The function of the narrator underwent many vast changes in the first century of the novel’s existence, moving from being heavily dependent on the first person to a more common usage of third-person. In The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (hereafter referred to as simply ‘Tristram Shandy’) Sterne uses the first-person narrator who is also the main (and titular) character. However, he does this in a way which manages to be new and unfamiliar to the novel’s 18th century audience, despite the fact
Highlighting the reader as a character in Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy may seem trivial considering the clear use of fictional readers within the text ("sir", "madam", "lord", et al.); however, the manner in which Stern renders the reader a character, and creates the illusion of in-text participation, is far more profound than sporadic discourse with these aforementioned sirs and madams. This essay, through analysis of Volumes 1 and 2 of Tristram Shandy (with latter volumes in mind), seeks to illume Sterne's
Filling the Canvas: Tristram Shandy's Portrait of John Locke The development of thoughts in a human brain are formulated through sparks in the brain; the clashing of cells. The concept of our mind making connections to other connections, was developed by philosopher John Locke in his, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. In this essay Locke discusses the theory that people are born as blank slates, than they slowly pick up concepts from others. People therefore are a product of people. John