How often he breaks those rules! His iconoclasm makes great intertextual reading and can enhance contemporary students’ study of literary criticism. What I enjoyed the most about the novels is Trollope’s commentary about the rules of novel writing. However, I always liked starababa characters, like this kindhearted spinster in a Victorian novel designed for a reading public slowly falling away from its British traditions and Protestant Christian faith, yet too fearful of returning to Catholic Christianity. How right she is that the youngins just can’t match their elders for grace and adherence to traditional values. Arabin to marry.Īnother favorite character: Miss Thorne. In contrast, Signora Neroni, the disabled countess, is depicted as a vixen, yet it is her intercession and magnanimous final good deed which enables Eleanor and Mr. Proudie, the wife of the Barchester bishop, is truly evil because of her arrogance in usurping the rights of her weak husband. Granted, while the narrative follows a traditional Victorian story line of good characters eventually overcoming evil ones, there are significant alterations in that traditional scheme. These Trollope novels offer a refreshing break from 240-character tweets about the sex molester Joe Biden or Democrats’ efforts to destroy the United States.Īnti-Catholic slurs aside (after all, this was written by a British Protestant), Trollope’s writing style is utterly refreshing. Simple Victorian plot, yet deep insights into psychology and novel writing. This Bantam Classic edition reprints in their entirety both THE WARDEN and BARCHESTER TOWERS, the two inspired the acclaimed television series, BARCHESTER CHRONICLES.

Slope and the conservative party led by Archdeacon Grantly the result is social comedy of the highest order. Proudie, the bishop's wife, does battle with both her one-time protege Mr. Trollope's lively story continues in BARCHESTER TOWERS, regarded by many as his masterpiece. In THE WARDEN, the kind, innocent Reverence Septimus Harding is challenged by indignant church reformers - while his lovely daughter Eleanor finds herself, to his dismay, falling in love with her father's accuser. Rich in wit, satire, and memorable characters, the books portray the well-ordered world of English provincial society suddenly troubled by scandal and ecclesiastical intrigue. Set in the quiet cathedral town of Barchester, these two classic Victorian novels have delighted generations of readers since their first appearance in 18.

The warden trollope review