Anthony Trollope's The Chronicles of Barsetshire

My commentary contains minor spoilers regarding the outcome of several relationships portrayed in this series.

I have completed all six books of Anthony Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire series. Almost every page of the approximately 3,456 pages of the series is worth the read. Before I read these books, I had not read anything by Trollope. Now he is one of my favorite authors.

There are many themes and motifs developed during the course of the novels, including: the decay of the British class system, the virtues and strengths of quiet and non-aggressive people, the condition of women in society, religious hypocrisy and virtue, the mix of good and bad in everyone, and many others.

Though there are still numerous highly praised Trollope novels that I have not read, I feel that at this point I can say a few general things about the author. Trollope’s talents are numerous. He is funny, he is accessible while at the same time deep, and he uses a form of meta-fiction that is unique, amusing and witty. He describes people and their interactions in a more realistic way than just about any other writer that I know. His allusions to mythology as well as to Biblical and classical literature are frequent, clever and aesthetically pleasing.

I find Trollope to be a mostly optimistic writer. While that was true throughout the series, there seems to be a little darkening in his attitude and more realism exhibited as the series progressed. This is exemplified by the less than happy outcomes for a trio of characters, Lilly Dale, Johnny Eames, and Adolphus Crosby. See my commentary on their fates here.

Trollope is often compared to Charles Dickens as his books are set in the same period and place and seem to cover similar situations and themes. Both writers spend lots of words exploring human relationships and psychology. Both also seem to exhibit a moderate and easy going Christian based philosophy in their writings.  

There are major and important differences, however. Where Dickens was larger than life, Trollope seems in many ways the opposite, as he successfully attempts to reflect life the way it is, with incredibly nuanced, complex and contradictory characters and situations. Most of Trollope’s virtuous characters have flaws. Even his most pernicious creations exhibit virtues. Furthermore, despite Trollope’s realism, he  does not penetrate into the really dark corners of the human experience as Dickens does. In addition, where Dickens was concerned with the plight of the poor and oppressed, Trollope seems much less interested in those subjects.

Viewed in its entirety, the series is impressive and unified in terms of plot, characters and themes. It is also aesthetically and emotionally satisfying. At the end of the last book, there are marriages, declarations that some couples will never marry, and deaths of some long standing regulars.

Many book series offer a reader comfort; they provide familiar characters and places. I do think that some of this familiarity is often paid for with a degree of superficiality. The plots and characters are presented in too safe a manner. Trollope mostly avoids such superficiality in these books, his realism and complexity providing substance throughout.

My favorite book of the series is Barchester Towers. Though the novels do not need to be read in order, I recommend doing so. There is a certain continuity of characters and events that, when read in order, give the plot and character development additional coherence. The last book in the series, appropriately titled, The Last Chronicle of Barset, really should only be read last, since it concerns the fates of multiple characters and because it picks up multiple plot threads.

The first book in the series, The Warden, was very good, but I think that most of the other novels are better. Thus, if one does start at the beginning, one can look forward to the narrative improving.

I leave off with the closing paragraph of the The Last Chronicle of Barset. It is a marvelously written example of the meta-fiction that I alluded to and a fitting end to this series that will forever be close to my heart.

“And now, if the reader will allow me to seize him affectionately by the arm, we will together take our last farewell of Barset and of the towers of Barchester. I may not venture to say to him that, in this country, he and I together have wandered often through the country lanes, and have ridden together over the too-well wooded fields, or have stood together in the cathedral nave listening to the peals of the organ, or have together sat at good men's tables, or have confronted together the angry pride of men who were not good. I may not boast that any beside myself have so realized the place, and the people, and the facts, as to make such reminiscences possible as those which I should attempt to evoke by an appeal to perfect fellowship. But to me Barset has been a real county, and its city a real city, and the spires and towers have been before my eyes, and the voices of the people are known to my ears, and the pavement of the city ways are familiar to my footsteps. To them all I now say farewell. That I have been induced to wander among them too long by my love of old friendships, and by the sweetness of old faces, is a fault for which I may perhaps be more readily forgiven, when I repeat, with some solemnity of assurance, the promise made in my title, that this shall be the last chronicle of Barset. “

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 series, The Last Chronicle of Barset is  here.

My commentary on  the relationship of Lily Dale and Johnny Eames in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series is here.

My commentary on Trollop’s unusual Pont of View is here.