The Barsetshire Novels by Anthony Trollope
The Barsetshire Novels by Anthony Trollope represent a significant contribution to English literature, consisting of six interconnected novels set in the fictional county of Barset. The series is renowned for its rich character development and social satire, with "Barchester Towers" being one of its most notable entries. Trollope’s work is characterized by an ironic tone and complex situations that reflect the moral dilemmas faced by its characters, often rooted in ecclesiastical conflicts and the interplay of love, property, and social status.
Inspired by his experiences as a civil servant traveling through England, Trollope crafted a convincing reality for Barsetshire, blending fictional elements with keen observations of societal dynamics. The first novel, "The Warden," introduces themes such as the proper use of church endowments and sets the stage for the recurring characters and story arcs that follow. Throughout the series, Trollope explores both the virtues and flaws of his characters, offering a nuanced portrayal of human nature.
His female characters, often referred to as "girls," navigate the complexities of love and societal expectations, while some characters like Mrs. Proudie stand out for their less admirable traits. Overall, the Barsetshire Novels provide a detailed and entertaining snapshot of 19th-century life, showcasing Trollope's unique narrative style and his insights into the human condition.
The Barsetshire Novels by Anthony Trollope
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published:The Warden, 1855; Barchester Towers, 1857; Doctor Thorne, 1858; Framley Parsonage, 1860-1861; The Small House at Allington, 1862-1864; The Last Chronicle of Barset, 1867
Type of work: Novels
The Work
Trollope’s popular fame rests on his six Barsetshire novels. Taken as a whole, they are interconnected by characters who appear in more than one of them, a technique that Trollope was to use again in his second series, known as the Political novels. The Barsetshire series established the novel-sequence in English fiction.
The most famous of the Barsetshire series is Barchester Towers. It is typical, however, of the entire chronicle, with its fine ironic tone and pleasantly complicated situations. Though the type of plot is social satire, no problems of social significance are given serious consideration, as its chief purpose is entertainment.
The series was conceived one summer evening in Salisbury, but the settings are, for the most part, in the imaginary west-country county of Barset and its chief town, Barchester. Barchester is a compilation of the many counties Trollope visited in his position as a civil servant. Barchester’s railroads and roads, its great lords and their fine castles, its squires and their parks, its towns, its parishes, and its rectors and their churches are all totally fictitious. From his careful observations and memories of his travels throughout England, however, Trollope pieced together a detailed map of Barchester. Thus, it has a totally convincing reality, based not particularly upon the geographical but rather upon Trollope’s sharp insight into the moral physiognomies of his characters.
The first book of the series, The Warden, sets a pattern to which Trollope adhered in the later books. In The Warden, the focus is upon a problem concerning the proper use of church endowments. Using his vivid imagination, Trollope set in motion the issues and conflicts that surrounded the problem and how it was approached by the various people involved, people with various modes and degrees of moral sensibility.
When Trollope returned to the milieu of The Warden in Barchester Towers, he introduced a number of subplots, all related to the ecclesiastical power struggle between the new bishop of Barchester (Bishop Proudie) and the former bishop’s son (Archdeacon Grantly). The main conflict of the novel involves both parties’ intentions to preserve the integrity of the church. In typical Trollope fashion, the irony comes forth in how the two men view themselves versus how they really are—the two clergymen are, in their own minds, fighting for the spiritual power of the church, but they are actually fighting for power over the building, furnishings, and their clerical positions; in other words, they are fighting for the worldly things of the church, not the spiritual.
Many other novels were written in the period during which Trollope was engaged in writing the Barsetshire series. Archdeacon Grantly and his father-in-law, however, continued to live in Trollope’s imagination. He created the most solid of his male characters by blending his own personality with theirs, and in his Autobiography he explained the novelist’s need to “live” with his characters and stressed the importance of recording change and the effects of time on them. Therefore, in The Last Chronicle of Barset (the book that Trollope considered his best work), the two have grown older, just as Trollope himself was growing older. The Archdeacon is the character most often described as being akin to Trollope: quick to anger but quick to forgive, generous, warmhearted, worldly. His father-in-law, who had been Warden in the first book, is portrayed at the upper limits of Trollope’s moral range. He is virtuous and good, and he grows old among his family and friends. When the older man dies, it is through the mouth of the Archdeacon that Trollope expresses his estimate of both of them.
Regarding the women that he created, Trollope always referred to them as girls. He held the same notions concerning vicarious relationships with his female characters as with his male ones. For the girls whom he created, love never ran smoothly, a plot that endeared him to his readers. The confusion ensued when he brought the demands of property and social status into conflict with the power of love. The problems created by this situation involved the lovers, their families, their friends, and even their circle of acquaintances, just as it would in real life. Trollope used this plot early in the Barsetshire series and continued to use it throughout his career.
It must be noted, however, that not all Trollope’s characters are likable or admirable. He was critical of himself, and through his characters one sees this personal criticism. For example, the Archdeacon’s worst enemy is Mrs. Proudie, wife of the Bishop. She is one of the best-known bad-tempered women in English fiction. Even after she died (Trollope referred to her death as his having killed her), he indicated that she would still exist for him, even if as a ghost.
Barsetshire, Trollope’s fictional country where the Barsetshire series is set, is as impressive as William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha or Thomas Hardy’s Wessex. The novels provide a slice of nineteenth century life, meticulously observed and entertainingly told.
Bibliography
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