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• W2931898082 abstract "R E V I E W S L. J. Morrissey, Gulliver’s Progress (Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String Press, !978). i99- $12.50. Because Swift in Gulliver’s Travels speaks with the thunder of an Old Testa­ ment prophet hurling down his judgment upon a Sodom and Gomorrah world, many sensitive readers tend to be impatient with merely secular read­ ings of the satire. The Travels reeks of Augustinian sin. The Yahoo streak runs through every man. There appears to be a religious intensity in Swift’s book which has not yet been plumbed. Therefore L. J. Morrissey’s attempt to find in The Book of Common Prayer the secret of Swift’s power in the Travels is a healthy emphasis, and I looked forward to reading it with great interest. Unfortunately, Morrissey does not achieve what he set out to do. Morrissey’s thesis begins with a seeming discrepancy in Swift’s dates in the Travels. Since Swift had several opportunities to make his dates more con­ sistent with the text, Morrissey concludes logically enough that he must have intended them that way. They conform, Morrissey argues, to specific dates in the Anglican Church year which refer to particular texts in The Book of Common Prayer. Together they form an interesting sub-text to the satire which supposedly adds richness of texture and new insight. The lectionary dates offer a “satisfying coherent pattern of allusion . .. an aesthetic wholeness.... They ... form a basic Christian trope for this moral book which elucidates its larger ironies.” This is Morrissey’s thesis. It sounds splendid. But it is unproven. Even assuming that his hypothesis is correct, that the dates are intended to refer to lectionary passages in The Book of Common Prayer — and this is by no means proven ■—■if it is to be anything more than a playful irrelevance it must contribute to the satire in some way, make it more meaningful, add bite to the irony, give new insight. But Morrissey’s study does none of this. Instead it provides an ongoing sermon on the most general themes, which because of their general nature can be adapted to almost any text. If the lectionary passage were to be from the text of a day earlier or a day later it E n g lish Studies in C anada, vii, 4, December 1981 would have the same general application and some suitable religious moral could be found relevant to our miscreant nature as Swift describes it. But even if the lectionary passages had some remote relevance to the text, they still would not be useful unless they also added to the satiric effect. Gulliver’s Travels is a satire, and any textual reading must be kept within the satiric framework. Morrissey’s commentary seems to ignore Swift’s satiric purpose. For example (p. 17), Morrissey complains that Gulliver is unaware that it is original sin, not nature, that demands that man conceal his genitals. “But poor obtuse Gulliver does not know this.. . . Christian revela­ tion cannot keep him to the paths of virtue. .. because Gulliver is only un­ wittingly a Christian.” Swift expresses his disapproval of Gulliver’s Chris­ tianity, argues Morrissey, by the subtle internal evidence of the lectionary passages. Apart from the fact that the focus of satire, generally, is on the evils of this world, not on religious doctrine, and this is particularly true of Gulliver’s Travels, it is inconceivable that Swift would make such an issue of Gulliver’s “moral and religious insensibility” because he does not distin­ guish original sin from nature. Not only is it remote from the thrust of the satire but adds nothing to our insight into the work. As for the “subtle internal evidence” of the lectionary passages, let us examine one of numerous possible examples that could be given. It is Morrissey’s conclusion to Part 1 of the Travels. The opening and closing Old Testament lessons appropriate to the dates in Book 1 of Gulliver’s Travels (1 Kings 12 and 1 Sam. 29 and 30) underline the poten­ tial for evil in human society and the attendant suffering caused by dissensions within. . . . Running like an undercurrent through these lessons appropriate..." @default.
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• W2931898082 title "Gulliver’s Progress by L. J. Morrissey" @default.
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