Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Tristram Shandy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Truth, Fiction, and Storytelling
Language and Comprehension
Travel, Space, and Time
Sexuality and Propriety
Science, Technology, and the Enlightenment
Summary
Analysis
Chapter 8. In order to whistle uninterrupted, Obadiah ties his hatband around the middle of the bag, creating a complicated jumble of tightly tied knots that Dr. Slop struggles to untie. As a result, Mrs. Shandy may end up giving birth to Tristram long before Dr. Slop is able to open his bag, yet another of the many small accidents that make Tristram the way he is.
Failing to consider the urgency of his task, Obadiah has tied the bag too tight for Dr. Slop to open. This is another example of someone so focused on their personal passions that they lose sight of the task at hand. To Tristram, this accidental, emotionally driven twist of fate is representative of life itself.
Themes
Chapter 9. Dr. Slop praises God for Mrs. Shandy’s difficult labor, noting to himself that he could already have extracted Tristram several times over during the time he spends trying to get the bag open. Dr. Slop does not take action, however, until he hears more noise from upstairs and realizes if he does not get the bag open in time that scenario will indeed come to pass.
Dr. Slop is so preoccupied with thinking about the problem of his bag that he almost fails to act. This, Tristram suggests, is a common problem, as people are so wrapped up in their thoughts that they miss crucial opportunities to act.
Themes
Chapter 10. Tristram discusses knots, distinguishing between slip-knots, bow-knots, and Obadiah’s “good, honest, devilish tight, hard knots” which cannot be undone with any tricks or shortcuts. While the reader may suggest simply cutting the knots with a knife, Tristram rejects this as dishonorable. Dr. Slop is unable to untie the knot with his teeth, which he knocked out by mistake with a medical instrument during a previous procedure, or with his fingernails, which are cut too short.
Tristram’s description of knots is reminiscent of the way he describes his characters’ logic and arguments. An important distinction, of course, is that the knots present a real, physical obstacle. Dr. Slop’s embarrassing struggle with the knots emphasizes his ridiculousness and his lack of worldliness, concerning attributes in a doctor responsible for safely delivering babies.
Themes
Dr. Slop continues to curse Obadiah and resolves to cut the knot with a knife, but he accidentally cuts his thumb. Walter, offended on Obadiah’s behalf, lectures Dr. Slop on the pointlessness of his curses, which he claims should be sufficiently intense as to truly dispel the anger that prompts them. Walter suggests reading an excommunication written by the bishop Ernulphus which contains all the very worst of curses. Walter hands the excommunication to Dr. Slop and begins to read it from over his shoulder as Toby whistles Lillabullero.
Walter is torn between his loyalty to Obadiah and his intellectual interest in cursing. He suggests that they read Ernulphus’s curses not only so that Dr. Slop can process his anger but also as a pleasurable and diverting exercise. Toby, modest as ever, is less than thrilled about the cursing, but he is too polite to say anything, choosing merely to whistle and listen along.
Themes
Get the entire Tristram Shandy LitChart as a printable PDF.
Chapter 11. Dr. Slop interrupts to suggest that Walter read the excommunication silently, but Walter refuses. Walter begins again, invoking the trinity, the saints, and all other manner of religious figures to curse the recipient of the excommunication, with Dr. Slop adding in “Obadiah” and “for tying these knots” after each curse. Toby continues to whistle and the three of them proceed in harmony, cursing every part of Obadiah’s body and soul. Toby, aghast, says he would not curse the devil himself like that. When Dr. Slop points out that the devil is already cursed for eternity Toby expresses his sympathy for him. Their religious discourse will be suddenly interrupted, however, by the door being opened in the chapter after next, Tristram promises.
Walter, Dr. Slop, and Toby all collectively read Ernulphus’s curses, with Walter reading the main text and the others adding commentary. This multi-voiced reading toys with the material, changing or exaggerating certain parts to fit the situation. Toby’s morality is deeply offended by the harshness of the curses, but he is too polite to leave or ask his brother to stop. Indeed, Toby is so gentle that he is able to sympathize even with the devil. Tristram then teases the next interruption, alerting the reader that the next chapter will contain more of his commentary rather than the next part of his family’s conversation.
Themes
Chapter 12. Tristram suggests his reader imagine that they, too, could invent such inventive curses. He then argues that critics are so fixated on rules and norms that they are unable and unwilling to recognize works of genius. He provides several examples, arguing that a creative speech would be criticized as ungrammatical, a book as irregular, a poem as uneven, and a painting as too similar to those of the old masters. Tristram begs for a reader willing to surrender their imagination to his book. He argues that all the curses sworn in Britain for the past 250 years have been copied from Ernulphus. Walter, however, does not believe that Ernulphus invented all these curses but rather that he compiled and systematized them, much like the late Roman emperors did not invent their legal code but gathered together all the previous laws of Rome.
Tristram’s thoughts on curses reflect his views on literature more broadly, as he explains that he values originality more than conforming to the rules. A good reader, he suggests, should not read a book looking for familiarity but with an open mind. This logic clearly applies to readers of Tristram’s own book, too. Walter’s theory of curses, which compares Ernulphus to the Roman legal code, pokes fun at the seriousness with which critics treat classical sources, suggesting that the same kinds of reading and writing apply regardless of the subject.
Themes
Chapter 13. Susannah interrupts to tell Dr. Slop, Walter, and Toby that Mrs. Shandy is about to give birth and the midwife has fallen and hurt herself. Dr. Slop offers to look at the midwife’s injury, but Susannah suggests instead that he go and ask her about Mrs. Shandy’s labor. Still offended at the preference shown to the midwife, however, Dr. Slop insists that the midwife come downstairs to him. Toby muses on the importance of respect for the chain of command. Dr. Slop ironically mimics him, describing the Shandy household as a military unit in disarray, and argues for the submission of hands to—but pauses before finishing his sentence.
Once again, Walter, Toby, and Dr. Slop have become so caught up in their philosophical discussions that they have forgotten all about the pregnant Mrs. Shandy. Dr. Slop’s attempt to assert his seniority over the midwife reveals his thin skin. It also casts doubt on his qualifications as a doctor. Rather than treating both the injured midwife and the pregnant Mrs. Shandy, he amuses himself by mocking Toby, not realizing how ridiculous he is making himself seem.
Themes
Chapter 14. Tristram expounds on the eloquence of describing a thing without naming it, pointing out that this was the favored style of oration in ancient Greece and Rome, where orators would produce a baby from their mantles at the climax of their speeches. This method is not feasible anymore, however, as orators no longer wear mantles. This, Tristram argues, is the source of the decline in eloquence, as nothing worth showing can be concealed under modern clothing.
Tristram’s praise for classical oratory is undercut by his explanation, which reduces the art of discussing something without naming it to a simple trick of showmanship. His comedic point about babies and mantles is a sarcastic reference to the popularity of classical themes in Enlightenment writing and philosophy and the seriousness with which they were treated.
Themes
