This post contains major spoilers
involving both The Small House at Allington and The Last Chronicle of Barset.
Literature is filed with love
affairs that do not work out. There are plenty of rejected suitors, unrequited
loves, as well as sadness and tragedy. So why focus on one unrequited love
affair that spans the last two books of Anthony Trollope’s The Chronicles of Barsetshire? There are several reasons. One
reason is that this pair is so interesting, is the fact that of all the romances that
seemed “meant to be” in this series,
this is the only one ends unsuccessfully.
The relationship between John and
Lily is complex, full of nuance and false directions. The two grew up as
childhood friends. John fell in love with Lily as they both matured. Lily was
aware of John’s affection, but only saw him as friend. Enter Adolphus Crosbie, a complex
but ultimately untrustworthy and a scheming man who sweeps Lily off of her feet.
The two becomes engaged. Shortly
thereafter however, Crosbie breaks off the engagement when he sees a better
opportunity in a union with the wealthy and connected Lady Alexandrina De
Courcy.
As a result of the broken
engagement, Lilly is plunged into a depression that lasts for years. Though
John proposes to her multiple times she cannot bring herself to see him as
anything other then a friend. She is also still in love with Crosbie.
Over the course of the two
books John’s chances seem to improve. He matures and is seen by all as more
successful and confident. Then years after being jilted, Lily encounters a now
widowed Crosbie, who attempts to resume the relationship with her. Ironically
this encounter seems a tonic to Lily, as the new impression of Crosbie is that
he is not the man she imagined him.
Though she falls out of love
with Crosbie, Lily still seems damaged. She seems to want to bring herself to accept
John’s proposal, but cannot quite bring herself to take the plunge. She rejects
him during what he declares is his final attempt. However she pledges to never
marry anyone else and to die an old maid.
In a poignant passage
Trollope writes,
“I
can only ask the reader to believe that she was in earnest, and express my own
opinion, in this last word that I shall ever write respecting her, that she
will live and die as Lily Dale.”
Likewise there are strong hints
that John will also never marry anyone else.
“Johnny
Eames, when last I heard of him, was still a bachelor, and, as I think, likely
to remain so.”
Because the union of Johnny Eames and Lily Dale
never comes to be, it is unique relationship in The
Chronicles of Barsetshire. The two are the only couple in the series, that though they seem destined to marry, never actually do. The fact that every other prospective
pair portrayed in the books overcame adversity and entered into relatively
happy marriages, seems to give the failure of this match, some extra gravitas.
Indeed, since the pathetic
end of this aborted union was so different, the reader is left a bit surprised
and emotionally disappointed. I stress emotionally
disappointed because I would argue that the pathos created by this
resolution is aesthetically satisfying and strong.
What are we to make of the life
choices of our protagonists? As is typical of Trollope’s creations, the
thoughts, feelings and motivations of the each is complex, and answers are not
simple.
I think that there are two
distinct things going on with Lily. First, try as she seems to love John, she
can only really view him as friend and not as a romantic interest. Such
feelings and attractions in people are inscrutable and one is tempted to simply
say that such things are what they are, and leave it at that.
But there is more going on here. Lily’s psyche has been irreparably injured by her broken engagement with
Crosbie. He has hurt her in a profound way. Even after she gets over her love
for him she is unable to form a romantic attachment with anyone else. It is
suggested that had Crosbie never come along, she might have eventually
developed different feelings for John. But the damage has been done.
By today’s standards such pinning
over short time relationship for the remainder of one’s life would seem to indicate
at least neurosis. It would not be viewed as normal. Though I do not usually
like to go beyond the text in my commentary, Trollope did write about the
fictional relationship outside of the novels. His comments seem helpful and
relevant,
“Lily Dale, one of
the characters which readers of my novels have liked the best. In the love with
which she has been greeted I have hardly joined with much enthusiasm, feeling
that she is somewhat of a… prig. She became first engaged to a snob, who jilted
her; and then, though in truth she loved another man who was hardly good
enough, she could not extricate herself sufficiently from the collapse of her
first great misfortune to be able to make up her mind to be the wife of one
whom, though she loved him, she did not altogether reverence.”
The above seems to be conclusive evidence that the odd
lifetime rut that Lily, and possibly John, fall into, is not meant to be seen
as normal human response, even in the 19th century.
This is Trollope and he is always complex. Lilly is
far from a shallow person. She is intelligent, lively, and kind. As the above
also indicates, Lilly Dale is admired by many readers.
Another aspect that seems very different concerning
the relationship between this pair is very ironic. Most of the other couples
who struggled to end up together met opposition from friends and/or relatives.
This was true of Major Grantly and
Grace Crawley as well as Mary Thorne and Frank Gresham to name a few. Those couples
overcame this resistance. In contrast, virtually all of John and Lilly’s
friends and relatives are pulling for the two to get married. Many aid John in
his endeavors to woo Lily. Some bring pressure upon Lilly. The irony here is
interesting in that the couples who encountered obstruction ended up marrying
and the one couple who was encouraged to marry by everyone does not end up
together.
I find Trollope to be a mostly optimistic writer.
Oddly enough the sad resolution to the relationship between Lilly and John
gives more weight to his optimism in my eyes. Someone who recognizes that not
everything turns out all right in the end, but who nevertheless views the world
from an optimistic point of view, seems to be on stronger footing. It shows
that the thinker is not just living in a Pollyannaish and unrealistic world,
but instead has derived their opinion from a credible look at reality.
The relationship between Lilly and John is one of many
ways that Trollope looks at the complexity of the human condition. As this is
one relationship that the author has fashioned a little differently, I decided
that a slightly closer look was warranted . It is one of many reasons why I
love The Chronicles of Barsetshire.
My commentary on the first book in the Chronicles of
Barsetshire series, The Warden
is here.
My commentary on the second book in the Chronicles of
Barsetshire series, Barchester Towers is here.
My commentary on the third book in the Chronicles of
Barsetshire series, Doctor Thorne
is here.
My commentary on the fourth book in the Chronicles of
Barsetshire series, Framley Parsonage is here and as
it relates to gender roles here.
My commentary on the fifth book in the Chronicles of
Barsetshire series The Small House at Allington is here.
My commentary on the sixth
book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire The
Last Chronicle of Barset is here.
