We all know about Gulliver’s Travels, and who among us hasn’t wondered what it must be like to be really big while everyone else was tiny and scared of you at some point in our lives?
Ok, perhaps not everyone but the point is that ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ is a classic fantasy story that is also positively dripping with political satire. It’s read by children and statesmen alike and since it was first published in 1726, it’s quite likely that it has never been out of print.
The man who wrote it, Jonathan Swift, was nothing short of remarkable and his resume includes satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet, and priest. Unable to secure a post in England, Swift was appointed the Deanery of St Patrick’s in Dublin and he took a great interest in the building.
It was also during this time that he completed his masterpiece which he originally entitled ‘Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts, by Lemuel Gulliver, first a surgeon, and then a captain of several ships’. It is assumed that the title was later changed to save on ink.
Despite being a priest, it seems that there was probably more to Jonathan Swift than meets the eye. A letter from him survives that proposes marriage to a Jane Warring and he had a very close and ambiguous relationship with Esther Johnson, the fatherless daughter of one of his servants.
Some biographers believe that Jonathan and Esther were secretly married at some point although no evidence of this exists. What is certain is that when he died, he was buried alongside Esther Johnson in accordance with his wishes. Their graves and epitaphs can be seen inside St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.
