ABSTRACT

Although Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Li Ru-zhen’s Flowers in the Mirror come from different times and countries, they bear a striking resemblance to each other in the theme, the literary genre, the structure of the fiction as well as the artistic devices the two authors adopt. They all make a blueprint of an ideal world in their minds when criticizing the reality. This thesis is to make a comparative study of the two ideal worlds under their pen in five aspects, including the political system, the legal system, the economic life, the educational system and social customs. Both two ideal worlds reveal their common pursuit of the ideal world while there are still some limitations which are greatly affected by the authors’ personal experiences and the social backgrounds.

Key words: Gulliver’s Travels; Flowers in the Mirror; comparative study; ideal world

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 Background of the Study-1

1.2 Significance of the Thesis-1

1.3 Organization of the Thesis-2

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-3

2.1 An Introduction to Flowers in the Mirror and Gulliver’s Travels-3

2.2 A Review of Studies on Flowers in the Mirror and Gulliver’s Travels-4

2.3 Limitations to the Existing Studies-6

Chapter Three A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE IDEAL WORLDS IN GULLIVER’S TRAVELS AND FLOWERS IN THE MIRROR-7

3.1 Political System-7

3.2 Legal System-8

3.3 Material Life-9

3.4 Educational System-9

3.5 Social Customs-11

Chapter Four REASONS FOR THE SIMILARITIES OF THE IDEAL WORLDS IN GULLIVER’S TRAVELS AND FLOWERS IN THE MIRROR-13

4.1 Experiences of Jonathan Swift and Li Ru-zhen-13

4.2 18th Century’s Britain and 19th Century’s China-13

4.3 Limitations of the Two Ideal Worlds-14

Chapter Five CONCLUSION-16

WORKS CITED-17