What causes Euphelia's boredom and how is it portrayed in the letter to the Rambler?

Quote 1: “Boredom connects itself with depression, with loneliness, with restlessness… The cause of pathological boredom lies within, normal boredom derives from inadequacies of ‘the external world’” (Spacks, 5).

Quote 2: “The novelty of the objects about me pleased me for a while, but after a few days they were new no longer, and I soon began to perceive that the country…had very soon exhausted all their power of pleasing, and that I had not in myself any fund of satisfaction, with which I could supply the loss of my customary amusements”(Johnson, 7).

            In the letter by Euphelia to the Rambler, she talks about how she became very experienced and constantly surrounded by diversions in her early years, and that she at first longed to stay with her aunt and experience new things by living in the country. I found this interesting because the beginning of Spack’s book talks about how boredom is perpetuated through the constant desire for anything new, and how as this desire becomes greater, so does the boredom we feel and perceive. However, Euphelia’s quote above is an example of how her boredom derived from “inadequacies of the external world.” Because she was doing the same thing every day in the country, what was once new and interesting no longer held that “power of pleasing” that led her to it in the first place. After leading such a busy life, as Euphelia explains throughout the letter, she becomes bored very quickly with no obligations or people to talk to in the country. I find it very interesting that the way one leads one’s life and the customs they follow can affect their “susceptibility” to boredom. If someone, such as Euphelia, is constantly busy everyday all day, transitioning to a life in the country with full freedom (with her time at least) can get old very fast, and it does for her. I see this with people I know as well. Some of my friends have a need to be constantly busy, otherwise they get bored and “restless”, while others can be content by just relaxing and spending time alone, doing nothing. Spacks also talks about this, saying that as our society started developing faster, people became bored faster, which caused a proliferation of the feeling of boredom in our society.  Perhaps this is why people who are constantly busy become bored and restless faster than those who are not.

Desires Relating To Reading in the Eighteenth Century

The recollections of reading experiences from readers of the eighteenth century show that novels often evoked strong emotions in the readers. In the UK Reading Experience Database, some readers described their desires for reading the novels, and others described how the novel or book shaped their desires for other parts of their lives. I also found it interesting that people from many different types of socio-economic groups used the word “desire” in their descriptions. Perhaps this shows that desire, like many other states of mind, is an innate human feeling or reaction, in this case to a piece of literature.  It was also interesting that the reader’s outlook on desire could change.

One man, a shoemaker from 1746, wrote, “I was but about twenty-two years of age when I first began to read them, and I assure you, my friend, that they made a very deep and lasting impression in my mind. By reading them [Plato’s On the Immortality of the soul and Plutarch’s Morals and Confucio’s texts] I was taught to bear the unavoidable evils attending humanity, and to supply all my wants by contracting or restraining my desires.”  The same reader wrote about the bible when he was a child, saying, “But these extraordinary accounts and discourses, together with the controversies between the mother and sons, made me think that they know many matters of which I was totally ignorant. This created in me a desire for knowledge, that I might know who was right and who was wrong.” I find it very interesting that when this reader was a child, he welcomed his desire and spoke of it positively, but later in life he came to believe his desires were something to be “contracted” or “restrained.”   In 1790, a writer Horace Walpole wrote, “as she was going she desired me to read to her Prior’s ‘Turtle and Sparrow,’ and his ‘Apollo and Daphne,’ with which you were so delighted, and which, tho’ scarce known, are two of his wittiest and gentelest poems.” Here, a person of a much different background than shoemaking also describes how her friend had evoked emotions of desire stemming from the poems she wished to be read. It is very interesting how pieces of literature can stimulate people’s desires, as well as diminish them.

How Does Tristram’s Memory Affect His Recollection of Events?

How Does Tristram’s Memory Affect His Recollection of Events?

Quote 1:  “Notice that what is unusual to Augustine is not that Simplicius knew all of Virgil and much of Cicero, nor that he could manipulate these texts, but the degree to which he could do so – pulling single verses of Virgil out of context, composing commonplaces on any topic, running extensively backwards as well as forwards through various lengthy texts. The proof of a good memory… is the ability to move it about instantly, directly, and securely that is admired” (Carruthers, 22).

Quote 2: “No;- I cannot stop a moment to give you the character of the people – their genius- their manners – their customs – their laws – their religion – their government – their manufactures – their commerce – their finances, with all the resources and hidden springs which sustain them: qualified as I may be, by spending three days and two nights amongst them, and during all that time making these things the entire subject of my enquiries and reflections – “ (Sterne, C.3.CII)

            Throughout the novel Tristram Shandy, the narrator expresses his ability to remember life events vividly and it is no question that he can describe his experiences in great detail. In the first quote above, Simplicius did not only know all of the text of the Virgil, but could “pull things out of context, compose commonplaces on any topic, running extensively backwards as well as forwards…” Much like Simplicius, Tristram is able to describe his life story almost completely out of context by switching from one event to another and back again. Although it may be hard for the reader to follow the layout of the novel, perhaps it is written this way to show on paper how someone with a good memory may think. Many times Tristram will interrupt one story with another that has something to do with his original one, much like Simplicius “composing commonplaces on any topic.” The second quote is just one example of the great detail Tristram is able to remember. He states “as qualified as I may be…” showing that he is aware of the extent to which he can recall details of the French people and aware that it will take up too much time to go into everything he can remember (although at many times it seems he doesn’t have a problem with this). Also, the ability that Tristram has to choose what to elaborate on and what to disregard shows how well he is able to remember things. This shows that he remembers everything in great detail that he cannot even mention some stories of his life. In contrast, someone who did not have a good memory and remembered things vaguely could talk about all of their life events in the same amount of space, but not in as great detail as Tristram does.

Is the organization of Tristam’s Autobiography an Example of Distraction, Or Is It Intended?

Quote 1: “To such however as do not choose to go so far back into these things, I can give no better advice than that they skip over the remaining part of this chapter; for I declare before-hand, 'tis wrote only for the curious and inquisitive” (Sterne, 4).

Quote 2: “You must have a little patience. I have undertaken, you see, to write not only my life, but my opinions also; hoping and expecting that your knowledge of my character, and of what kind of a mortal I am, by the one, would give you a better relish for the other” (Sterne, 6). 

      Tristam Shandy is written in a much different way than other novels we have read thus far. However, unlike many novels in which the organization is unconventional, the author warns us and explains his intentions by it. In the second quote above, Shandy says he writes about his life, as well as his opinions of the events in his life. Not only does he describe his opinions, he interrupts his anecdotes by starting other ones while not finishing either in a single explanation. This could possibly be a subconscious distraction of his, although he assures us all of these stories are interrelated. At the same time that he wants us to join in on his disarrayed explanation of events, he warns in the first quote above that certain parts are only for the “curious and inquistive.” What does this tell us about the connection between being curious and following distractions of certain detail?  Obviously Shandy finds these parts to be important to his autobiography, but why does he suggest that it isn’t necessary to read, unless one is curious? Perhaps he realizes some of his anecdotes are actually him becoming sidetracked and being distracted by unnecessary things. 

How is Arabella's Mind So Absorbed in the Ideal of the Romance Novel?

Natasha Mehta

Week 7 Response

How is Arabella's Mind So Absorbed in the Ideal of the Romance Novel?

Quote 1: “I cannot sit and think. Books think for me” (Lamb).

Quote 2: “But the greatest and purest pleasures were those of the imagination,

feelings provoked by imaginative literature and the fine arts. They were therefore capable of having a powerful effect: Addison in the Spectator remarked 'how great a Power ... may we suppose lodged in him, who knows all the ways of affecting the Imagination, who can infuse what Ideas he pleases, and fill those Ideas with Terrour and Delight to what Degree he thinks fit’” (Brewer, 105-6).

Quote 3: “But, not seeing any Signs of extreme Joy in the Face of Glanville, who was silently cursing Cleopatra, and the Authors of those Romances, that had ruined so noble a Mind; and exposed him to perpetual Vexations, by the unaccountable Whims they had raised…” (Lennox, 186).

Quote 4: “Upon my Soul, Madam, interrupted Glanville, I have no Patience with that rigorous Gipsy, whose Example you follow so exactly, to my Sorrow: Speak in your own Language, I beseech you; for I am sure neither hers, nor any one's upon Earth, can excel it (Lennox, 187).

            In this week’s reading, the absorption Arabella is in with her romance novels becomes even more apparent. She expresses her desire for a love as the one Cleopatra had, and Glanville realizes he must entertain her desires if he wants to marry her, no matter how ridiculous they are. Quote 3 describes Glanville “silently cursing Cleopatra and the authors of those romances,” which Arabella explained to him as being the type of romance she wishes for, and that she truly believes it is the only appropriate way to go about their matters. This ties in with the first quote from  “Detached Thoughts on Books and Reading.” Glanville thinks that these romance novels have ruined Arabella’s mind, and while it may not be ruined, her mind is definitely revolved and wholly absorbed in them. Her thoughts about love and romance are not her own, they are of the books she has read. The quote from Brewer also tie in the ideas from last week’s discussion of obsession and absorption. He describes the greatest pleasures of the imagination as feelings provoked from literature, which can definitely be seen in The Female Quixote. As the quote above explains, the power of literature can affect someone’s mind to apply the ideas they read to their own lives to any degree that they wish. This is certainly a condition of Arabella’s, who applies the romantic ideas from the novels to the greatest degree in her love life, wanting everything to be exactly how it is in the novels. She even goes on to use the words of Cleopatra to explain her feelings to Glanville, which seems to frustrate him as he asks her to use her own words. However, this is a problem for Arabella, who once again cannot think for herself, and thus uses the novels as an example of how it should be.