# Mr. Yorick — The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman character guide > Mr. Yorick in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Yorick, poor Yorick, parson Yorick **First appearance:** 0004-book-i ## Snapshot The quick-witted parson whose jokes cost him his reputation, a friend to the Shandys and a stand-in for the author's own voice. ## Who they are Yorick is the parish priest whose wit is sharper than his prudence, forever landing him in trouble with those who cannot take a joke. He moves between the Shandy parlor and the wider world of church politics, offering counsel on names and lending his ear to the family's crises. His blend of levity and genuine feeling makes him a mirror for the novel's own comic sensibility. ## Relationships ### [Uncle Toby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/characters/uncle_toby) _friendship_ Yorick is a witty, good-natured parson and a close friend of Toby, sharing many conversations and mutual respect. ### [Corporal Trim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/characters/corporal_trim) _friendship_ Trim and Yorick share a warm, respectful friendship, often conversing about Toby and life's absurdities. ### [Eugenius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/characters/eugenius) _friendship_ Eugenius is Yorick's loyal and sensible friend, often offering counsel and defending him against critics. ### [Phutatorius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/characters/phutatorius) _rivalry_ Yorick and Phutatorius are intellectual and social rivals, with Phutatorius representing pompous orthodoxy against Yorick's wit. ### [Uncle Toby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/characters/uncle_toby) _friendship_ Yorick is a witty, good-natured parson and a close friend of Toby, sharing many conversations and mutual respect. ### [Uncle Toby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/characters/uncle_toby) _friendship_ Yorick is a witty, good-natured parson and a close friend of Toby, sharing many conversations and mutual respect. ### [Corporal Trim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/characters/corporal_trim) _friendship_ Trim and Yorick share a warm, respectful friendship, often conversing about Toby and life's absurdities. ## In the story ### [The Parson's Horse and the Midwife's Licence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/x) The parson who rides a lean horse and pays for the midwife's licence, bearing ridicule with tranquillity. ### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xi) Introduced as the parson with a mercurial and heteroclite nature, opposed to affected gravity, and prone to indiscreet plain speaking. ### [Chapter XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xii) The protagonist of this chapter, whose carefree jests lead to his downfall and death. ### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xvii) Revealed as the sermon's author; his sermon was lost, recovered, and later plagiarized after his death. ### [Chapter XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xiv) Absent; his curate performs the baptism instead. ### [My Father's Lamentation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/my-father-s-lamentation) Suggested by Uncle Toby as someone to send for in response to Walter's despair. ### [Chapter XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxiii) Advises Walter to use the dinner with Didius to resolve the question of the name. ### [Chapter XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxv) Comments that clergy know little of heraldry; is advised to ride ahead to the visitation. ### [Chapter XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxvi) Defends his destruction of the sermon, claiming it caused him great pain and was produced from his head rather than his heart. ### [Chapter XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxvii) Picks up the chestnut after Phutatorius throws it down, incurring Phutatorius's resentment. ### [Chapter XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxviii) Adds commentary on the oil and lampblack in the ink and warns against bawdry. ### [Chapter XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxix) Offers witty interjections, including the story from Selden about a son justifying lying with his grandmother. ### [The Staircase Settlement](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxx) Explains the learned men's decision that Tristram is unrelated to his parents. ### [Chapter XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxi) Walter argues with him over the Ox-moor affair. ### [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xx) Listening to Uncle Toby's account of the Battle of Steenkirk. ### [Chapter XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxi) Drolls upon Trim about Count Solmes and draws his chair aside for safety during the battle reenactment. ### [Chapter XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxii) Responds to Toby, fearing the squire will be as provoked at Trim as King William was at Count Solmes. ### [Chapter XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxiii) Walks abreast with Uncle Toby and responds to Trim's remark about cutting off spouts. ### [Chapter XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxviii) Engages in witty repartee with Walter, criticizes polemic divines, and offers to read a battle description. ### [Chapter XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxix) Counsels patience during the tale and later agrees with Trim's practical assessment. ### [The Tristra-paedia Reading](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxx) Questions Walter about the Tristra-paedia and draws his chair closer to the table. ### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxi) Quotes Hesiod and challenges Walter's views on paternal authority, noting the mother's equal claim. ### [Chapter XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxii) Gently questions Trim and is deeply impressed by his sincerity, honoring him as a true commentator. ### [Chapter XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxiii) Interjects with a skeptical question about whether Walter has actually proved his point about radical heat and moisture. ### [Chapter XXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxvii) Toby turns to Yorick to explain the case at Limerick more intelligibly. ### [Chapter XXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxviii) Interjects with a comment about firing, then asks Trim for his opinion, preventing Walter's sentence. ### [Chapter XL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xl) Comments on Trim's earlier examination and joins the discussion. ### [XLII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xlii) Listens attentively to Walter's theories, expresses surprise and curiosity, and is urged to be wary of imitating Walter. ### [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/ii) Smiling, attributes the method to Vincent Quirino; mentions Lipsius's composition on the day he was born. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/v) Present during the conversation and suggests the governor should be humble, moderate, and good. ### [VII: The Story of Le Fever Continued](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/vii-the-story-of-le-fever-continued) His curate is present in the kitchen, smoking a pipe and making a skeptical comment about soldiers praying. ### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xi) Performs the ecclesiastical burial, preaches a funeral sermon, and is noted for his idiosyncratic annotations on his sermons. ### [Chapter XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xiii) Yorick interposes in the conversation, leading Uncle Toby to recommend Le Fever's son. ### [Chapter XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxii) Listens to Walter's comment about Toby's harmless nature. ### [Chapter XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxi) Present during Uncle Toby's apologetical oration. ### [My Uncle Toby’s Apologetical Oration](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxii-my-uncle-toby-s-apologetical-oration) Referenced by Toby as having preached a sermon on Le Fever's death, prompting Toby's reflection on the nature of war. ### [Book VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/book-vii) Alluded to in the context of Tristram's travels and the novel's digressive style. ### [Chapter V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/v) Yorick quips to Eugenius that he would drink more water. ### [Chapter XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxii) Present in the parlour during the conversation, though he does not speak. ### [Chapter XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxiii) Praises Captain Shandy's opinion on love, regrets having read poets and rhetoricians, and comments that procreation is as beneficial as finding the longitude. ### [Chapter XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxiv) Leaves to prepare his fourth general division for the next day's attack; often attacks Walter but with restraint. ### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xi) His congregation coming out of church provides a full answer to half of Walter's business with his almanac. ### [Chapter XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/xxxii) Attempts to temper Walter's hypothesis when Toby enters. ### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/endnotes) Implied through reference to 'my father's Life of Socrates' which will be printed. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/characters/mr_yorick - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/tristram_shandy_se/characters