The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman · Chapter
Chapter XXXIII explained
Tristram recounts the financial burden of his grandmother's jointure on the Shandy estate, and how his father's obsessive belief in the importance of long noses was inherited and cultivated through family tradition and personal conviction.
What happens
Tristram recounts the financial burden of his grandmother's jointure on the Shandy estate, and how his father's obsessive belief in the importance of long noses was inherited and cultivated through family tradition and personal conviction.
Themes in this chapter
Family and Heredity
The chapter explores how the Shandy family's obsession with nose length is passed down through generations, blending tradition, education, and financial interest.
Obsession and Hobbyhorses
Walter Shandy's fixation on the importance of long noses is presented as a family hobbyhorse, nurtured by upbringing and personal conviction.
Characters to notice
- Walter Shandy
Discussed as the father who paid the jointure and held strong opinions about long noses.
- Tristram Shandy
Narrator reflecting on family history and his father's character.
Key passages
“What an unconscionable jointure, my dear, do we pay out of this small estate of ours, quoth my grandmother to my grandfather.”
My grandmother complained to my grandfather about the excessive jointure payments from their modest estate.
Opens the chapter with a family financial grievance.
“No man discharged pecuniary obligations with a better grace than my father.”
My father paid his debts more gracefully than anyone else.
Describes Walter Shandy's manner of paying money.
“For three generations at least this tenet in favour of long noses had gradually been taking root in our family.”
The belief in the value of long noses had been growing in our family for at least three generations.
Highlights the hereditary nature of the nose obsession.
“If education planted the mistake (in case it was one) my father watered it, and ripened it to perfection.”
If upbringing started this belief, my father nurtured and perfected it.
Shows Walter's role in intensifying the family's nose fixation.