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Great-Aunt Dinah
Bobby is Walter and Elizabeth Shandy’s eldest son and Tristram’s only brother. He dies shortly after Tristram’s birth. Tristram says little about Bobby’s character, noting only that Bobby was thoroughly lacking in wit, which Walter believes was due to his having been born head-first. Bobby’s lack of intelligence motivates Walter to focus on the birth, name, and education of his second son, and this escalates once Bobby dies and Tristram becomes Walter’s only heir.
Bobby Quotes in Tristram Shandy
The Tristram Shandy quotes below are all either spoken by Bobby or refer to Bobby . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 5: Chapters 1-7 Quotes
When Agrippina was told of her son’s death, Tacitus informs us, that not being able to moderate the violence of her passions, she abruptly broke off her work—My father stuck his compasses into Nevers, but so much the fast.—What contrarieties! his, indeed, was a matter of calculation—Agrippina’s must have been quite a different affair; who else could pretend to reason from history?
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—My young master in London is dead! said Obadiah.—
—A green sattin night-gown of my mother’s, which had been twice scoured, was the first idea which Obadiah’s exclamation brought into Susannah’s head.—Well might Locke write a chapter upon the imperfections of words.—Then, quoth Susannah, we must all go into mourning.—But note a second time: the word mourning, notwithstanding Susannah made use of it herself—failed also of doing its office; it excited not one single idea, tinged either with grey or black,—all was green.—The green sattin night-gown hung there still.
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Bobby Character Timeline in Tristram Shandy
The timeline below shows where the character Bobby appears in Tristram Shandy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 2: Chapters 16-19
...undamaged. Mrs. Shandy, however, flatly refuses to entertain a caesarian section. Believing that Tristram’s brother Bobby, born head-first and thoroughly lacking in wit proves his theorem, Walter turns to Dr. Slop...
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Book 4: Chapters 26-32
...to plan how he will invest it, settling on either enclosing nearby Ox-moor or sending Bobby off to travel. Walter struggles to decide, as both plans are longtime dreams of his....
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...becomes yet another misery for Walter which he is only rescued from by another misery: Bobby’s death.
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Book 5: Chapters 1-7
Chapter 2. Meanwhile, at Shandy-Hall, Walter is calculating the expenses of Bobby’s trip to Europe when he learns that Bobby had died. His calculations are constantly interrupted...
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Learning of Bobby’s death, Walter reacts magnanimously, quoting philosophy and musing on the nature of death. Walter lectures...
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...was typically left ajar, news travels quickly throughout the house. Thus Trim, having learned of Bobby’s death, is giving his own speech in the kitchen, a straightforward, unliterary counterpart to Walter’s.
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Chapter 7. Obadiah exclaims that Bobby is dead. The first thing Susannah thinks of is Mrs. Shandy’s green satin nightgown—Tristram suggests...
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Book 5: Chapters 8-14
Chapter 9. Trim continues, considering how many people having died since the household last saw Bobby, and how many more will die before that time next year. Trim claims that even...
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