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Thematic Alternation in Trollope

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

John E. Dustin
John E. Dustin*
Affiliation:
Saint Louis University, St. Louis 3, Missouri
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Extract

While chatting with Anthony Trollope one day, George Eliot lamented the occasional failure of her inspiration: “There are days together when I cannot write a line.” Trollope, in a rare moment of humility, replied: “Oh, well, with imaginative work like yours that is quite natural; but with my mechanical stuff it's a sheer matter of industry.” Perhaps it is unfair to accept Trollope's testimony against himself, but we do his workmanlike talents no disservice if we recognize that the same charge has often been brought against him by his critics, who allege a variety of “mechanical” practices. For example, A. O. J. Cockshut, discussing Trollope's handling of courtship, says, “His stock plot, much too often repeated, of the woman hesitating between two men, is perfunctory.” However, one “mechanical” technique which he repeatedly employed has never been noticed. If we trace the appearance of the two principal sources of conflict in his fiction, we discover not only that two themes are very common but also that they appear with almost predictable regularity. The symmetry of this pattern is, I feel, significant and illuminating in understanding Trollope's literary fecundity, in classifying his novels, and in appreciating the exact nature of his artistic maturity, a matter of special concern in recent Trollope criticism. Paradoxically, this same pattern also suggests that those novels which are most popular at the moment were “mechanically” produced.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 77 , Issue 3 , June 1962 , pp. 280 - 288
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1962

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References

Note 1 in page 280 Quoted in Sir Michael Sadleir, Trollope: A Commentary. (New York, 1947), p. 349.

Note 2 in page 280 Anthony Trollope: A Critical Study. (London, 1955), p. 125.

Note 3 in page 280 Barchester Towers also projects a dispute between two camps, the Proudies and the Grantlys, not over a will but over the wardenship of Hiram's Hospital. Mr. Harding receives advice from Dr. Grantly, who petitions first Mr. Arabin and then Dr. Gwynne (chs. xxiv, xxxiv). Harding, Grantly, and Gwynne on the typical trip to London (ch. lii) finally settle matters. Mr. Harding and Dr. Grantly are also greatly disturbed over Eleanor Bold's apparent fondness for one of the enemy, Mr. Slope, a misunderstanding that persists through two-thirds of the novel.

Note 4 in page 281 Chs. vi, xxvi, respectively.

Note 5 in page 282 Henry Norman; The Reverend Arthur Wilkinson; The Reverend Josiah Crawley, who is, however, neither younger nor duller than Mark Robarts; and John Eames, respectively. The Reverend Samuel Saul (The Claverings) and John Grey (Can You Forgive Her?) partially fill this role but seem more important as temporarily unsuccessful lovers.

Note 6 in page 282 The dates are from Sadleir, 402–405.

Note 7 in page 282 The Struggles of Brom, Jones and Robinson, a short novel listed in the “C” column, breaks the alternating order. Perhaps Trollope's purpose was uncertain for he did not complete the work until 1861. It would appear to be an unhappy effort at burlesque of the careerist.

Note 8 in page 282 Autobiography. (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1950), p. 204.

Note 9 in page 283 Anthony Trollope: Aspects of His Life and Art. (Bloomington, Ind., 1958), p. 164.

Note 10 in page 283 Rafael Helling, A Century of Trollope Criticism (Helsingfors, 1956), pp. 30–31, also recognizes this as an experimental period and sees He Knew He Was Right as a product thereof.

Note 11 in page 283 Because of its characteristic conflict I have classified this as an “A” novel, although the dispute centers not on an inheritance but on an accusation of theft.

Note 12 in page 284 On comparing Orley Farm, an early “A” novel, with Mr. Scarborough's Family, a late “A” work, we note a similar difference in the consequences of a parent's criminal act upon the child's courtship. Lady Mason's crime blocks her son's courtship. In Mr. Scarborough's Family the parent's activities are still paramount, but his sons can hardly be taken seriously as lovers.

Note 13 in page 284 Phineas Finn, ch. i.

Note 14 in page 284 Three Clerks, ch. xix. The money lender in this case is not badgering Alaric Tudor but Charley Tudor.

Note 15 in page 284 Phineas Finn, ch. lxvi.

Note 16 in page 284 Autobiography, p. 318.

Note 17 in page 285 Can You Forgive Her? Phineas Finn, The Eustace Diamonds, Phineas Redux, The Prime Minister, The Duke's Children.

Note 18 in page 285 Harry Heathcote of Gangoil, a novelette of Australian bush life, cannot be classified in terms of the “A” and “B” themes.

Note 19 in page 285 Houston is a very minor character, but in this novel Trollope repeats the strategy of an earlier “B” novel, Can You Forgive Her?: he assigns the central moral problem to a woman. Alice Vavasor of Can You Forgive Her? changes her mind three times about her lovers; Ayala Dormer, on a farcical level, can't bring herself to accept the “right” young man because of her romantic daydreams.

Note 20 in page 285 Autobiography, p. 353.

Note 21 in page 287 For very helpful comment I am indebted to Mr. Alan M. Cohn of Southern Illinois University.

“A” NOVELS “B” NOVELS “C” NOVELS

1. The Warden, 29 July 1852

2. Barchester Towers, April 1855

3. The Three Clerks, Spring 1857

4. Doctor Thorne, 20 Oct. 1857 The Struggles of Brown, Jones & Robinson, July 1857

6. Castle Richmond, 4 August 1859 5. The Bertrams, 1 April 1858

7. Framley Parsonage, 4 Nov. 1859

8. Orley Farm, 4 July 1860

10. Rachel Ray, 3 March 1863 9. The Small House at Allington, 20 May 1862

11. Can You Forgive Her? 16 Aug. 1863

12. Miss Mackenzie, 22 May 1864 13. The Claverings, 24 Aug. 1864

14. The Belton Estate, 30 Jan. 1865 Nina Balatka, 11 Sept. 1865

15. The Last Chronicle of Barset, 20 Jan. 1866 16. Phineas Finn, 17 Nov. 1866 Linda Tressel, 2 June 1867

Golden Lion of Granpère, 1 Sept. 1867

He Knew He Was Right, 13 Nov. 1867

17. Vicar of Bullhamfton, 15 June 1868

18. Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite, Dec. 1868

19. Ralph the Heir, 4 April 1869 20. Eustace Diamonds, 4 Dec. 1869

“A” NOVELS “B” NOVELS “C” NOVELS

21. An Eye for an Eye, 13 Sept. 1870

22. Phineas Redux, 23 Oct. 1870

23. Lady Anna, 25 May 1871 24. The Way We Live Now, 1 May 1873 Harry Heathcote of Gangoil, 1 June 1873

25. The Prime Minister, 2 April 1874

26. Is He Popenjoy? 12 Oct. 1874

27. The American Senator, 4 June 1875

28. The Duke's Children, 2 May 1876

29. John Caldigate, 3 Feb. 1877 30. Ayala's Angel, 25 April 1878

31. Cousin Henry, 26 Oct. 1878

32. Marion Fay, 23 Dec. 1878

33. Doctor Wortle's School, 8 April 1879 Kept in the Dark, 18 Aug. 1880

The Fixed Period, 17 Dec. 1880

34. Mr. Scarborough's Family, 14 March 1881 An Old Man's Love, 20 Feb. 1882

The Landleaguers, June 1882