Tuesday, May 15, 2018

What would a character sketch of the King of Brobdingnag be?

The King of Brobdingnag is a very open-minded person. When presented with the kind of creature (Gulliver) he has never seen before, he treats him with great hospitality and listens to his story. He has conversations with Gulliver regarding English politics to learn about his home country and to see if there's anything worth imitating there. His negative comments on the English government and English people after hearing Gulliver’s description suggest, in some way, his higher moral standards, because a lot of things that appear to be commonplace in England are viewed as immoral by the King of Brobdingnag. He has great communication skills and a sense of humor, too, as can be seen by his criticism on the English government in a light-hearted way.
When Gulliver attempts to impress the King with the power of gunpowder and offers to help manufacture it, the King finds it a horrible invention, rather than a useful tool to subdue the enemies. He says he would rather lose his kingdom than to make something that would cause so much destruction and bloodshed. This shows that the King is a benevolent ruler, and he cares about his people more than his own authority.
All in all, Swift is mirroring the dark side of the English politics through this character. Gulliver appears to describe his home country as a wonderful place, but the King of Brobdingnag acts as a wise judge who sees the reality clearly.


The King of Brobdingnag is a wise, benevolent ruler. He's certainly an altogether different character to the faintly ridiculous Emperor of Lilliput. He's a man of great intellectual curiosity, engaging in learned conversations with Gulliver. He's especially curious to learn about the customs and conventions of Gulliver's native England, many of which he finds both puzzling and horrifying. Gulliver tries to conceal some of the more unpleasant aspects of English life, but the king sees right through him, exclaiming on the basis of Gulliver's descriptions that the English are "odious vermin."
At the same time, the king can't take Gulliver too seriously on account of how tiny he is—from the perspective of the Brobdingnagians, of course. Gulliver is a source of amusement to the king, almost like an exceptionally erudite child. Yet he still retains a fatherly affection for the pin-sized traveller. Nonetheless, the king, like all Brobdingnagians, represents a higher version of our human selves. Though physically unpleasant, when up close and personal, there's no doubting the moral beauty and magnanimity of his soul.

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