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Laurence Sterne

Born Laurence Sterne
November 24, 1713
Died March 18, 1768 (tuberculosis)
Occupation novelist, clergyman
Nationality English, Irish
Notable work(s) The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy
Influences
Influenced

Laurence Sterne (November 24, 1713 – March 18, 1768) was an Irish-born English novelist and an Anglican clergyman. Events 380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal Year 1713 ( MDCCXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor Year 1768 ( MDCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman (or more briefly Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy is a novel by the Irish-born English author Laurence Sterne, written and first published in 1768, as Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( in modern Spanish; September 29, 1547 &ndash April 22, 1616) was a Spanish Novelist Italo Calvino ( October 15, 1923 &ndash September 19, 1985) (ˈiːtalo kalˈviːno was an Italian journalist and writer of short Denis Diderot ( October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French Philosopher and writer James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr (born May 8 1937 is an American writer based in New York City, noted for his dense and complex works of Fiction. (Adeline Virginia Woolf (née Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941 was an English Novelist and Essayist, regarded as one of the foremost Events 380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal Year 1713 ( MDCCXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor Year 1768 ( MDCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy; but he also published many sermons, wrote memoirs, and was involved in local politics. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman (or more briefly Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy is a novel by the Irish-born English author Laurence Sterne, written and first published in 1768, as Laurence Sterne as an Anglican Clergyman gave many Sermons. Early in his career he decided to publish his sermons Sterne died in London after years of fighting tuberculosis. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common

Contents

Biography

Laurence Sterne was born November 24, 1713 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland. Events 380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal Year 1713 ( MDCCXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Clonmel ( Cluain Meala in Irish) in County Tipperary is the county seat of South Tipperary County Council. County Tipperary (Contae Thiobraid Árann is a County in Ireland situated in the Province of Munster. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world His father was an Ensign in a British regiment recently returned from Dunkirk. Ensign (ˈɛnsən is a junior rank of commissioned officer in the militaries of some countries normally in the infantry or navy Dunkirk ( French: Dunkerque, dœ̃kɛʀk or; Dutch:; is a harbour city and a commune in the northernmost part of France, in the Sterne’s father’s regiment was disbanded on the day of Sterne’s birth, and within six months the family had returned to Yorkshire in northern England. Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain.

The first decade of Sterne’s life was spent moving from place to place as his father was reassigned throughout England and Ireland. During this period Sterne never lived in one place for more than a year. Sterne was sent to Hipperholme Grammar School near Halifax when he was ten years old; he never saw his father again. Hipperholme Grammar School is an independent Grammar school in Hipperholme (near Halifax) West Yorkshire, England. Halifax is a large Market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England, with a population of 82056 in the Sterne was admitted to a sizarship at Jesus College, Cambridge, in July 1733 at the age of 20. A sizar formerly referred to students of limited means at the universities of Cambridge and Trinity College Dublin, who were charged lower fees and obtained free Jesus College in the University of Cambridge was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely. His great-Grandfather, who was made Archbishop of York in 1664, had been the Master of Jesus College, twice, earlier in the seventeenth century. In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated Bishop. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion and others this means that they lead York ( is an historic Walled city sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. Sterne graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in January 1737; and returned in the summer of 1740 to be awarded his Master of Arts degree. In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts ( MA) is awarded to Bachelors

Sterne seems to have been destined to become a clergyman, and was ordained as a deacon in March of 1737 and as a priest in August, 1738. Deacon is a role in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind but which varies among theological and denominational traditions A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities Shortly thereafter Sterne was awarded the vicarship living of Sutton-on-the-Forest in Yorkshire (1713-1768). Sutton-on-the-Forest is a village and Civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Yorkshire is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in Great Britain. Sterne married Elizabeth Lumley in 1741. Both were ill with tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common In 1743, he was presented to the neighbouring living of Stillington, and did duty both there and at Sutton. Stillington is a Village and Civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. He was also a prebendary of York Minster. A prebendary is a post connected to an Anglican or Catholic Cathedral or Collegiate church and is a type of canon. York Minster is a Gothic Cathedral in York, England and is the second largest of its kind in Northern Europe (largest is the Sterne’s life at this time was closely tied with his uncle, Dr. Jaques Sterne, the Archdeacon of Cleveland and Precentor of York Minster. A position of archdeacon is a senior position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, and in some other Christian denominations above that of most Cleveland is an area in the north east of England. Its name means literally "cliff-land" referring to its hilly southern areas which rise to nearly. A precentor is one who helps facilitate worship The details vary depending on the religion denomination and era in question York Minster is a Gothic Cathedral in York, England and is the second largest of its kind in Northern Europe (largest is the Sterne’s uncle was an ardent Whig, and urged Sterne to begin a career of political journalism which resulted in some scandal for Sterne and, eventually, a terminal falling-out between the two men. The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to Political journalism is a broad branch of Journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of Politics and Political science, although the term usually

Jaques Sterne was a powerful clergyman but a mean-tempered man and a rabid politician. In 1741–42 Sterne wrote political articles supporting the administration of Sir Robert Walpole for a newspaper founded by his uncle but soon withdrew from politics in disgust. Robert Walpole 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC (26 August 1676 &ndash 18 March 1745 known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a His uncle became his archenemy, thwarting his advancement whenever possible.

Sterne lived in Sutton for twenty years, during which time he kept up an intimacy which had begun at Cambridge with John Hall-Stevenson, a witty and accomplished bon vivant, owner of Skelton Hall in the Cleveland district of Yorkshire. Skelton Hall is located in North Yorkshire. In 1814 Mrs Mary Thompson the widow of Henry Thompson came to live in Skelton at The Cottage from where she Without Stevenson, Sterne may have been a more decorous parish priest, but might never have written Tristram Shandy.

It was while living in the country-side, having failed in his attempts to supplement his income as a farmer and struggling with tuberculosis, that Sterne began work on his most famous novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, the first volumes of which were published in 1759. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman (or more briefly Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. Sterne was at work on his celebrated comic novel during the year that his mother died, his wife was seriously ill, and he was ill himself with TB. The publication of Tristram Shandy made Sterne famous in London and on the continent. He was delighted by the attention, and spent part of each year in London, being feted as new volumes appeared. Indeed, Baron Fauconberg rewarded Sterne by appointing him as the perpetual curate of Coxwold, North Yorkshire. The title Baron Fauconberg has been created twice in the Peerage of England. From the Latin curatus (compare Curator) a curate is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'' ''of souls'' of a Coxwold is a Village and Civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county in

In 1759, to support his dean in a church squabble, Sterne wrote A Political Romance (later called The History of a Good Warm Watch-Coat), a Swiftian satire of dignitaries of the spiritual courts. At the demands of embarrassed churchmen, the book was burned. Thus, Sterne lost his chances for clerical advancement but discovered his real talents. Turning over his parishes to a curate, he began Tristram Shandy. An initial, sharply satiric version was rejected by Robert Dodsley, the London printer, just when Sterne's personal life was upset. His mother and uncle both died. His wife had a nervous breakdown and threatened suicide. Sterne continued his comic novel, but every sentence, he said, was “written under the greatest heaviness of heart. ” In this mood, he softened the satire and told about Tristram's opinions, his eccentric family, and ill-fated childhood with a sympathetic humour, sometimes hilarious, sometimes sweetly melancholic—a comedy skirting tragedy.

Sterne continued to struggle with his illness, and departed England for France in 1762 in an effort to find a climate that would alleviate his suffering. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Sterne was lucky to attach himself to a diplomatic party bound for Turin, as England and France were still adversaries in the Seven Years' War. The Seven Years' War (1756&ndash1763 involved all of the major European powers of the period causing 900000 to 1400000 deaths Sterne was gratified by his reception in France where reports of the genius of Tristram Shandy had made him a celebrity. Aspects of this trip to France were incorporated into Sterne’s second novel, A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy, which was published at the beginning of 1768. A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy is a novel by the Irish-born English author Laurence Sterne, written and first published in 1768, as The novel was written during a period in which Sterne was increasingly ill and weak. Less than a month after Sentimental Journey was published, early in 1768, Sterne's strength failed him, and he died in his lodgings at 41 Old Bond Street on the 18 March, at the age of 54. Bond Street is a major shopping street in London which runs through Mayfair from Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor He was buried in the churchyard of St. George's, Hanover Square.

In a curiously "Shandean" twist in events, it appears that Sterne's body was stolen shortly after it was interred and sold to the anatomists. Anatomy (from the Greek anatomia, from ana separate apart from and temnein, to cut up cut open is a branch of Biology that is the consideration It was recognised by somebody who knew him and discreetly reinterred. When the churchyard of St. A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local Parish itself George's was redeveloped in the 1960s, his skull was disinterred (in a manner befitting somebody who chose for himself the nickname of "Yorick"), partly identified by the fact that it was the only skull of the five in Sterne's grave that bore evidence of having been anatomised, and transferred to Coxwold Churchyard in 1969. Yorick was the deceased court Jester whose Skull is exhumed by the Gravedigger in Act 5 Scene 1 of Shakespeare 's Hamlet Coxwold is a Village and Civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local Parish itself Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The story of the reinterment of Sterne's skull in Coxwold is alluded to in Malcolm Bradbury's novel To The Hermitage. Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury CBE ( September 7, 1932, Sheffield, England &ndash November 27, 2000) was a

Works

Sterne's early writing life was unremarkable. He wrote letters, had two ordinary sermons published (in 1747 and 1750), and tried his hand at satire. Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human He was involved in, and wrote about, local politics in 1742. His major publication prior to Tristram Shandy was the satire A Political Romance (1759), aimed at conflicts of interest within York Minster. A Political Romance is a 1759 novel by Laurence Sterne, Author of Tristram Shandy. York Minster is a Gothic Cathedral in York, England and is the second largest of its kind in Northern Europe (largest is the A posthumously published piece on the art of preaching, A Fragment in the Manner of Rabelais, appears to have been written in 1759. Sterne did not begin work on Tristram Shandy until he was 46 years old.

Sterne is best known for his novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, for which he became famous not only in England, but throughout Europe. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman (or more briefly Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. Translations of the work began to appear in all the major European languages almost upon its publication, and Sterne influenced European writers as diverse as Diderot and the German Romanticists. Denis Diderot ( October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French Philosopher and writer Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the His work had also noticeable influence over Brazilian author Machado de Assis, who made exceptional (and outstandingly original) usage of the digressive technique in the masterful novel Epitaph for a Small Winner. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, pron. ʒoa'kĩ ma'riɐ ma'ʃadu dʒi a'sis often known as Machado de Assis, Machado, or Bruxo do Cosme Velho The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas ( Portuguese: Memorias Posthumas de Braz Cubas, modern spelling Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas) Indeed, the novel, in which Sterne manipulates narrative time and voice, parodies accepted narrative form, and includes a healthy dose of "bawdy" humor, was largely dismissed in England as being too corrupt. A parody (ˈpɛɹədiː US, [ˈpaɹədiː] UK) in contemporary usage is a work created to mock comment on or poke fun at an original work its subject Ribaldry is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to vulgar Samuel Johnson's verdict in 1776 was that "Nothing odd will do long. Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September Tristram Shandy did not last. " This is strikingly different from the views of European critics of the day, who praised Sterne and Tristram Shandy as innovative and superior. Voltaire called it "clearly superior to Rabelais", and later Goethe praised Sterne as "the most beautiful spirit that ever lived. François-Marie Arouet ( 21 November 1694 30 May 1778) better known by the Pen name Voltaire, was a French ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer " Both during his life and for a long time after, efforts were made by many to reclaim Sterne as an arch-sentimentalist; parts of Tristram Shandy, such as the tale of Le Fever, were excerpted and published separately to wide acclaim from the moralists of the day. Sensibility refers to an acute perception of or responsiveness toward something such as the Emotions of another The success of the novel and its serialized nature also allowed many imitators to publish pamphlets concerning the Shandean characters and other Shandean-related material even while the novel was yet unfinished.

The novel itself is difficult to describe. The story starts with the narration, by Tristram, of his own conception. It proceeds by fits and starts, but mostly by what Sterne calls "progressive digressions" so that we do not reach Tristram's birth before the third volume. The novel is rich in characters and humor, and the influences of Rabelais and Cervantes are present throughout. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( in modern Spanish; September 29, 1547 &ndash April 22, 1616) was a Spanish Novelist The novel ends after 9 volumes, published over a decade, but without anything that might be considered a traditional conclusion. Sterne inserts sermons, essays and legal documents into the pages of his novel; and he explores the limits of typography and print design by including marbled pages and, most famously, an entirely black page within the narrative. Many of the innovations that Sterne introduced, adaptations in form that should be understood as an exploration of what constitutes the novel, were highly influential to Modernist writers like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, and more contemporary writers such as Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the (Adeline Virginia Woolf (née Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941 was an English Novelist and Essayist, regarded as one of the foremost Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr (born May 8 1937 is an American writer based in New York City, noted for his dense and complex works of Fiction. David Foster Wallace (February 21 1962&ndashSeptember 12 2008 was an American author of novels, Essays and short-stories Italo Calvino referred to Tristram Shandy as the "undoubted progenitor of all avant-garde novels of our century. Italo Calvino ( October 15, 1923 &ndash September 19, 1985) (ˈiːtalo kalˈviːno was an Italian journalist and writer of short " The Russian Formalist writer Viktor Shklovsky regarded Tristram Shandy as the archetypal, quintessential novel, of which all other novels are mere subsets: "Tristram Shandy is the most typical novel of world literature. Russian formalism was an influential school of literary criticism in Russia from the 1910s to the 1930s Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky (or Shklovskii Виктор Борисович Шкловский Saint Petersburg,; Moscow, 6 December 1984) " [1]

However, the leading critical opinions of Tristram Shandy tend to be markedly polarised in their evaluations of its significance. Since the 1950s, following the lead of D. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive W. Jefferson, there are those who argue that, whatever its legacy of influence may be, Tristram Shandy in its original context actually represents a resurgence of a much older, Renaissance tradition of "Learned Wit" - owing a debt to such influences as the Scriblerian approach. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere The Scriblerus Club was an informal group of friends that included Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Henry St

A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy is a less influential book, although it was better received by English critics of the day. A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy is a novel by the Irish-born English author Laurence Sterne, written and first published in 1768, as The book has many stylistic parallels with Tristram Shandy, and indeed, the narrator is one of the minor characters from the earlier novel. Although the story is more straightforward, A Sentimental Journey can be understood to be part of the same artistic project to which Tristram Shandy belongs.

Two volumes of Sterne's Sermons were published during his lifetime, and, despite the fact that more copies of his Sermons were sold in his lifetime than copies of Tristram Shandy, and the fact that for a while he was better known in some circles as a preacher than as a novelist, they are conventional in both style and substance. Several volumes of letters were published after his death, as was Journal to Eliza, a more sentimental than humorous love letter to a woman Sterne was courting during the final years of his life. Journal to Eliza (1767 is a work by British author Laurence Sterne. Compared to many eighteenth century authors Sterne's body of work is quite small.

Bibliography

His works, first collected in 1779. were edited, with newly discovered letters, by J. P. Browne (London, 1873). A less complete edition was edited by G. Saintsbury (London, 1894). George Edward Bateman Saintsbury ( October 23, 1845 - January 28, 1933) was an English writer and critic The Florida Edition of Sterne's works is currently the leading scholarly edition - although the final volume (Sterne's letters) has yet to be published.

See also

External links

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