The Innocents Abroad · Chapter
XXIII explained
The narrator describes the lively scene in a Venetian square, the locals' customs, and the absurd affectations of American tourists abroad who pretend to have forgotten English.
What happens
The narrator describes the lively scene in a Venetian square, the locals' customs, and the absurd affectations of American tourists abroad who pretend to have forgotten English. He reflects on art, particularly the old masters and Renaissance paintings, and recounts a humorous incident involving a barber shave.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Tourism
The narrator mocks American tourists who pretend to forget English and adopt French mannerisms.
American vs. European Culture
Contrasts American tourists' affectations with European customs, and the narrator's struggle to appreciate European art.
The Past vs. the Present
Reflects on the decline of high art after Titian and the Renaissance, and the narrator's preference for Renaissance paintings over older martyrs.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Describes the Venetian square, criticizes American tourists, and reflects on art and his own lack of appreciation for old masters.
- The Doctor
Gets shaved by the barber and laughs at the narrator's painful shave.
- Dan
Gets shaved by the barber and comments on the ease of the shave.
- Ferguson
Mentioned as 'great Titian' in the context of art criticism.
- Mr. B.
Implied as one of the 'boys' who sent for the barber, though not explicitly named.
Key passages
“We wish to learn all the curious, outlandish ways of all the different countries, so that we can 'show off' and astonish people when we get home.”
The travelers want to pick up foreign habits to impress their friends back home.
Highlights the performative nature of tourism.
“The gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can become, until he goes abroad.”
Traveling abroad can make a person act foolishly.
Satirical commentary on the effects of travel.
“It is not pleasant to see an American thrusting his nationality forward obtrusively in a foreign land, but Oh, it is pitiable to see him making of himself a thing that is neither male nor female, neither fish, flesh, nor fowl—a poor, miserable, hermaphrodite Frenchman!”
It's bad when Americans are overly patriotic abroad, but worse when they try to become something they're not.
Critique of cultural mimicry.
“If great Titian had only been gifted with prophecy, and had skipped a martyr, and gone over to England and painted a portrait of Shakespeare, even as a youth, which we could all have confidence in now, the world down to the latest generations would have forgiven him the lost martyr in the rescued seer.”
Titian should have painted Shakespeare instead of another martyr.
Expresses the narrator's frustration with religious art.
“I had rather have one faculty nobly developed than two faculties of mere ordinary capacity.”
I prefer to excel in one thing than to be mediocre in two.
Justifies his inability to keep promises.