Introduction
When we think of the human animal, we envision a complex of behavioral qualities that all primeval humans could have. Before the establishment of the social order in its familiar form and the development of the cultural aspects of life, people were closer to nature and did not suppress their instincts. It seems that the concept of the human animal, as described in the early contemporary literature, refers readers to this irrational and uncontrolled side of human life. Most of the time, if not always, the bestial qualities attributed to characters are represented in a negative light because the view on humans as animals contradicts the ideal image of people as the supreme beings; the cultured, enlightened, virtuous, and spiritual ones.
In the given paper we will review the concept of the human animal in the examples of Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels: A voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms” and Pedro Calderon de la Barca’s “Life is a Dream.” In their compositions, both authors review the issue of human nature but in a slightly different ways. While Calderon de la Barca depicts the story of overcoming own animal instincts in the character of Segismund, Swift provides a satirical allegory on human vices and critically evaluates the human society as a whole in the fourth part of his novel where Gulliver travels to the land inhabited with intellectually and culturally developed horses. Although the two authors criticize the manifestations of animal nature in people, the play and the novel have some positive connotations as well – they imply that humanity as a whole and individuals, in particular, have potential to grow and overcome the vices which detract the human dignity and affect lives in an adverse way.
Life is a Dream
“Life is a Dream” is the play comprised of three acts that describe the events that took place within three days of the characters’ lives. Sigismund, an imprisoned prince who is not even aware of his royal origins, during the first day of narration, he represents as a prisoner. The first act is meant to arrange the characters in conflicting positions. In the second act, he is the prince in the palace. Lastly, in the third act, Sigismund is again represented in the role of the prisoner who then becomes the king.
The important thing in this gradual development of the plot is that the three acts may be regarded as the stages of the human maturation. On the first day, readers see Segismund as a man who does not differ much from an animal. He spent all his life among the mountains, and he knows only the animal-like existence exclusive of any human feelings and moral principles. For instance, in the dialog with Rosaura, he says:
But then if murder be
The law by which not only conscience-blind
Creatures, but man too prospers with his kind;
Who leaving all his guilty fellows free,
Under your fatal auspice and divine
Compulsion, leagued in some mysterious ban
Against one innocent and helpless man,
Abuse their liberty to murder mine (Calderon de la Barca, 2006, para. I).
The contextual analysis of the given verse makes it clear that, throughout his life, Segismund encountered only injustice and started to perceive the world as a cruel place, and people – as heartless creatures. As a result, when pulled out of his familiar, wild environment, the character fully manifests his bestial qualities – he becomes merciless and bloodthirsty. Segismund seeks vengeance for the humiliation to which he was exposed. He takes the revenge on everyone and especially the king, his father, who made an order to enchain the innocent child like a wild beast.
The power given to the character in the second act reveals his worst qualities: selfishness, incontinence, and lust. At this stage, Segismund represents as the human animal, as the human in his or her initial, primeval state; as he came out of the bosom of nature. However, both animal and human qualities are combined in the main character. As a person, he is intelligent and reasonable, and, as a beast, he is enslaved by his natural instincts. At the same time, in Segismund’s statements, we may observe that this bestiality is not merely defined by nature but rather is determined by the circumstances in which he was placed:
And if the chain
You help’d to rivet round me did contract
Since guiltless infancy from guilt in act;
Of what in aspiration or in thought
Guilty, but in resentment of the wrong
That wreaks revenge on wrong I never wrought
By excommunication from the free
Inheritance that all created life,
Beside myself, is born to — from the wings
That range your own immeasurable blue,
Down to the poor, mute, scale – imprison’d things,
That yet are free to wander, glide, and pass
About that under-sapphire, whereinto
Yourselves transfusing you yourselves englass! (Calderon de la Barca, 2006, para. I).
As we can see, the environment in which Segismund lived, the controversies between his current position and realization of the possibility to be free, as well as the understanding that all that time he was treated unjustly, made the character turn into the human animal. After the truth was revealed to him in the second act, he starts to blame the father for everything that happened to him. The realization of the fact that he was deceived, mistreated, and deprived of rights to rule the kingdom only increased his bestiality and rage.
Although at the beginning Segismund’s actions and words revealed his belief in the power of cruelty which he considered an inherent human feature, after all, he comes to a conclusion that human dignity can be asserted by other means. In the third act, as soon as he wakes up in the dungeon and is told that all he experienced the other night was nothing but a dream, Segismund changes. He comes to the realization that life is just a dream and all human aspirations, motivations, and ambitions are rather futile and meaningless. At this point, the character becomes a wise man who managed to overcome the vices though self-cognition and the power of reasoning. Reasonableness and will are thus can be understood as the purely human qualities that differ people from animals.
Gulliver’s Travels
As it was mentioned in the introduction to the paper, “A voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms” is a satire on the whole of the humanity and the existing social order. Swift created an anti-utopia in which he revealed humans in all their unattractiveness. The country of the Houyhnhnms is the place where reasonable horses live as the superior form of life, while the human-like beings, also known as Yahoos, represent as disgusting and imperfect creatures.
In that country, Gulliver is treated as a guest and plays a role of an observer of both Houyhnhnms and Yahoos. The character became fascinated with Houyhnhnms’ mode of life, their manners, and worldviews. At the same time, he was aware of own similarity to the human animals which coexisted with the horses in the country. The contrast between the ideal behavior of Houyhnhnms and Yahoos’ unattractiveness made Gulliver come to a conclusion that people are initially flawed and that humanity, as we know it, loses its humanistic image and obtains the features of Yahoos:
The Yahoos appear to be the most unteachable of all animals; their capacity never reaching higher than to draw or carry burdens. Yet I am of opinion, this defect arises chiefly from a perverse, restive disposition; for they are cunning, malicious, treacherous, and revengeful. They are strong and hardy, but of a cowardly spirit, and, by consequence, insolent, abject, and cruel (Swift, 2016, p. 300).
The given statement points out at the flaws of the humans as animals – they are always angry, stubborn, prone to numerous vices, and indifferent to virtue. The main character does not like to be associated with the Yahoo tribe. Moreover, after being confronted with the human imperfections which were not hidden behind the social norms, and courteousness, when Gulliver returns home to England, he attempts to avoid the human company.
At the same time, although Swift depicted all vices inherent with Yahoos, he also shows that the artificial horses’ society is rather boring because there is no place for feelings and emotions. Houyhnhnms remain reasonable in every single aspect of life; they do not take risks and think everything through in advance. In their world, everything is planned, and nothing happens occasionally and accidentally. Houyhnhnms’ lives are uneventful, and their actions are not driven by even a hint of fear. Thus, the image of the horses’ society contrasts with the image of Yahoos. However, both of the representations serve as allegories to the tendencies which take place within our real-life human society and demonstrate two distinct developmental directions. The author does not persuade readers that one way of life is better than another but allows them to reflect upon it independently. To some extent, it is true that every individual decides what to become in life – a Houyhnhnm or a Yahoo. Potentially a person can either cultivate reasonableness and try to control everything in life or can indulge in the vice and turn into an animal-like creature. However, it seems that finding a balance between the two states may be a right solution. Based on this, like Calderon de la Barca, Swift may implicitly point at the importance of the will for individual self-assertion.
Conclusion
In their compositions, Calderon de la Barca and Swift reflected upon the issues of human nature. “Life is a Dream” and “A voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms” undoubtedly include some philosophical messages. It is possible to assume that the authors tried to depict that the reasonableness as such does not lay the foundation to this world, and the violence, as well as all irrational and ugly events that frequently take place in the society, is rather defined by the desire to survive which is characteristic to all living beings including animals and humans. The image of the human animal as depicted in the early modern literature includes a large share of social criticism. The analysis of the image of the human as animal reveals multiple negative connotations hidden in it. It is possible to say that the authors used it to demonstrate the immaturity and imperfection of individuals and humanity as a whole. However, it would be wrong to say that people are doomed to be constantly led by the animal instincts because humans also have some features which distinguish them from other creatures. These cognitive qualities are the reasoning and the will for self-assertion. Although according to Swift, an excess control over decisions and actions may result in the loss of taste in life, he depicts reasoning as an instrument that may help to fight flaws and vices. Additionally, Calderon de la Barca shows that human intelligence may help a person to become better. In this way, the analyzed pieces of literature make it clear that people may become less attached to their bestial nature and grow as human beings.
References
Calderon de la Barca, P. (2006). Life is a dream. Web.
Swift, J. (2016). Gulliver’s travels. Littleton, CO: Coterie Classics.