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. 

Arabella's Romantic Obsession

Why and how is Bella absorbed in the fantasy of her perfect romance?

Quote 1: “The Tumult of her Thoughts being a little settled, she turned again towards Glanville; whose Countenance expressing nothing of that Confusion and Anxiety common to an Adorer in so critical a Circumstance, her Rage returned with greater Violence than ever” (Lennox, 50).

Quote 2: “The protagonists of this study do everything in their power to stabilize their universes and expel indeterminacy from their worlds. They have learned that it is the fluctuating nature of phenomena that invalidates their believe in inner permanence…. Haunted by the fear of a purposeless existence, they pledge their lives to a plan, a project, or a person who becomes their sole raison d’etre” (Zuylen, 2).

            In the novel The Female Quixote, the main character Arabella grew up reading romance novels and evidently became fixated on creating a romantic story with her life mimicking the lives of the heroines in the novels. It seems that she is completely absorbed in these stories as she compares her experiences to those of the heroines, and reasons that she must act as they would in each situation. In the first quote above, Arabella becomes “violently enraged” when Glanville doesn’t act the way she has always expected men to act around her. It can be seen that Arabella has a very obsessive and monomaniacal personality, as described by Zuylen. She has the idea that the only lover worth giving herself to is one who shows their love in the same manner as the men in the romance novels do. No matter what, she pledges her life to the “plan” of having a life with controlled and expected outcomes. Arabella is quick to dismiss any person who does not act exactly as she expected. For example, she becomes extremely upset when Mr. Hervey approaches her on the horse, which she did not expect. Also, she becomes extremely upset when Glenville comes to her room after she has told him to never see her again. In The Female Quixote, the author frequently describes her thoughts as being anything but content when things do not go as she planned or expected. As described by Zuylen, this type of extreme emotion is typical when one is in a state of obsession. 

What does Fantomina’s Desire Display About Her Curiosity?

What does Fantomina’s Desire Display About Her Curiosity?

Quote 1: “Possession naturally abates the Vigour of Desire, and I should have had, at best, but a cold, insipid, husband-like Lover in my Arms; but by these Arts of passing on him as a new Mistress whenever the Ardour, which alone makes Love a Blessing, begins to diminish, for the former one, I have him always raving, wild, impatient, longing, dying” (Fantomina).

Quote 2: “Early modern literature depicts the aggression of curiosity as ambition, the desire for power over others. This desire manifests itself as an ontological transgression that usurps public space, institutions, materials, bodies, and meanings for private use” (Benedict, 5)

The story of Fantomina represents a desire of the leading character to trick a man into being involved with what he thinks are three different woman, when they are actually different disguises of Fantomina.  She explains this desire as a way to escape the cycle of dying passion and interest that comes with things that are no longer new. As she states in the quote above, the very nature of desire is to want, and in order to want something, it cannot be in one’s possession. Thus, Fantomina interestingly finds a way to keep Beauplaisir’s desire for technically the same woman, although he doesn’t believe it to be. By manipulating the truth to Beauplaisir, Fantomina gains a distinct power over him, although he is unaware. As the second quote above explains, one could view her actions as the aggressive aspect of curiosity, with her ambition to manipulate Beauplaisir. The narrator continually indicates that Fantomina does not know exactly what she is doing and what the consequences of her actions may be, and I believe this adds to the nature of curiosity, wherein one wishes to gain knowledge of the unknown, and behaves in unconventional ways to attain that knowledge.

The origin of feeling and objectivity

How does objectivity affect an individual’s feelings about themselves and their surroundings, and where do these feelings come from?

Quote 1: “Thus, fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself, when apparent to the eyes; and we find the burden of anxiety greater, by much, than the evil which we are anxious about: and what was worse than all this, I had not that relief in this trouble that from the resignation I used to practise I hoped to have ” (Crusoe).

Quote 2: “The writers I discuss tend to tell-often within a single work – conflicting stories about the status of feeling. On the one hand, they assert that feelings are personal, that they have origins in an individual’s experience and are authenticated by their individuality. On the other hand they reveal that feelings may be impersonal; that one’s feelings may really be someone else’s; that feelings may be purely conventional, or have no discernable origin” (Pinch, 7).

For one reading Robinson Crusoe, it may seem his rationale and explanations go back and forth from being completely objective, to being completely persuaded by his passion. Crusoe spends a great deal of time contemplating things, and we as readers view his internal struggle between objective reasoning and wonderment of fanatical possibilities.  For example, when Crusoe sees the footprint at the other end of the island, he becomes extremely paranoid that the footprint he sees at the other end of the island is of the devil, yet later, through much internal reasoning, he discerns that if the devil was trying to scare him, he would have shown himself in a much more distinguishable manner, rather than leave a footprint in a place with a “one in a ten thousand” chance of Crusoe seeing it. Crusoe goes through a similar paranoia with the appearance of the savage remaining, and later seeing the actual savages themselves.

In the introduction of Strange Pits of Passion, Pinch discusses the commonality of eighteenth and early nineteenth century novels going into great depth of individual feeling, and where those feelings come from. This is portrayed in the quote above by Crusoe, in which he discusses how the feeling of fear of danger is much more terrifying than danger itself, and that our anxiety poses a greater burden than the evil itself. It is worthy to note how as Pinch discusses, Crusoe’s feelings of fear and anxiety may have their origins in his individual experience and may be authenticated by his personal paranoia, however they are also undoubtedly influenced by external causes such as the footprint and the sight of the savages’ remaining bones.