Book IV Chapter 14 (pp. 258-9)
Book VI Chapters 3 and 4 (372-3)
Book IX Chapter 15 to the end (563-588)
These passages present some of the working-class characters in the book: Susannah (housemade in the Shandy family), Bridget (the Widow Wadman's maid), Corporal Trim (Uncle Toby's servant), and Maria (a young peasant woman who Tristram encounters in his travels abroad). The reading assigned for Wednesday presents a number of poems by working-class authors; the readings in Shandy will present some of the assumptions around and through which such authors wrote.
The question you can respond to in advance of class: what features of these characters (Susannah, Bridget, Maria, Toby) emerge from the readings assigned? What do you find striking or worthy of note in their portrayals?
Deadline: Monday (3/28), 1pm.
6 comments:
I know I'm supposed to answer the question in the blog but I want to first respond with a question. Are all these characters--Susannah, Bridget, Trim--all of the same class? I'm guessing Maria is of a lower class then the other characters since she's a peasant, but for the rest of these characters, they're all servants/maids so that would mean they're all of the same class, right?
I ask this because I'm not so sure If I personally saw any defining characteristic that all of these characters shared. In fact, if anything I saw more juxtaposition. For example, it seemed as if Susannah and Corporal Trim stood at opposite ends of the etiquette spectrum. Susannah bickered with Doctor Slop, talked in inappropriate ways (or at least I think she was about to in reference to Tristram's face being as black as her...), and she seems to be a bit incompetent--lacking composure when the crap hits the fan. On the other hand, Corporal Trim seems to be very proper in the way that he talks and maintains a dispassionate disposition. Additionally, Bridget seems to fall somewhere closer to Corporal Trim on the etiquette scale, probably mimicking the class status of her employer, Widow Wadman. I think it's striking to see people of the same class behaving so differently in terms of manners, which usually is a separating factor between classes nowadays i.e., higher class people act proper vs. the lower class joking obscenely, indulgent, etc.
After reading the previous post and the reading for today I have to agree with Psuh4. I too was not sure if they were in the same class but I'm guessing they are. I think it has something to do with the way people are brought up and what they were exposed to. We have been jumping around in the book therefor I feel that I need to read more about the characters in order to identify some features that the characters have. I am able to identify and notice that the characters act differently when it comes to class and manners but I don't know what certain characteristics emerged in these pages in contrast to their earlier actions.
The lack of contextual evidence and previous story developments indeed makes it difficult to fully comprehend each characters' personality and actions at these particular points in the novel. In spite of this, however, we can still make certain conclusions about the relationships between the servants and their bosses. For instance, it seems they all act, in some respect, subtly disrespectful to their upper-class employers, and vice-versa. Many scenes contain some element of playful impertinence between the servants and their administrators--usually taking the form of innocuous bantering. This sort of interaction between servant and employer was hitherto unprecedented in Western Society. The servants' ability to speak so conscientiously with their employers shows the social transformation that was taking place at the time. The change was the consequence of many factors, the foremost being the rise of the middle-class, which mitigated the power of the aristocracy, consigning them to a less lofty social position.
I agree with psuh4 in his description of Susannah as incompetent. From the readings for today, we know that Susannah is unable to remember a name for longer than a few moments, and when the curate erroneously corrects her, she lacks confidence and competence to tell him he is wrong. She is treated poorly by the other characters and called names: Tristram’s father calls her “a leaky vessel,” and doctor Slop calls her an “imprudent whore.” Then later on she is described as unable to keep a secret. However, in contrast to psuh4, I do not think there is much of a juxtaposition between Susannah’s actions and characteristics than to the characters of a higher class. Tristram’s father, the curate, and the doctor all act just as foolish as Susannah does. Tristram’s father foolishly trusts Susannah to remember the name “Trismegistus” even though he knows she will not remember. The curate brashly corrects her and names Tristram without confirming that name with anyone else. Lastly, doctor Slop acts in the exact same manner as Susannah when they fight each other, unprofessionally throwing cataplasm and insults at her. So really, there is not much difference between Susannah and the other characters.
I think the true juxtaposition between the working class and the upper class is revealed through Bridget and Corporal Trim and Uncle Toby and Widow Wadman. Although Trim mirrors Toby’s actions in the same way that Bridget mirrors Wadman’s actions their approaches are quite different. Bridget and the Widow are trying to get information out of Trim and Toby, respectively, although they do so in different ways. Wadman prefers to gently ask Toby questions about his injury, whereas Bridget prefers to sleep with Trim.
While some of the content was difficult to understand, I was particularly interested in Toby's portrayal. He confesses his love for Mrs. Wadman, and I just felt their whole exchange was a little bizarre. She questions his "fitness for the marriage state," which relates to the injury he sustains near his groin. I felt that his attitude injury was unique. I thought Bridget's inquires into the injury were also peculiar. Mrs. Wadman's seems fascinated by the injury, and Toby comments on the "humanity" of her approach.
One thing I would argue is that the working class characters portrayed in these chapters are illustrated favorably to the reader. When juxtaposed with their masters or beside other persons of high social standing, it is often apparent that these characters are infinitely more reasonable, and in some ways, more skilled than their educated and refined counterparts. Susannah, for instance, though squeemish and quick to panic, seems to handle the situations she is in with the proper attitude. Shandy's father and Slop on the other hand take the serious situations in their appropriate chapters with an air of clearly irresponsible frivolity. Trim and Bridget seem to be the reasonable actors of their masters' satirized wills. Perhaps what we can gain from these portrayals is an argument Sterne wishes to make that the working class is just as capable, or perhaps more so than the upper class, because they are not impeded by the constraints of gentlemanly or ladylike social conventions.
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