. They regulate their population and do not indulge in sexual intercourse merely for
pleasure.
“Everything is calculated as the Plato’s Utopian land ‘The Republican’.”
Swift’s purpose here is to attribute to horses certain qualities which would normally be
expected in human beings but which are actually lacking in them. Gulliver’s reaction to
Houyhnhnms fills him so much admiration for them and with so much hatred and disgust for
human beings that he has no desire even to return to his family.
Thus we see that “Gulliver’s Travels” is a great piece of art containing social satire in it.
Every satirist is at heart a reformist. Swift, also, wants to reform the society by pinpointing the
vices and shortcoming in it. And he very successfully satirizes on political tactics, physical
awkwardness, intellectual fallacies and moral shortcomings.
SWIFT'S PROSE STYLE

In prose, style is a special way of presenting ideas i.e. how a writer says something. The analysis
and assessment of style involves examination of a writer’s choice of words, his figures of speech,
the shape of his sentences, the shape of his paragraphs, in short every aspect of his language and
the way he uses it.
As far as, Swift as a literary artist is concerned, he is vastly regarded as an original, authentic and
intellectual writer, who always remained blind of the charm of fame. His writings never limited
to the cheap purpose of gaining popularity. In fact, a theological and intellectual current always
flows through his pages. His purpose was not to get imaginative insight only. He always tried to
be practical. In fact, his prose style is often considered as near perfect.
Most of the critics accept his style as the highest achievement of English prose. Many critics like
Williams Deans, Howells, Dr. Johnson, Coleridge and T.S Eliot called Jonathan Swift the
greatest writer of the prose.
One of the causes of the popularity Swift’s of “Gulliver Travel” is the simple and direct narrative
style of the book. The plain description gives us the impression that the author is describing
which he has himself seen or experienced. Here, for example is his description of, How Gulliver
was served well in Lilliput:
“I had three hundred cooks to dress my victuals”

According to Dr Jonathan, Swift was the first to appreciate the simplicity of Swift’s style. He
said,
“The reader of Swift needs no previous knowledge.”
Coleridge, whose own prose was marked by metaphysical subtlety, also paid a tribute to
simplicity of Swift style. He said,
“Swift style is in its line: the manner is a complete expression of the matter."
When Swift started writing he did not adopt the prose style of his predecessors. Swift style is
lucid and terse. He seems to have no difficulty in finding words to express exactly the impression
which he wishes to convey. His sentences come home to the reader, like the words of great
orator or advocate with convincing force. He realizes so clearly what he is describing and
necessity of the reader.
Swift defined style as “proper words in proper places.” This definition fits his own writing
perfectly well. Swift’s prose is an example of the right words in the right place. His words are
selected that they convey exactly the impression he wishes to create.
Swift selects the most appropriate words to express his thoughts. The words suit the subject
perfectly. Sometimes he even ignores the rules of grammar in order to express himself in a way
which will create the correct impression.
Referring to his style, Dr. Jonathan has said;
“His style was well suited to his thoughts, which are never decorated by sparkling conceits,
elevated by ambitious sentences or variegated by far-sought learning.”
According to Matthew Arnold,

“the qualities of good prose are unfairly, regularity, precision and balance.”
These are exactly the qualities of Swift’s prose. He always says clearly and precisely what he
means. As an example, we can see the description of a minister of state given by Gulliver to his
Honyhnhnm master.
“ I told him that a first or chief minister of state who was the person I intended to describe, was
a creature wholly exempt from over joy and grief, love and hatred, pity and anger; at least make
use of no other passions but a violent desire of wealth, power and titles; that he applies his
words to all uses, except to the indication of his mind; that he never tells a truth, but with an
intent that you should take it for a lie, nor a lie, but with a design that you should take if for a
truth."
It is often said that Swift’s prose style lacks imagination and passion. A French critic says:
“Swift style lacks eloquence of ideas and sentiments. Eloquence in his sense is mind’s highest
reach and widest conquest. It is the creative energy of life itself, manifested on those frontiers
which we call variously religion, philosophy and poetry.”
But these views lack vitality and are deficient in truth.
The age of Swift is called “The Age of Prose and Reason”. Swift came under the influence of an
age when imagination and emotions were subordinated to reason and wit. People believed in the
supremacy of reason; and their thoughts were determined by reason. Hence, Swift describes both
imagination and emotions. He tries to convince his readers. He appeals to their minds not to their
hearts.
Moreover, he offers a “criticism of life”; and criticism has no link, whatsoever, with imagination
and emotions. There are no imaginative flights, nor soaring into the infinite, no raptures of
idealism, no fine frenzies of passion; there just charity.
To understand Swift’s intentions not much scholarly knowledge is required. His writing is free
from any absurdities of style, diction and references to ancient Greek or Roman religious or
another mythology.
Conclusion:
In the end, it can be said that Swift deserve praise for easy and safe communication. His chief
quality is that he instructs but never persuades. His works shows the highest power of geniuses
applied to the literary creations. Even the severest of the critics have not denied the originality of
his work. Perhaps we cannot find better words than that of Henry Craik to describe his style:
“His works occupy a place altogether unique in our own or any other literature”.
What is culture and what is imperialism and how does

Edward Said relate the two?
What is Culture and what is Imperialism and how does Said relate the Two in the Literary
Context? (P.U. 2003)
Edward Said, a brilliant and unique amalgam of scholar, literary critic and political activist,
examines the roots of imperialism in the Western culture and traces the relationship between
culture and imperialism. Imperialism has always fascinated the literary writers and political
thinkers as a subject. It was a major theme of nineteenth and twentieth century native and non-
native novelists and poets. Different writers have different perception about the phenomenon. A
lot has been written on the subject in the past but Edward’s book Culture and Imperialism
attracted everybody’s attention. This book was read and discussed in all parts of the world and
was hailed by reviewers and critics as a monumental work.
In the Introduction to Culture and Imperialism, Edward states that his previous work Orientalism
was limited to Middle East, and in the present book he wanted to describe a more general pattern
of relationship between the modern West and its overseas territories. This book, he says, is not a
sequel of Orientalism, as it aims at something different.
According to Edward there are two types of attitudes towards culture. One that considers culture
as a concept that includes refining and elevating element, each society’s reservoir of best that has
been known and thought. The other is the aggressive, protectionist attitude viewing culture as a
source of identity that differentiates between ‘us and ‘them’, and power with which we can
combat the influences of the foreign cultures. Such an attitude is opposed to liberal philosophies,
as multiculturalism and hybridism, and has often lead to religious and- nationalist
fundamentalism. Culture conceived in this way becomes a protective enclosure that divorces us
from the everyday world.
“I have found it a challenge not to see culture in this way- that is, antiseptically quarantined
from worldly affiliations, but as an extraordinary field of endeavour.”
Edward Said sees the European writing on Africa, India, Ireland, Far Hast and other lands as part
of European effort to rule distant lands. He says that Colonial and post-Colonial fiction is central
to his argument. These writings present the colonised lands as ‘mysterious lands’ inhabited by
uncivilized barbarians, who understood only the language of violence, and deserved to be ruled.
This is a misrepresentation of the native people and their cultures, and needs to be redressed.
Edward Said finds a connection between these narratives and the imperial process, of which they
are a part. These writing ignore the important aspect of the reality- the native people and their
culture.
Edward Said refers to two novels in order to explain what he had in mind: Dickens’ Great
Expectations, and Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo. Dickens’ Great Expectations is a primarily a story
about Pip’s vain attempt to become a gentleman. Early in life Pip helps a condemned convict,
Abel Magwitch, who after being transported to Australia, pays back Pip with huge
sums of money through his lawyer. Magwitch reappears illegally in London after sometime. Pip
does not welcome him and rejects him as an unpleasant criminal. Magwitch is unacceptable
being from Australia, a penal colony designed for rehabilitation of English criminals. This is a
remarkable novel,
according to Said, but the focus of the narrative is London, not Australia. Dickens did not bother
to discuss the plight of the convicts in Australia, from where they could never return. In Said’s
judgment the prohibition placed on Magwitch’s return is not only penal but also imperial. These
ugly criminals could not by allowed to return to England-the land of decent people.
Conrad’s Nostromo, the second example picked up by Said, is set in a Central American
Republic, independent, but dominated by outside interests because of its immense silver mines.
In this novel Holroyd, the American financer tells Charles Gould, the British owner of a mine:
‘We shall run the world’s business whether the world likes it or not.
The world can’t help it- and neither we can, I guess.’
This is the general thinking of the imperialists. Much of the rhetoric of ‘The New World Order’
with its self-assumed responsibility of civilizing the world, seems to be originated from this
thinking, says Edward Said, The problem with Conrad is that he writes as a man whose Western
view of Non-Western world is so ingrained in as to blind him to other histories, other cultures
and other aspirations. He could never understand that India, Africa and South Africa had lives
and cultures of their own, not totally controlled by the imperialists.
Conrad allows the readers to see that imperialism is a system and it should work in a proper
fashion. There are certain obvious limitations of Conrad’s vision. Conrad was both imperialist
and anti-imperialist, progressive in rendering the corruption of overseas domination, deeply
reactionary in ignoring the fact that Africa and South America had independent history and
culture, which the imperialist violently disturbed but by which they were ultimately defeated.
All such works, says Edward Said, seem to argue that source of world’s significant action and
life was the West, and rest of the world was mind-deadened, having no life, history or integrity
of its own. It is not that these westerners had no sympathy for the foreign cultures; their real
drawback was their inability to take seriously the alternatives to imperialism. The world has
changed since Conrad and Dickens due to imperialistic globalisation.
Now various cultures have a closer interaction and have become interdependent. The colonisers
and the colonized do not exist in separate worlds. So, one-sided versions cannot hold for long.
Even those who are on the side of those fighting; for freedom from imperialists need to avoid
narrow-mindedness and chauvinistic trends. One has to listen to what people are saying on other
side of the fence. (This is what Seamus Heaney says in Redress Of the Poetry.) This, says, Said,
is a positive development. One should always suspect the impressions of an exclusive
consciousness. Most of the Western writers, for example, could never imagine that those
‘natives’ who appeared either subservient, or uncooperative were one day going to be capable of
revolt.
In the last part of the Introduction to ‘Culture and Imperialism’ Said makes some other points
about the book. The purpose of his book, he says, is so trace the relationship between culture,
aesthetic forms and historical experience. His aim is not to give a catalogue of books and
authors, “Instead, I have tried to look at what I consider to be important and essential things.”
My hope is that readers and critics of this book will use it to further the lines of enquiry and
arguments about the historical experience of imperialism put forward in it.” Moreover, he has not
discussed all the empires. He has focused on three imperial powers: British, French, and
American. This book is about past and present, about ‘us’ and ‘them’, he says.
Said says that the origin of current American policies can be seen in the past. All powers aspiring
for global domination have done .the same things. There is always the appeal to power and
national interest in running the affairs of ‘lesser peoples’, and the same destructive zeal when the
going goes rough. America made the same mistake in Vietnam and Middle East.
The worst part of the whole exercise has been the collaboration of intellectuals, artists and
journalists with these practices. Said hopes that a history of imperial adventure rendered in
cultural terms might serve some deterrent purpose.
Said makes it clear that the criticism on imperialism does exempt the aggrieved colonized people
from criticism. The fortunes and misfortunes of nationalism, of what can be called separatism
and nativism, do not always make a flattering story. Narrow and dogmatic approach to culture
can be as dangerous to culture as is imperialism. Secondly, culture is not the property of the East
or the West.
Edward Said, by necessity, was in a position to be objective in his approach, as he lived most
part of his life in exile and had the personal experience of both the cultures. He was born in
Middle East and lived as an exile in America, where he wrote this book. He sums up his position
in following works.
“The last point I want to make is that this is an exile’s book. Ever since I remember, I have felt
that I belonged to both the Worlds, without being completely of either one or the other”.

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MA English Part 1

Paper 4 (Prose) All Important notes

 Bacon' s Philosophy of Life As Revealed in His

 Jonathan Swift as a Misanthrope.

 Swift's social satire in "Gulliver's Travels"

 Heaney’s prose style

 Seamus Heaney Arguments in the Favour of Poetry

 What is culture and what is imperialism and how

Notes Prepared By Prof. Tahir Islam

“Good advice for Satan’s Kingdom.”

“But power to do good, is true and lawful end of aspiring.”

But he also points out that

“A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure.”

“Revenge is a kind of wild justice.”

“One who studieth revenge, keeps his own wounds green.”

Bacon’s prose style

“Man in great places are thrice servants”

“A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wound green”

“Children sweeten labours ; but they make misfortune more bitter”

“A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure”

Similarly this sentence also attracts our attention.

Bacon' s Philosophy of Life As Revealed in His Essays

"... a mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure"

"For a lie faces God, and shrinks from man."

"Children sweeten labour, but they make misfortune more bitter."

Jonathan Swift as a Misanthrope.

“to vex the world rather than divert it”

. Secondly, he declares that he has

In part III, Swift ridicule on theoreticians and academies. At the academy of

‘Yet I confess I never saw any sensitive being so detestable on all

murder, theft, robbery, forgery, rape, and sodomy.

Heaney’s prose style

“Poetry is comprehensive of events but not itself productive of new events”

“Life raises questions; Poetry answers them”

“Poetry leads from delight to wisdom”

Seamus Heaney Arguments in the Favour of Poetry

Swift's social satire in "Gulliver's Travels"

Gulliver’s account of the annoyance of the Empress of Lilliput on extinguishing fire in

SWIFT'S PROSE STYLE

“I had three hundred cooks to dress my victuals”

According to Matthew Arnold,

What is culture and what is imperialism and how does

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