The 3 Worlds of Gulliver: Courting Peril

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Elizabeth is quite content to remain a pampered palace pet in the court of Brobdingnag, where she and Gulliver are protected and provided with every material need and comfort. Gulliver, however, is frustrated by their lack of autonomy, and as a Man of the Enlightenment he resents humoring the court’s conceits and superstitions. First, the Queen and Glumdalclitch have to rescue Gulliver from the King’s temper when he fails to let the King win at chess.

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Then Gulliver makes the mistake of provoking the court wizard Mackovan by over-ruling his medieval treatment of the Queen’s stomach-ache.

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“But it aches so!”
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“I wish I could hold Madam’s hand and soothe her.” “Yes, Doctor.”
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“Go away, Mackovan!”
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“All of it!” “Yes, Doctor.”
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“He’s poisoned her!” “She needed help on the inside, Mackovan, not the outside!”
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“There he is!”
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“Stop it, Mackovan!’
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“The pain is completely gone!”
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“Mackovan didn’t cure me—he did!”
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“Get that man off your bed!”
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“I want my doctor.”

The Queen makes matters worse by kicking the King and Mackovan out of the royal bedchamber so she can have a private consultation with her “Doctor.” We never do learn what other complaints the Queen would like her tiny physician to treat, but I have some ideas.

Originally posted:  27 May 2016

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