Final answer:
The brobdingnagian royal family in 'Gulliver's Travels' serves as a vehicle for satire, portraying virtues like the welfare of subjects and faults such as overlooking important details. The family's dynamic with the populace reflects Hobbes's social contract, wherein the monarch's authority comes from the people's agreement to obey, suggesting a somewhat absolute rule.
Step-by-step explanation:
The brobdingnagian royal family, a part of Jonathan Swift's satirical novel Gulliver's Travels, can be analyzed for their virtues and faults. In literature, the depiction of characters often serves as a vehicle for the author's commentary on society and humanity. Swift uses the brobdingnagian royalty to critique and satirize aspects of British society. The monarch and his family are generally portrayed as having virtues such as earnest attention to their subjects' welfare, a disdain for frivolities commonly associated with European courts, and a pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. However, the giants may also be seen as having faults, such as a contemplation so grand that it causes them to miss smaller but significant details, much like the governments of Swift's time.
Regarding the social contract, Swift's work can be tied to Thomas Hobbes's philosophical idea that the sovereign's authority comes from a contract with the people. In this light, the monarch in Brobdingnag is seen as benevolent and upholding his part of the contract by ensuring the welfare of his subjects, which in turn are obliged to yield their total obedience. This relationship also suggests an absolute form of governance, as Hobbes proposed.
From the phrase "Hapless child of hapless sire, Didst thou recklessly conspire," we might infer a breach of this social contract, perhaps the subject acting against the king's decree and facing dire consequences as a result. This indicates that the subjects are bound to follow the monarch's rulings, which can be harsh, demonstrating the imbalance of the social contract when put into practice.