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 15. Tristram and the postilion continue through Ailly au clochers, where they do not hear the famous church bells, which are out of order, a common problem throughout France. They keep going to Amiens, about which Tristram only adds that Janatone went to school there.
Tristram continues to poke fun at the lazy, dysfunctional French. He also continues to praise Janatone, whose beauty continues to affect him far more the other sights he sees.
Themes
Chapter 16. Tristram describes one of his greatest annoyances while traveling: that, despite the beautiful scenery, he is constantly falling asleep; worse still, he is constantly being woken up to pay for new horses. Tristram cannot pay ahead for them in order to sleep, as the French are constantly demanding more money for a drink, a missed bill, or an invalid coin. Exasperated, Tristram disembarks and sightsees in Chantilly out of spite, scorning the artifacts stored in the town’s famous abbey.
Tristram refuses to relent in his mockery of both travel writing and the French, as he transforms the excitement of the journey into banalities and annoyances. The only thing that can force Tristram to actually sightsee the way he is “supposed to” is his frustration with the other aspects of travel, an ironic inversion of the standard descriptions of such journeys.
Themes
Chapter 17. Tristram arrives in Paris, which he finds dirty, smelly, and overcrowded. He is shocked by the fact that streetlamps are left unlit all summer, by the incredibly narrow streets, and by the excessive number of restaurants and barbershops.
Tristram’s description of Paris echoes that of many English travelers who were overwhelmed by the chaos of Paris. Though London was slightly larger, the Great Fire of 1666 had razed much of the city, leaving a cleaner and more rationally developed metropolis in its place. Paris, on the other hand, was renowned for its dense urban fabric and pollution.
Themes
Chapter 18. Tristram declares that France is often misunderstood, but he is unsure if that is their own fault for not explaining themselves, or if the English are to blame. Tristram does dispute the saying that “they who have seen Paris, have seen every thing,” suggesting that it must be about Paris in daylight. Tristram then comically mistranslates the motto on the portico of the Louvre, noting that the French have a “gay” way of approaching serious subjects.
Tristram’s jokes are hardly targeted at the French alone, as he has an equally low opinion of his own countrymen. He skewers Paris’s reputation as the cultural capital of Europe, suggesting he has little respect for the pomposity of the French, if much sympathy for their zest for life.
Themes
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Chapter 19. The word “gay” reminds Tristram of “spleen.” Tristram argues that authors must contribute to understanding among words like politicians do among people and adds an epigram that reads “SPLEEN.” Spleen, Tristram argues, is good for traveling on, helping him speed along through France even as it ruins his digestion. He continues to the Garonne River, refusing to describe the people is this region of France, though he feels qualified to do so after his stay. He continues onward to Fontainebleau.
Inspired by the subject of “gay” or humorous things, Tristram turns to the opposite subject, “spleen,” referring to ill-tempered and negative moods and feelings. His comparison of authors to politicians is a sly joke; by simply adding the word “SPLEEN” and doing little else to “contribute to understanding,” Tristram casts doubt on the value of politicians’ efforts to make such contributions themselves.
Themes
Chapter 20. Tristram scorns the typical English complaint that carriages in France are much slower than in England; considering the amount of baggage and the small size of French horses, he is amazed that French carriages move at all. He bemoans the suffering of French horses, saying that there are only two words that incite them to move, but he does not dare to tell the reader what they are. He will, however, tell the story of how the Abbess of Andoüillets and her novice Margarita solved this problem.
Tristram continues to satirize the French for their greed and inefficiency. Tristram’s two words that can convince any French horse to move recall his chapter on whiskers. Tristram is concerned not with the words themselves so much as the nature of language and taboo, and the illicit functions certain words assume, as his next tale promises to illustrate.
Themes
Chapter 21. The Abbess of Andoüillets, suffering from knee pain which she was unable to cure with domestic or religious remedies, resolves to travel to the hot baths of Bourbon. She brings a with her a novice named Margarita with a swollen finger, and they set out in a carriage drawn by two mules and guided by the abbey’s gardener. The gardener, whom Tristram now refers to as the muleteer, drinks wine as they travel, and is soon tempted to take a nap in an inn on the side of the road. He cracks the whip behind the mules and sneaks off to sleep, leaving the abbess and the novice unawares as their carriage continues up a hill. The muleteer gets caught up in conversation in the inn and completely forgets his duty. Meanwhile, halfway up the hill, the mules realize the muleteer has disappeared and suddenly stop.
The Abbess of Andoüillets is the leader of her nunnery, while the novice is a new nun who has only recently joined the convent. The gardener/muleteer drinks, entertains himself, and neglects his duties in typical French fashion. Unlike the erratic weather of England, the calm and easygoing French countryside, especially in the south, allows its inhabitants to live lazily. Mules, however, are more dutiful and responsible then people (Tristram’s affection for mules will resurface later in his travels) leading the two mules to stop once they notice their master has disappeared.
Themes
