Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift: Comparison
Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift were two fundamental authors of the period between the end of the
seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century.
The works of Defoe focus on the themes of bourgeois mentality and values; instead, Swift's works are
characterized by a fantastic and adventurous dimension that is associated with a harsh and disconsolate
satire of English society of time and human nature.
A common point between the two authors is that, in both cases, the theme of travel does not have a
melancholy expression, but is characterized as a pleasure and enjoyment experience.
Two great books have talked admirably to the titanic and perverse fairy tale of colonialism. "Robinson
Crusoe" is the representation of Europe convinced that it can overcome any challenge by combining the will
to disciplined application of intelligence, technology and brute force. Instead, "Gulliver’s Travels" by Jonathan
Swift shows the dark side of colonialism. Gulliver, in fact, not only does not conquer anything but is
subjugated by the higher "Houyhnhum"; Becomes a hostage to an alien civilization and when he returns
home he realizes that he can no longer bear his old world after he has met such a scandalously different
society. The British look ugly, dirty and primitive.
