AustLit
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Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships
(International)
assertion
single work
satire
travel
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Best known simply as Gulliver's Travels, Jonatahan Swift's best known work Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships was first published in 1727 and amended in 1735. Considered a classic of English literature, the novel is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the travellers' tales literary sub-genre.
Adaptations
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y
Gulliver on His Travels ; Or, Harlequin Old Father Christmas and the Fairy Queen of the Silver Acacias
Melbourne
:
Abbott & Co, Printers
,
1866
Z814463
1866
single work
musical theatre
pantomime
fantasy
Adapted from Jonathon Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels, the plot begins with Argentilla, the Fairy Queen of the Silver Acacias, awaiting the arrival of Old Father Christmas. Unbeknownst to the queen, her law officer Topsyturvey has conspired with Prime Minister Cantankeros to usurp her position. In the meanwhile, Father Christmas arrives, bringing all manner of presents that the conspirators render valueless in the eyes of the queen (the latest fashions are represented by the last new bonnet while a 'parcel' of politicians is turned into a pack of stuff). The last of the boxes to be opened contains an edition of the renowned Gulliver, who has already appeared favourably in the dreams of the queen. She immediately declares herself his protector, causing Cantankeros and Topsyturvey to plot his downfall and so demonstrate that they have greater powers than her. The narrative then shifts to London, where Gulliver has become bored with his surgery and is feeling set upon by his wife and howling infants. In order to escape, he takes up an offer from Captain Bumptous Blowhard to become his ship's doctor. Gulliver's adventure begins when his ship is wrecked in a storm and he is thrown into the sea. Argentilla, who has only just learned of the schemes of her treacherous ministers, sends a dolphin to save Gulliver and carry him to the shore of an island. It is here that Gulliver is captured by the Lilliputians and the plot briefly follows the original storyline until Cantankeros and Topsyturvey arrive, disguised as seamen, in order to complete their plan to destroy Gulliver.
The pantomime unfolds over six scenes. The original production featured several long mime sequences and contained numerous topical references. Margaret Williams notes that as with many the pantomimes being produced in Australia from the 1860s onwards, much of the satirical material in Gulliver on His Travels was firmly located in the Antipodes. Indeed, references to bushrangers, politicians, current political and social issues, historical figures (James Cook, for example), and local landmarks occur frequently within the pantomime's combination of fantasy and local reality (Australia on the Popular Stage).
The music included a good deal of operatic burlesque, especially extracts from Meyerbeer's L'Africaine.
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Gulliver ; Or, Harlequin King Lilliput
1881
single work
musical theatre
pantomime
fantasy
Oberon and his associates decide to produce a Gulliver pantomime. The story begins when King Hairy comes to Gulliver Snr's chemist shop in search of hair dye, as his hair keeps changing colour. Gulliver Jnr falls for the King's daughter and offers to search out hair dye. Their ship is wrecked on Liliput, where Gulliver Jnr commands an army against the giants of Brobdignag. With Oberon's help the battle is won and all are rewarded.
[Source: Australian Variety Theatre Archive] -
Gulliver's Travels
1991
single work
drama
A joint production by the Melbourne theatre Company and the Handspan Theatre, the produced combined actors, musicians, and puppets.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Heading South : An Embodied Literary History of the Cape to Cape Track and the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Region of South-west Australia
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia , vol. 8 no. 1 2017; (p. 44-58)'Based on the author’s end-to-end walk of the Cape to Cape Track (C2C), this article presents a literary history of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste region traversed by the trail. The C2C is a continuous, 135-kilometre coastal pedestrian path from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin south of Perth in the south-west corner of Western Australia. A relatively short route by long-distance trekking standards, the C2C reverberates with literary narratives, incidents and encounters. In 1831, explorers John Dewar and Andrew Smith walked northbound from Augusta to the Swan River, approximately following the modern-day orientation of the track. Known for tempestuous weather, Cape Leeuwin—the southern terminus of the C2C, near Augusta, where the Indian and Southern Oceans converge—was the model for “Lewin’s Land” referenced in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) and later alluded to in D.H. Lawrence and Mollie Skinner’s The Boy in the Bush (1924). Drawing from theories of emplacement (de Certeau; Edensor; Gros; Ingold; Ingold and Vergunst; Merleau-Ponty; Michael; Solnit), this article describes walking as a medium for understanding the imbrications between bodies, landscapes, journeys, histories and stories.' (Publication abstract)
-
Heading South : An Embodied Literary History of the Cape to Cape Track and the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Region of South-west Australia
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia , vol. 8 no. 1 2017; (p. 44-58)'Based on the author’s end-to-end walk of the Cape to Cape Track (C2C), this article presents a literary history of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste region traversed by the trail. The C2C is a continuous, 135-kilometre coastal pedestrian path from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin south of Perth in the south-west corner of Western Australia. A relatively short route by long-distance trekking standards, the C2C reverberates with literary narratives, incidents and encounters. In 1831, explorers John Dewar and Andrew Smith walked northbound from Augusta to the Swan River, approximately following the modern-day orientation of the track. Known for tempestuous weather, Cape Leeuwin—the southern terminus of the C2C, near Augusta, where the Indian and Southern Oceans converge—was the model for “Lewin’s Land” referenced in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726) and later alluded to in D.H. Lawrence and Mollie Skinner’s The Boy in the Bush (1924). Drawing from theories of emplacement (de Certeau; Edensor; Gros; Ingold; Ingold and Vergunst; Merleau-Ponty; Michael; Solnit), this article describes walking as a medium for understanding the imbrications between bodies, landscapes, journeys, histories and stories.' (Publication abstract)
