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HelpRe: mother uses name which father expressly hates (Fiction)
in reply to a message by Barbra
So why did he allow his kid to be named Tristram?
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Maybe the mom didn't care for the dad's opinion?
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ETA:
This was the 1700s. Men ruled the roost.
ETA: Found the answer on Wikipedia.
(One of the) father's theories was that a person's name exerted enormous influence over that person's nature and fortunes, with the worst possible name being Tristram. In view of the previous accidents, Tristram's father decreed that the boy would receive an especially auspicious name, Trismegistus. Susannah (the chambermaid) mangled the name in conveying it to the curate, and the child was christened Tristram. According to his father's theory, his name, being a portmanteau-like conflation of "Trismegistus" (after the esoteric mystic Hermes Trismegistus) and "Tristan" (whose connotation bore the influence through folk etymology of Latin tristis, "sorrowful"), both doomed him to a life of woe and cursed him with the inability to comprehend the causes of his misfortune.
This was the 1700s. Men ruled the roost.
ETA: Found the answer on Wikipedia.
(One of the) father's theories was that a person's name exerted enormous influence over that person's nature and fortunes, with the worst possible name being Tristram. In view of the previous accidents, Tristram's father decreed that the boy would receive an especially auspicious name, Trismegistus. Susannah (the chambermaid) mangled the name in conveying it to the curate, and the child was christened Tristram. According to his father's theory, his name, being a portmanteau-like conflation of "Trismegistus" (after the esoteric mystic Hermes Trismegistus) and "Tristan" (whose connotation bore the influence through folk etymology of Latin tristis, "sorrowful"), both doomed him to a life of woe and cursed him with the inability to comprehend the causes of his misfortune.
This message was edited 8/23/2015, 10:34 AM
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it still doesn't explain ...
Why the chambermaid's mistake was never corrected, why the parents didn't go to the curate and get him to change the document. Or why they called the kid Tristram instead of using that monstrosity they'd originally planned.
Why the chambermaid's mistake was never corrected, why the parents didn't go to the curate and get him to change the document. Or why they called the kid Tristram instead of using that monstrosity they'd originally planned.
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I just wanted to share that "story of my life" - and relate it with my recent entry, equating the name hatred...
"Melancholy dissyllable of sound! which, to his ears, was unison to Nincompoop, and every name vituperative under heaven.—By his ashes! I swear it,—if ever malignant spirit took pleasure, or busied itself in traversing the purposes of mortal man,—it must have been here;—and if it was not necessary I should be born before I was christened, I would this moment give the reader an account of it."
"Melancholy dissyllable of sound! which, to his ears, was unison to Nincompoop, and every name vituperative under heaven.—By his ashes! I swear it,—if ever malignant spirit took pleasure, or busied itself in traversing the purposes of mortal man,—it must have been here;—and if it was not necessary I should be born before I was christened, I would this moment give the reader an account of it."
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Searchers for logic should avoid Sterne like the plague! The best way I can explain him is that his humour is typically British - think Blackadder, Monty Python, the Goon Show - but much more discursive and, to modern tastes, long-winded. I can't take him in large doses, but Tristram Shandy is a good book to keep in the bathroom ...
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Totally agree. Sterne tries to be convoluted as a plot device. It's entertaining, unless you are thinking clearly. ;)
In any case, were this a real and true child... I would guess that many older customs state that once a baby is named, it is named. Cannot change the name.
My grandmother is named Lila... but the nurse accidently wrote Lyla on her birth certificate. All of her legal paperwork says Lyla, except that her mother always told her that her name was Lila. It wasn't until the late 90s that my gram ever learned it was possible to change her name.
In any case, were this a real and true child... I would guess that many older customs state that once a baby is named, it is named. Cannot change the name.
My grandmother is named Lila... but the nurse accidently wrote Lyla on her birth certificate. All of her legal paperwork says Lyla, except that her mother always told her that her name was Lila. It wasn't until the late 90s that my gram ever learned it was possible to change her name.
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"Totally agree. Sterne tries to be convoluted as a plot device. It's entertaining, unless you are thinking clearly. ;)" Funny, but I hate when authors do that -- especially when they're so transparent about it.
BTW, my mother's name was accidental, but it was a happy accident for her. You see, her mother was illiterate and named her Margot. My mother was never sure what my gm meant by that. Did she mean Margaret but wasn't able to pronounce it correctly? Did she mean Margot with the t pronounced? Who knows, but until the day she died, my gm called my mother MarGOT. Okay, moving on ... my mother was named after her mother's sister, Ella May. Where my mom lived, the city registrar would periodically visit houses inquiring if there had been any recent births. It was she who named my mom Margaret Ellen Mae and my mom was glad she did!
BTW, my mother's name was accidental, but it was a happy accident for her. You see, her mother was illiterate and named her Margot. My mother was never sure what my gm meant by that. Did she mean Margaret but wasn't able to pronounce it correctly? Did she mean Margot with the t pronounced? Who knows, but until the day she died, my gm called my mother MarGOT. Okay, moving on ... my mother was named after her mother's sister, Ella May. Where my mom lived, the city registrar would periodically visit houses inquiring if there had been any recent births. It was she who named my mom Margaret Ellen Mae and my mom was glad she did!
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Presumably due to the contempt with the marriage contract; I believe that Sterne was an attorney yet satirically poked fun at legalized jargon.
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