Gulliver and Mary Burton

Gulliver and Mary Burton's marriage is a relationship defined by practical arrangement, domestic stability, and repeated separation, serving as the emotional and material foundation that Gulliver abandons each time his restless nature drives him to sea. Mary Burton, the second daughter of Edmund Burton, a hosier in Newgate Street, brought a portion of four hundred pounds to the match. Gulliver married her after returning from his early voyages and settling in London, encouraged by his master James Bates. The union was entered into not out of passionate love but as a sensible step advised by those around him, and it provided Gulliver with a household and a base for his surgical practice in the Old Jewry.

Domestic Life and Financial Support

After Bates's death two years later, Gulliver's business declined, and he consulted with his wife and acquaintances before deciding to return to sea. Mary Burton thus became the manager of the home during his absences. When Gulliver left for his voyage on the Antelope in 1699, he left her and their family in Wapping, hoping to improve his fortunes. Upon his return from Lilliput in April 1702, he stayed only two months with his wife and family before his insatiable desire for travel drove him away again. He left her fifteen hundred pounds and settled her in a good house at Redriff, ensuring she was financially secure. His remaining stock he carried with him, part in money and part in goods, hoping to improve his fortune. He also had an estate near Epping left by his uncle John, yielding about thirty pounds a year, and a long lease of the Black Bull in Fetter Lane, which yielded as much more, so he was not in danger of leaving his family upon the parish.

Family and Children

Gulliver and Mary Burton had three children: a son named Johnny, after his uncle, who was at grammar school and described as a towardly child; a daughter Betty, who later married well and had children; and another child mentioned only in passing. When Gulliver took leave of his wife, son, and daughter before his second voyage, there were tears on both sides, indicating genuine affection despite the repeated separations.

Separation and Reunion

During his two-year stay in Brobdingnag, Gulliver longed for his domestic pledges left behind in England, and his thoughts of his wife and children aggravated his sorrows when he awoke from dreams of being home. After his rescue by Captain Thomas Wilcocks and return to England in June 1706, Gulliver's behavior was so altered by his experiences that his wife and daughter initially thought he had lost his wits. He stooped to enter his own house, bent lower than his wife's knees to embrace her, and could not see his daughter when she knelt for his blessing. He told his wife she had starved herself and her daughter to nothing. In time, they came to a right understanding, but Mary Burton protested that he should never go to sea again, though she had not the power to hinder him.

Narrative Significance

Mary Burton functions as a stable, domestic counterpoint to Gulliver's extraordinary adventures. She represents the ordinary world he repeatedly leaves and returns to, grounding the fantastic narratives in a recognizable reality. Her presence underscores the cost of Gulliver's wanderlust and the emotional toll his travels take on his family, while also providing a measure of his psychological transformation upon return.