The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman · Chapter
A Dedication to a Great Man explained
The author playfully dedicates a volume on Uncle Toby's amours to a noble lord, reflecting on the nature of honors and the value of amusement, and proposing to dedicate a future volume on statesmen to a simple shepherd.
What happens
The author playfully dedicates a volume on Uncle Toby's amours to a noble lord, reflecting on the nature of honors and the value of amusement, and proposing to dedicate a future volume on statesmen to a simple shepherd.
Themes in this chapter
The Absurdity of Systems
The author mocks the system of dedications and the arbitrary value of honors, comparing them to the intrinsic worth of gold and silver.
Characters to notice
- Uncle Toby
Referenced as the subject of 'The Amours of My Uncle Toby'
Key passages
“Honours, like impressions upon coin, may give an ideal and local value to a bit of base metal; but Gold and Silver will pass all the world over without any other recommendation than their own weight.”
Titles and honors can artificially inflate the worth of a person, just as a stamp on a coin can give it a face value, but true merit, like precious metal, needs no such endorsement.
The author contrasts artificial honors with intrinsic worth.