The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman · Chapter
The Parson's Horse and the Midwife's Licence explained
The narrator describes a parson who, despite his good character and charitable nature, is misunderstood by the world.
What happens
The narrator describes a parson who, despite his good character and charitable nature, is misunderstood by the world. He explains the parson's decision to ride a broken-winded horse rather than lend his good horse to parishioners for childbirth emergencies, a choice that leads to ridicule. The parson's later act of charity in paying for a midwife's licence is misinterpreted as pride, illustrating the fatality that good deeds are often twisted by public perception.
Themes in this chapter
Modesty and Obscenity
The parson's refusal to explain his true motives out of modesty, and the public's misinterpretation of his charity, highlight the theme of modesty versus public perception.
The Absurdity of Systems
The absurdity of the parson's situation—choosing a broken-winded horse to avoid charity being misdirected—and the world's twisted judgment of his actions underscore the absurdity of social systems.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Yorick
The parson who rides a lean horse and pays for the midwife's licence, bearing ridicule with tranquillity.
- Mrs. Shandy
The parson's wife, who initially receives credit for the act of charity.
Key passages
“he had generally time enough upon his hands to make his observations,—to hear the groans of the serious,—and the laughter of the lighthearted;—all which he bore with excellent tranquillity.”
He had plenty of time to observe the serious people's groans and the lighthearted people's laughter, and he endured all of it with great calmness.
Describes the parson's patient demeanor amidst public reaction to his appearance.
“But there is a fatality attends the actions of some men: Order them as they will, they pass thro' a certain medium, which so twists and refracts them from their true directions⸺that, with all the titles to praise which a rectitude of heart can give, the doers of them are nevertheless forced to live and die without it.”
Some men's actions are doomed to be distorted by a medium that twists them away from their true intent, so that even with a righteous heart, they never receive the praise they deserve.
The narrator reflects on the tragic misunderstanding of the parson's character.