1. The responses to my initial post on Sterne's Sentimental Journey expressed some anxiety about the "mischievously lewd wordplay" that the editor of the volume mentions in the introduction. Have you yet identified any instances of humor stemming from words or phrases that can be taken more than one way? Post here any instances you have found of puns, double entendres, or other forms of humorous wordplay.
2. What adjective would you use to describe the narrator, Parson Yorick? Cite a sentence or two to illustrate why.
3. Do you have any conjectures as to why this novel is broken up with the strange section headings (e.g., "The Remise. Calais.")? Offer them here.
4. Sterne's fiction has been described as "Postmodern before there was a modern to be post." How so? Explain, citing a line or two to illustrate what you mean.
5. “The writings of Sterne…form the best course of morality that ever was written” (Thomas Jefferson). How so? Explain, citing a line or two to illustrate what you mean.
Deadline: Wednesday (12/2), start of class.
"The Monk at Calais" by Angelica Kauffman, a contemporary of Sterne's.
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15 comments:
There was a double entendre that I didn't catch until I had read the footnotes, but particularly because Sterne describes it specifically in the non-lewd way."I walked up gravely to the window in my dusty black coat, and looking through the glass saw all the world in yellow, blue, and green, running at the ring of pleasure--the old with broken lances, and in helmets which had lost their vizards--the young in armour bright which shone like gold, beplumed with each gay feather of the east--all-all tilting at it like fascinated knights in tournaments of yore for fame and love" (Sterne 41). While there are many meanings that could stem from this "ring of pleasure," such as the actual medieval game, or a life goal or work, because this is a sentimental journey, the ultimate goal is not only love, but actual sex. The pleasure, ring, and lances are all innuendos for sexual parts and by use of the knight simile Sterne doesn't shed bad light on these 'knights.' By comparing them to something regal, the quest for love and their ambitions become noble through this quote.
I would use the adjective "distracted" to describe the narrator. Though he is observant and rather passive about his surroundings as he makes his observations, he still tends to jump from one topic to the next. As his entries are very short, he writes simple sentences that tend to use lots of punctuation in them to vocalize his writing. "But I have scarce set foot in your dominions--," he writes on the first page of the novel. He is seemingly scatterbrained in what he wants to say.
When I first started reading Sterne's "A Sentimental Journey" I realized that the structure that Sterne wrote it in was somewhat similar to Joyce's "Ulysses" or at least one of the chapters in "Ulysses" called Aeolus. Aeolus, just as Sterne's fiction, splits the text into different sections; however, in Aeolus each section represents a different encounter from a different character of a familiar day. In a sense, it is a different view from each character of the same particular day. Moreover, Sterne's writing, especially in the first page of the text, falls into a type of "stream of consciousness". For example, Sterne writes "I'll look into them: so giving up the argument--I went straight to my lodgings, put up half a dozen shirts and a black pair of silk breeches--'the coat I have on, said I looking at the sleeve, will do'--took a place in the Dover stage"(3). The text still flows like a narrative, but there are breaks representing Sterne's thoughts or consciousness as he prepares for his trip.
I agree with Whitney. The narrator seems very distracted, in his jumping from one topic to the next. The way the book is formatted, with different headers contributes to the disjointed nature of the work. His sentences do tend to be very simple, straightforward and therefore easy to follow. However the skipping between topics adds and element of confusion to the work. In the first pages he writes "The moment I cast my eyes upon him, I was predetermined not to give him a single sous" however, later on he regrets his decision. He seems very indecisive and not very directed in his plans.
The one characteristic that I found most predominant in Yorick's personality is his sensitivity. His journey is sentimental because each experience opens up this floodgate of emotions and it seems he is at times overwhelmed by how much empathy he feels for the people he meets. When he sees the bird imprisoned in its cage he is compelled to try to understand this feeling and share in the suffering of a prisoner. This picture really tugs at his heartstrings so much so that he says, "I burst into tears-I could not sustain the picture of confinement which my fancy had drawn-I startled up from my chair, and calling La Fleur, I bid him bespeak me a remise, and have it ready at the door of the hotel by nine in the morning." (61) His sensitivity is what brings him closer to the people he encounters on his journey and although he seems very lighthearted, he enjoys being swept up in depressive emotions. He says of his visit with Maria, "'Tis going, I own, like the Knight of the Woeful Countenance, in quest of melancholy adventures-but i know not how it is, but I am never so perfectly conscious of the existence of a soul within me, as when I am entangled in them." (94) Yorick, out of impulse, actively tries to feel other people's pain. I don't fully understand his reasons for doing this, but i don't believe it's out of a vain curiosity.
In response to question 3:
To me, the story being to told through vignettes draws a similarity in style with that of a journal. As this is a "sentimental journey" that Yorick is relaying to the reader, it seems appropriate to follow such a format.
In response to question 4:
I agree with Alonzo-- when I began this novel, it also reminded me of reading Joyce (as well as other Modernists like Woolf and Eliot.) I agree with Alonzo's remarks regarding the stream of consciousness-like style that Sterne employs, as on pg. 44, in the paragraph beginning with "--Would to heaven!" and ending with "--and in an open shop! Yorick--" where the reader is privy to an argument that Yorick's mind has with the conceptual figure of Eugenius (which stands in for the personification of "noble birth," according to the note.) We have not encountered arguments like that in previous Enlightenment texts, and, in this way, I agree that Sterne was "Postmodern before there was a modern to be post."
Question 2- A lot of why this text is not as coherent as others is mainly because of how Yoric is consistently interrupting himself with his dialogue and his thoughts. This, therefore, provides for a frustrating time separating his dialogue between his thought process. But from what I have pulled out of it, Yoric is at the basis of everything as sentimental,as Beau stated earlier, as he is spastic. Sterne's account of Yoric's travels heavily involves interaction with other characters and how they in turn influence each other. But on page 41, Yoric cries, "Alas, poor Yoric!...what art thou doing here? On the very first onset of all this glittering chatter, thou art reduced to an atom." He is constantly in touch with his influence on his surroundings and vice versa. He also thinks and acts in such a choppy manner as he speaks to others and himself as well as thinks about others and himself quite often. This combination does provide for an interesting stream of consciousness as was also mentioned earlier.
"Engaged" is how I would describe Parson Yorick. His manner expressed through his language is one in which, as has been stated, Yorick tries to be sensitive to impact of enviroment on his thoughts and perceptions. He also sees being engaged in new experiences as a way to improve one's knowledge. I appeal to the paragraph at the bottom of 10 to top of 11. " Knowledge in most of it's branches and in most of its affairs, is like music in an Italian street, wherof those may partake who pay nothing...But there is no nation under heaven abounding with more variety of learning than here" (11).
I also agree with "distracted." It is very stream of consciousness and jumps around to whatever comes to mind. The sentences are like short simple thoughts. I wouldn't call it scatter brained, as much as just freely disclosing his thoughts. I mean... people don't really think linearly, I am reminded of "The Mark on the Wall" by Virginia Woolf. In this text, the author also jumps around. She sees a mark on the wall which causes her to go off on random tangents that are only vaguely connected with each other. But it eventually comes back to the mark on the wall. It's just a record of thoughts.
#1:
"-Shame on the world! said I to myself - did we love each other, as this poor soul but loved his ass - 'twould be something.-" (78).
I thought this line was particularly humorous, for although it is in reference to the sorrowful loss of the Spanish mourner's donkey, from a contemporary understanding of the term "ass" the line could be read as more of a conceited, self-loving sense of the term in reference of the mourner's own ass. In that sense, it would seem that Yorick's remark is more satirical or mocking in nature, rather than its true intention (which is remarking on the admirable quality of the mourner's love for his donkey).
In response to Question 3 - I think that the novel is broken up by such odd section titles in an attempt to organize Yorick's thoughts. There are many instances where Yorick inserts a long section pertaining strictly to his internal thoughts in the middle of a story detailing external conversations, such as in Calais while he is searching for proper means of transportation. By naming these sections, "The Remise. Calais." for instance, he insures that the reader still knows when these thoughts occured, and more importantly, that the larger story is not yet finished. The titles convey location, setting, and in a way, the chronology of the story line.
In response to #2, I agree that Yorick is distracted and sentimental, but the word I am thinking of is: relatable. I think he is trying to relate to a very wide audience, and that's why his thoughts are so scattered. He wants people to look to him as wise and caring: "It is sufficient for my reader, if he has been a traveller himself, that with study and reflection hereupon he may be able to determine his own place and rank in the catalogue-it will be one step towards knowing himself" (p. 10).
I tend to agree with both Beau and Will. The narrators experience seem to really jump around a lot. It is as though he never ponders on his topics for too long. He seems to be a very sensitive character aimed at drawing out the emotions of his audience and uses short sentence structures in which he pours his heartfelt emotions into.
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