Laurence Sterne

1713-1768. Novelist and humorist

Laurence Sterne was born on 24 December 1713 in Clonmel, Ireland. At that time his father was stationed there due to his post as an army ensign. Sterne had many siblings and was the second of altogether seven children of Roger and Agnes Sterne.

Laurence Sterne studied at Jesus College, University of Cambridge. He later became a clergyman and held positions as vicar. Only later in his life, at the age of 46, he began to write (Pfister 12). Before he wrote novels, he engaged in political journalism by writing articles for the Pro-Walpole York Gazeteer, which was published by his uncle Jacques Sterne who supported the Whigs. He is said to have done this in return for his uncle's favours and patronage regarding his church career. Jacques Sterne himself was a reverend and “a successful ecclesiastical lawyer” (Ross 6) and eased Laurence Sterne’s entrance into the Church of England. The anonymous writing for the York Gazeteer came to an end because his identity was revealed and his writing criticised. As a consequence he retreated from politics, which dissatisfied his uncle (Ross 7). It is assumed that he engaged in political writing again during the Jacobite rebellion (1745-6) (Keymer xiii).

Sterne was married to Elizabeth Sterne and together they had one surviving daughter, Lydia. The happiness of the marriage did not last until the end of Sterne’s life and he is said to have had many affairs with other women. Before his death he fell in love with Elizabeth Draper, with whom he exchanged various letters. Their correspondence was published under the title Journal to Eliza (Ross 17).

Laurence Sterne is mostly known for the novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (short title: Tristram Shandy), which was published over the course of eight years (1759-1767). It encompasses nine volumes. The novel is known and appreciated for its combination “of a laudable morality with whimsical bawdy” (Ross 12). But it was also this bawdiness which shocked many of his contemporaries, especially when they discovered that the author was a clergyman.

Only three weeks before his death A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (short title: A Sentimental Journey) was published. In this work, Sterne included impressions from his own travels to the South of Europe. After his death, this work became even more famous than Tristram Shandy (Ross 18).

Sterne’s works are said to have many autobiographic features. By some of his contemporaries he was even regarded as being Tristram, the protagonist of Tristram Shandy (Ross 12). There were also parallels with another character of his fiction, Mr. Yorick, a clergyman as well. Furthermore, in his fiction there were many references to real people in Sterne’s life.

Laurence Sterne was famous in Britain, but even more admired in other parts of Europe, such as Germany. Goethe is said to have thought highly of him and “celebrated him as a ‘free soul’” (Pfister 3). Since his youth, Sterne suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis, which was the reason for his early death on 18 March 1768 with only 55 years.

Sources:

Keymer, Tom (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Laurence Sterne. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Pfister, Manfred: Laurence Sterne. Devon: Northcote House, 2001.

Ross, Ian Campbell: "Laurence Sterne’s Life, Milieu, and Literary Career". In: Keymer, Tom (Ed.): Cambridge Companion to Laurence Sterne. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. 5-20.