"I Conceive Every Fair Being a Temple"

Paper Summary:

The paper shows how Lawrence Sterne's "A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy" appears at first to be a travel journal, narrated by, Yorick, a jester and a fool, taking his name and style from the famed Shakespearean scene in "Hamlet". The paper notes that a jester, like Sterne makes light of life's serious matters and are known for their wisdom. It shows how Sterne's light, self mocking tone and his humorous style combine with his serio-comic narrator to produce a serious theme. The paper shows how the experiences of Sterne's wise fool show that sympathy for others, especially for those who may seem strange or foreign, opens the human heart and that the knowledge that Yorick gains from his travels is not mental knowledge but heart knowledge which leads to universal love and friendship.

From the Paper:

"Sterne does not wish his writings to be considered dangerous, merely light and humorous, so he plays the fool and lets Yorick travel the world with all his foolish baggage, getting mixed up with characters from all walks and levels of life and admitting if his adventures: "I am never so perfectly conscious of the existence of a soul within me, as when I am entangled in them" (211). Yorick, wiping Maria's and his own tears alternately feels "such indescribable emotions within me, as I am sure could not be accounted for from any combination of matter and motion." 213 Toward the end of the book Yorick enjoys "a feast of love" with a large family (221) after which he participates in the joyful "grace" of the family dance that is the best sort of thanks to heaven that an illiterate peasant (or learned prelate) could pay" (224)."

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