1. Read Gulliver's Travels, especially the section on Lilliput, and compare the way Swift and White describe Lilliputian society and temperament. White's Lilliputians seem to be a less sophisticated society than Swift's. What factors might have brought this change?

2. Some critics feel that Miss Brown and the Vicar are too evil, too onedimensional. Yet White points out that there are many subtle differences in the characters of these two people. Does White manage to avoid stereotyping in his creation of these two characters?

How does he manage this?

3. One of the reasons why Gulliver's Travels has endured as a classic is because of Swift's skillful use of satire. In what ways does White make use of the devices of satire and humor in Mistress Masham's Repose?

4. What qualities separate the good characters from the evil characters in Mistress Masham's Repose? What...