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bookbelle5_17's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Review of The American Senator
By: Anthony Trollop
The plot of “The American Senator” is threefold; a Senator Elias Grotobed visits the English town of Dillsborough. While accompanying his host, Diplomat John Morton, on a Fox hunt, they discover a fox has been poisoned. Morton suspects that a poor farmer and scoundrel, Mr. Goarly, is responsible. Grotobed feels sympathy for the man and offers to help him, especially when he learns the fox ate Goarly’s crops. Another plot involves Mary Masters, the local Attorney’s daughter, whose stepmother is trying to get her to marry Larry Twentyman, a rich landowner, whom Mary doesn’t love. The last plot is about Arabella Trefoil, who is engaged to John Morton, but she finds the wealthier Lord Rufford a more appealing suitor.
The Senator’s plot is entertaining and amusing as he tries to interfere in the customs of this English community by helping this farmer get justice for his crops being eaten. Ironically, he learns that they’re right about him being a scoundrel, but it doesn’t make him change his mind that the farmer deserves justice. He doesn’t like how the rich are benefitting from the peasant class. Grotobed doesn’t have much tact giving his honest opinion and criticisms, but the way he expresses them invites hostility. The situation begs the question; does Grotobed have a right to express his opinion when he is a guest in this country? My impression is that Trollop is using the American Senator as a voice for his own criticism of his home country.
I was more invested in the plots of Mary and Arabella, respectively, as they try to find husbands.
Mary is admirable and kind hearted as she cares about her family, knowing that marrying Larry Twentyman will benefit them as much as her. Her stepmother and Larry are persistent, but she cannot marry a man she doesn’t love, and whom she sees as a brother. She still wants his friendship, but he is too hurt by her rejection. Persistence can be written enduringly but Larry just irritated me. He just wouldn’t accept her “no”. When she gives him a timeline, where she would think things over, he took that as a “yes,”. assuring her he could convince her to love him. She continually had to apologize to him for lack of desire. It is wrong if you must try to convince someone to love you, because that person will come to resent you. Larry’s “woe is me” attitude when he is forced to accept her rejection made me roll my eyes. His attitude showed he wasn’t thinking about Mary at all, but his own feelings.
Not only did Mary not love Larry, but she was in love with Reginald Morton, John Morton’s cousin. Reginald felt the same, but neither had confessed to other how they felt. I was frustrated with Mary and Reginald because I knew they loved each other, but they kept persuading themselves they were not allowed to love to each other. I wanted to shake them and force them to talk each other, but in this society, people weren’t open with their feelings.
Arabella’s plotline was fascinating as she tried to manipulate two men into getting her way. She held John Morton at arm’s length and whenever he offers to call off the engagement she denied him an answer. She flirted aggressively with Rufford and tried to manipulate him into proposing to her, but he never asked her, but had half-heartedly said he loved her. She tried to gaslight him into thinking he did propose, but it doesn’t work because he is determined to remain a bachelor. Rufford isn’t innocent because he responded to her flirting and allowed them to be alone in a carriage after a fox hunt. Not only did he say, “I love you”, but he also kissed her. I don’t see Arabella as a villain but a desperate woman trying to survive and the only way to do that is through marriage with a wealthy man. She acts the way a man would but is judged harshly by other women. She reveals she has a conscious after she finds out that John Morton is ill and apologizes to him about how she treated him.
I was entertained by the scenes of gossip between the rest of the other characters as they each take sides, though most are against Grotobed in his part of the story. Just like his other novels, Trollop as the narrator makes comments throughout the story and addresses the reader. This is more than funny because it assures the reader that everything will work out for the best. The plots are exciting, and you are in good hands with Trollop.
siguirimama's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
danelleeb's review against another edition
3.0
Alright. So now, this book is the first Trollope novel I've read. I've heard lots about him, his books, etc. etc. etc. and everything seemed right up my alley. But this book was such a chore. Such a chore.
The American Senator is a book that is mainly 3 plots that are kind of interwoven. Each plot revolves around a rural place somewhat near London, called Dillsborough and the people who live there.
The first plot has to do with the title of the book - an American senator, Mr. Gotobed, is visiting England to make observations re: English society and government and just English life in general. He plans to use what he learns to give a series of lectures in England and then to take back information to perhaps help with governing in Washington D.C. This was the most boring of the plots in this book. Every time I had to revisit 'the Senator' I groaned inwardly and trudged on.
The second plot deals with a love triangle of sorts - the daughter of a struggling lawyer, a younger brother of a squire, and a man who is a well-respected farmer. Mary, the daughter of the lawyer, is proposed to by the farmer but she loves another. And though everyone tries to coerce her into the marriage, she stays true to herself and her feelings. (Really - the treatment she receives from her stepmother was really abominable! She called Mary a slut! My word!)
The third plot deals with Arabella Trefoil, a social climber and husband hunter who tries to trick men of wealth and title into marriage. Her story begins with her being engaged to one man (the older brother of the younger brother mentioned above) while trying to secure a proposal from another man, a Lord with 40,000/yr. She and her mother live by their ploys and tactics and everything eventually falls in on them.
Overall, I felt this was mediocre. Perhaps there is better Trollope out there and I just haven't encountered it yet. This was just underwhelming and at times an absolute snooze.
The American Senator is a book that is mainly 3 plots that are kind of interwoven. Each plot revolves around a rural place somewhat near London, called Dillsborough and the people who live there.
The first plot has to do with the title of the book - an American senator, Mr. Gotobed, is visiting England to make observations re: English society and government and just English life in general. He plans to use what he learns to give a series of lectures in England and then to take back information to perhaps help with governing in Washington D.C. This was the most boring of the plots in this book. Every time I had to revisit 'the Senator' I groaned inwardly and trudged on.
The second plot deals with a love triangle of sorts - the daughter of a struggling lawyer, a younger brother of a squire, and a man who is a well-respected farmer. Mary, the daughter of the lawyer, is proposed to by the farmer but she loves another. And though everyone tries to coerce her into the marriage, she stays true to herself and her feelings. (Really - the treatment she receives from her stepmother was really abominable! She called Mary a slut! My word!)
The third plot deals with Arabella Trefoil, a social climber and husband hunter who tries to trick men of wealth and title into marriage. Her story begins with her being engaged to one man (the older brother of the younger brother mentioned above) while trying to secure a proposal from another man, a Lord with 40,000/yr. She and her mother live by their ploys and tactics and everything eventually falls in on them.
Overall, I felt this was mediocre. Perhaps there is better Trollope out there and I just haven't encountered it yet. This was just underwhelming and at times an absolute snooze.
bogumilb's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
burritapal_1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The whole review is a spoiler.
I find myself picturing Senator Gotobed in the character of Peter Falk.
"The Senator speaks in generalities and platitudes, often choosing poor examples to illustrate sound opinion; arabella's conduct is precise, specific, and unequivocal. The senator has come to England to see what it is like; it is like arabella. The novel had to be named after one or the other, and trollope's choice, underlining as it does the international theme and the subject of comparative culture, is perhaps not such a bad one. "
-From the introduction by John Halperin
A hunt is going to take place in Dillsborough. The "Paragon," John Morton, has invited the American Senator, Mr Gotobed (from the state of Mikewa 😂), to observe it. It cracks me up what Trollope has the senator think about it:
"... the groom, however, who heard this was quite aware that Mr Stubbings did not wish to give unlimited credit to the Captain, and he knew also that the second horse was to have carried his master the whole day, as the animal which was brought to the meet had been ridden hard on the previous Wednesday. At all this the Senator looked with curious eyes, thinking that he had never in his life seen brought together a set of more useless human beings."
I would definitely agree with that sentiment. The hunt was brought to a halt because the fox that they intended to kill was killed with poison by the farmer who was pissed off that they would ride over his fields and killed his corn, which they did before. This greatly pissed off the "hunters."
Miss Trefoil's mother calls the Honourable Mrs Morton a "termagant." 🤣 ie an unpleasant woman
£43=$175 1875 England what the American Senator paid the lawyer for Goarly
$1,469,366.71 equivalent in 2024 dollars of what Lady Augustus got from Lord Rufford for settlement for Arabella
There's a horrible character in this book named Mrs Morton. She is the grandmother of the Paragon, John Morton. She hates Reginald Morton, because his mother was a commoner from Canada. Her grandson has come to Bragton from Washington to stay a bit and he plans to give a dinner for some of his neighbors. She says to him:
".. I like to meet clergyman. I think that it is the duty of a Country Gentleman to ask them to his house. It shows a proper regard for religion. By the by, John, I hope that you'll see that they have a fire in the church on Sunday.' The Honorable Mrs Mortin always went to church, and had no doubt of her own sincerity when she reiterated her prayer that as she forgave others their trespasses, so might she be forgiven hers. As Reginald Morton had certainly never trespassed against her perhaps there was no reason why her thoughts should be carried to the necessity of forgiving him."
Trollope is very good at writing characters, but he's especially good at writing horrible characters. Mrs Masters is another of his horrible characters. She's the stepmother of one of the main characters, Mary Masters. She's the biggest martyr you ever saw. In this scene, Mary has been invited to the house of Lady Ushant, who is the great aunt of John Morton. Mary had lived with her a long time when she was a little girl and her mother had died. Mrs Masters is horribly jealous of Lady Ushant, who is a good woman.
" 'Mamma,' Said Mary, rising from her seat, 'I won't go. I'll write to Lady Ushant that I can't do it.'
'you're not to mind me,' said Mrs Masters. 'You're to do what your papa tells you. Everything that I have been striving at is to be thrown away. I'm to be nobody, and it's quite right that your papa should tell you so.'
'Dear Mamna, don't talk like that,' said Mary, clinging hold of her stepmother.
'Your papa sits there and won't say a word,' said Mrs Masters, stamping her foot.
'What's the good of speaking, when you go on like that before the children?' said Mr Masters, getting up from his chair. 'I say that it's a proper thing that the girl should go to see the old friend who brought her up, and has always been kind to her - and she shall go.' Mrs Masters seated herself on the nearest chair, and leaning her head against the wall, began to go into hysterics. 'your letter has already gone, Mary; and I desire you to write no other without letting me know.' Then he left the room and the house and absolutely went over to the Bush [the bar]... "
Here's another very funny scene where Senator Gotobed is at a dinner at Lord Rufford's with the Gentry, and he starts talking about what he thinks about hunting. He pisses off an old fart who's really into hunting:
".. A man did not live in the county more respected than John Runce, or who was better able to pay his way. To his thinking an animal more injurious than Goarly to the best interests of civilization could not have been produced by all the evil influences of the world combined. 'Do you really think,' said the Senator calmly, 'that a man should be hanged for killing a fox?' John Runce, Who was not very ready, turned around and stared at him. 'I haven't heard of any other harm that he has done, and perhaps he had some provocation for that.' Words were wanting to Mr Runce, but not indignation. He collected together his plate and knife and fork and his two glasses and his lump of bread, and, looking the Senator full in the face, slowly pushed back his chair and, carrying his Provisions with him, toddled off to the other end of the room. When he reached a spot where place was made for him he had hardly breath left to speak. 'well,' He said, 'I never -!' He sat a minute in silence shaking his head, and continued to shake his head and look around upon his neighbors as he devoured his food."
There's another asshole character who thinks he's just the best judge and trainer of horses in the whole county. His name is Major Caneback. He insists on riding this Wild Horse Jemima who won't let anyone ride her, with disastrous results.
"hampton, who had passed them, was the first over the fence, and the other three all took it abreast. The Major was to the right, the lord to the left, and the girl between them. The Mare's head was perhaps the first. She rushed at the fence, made no leap at all, and of course went headlong into the ditch. The major still stuck to her, though two or three voices implored him to get off. He afterwards declared that he had not strength to lift himself out of the saddle. The mare lay for a moment; - then blundered out, and rolled over him, jumped onto her feet, and lunging out kicked her rider the head as he was rising. Then she went away and afterwards jumped the palings on to Rufford Park. That evening she was shot."
This pissed me off that the horse got shot for kicking an asshole in the head who insisted on riding her when she let him know plainly that she did not want to be ridden.
The Senator has quite the cognitive dissonance about his country, the United States. He's in this scene writing a letter to his friend, another politician, and he's talking about how unjust it is that so many poor people are in England and there's so many rich people, and both just accept that their lot as the way things should be:
".. but they do their work as Vicegerents with an easy grace, and with sweet pleasant voices and soft movements, which almost make a man doubt whether the alMighty has not, in truth, intended that such Injustice should be permanent. That one man should be rich and another poor is a necessity in the present imperfect state of civilization; - but that one man should be born to be a legislator, born to have everything, born to be a tyrant, - and should think it all right, is to me miraculous. But the greatest Miracle of all is that they who are not so born, - who have been born to suffer the reverse side, - should also think it to be all right."
As if the forming of the young country that this character is supposedly from was not stolen from the indians, and that the founders were not given whatever they wanted in then way of land, and slaves to workit, so that they were enriched. I don't know if Trollope is just ignorant or if he's willfully ignorant.
And now we turn to the case of Arabella Trefoil, who has been working very hard to catch Lord Rufford as her husband. She writes to him, after many other things have failed, that she thinks he has treated her very badly and that he surely will admit that he asked her to marry him. he writes her a very cold and terse letter that in no way admits to any culpability in the case.
It was curious the way Trollope describe Arabella when she got into her room and alone contemplated her failure:
"the whole form of the girl's face was altered when she was alone. Her features in themselves were not lovely. Her cheeks and Chin were heavy. Her brow was too low, and her upper lip too long. Her nose and teeth were good, and would have been very handsome had they belonged to a man. Her complexion had always been good till it had been injured by being improved, - and so was the carriage of her head and the outside lines of her bust and figure, and her large eyes, though never soft, could be bright and sparkle. Skill had done much for her and continued effort almost more. But now the effort was dropped and that which skill had done turned against her. She was haggard, lumpy, and almost hideous in her bewildered grief."
More about the Hideous character of Mrs Morton, the grandmother of John Morton. He got sick and was actually on his deathbed, an unexpected happenstance in the book. This is where Arabella Trefoil redeems her character by visiting the invalidand being pardoned by him for having behaved badly to him, her fiancé.
Mrs Masters wants to have John's will changed so that his estate will go to one of her distant relatives. Anything but that Reginald Morton should have it.
".. Peter Mortin was, at any rate, the legitimate son of a Wellborn father and a Wellborn mother. What had she or anyone belonging to her to gain by it? But 40 years since a brat had been born at Bragton in opposition to her wishes, - by whose means she had been expelled from the place; and now it seemed to her to be simple Justice that he should on this account be robbed of that which would otherwise be naturally his own. As Mr Masters [he refused to be her lawyer for a rewriting of the will] would not serve her turn she must write to the London lawyers. The thing would be more difficult; but, nevertheless, if the sick man could once be got to say that Peter should be his Heir she thought that she could keep him to his word. Lady Ushant and Mr Masters went back to Dillsborough in Runximan's fly, and it need hardly be said that the attorney said nothing of the business which had taken him to Bragton.
This happened on a wednesday, - Wednesday the 3rd of march. On Friday morning, at 4:00, during the darkness of the night, John Morton was lying dead on his bed, and the old woman was at his bedside. She had done her Duty by him as far as she knew how in attending him, - had been assiduous with the diligence of much younger years; but now as she sat there, having had the fact absolutely announced to her by Dr Nupper, her greatest Agony arose from the feeling that the roof which covered her, probably the chair in which she sat, were the property of Reginald Morton - 'bastard!' she said to herself between her teeth; but she so said it that neither Dr Nupper, Who was in the room, nor the woman who was with her should hear it."
hahaha I laughed to myself with joy when I read this part.
When Arabella Trefoil goes to See Lord Rufford and has it out with him, I saw her character totally Redeemed by Trollope. She was invited inside for lunch but refuses, and then at the same time the Senator comes in for lunch, and I love how he defends Arabella to Lady Penweather (Rufford's sister) and Miss Penge (who his sister wants him to marry), the two bitches who live with Lord Rufford.
" '... poor young lady! Was she talking about him?'
'not particularly,' said his lordship.
'she must have remembered that when she was last here he was of the party, and it was but a few weeks ago, - only a little before christmas. He struck me as being cold in his manner as an affianced lover. Was not that your idea, lady Penweather?'
'I don't think I observed him especially.'
'I have reason to believe that he was much attached to her. She could be sprightly enough; but at times there seemed to come a cold melancholy upon her too. It is, I fancy, so with most of your English ladies. Miss Trefoil always gave me the idea of being a good type of the English aristocracy.' lady Penweather and Miss Pence Drew themselves up very stiffly. 'you admired her, I think, my lord.'
'Very much indeed,' said Lord Rufford, filling his mouth with pigeon-Pie as he spoke, and not lifting his eyes from his plate.
'will she be back to dinner?'
'oh dear no,' said lady Penweather. There was something in her tone which at last startled the senator into perceiving that Miss Trefoil was not popular at Rufford hall.
'she only came for a morning call,' said Lord rufford.
'Poor young woman! She has lost her husband, and I am afraid, now has lost her friends also. I am told that she is not well off; - and, from what I see and hear, I fancy that here in England a young lady without a dowry cannot easily replace a lover. I suppose, too, Miss Trefoil is not quite in her first youth.'
'If you have done, Caroline,' said lady Penweather to miss penge, 'I think we'll go into the other room.' "
The senator is a great foil to these uppity, Phony British pendejos.
Here is the part where I find out that Trollope is a great lover of The Fox Hunt and a great hater of philanimalists, people who are against cruelty to animals.
Reginald is talking to his wife Mary Masters Morton about it:
" 'that is the way of it. I am not now saying whether it is right or wrong. The lady with the tippet [one of those hideous fox capes] will justify the wires and the starvation because, as she will say, she uses the fur. An honest blanket would keep her just as warm. But the fox, who suffers perhaps 10 minutes of agony, should he not succeed as he usually does in getting away, - is hunted only for amusement! It is true that the one fox gives Amusement for hours to perhaps some hundreds; - but it is only for amusement. What Riles me most is that these would be philosophers do not or will not see that Recreation is as necessary to the world as clothes or food, and the providing of the one is as legitimate of business as the prevailing of the other.' "
And even Mary, my hero, agrees with him saying,
" 'people must eat and wear clothes.' "
Oh Mary why did you have to ruin my admiration of your character as I'll say the same to Trollope.
I find myself picturing Senator Gotobed in the character of Peter Falk.
"The Senator speaks in generalities and platitudes, often choosing poor examples to illustrate sound opinion; arabella's conduct is precise, specific, and unequivocal. The senator has come to England to see what it is like; it is like arabella. The novel had to be named after one or the other, and trollope's choice, underlining as it does the international theme and the subject of comparative culture, is perhaps not such a bad one. "
-From the introduction by John Halperin
A hunt is going to take place in Dillsborough. The "Paragon," John Morton, has invited the American Senator, Mr Gotobed (from the state of Mikewa 😂), to observe it. It cracks me up what Trollope has the senator think about it:
"... the groom, however, who heard this was quite aware that Mr Stubbings did not wish to give unlimited credit to the Captain, and he knew also that the second horse was to have carried his master the whole day, as the animal which was brought to the meet had been ridden hard on the previous Wednesday. At all this the Senator looked with curious eyes, thinking that he had never in his life seen brought together a set of more useless human beings."
I would definitely agree with that sentiment. The hunt was brought to a halt because the fox that they intended to kill was killed with poison by the farmer who was pissed off that they would ride over his fields and killed his corn, which they did before. This greatly pissed off the "hunters."
Miss Trefoil's mother calls the Honourable Mrs Morton a "termagant." 🤣 ie an unpleasant woman
£43=$175 1875 England what the American Senator paid the lawyer for Goarly
$1,469,366.71 equivalent in 2024 dollars of what Lady Augustus got from Lord Rufford for settlement for Arabella
There's a horrible character in this book named Mrs Morton. She is the grandmother of the Paragon, John Morton. She hates Reginald Morton, because his mother was a commoner from Canada. Her grandson has come to Bragton from Washington to stay a bit and he plans to give a dinner for some of his neighbors. She says to him:
".. I like to meet clergyman. I think that it is the duty of a Country Gentleman to ask them to his house. It shows a proper regard for religion. By the by, John, I hope that you'll see that they have a fire in the church on Sunday.' The Honorable Mrs Mortin always went to church, and had no doubt of her own sincerity when she reiterated her prayer that as she forgave others their trespasses, so might she be forgiven hers. As Reginald Morton had certainly never trespassed against her perhaps there was no reason why her thoughts should be carried to the necessity of forgiving him."
Trollope is very good at writing characters, but he's especially good at writing horrible characters. Mrs Masters is another of his horrible characters. She's the stepmother of one of the main characters, Mary Masters. She's the biggest martyr you ever saw. In this scene, Mary has been invited to the house of Lady Ushant, who is the great aunt of John Morton. Mary had lived with her a long time when she was a little girl and her mother had died. Mrs Masters is horribly jealous of Lady Ushant, who is a good woman.
" 'Mamma,' Said Mary, rising from her seat, 'I won't go. I'll write to Lady Ushant that I can't do it.'
'you're not to mind me,' said Mrs Masters. 'You're to do what your papa tells you. Everything that I have been striving at is to be thrown away. I'm to be nobody, and it's quite right that your papa should tell you so.'
'Dear Mamna, don't talk like that,' said Mary, clinging hold of her stepmother.
'Your papa sits there and won't say a word,' said Mrs Masters, stamping her foot.
'What's the good of speaking, when you go on like that before the children?' said Mr Masters, getting up from his chair. 'I say that it's a proper thing that the girl should go to see the old friend who brought her up, and has always been kind to her - and she shall go.' Mrs Masters seated herself on the nearest chair, and leaning her head against the wall, began to go into hysterics. 'your letter has already gone, Mary; and I desire you to write no other without letting me know.' Then he left the room and the house and absolutely went over to the Bush [the bar]... "
Here's another very funny scene where Senator Gotobed is at a dinner at Lord Rufford's with the Gentry, and he starts talking about what he thinks about hunting. He pisses off an old fart who's really into hunting:
".. A man did not live in the county more respected than John Runce, or who was better able to pay his way. To his thinking an animal more injurious than Goarly to the best interests of civilization could not have been produced by all the evil influences of the world combined. 'Do you really think,' said the Senator calmly, 'that a man should be hanged for killing a fox?' John Runce, Who was not very ready, turned around and stared at him. 'I haven't heard of any other harm that he has done, and perhaps he had some provocation for that.' Words were wanting to Mr Runce, but not indignation. He collected together his plate and knife and fork and his two glasses and his lump of bread, and, looking the Senator full in the face, slowly pushed back his chair and, carrying his Provisions with him, toddled off to the other end of the room. When he reached a spot where place was made for him he had hardly breath left to speak. 'well,' He said, 'I never -!' He sat a minute in silence shaking his head, and continued to shake his head and look around upon his neighbors as he devoured his food."
There's another asshole character who thinks he's just the best judge and trainer of horses in the whole county. His name is Major Caneback. He insists on riding this Wild Horse Jemima who won't let anyone ride her, with disastrous results.
"hampton, who had passed them, was the first over the fence, and the other three all took it abreast. The Major was to the right, the lord to the left, and the girl between them. The Mare's head was perhaps the first. She rushed at the fence, made no leap at all, and of course went headlong into the ditch. The major still stuck to her, though two or three voices implored him to get off. He afterwards declared that he had not strength to lift himself out of the saddle. The mare lay for a moment; - then blundered out, and rolled over him, jumped onto her feet, and lunging out kicked her rider the head as he was rising. Then she went away and afterwards jumped the palings on to Rufford Park. That evening she was shot."
This pissed me off that the horse got shot for kicking an asshole in the head who insisted on riding her when she let him know plainly that she did not want to be ridden.
The Senator has quite the cognitive dissonance about his country, the United States. He's in this scene writing a letter to his friend, another politician, and he's talking about how unjust it is that so many poor people are in England and there's so many rich people, and both just accept that their lot as the way things should be:
".. but they do their work as Vicegerents with an easy grace, and with sweet pleasant voices and soft movements, which almost make a man doubt whether the alMighty has not, in truth, intended that such Injustice should be permanent. That one man should be rich and another poor is a necessity in the present imperfect state of civilization; - but that one man should be born to be a legislator, born to have everything, born to be a tyrant, - and should think it all right, is to me miraculous. But the greatest Miracle of all is that they who are not so born, - who have been born to suffer the reverse side, - should also think it to be all right."
As if the forming of the young country that this character is supposedly from was not stolen from the indians, and that the founders were not given whatever they wanted in then way of land, and slaves to workit, so that they were enriched. I don't know if Trollope is just ignorant or if he's willfully ignorant.
And now we turn to the case of Arabella Trefoil, who has been working very hard to catch Lord Rufford as her husband. She writes to him, after many other things have failed, that she thinks he has treated her very badly and that he surely will admit that he asked her to marry him. he writes her a very cold and terse letter that in no way admits to any culpability in the case.
It was curious the way Trollope describe Arabella when she got into her room and alone contemplated her failure:
"the whole form of the girl's face was altered when she was alone. Her features in themselves were not lovely. Her cheeks and Chin were heavy. Her brow was too low, and her upper lip too long. Her nose and teeth were good, and would have been very handsome had they belonged to a man. Her complexion had always been good till it had been injured by being improved, - and so was the carriage of her head and the outside lines of her bust and figure, and her large eyes, though never soft, could be bright and sparkle. Skill had done much for her and continued effort almost more. But now the effort was dropped and that which skill had done turned against her. She was haggard, lumpy, and almost hideous in her bewildered grief."
More about the Hideous character of Mrs Morton, the grandmother of John Morton. He got sick and was actually on his deathbed, an unexpected happenstance in the book. This is where Arabella Trefoil redeems her character by visiting the invalidand being pardoned by him for having behaved badly to him, her fiancé.
Mrs Masters wants to have John's will changed so that his estate will go to one of her distant relatives. Anything but that Reginald Morton should have it.
".. Peter Mortin was, at any rate, the legitimate son of a Wellborn father and a Wellborn mother. What had she or anyone belonging to her to gain by it? But 40 years since a brat had been born at Bragton in opposition to her wishes, - by whose means she had been expelled from the place; and now it seemed to her to be simple Justice that he should on this account be robbed of that which would otherwise be naturally his own. As Mr Masters [he refused to be her lawyer for a rewriting of the will] would not serve her turn she must write to the London lawyers. The thing would be more difficult; but, nevertheless, if the sick man could once be got to say that Peter should be his Heir she thought that she could keep him to his word. Lady Ushant and Mr Masters went back to Dillsborough in Runximan's fly, and it need hardly be said that the attorney said nothing of the business which had taken him to Bragton.
This happened on a wednesday, - Wednesday the 3rd of march. On Friday morning, at 4:00, during the darkness of the night, John Morton was lying dead on his bed, and the old woman was at his bedside. She had done her Duty by him as far as she knew how in attending him, - had been assiduous with the diligence of much younger years; but now as she sat there, having had the fact absolutely announced to her by Dr Nupper, her greatest Agony arose from the feeling that the roof which covered her, probably the chair in which she sat, were the property of Reginald Morton - 'bastard!' she said to herself between her teeth; but she so said it that neither Dr Nupper, Who was in the room, nor the woman who was with her should hear it."
hahaha I laughed to myself with joy when I read this part.
When Arabella Trefoil goes to See Lord Rufford and has it out with him, I saw her character totally Redeemed by Trollope. She was invited inside for lunch but refuses, and then at the same time the Senator comes in for lunch, and I love how he defends Arabella to Lady Penweather (Rufford's sister) and Miss Penge (who his sister wants him to marry), the two bitches who live with Lord Rufford.
" '... poor young lady! Was she talking about him?'
'not particularly,' said his lordship.
'she must have remembered that when she was last here he was of the party, and it was but a few weeks ago, - only a little before christmas. He struck me as being cold in his manner as an affianced lover. Was not that your idea, lady Penweather?'
'I don't think I observed him especially.'
'I have reason to believe that he was much attached to her. She could be sprightly enough; but at times there seemed to come a cold melancholy upon her too. It is, I fancy, so with most of your English ladies. Miss Trefoil always gave me the idea of being a good type of the English aristocracy.' lady Penweather and Miss Pence Drew themselves up very stiffly. 'you admired her, I think, my lord.'
'Very much indeed,' said Lord Rufford, filling his mouth with pigeon-Pie as he spoke, and not lifting his eyes from his plate.
'will she be back to dinner?'
'oh dear no,' said lady Penweather. There was something in her tone which at last startled the senator into perceiving that Miss Trefoil was not popular at Rufford hall.
'she only came for a morning call,' said Lord rufford.
'Poor young woman! She has lost her husband, and I am afraid, now has lost her friends also. I am told that she is not well off; - and, from what I see and hear, I fancy that here in England a young lady without a dowry cannot easily replace a lover. I suppose, too, Miss Trefoil is not quite in her first youth.'
'If you have done, Caroline,' said lady Penweather to miss penge, 'I think we'll go into the other room.' "
The senator is a great foil to these uppity, Phony British pendejos.
Here is the part where I find out that Trollope is a great lover of The Fox Hunt and a great hater of philanimalists, people who are against cruelty to animals.
Reginald is talking to his wife Mary Masters Morton about it:
" 'that is the way of it. I am not now saying whether it is right or wrong. The lady with the tippet [one of those hideous fox capes] will justify the wires and the starvation because, as she will say, she uses the fur. An honest blanket would keep her just as warm. But the fox, who suffers perhaps 10 minutes of agony, should he not succeed as he usually does in getting away, - is hunted only for amusement! It is true that the one fox gives Amusement for hours to perhaps some hundreds; - but it is only for amusement. What Riles me most is that these would be philosophers do not or will not see that Recreation is as necessary to the world as clothes or food, and the providing of the one is as legitimate of business as the prevailing of the other.' "
And even Mary, my hero, agrees with him saying,
" 'people must eat and wear clothes.' "
Oh Mary why did you have to ruin my admiration of your character as I'll say the same to Trollope.
paola_mobileread's review against another edition
3.0
It is a pleasant read which touches upon many issues, with a common thread running through it, the class system, and the uphill struggle that most people had to engage in to better their social and economic position. Falls and rises can be very much happenstance: a daughter gets an unexpected marriage offer from a squire, and the family fortunes improve dramatically, with a move to a new grander residence and better business prospects; a chance encounter can change the life of a fading, penniless beauty for the better; the whims of the local capricious Lord may make or break a business. The whole is peppered with a good dose of satire, and of course the Senator Gotobed of the state of Mickewa is there to remind constantly the reader what a weird bunch the English are with their bizarre, inconsistent traditions: yes, the Senator is mocked throughout, but his voice is always loud and clear. Yet it is not clear to me to what extent Trollope condemned the class system, as in the end all the characters develop in such a way that their social position was somehow "well deserved".
Not all characters are developed to the same extent, but in a way this is of secondary importance, as - at least for me - what matters is the overall, grand picture of the English society mid Reform bills. But for the same reason I could not really get engrossed emotionally in the plot. Still, very glad to have read it.
Not all characters are developed to the same extent, but in a way this is of secondary importance, as - at least for me - what matters is the overall, grand picture of the English society mid Reform bills. But for the same reason I could not really get engrossed emotionally in the plot. Still, very glad to have read it.
nnjack68's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
schopflin's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I wasn't sure how much I would like a book where so much of the content was given to discussing fox hunting and English manners, as those haven't been my favourite bits of other Trollopes. But I really enjoyed them this time - there's something wonderful in how silly he makes hunting sound despite his own love of it. And other aspects of this book were wonderful - Arabella Trefoil is a great character and characterisation of how few options were open to women of her class and dreadful parenting. I think the early part of Mary Masters' romance was undercharacterised but it was very sweet later.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
duffypratt's review against another edition
4.0
I bumped this to four stars from three. I've read all of Trollope. It took many years. When I ranked his books when I first signed up for Goodreads, I had only vague recollections about some of them. I started reading him when I was in my twenties because I was looking for an author who wrote lots of fat books where pretty much nothing happened. He quickly became one of my very favorite writers, especially in the big books told by his charming narrator.
To be fair, this book is mediocre Trollope. But mediocre Trollope is still very, very good. It interweaves three plots that center around a rural area named Diillsborough. It should probably have been named Dullsborough. First, there is a love triangle among the moderately well off class - a working farmer, a younger son who just barely has enough to maintain a life of leisure, and the daughter of a struggling attorney. This story is quite thin, and it involves a plot that Trollope retread many times. A good girl is admired by a man quite suitable for her, but she doesn't love him. Everyone tries to push her into the marriage, but she refuses to yield. Secretly, her heart belongs to another.
Second, and quite more biting, are the efforts of Arabella Trefoil, a beautiful and heartless social climber. She starts the book engaged to one fairly wealthy, but dull man (who is the elder son of the gentleman involved in plot number one). But she soon sets her sights higher, and tries to catch a Lord while keeping open her options on the first engagement. Bella is a great character. The Lord she tries to catch is weak willed, a bit slimy in his dealings with women, and a liar. It's pretty clear from the start that he will escape from Bella. It's less clear whether this was the best thing, either for him or her.
The remaining plot is probably the weakest part of the book. It involves the American Senator and his observations about English country life. Trollope has the Senator introduced to this by trying to get him to understand the values of fox hunting. This plot involves some people who laid poison in a wood to kill either some foxes or hounds. One suspect has shown resentment over the hunters trampling his crops, and foxes eating his livestock. The Senator comes to his defense. This plot is by far the thinnest of the three, and the Senator is pretty much a one-dimensional boor, who happens to also be fairly intelligent. On the plus side, the fox hunting gives a great parallel to Arabella's hunt for the Lord, and Trollope handles the comparison very nicely, without being too blunt.
To be fair, this book is mediocre Trollope. But mediocre Trollope is still very, very good. It interweaves three plots that center around a rural area named Diillsborough. It should probably have been named Dullsborough. First, there is a love triangle among the moderately well off class - a working farmer, a younger son who just barely has enough to maintain a life of leisure, and the daughter of a struggling attorney. This story is quite thin, and it involves a plot that Trollope retread many times. A good girl is admired by a man quite suitable for her, but she doesn't love him. Everyone tries to push her into the marriage, but she refuses to yield. Secretly, her heart belongs to another.
Second, and quite more biting, are the efforts of Arabella Trefoil, a beautiful and heartless social climber. She starts the book engaged to one fairly wealthy, but dull man (who is the elder son of the gentleman involved in plot number one). But she soon sets her sights higher, and tries to catch a Lord while keeping open her options on the first engagement. Bella is a great character. The Lord she tries to catch is weak willed, a bit slimy in his dealings with women, and a liar. It's pretty clear from the start that he will escape from Bella. It's less clear whether this was the best thing, either for him or her.
The remaining plot is probably the weakest part of the book. It involves the American Senator and his observations about English country life. Trollope has the Senator introduced to this by trying to get him to understand the values of fox hunting. This plot involves some people who laid poison in a wood to kill either some foxes or hounds. One suspect has shown resentment over the hunters trampling his crops, and foxes eating his livestock. The Senator comes to his defense. This plot is by far the thinnest of the three, and the Senator is pretty much a one-dimensional boor, who happens to also be fairly intelligent. On the plus side, the fox hunting gives a great parallel to Arabella's hunt for the Lord, and Trollope handles the comparison very nicely, without being too blunt.
ergative's review
4.25
This was a classic Trollope novel: young women looking for husbands, a Good Girl set as a foil to a quite Becky Sharp-like Bad Girl, various estates and inheritances and lawsuits; and rather more than usual amounts of fox-hunting, even for Trollope. (Indeed,almost every plot point is explored through the structure of a fox hunt.) Thematically, it held together nicely. The Good Girl, Mary Masters, behaves herself as a paragon of female virtue, steadfastly refusing a perfectly nice but slightly vulgar young man with money but little class, because her heart is set on a much more gentlemanly suitor. But, of course, she says nothing because a lady never says anything until a gentleman asks her formally. It's all rather dull, but, fortunately, Trollope livens things up by providing Arabella Trefoil, the Bad Girl. Arabella is all about getting herself a man. She joins us already engaged to one man, but throughout the course of the book we follow her attempts to trade up for a better option, and although she no doubt behaves very badly to her fiance, her character arc evoked an unavoidable sympathy. I don't know if Trollope intended for it to be sympathetic, but given the limitations on women in her position to build a future for themselves, the fact that Arabella is already 30, with rapidly fading attractions, having mastered the art of making herself pleasing and alluring with a businesslike focus, seems not so much a cause for disgust (as Trollope seems to hint) as for pity. The poor woman! This is what she must do with her youth to ward off poverty in middle age! Yes, she is engaged, finally, at the beginning of the book, but she doesn't love the man she is engaged to, and she doesn't have the luxury of waiting to marry for love, as Mary Masters does. Why shouldn't she try to level up? Her shenanigans and boundlessly energetic activities to pull off the better marriage she set her sights on were some of the most entertaining parts of the book, and the eventual fate of both her and her chosen target at the end suggest that Trollope did view her with a certain degree of softness, despite her undeniably bad behavior. I think he does recognize the constraints that bound women of his time and although he can't explicitly condone Arabella's behavior, he can show us how these constraints straiten her options and lead her to behave as she does. Furthermore, her efforts are thematically well aligned with all the fox-hunting the serves as the favorite activity of the various young men involved in Mary and Arabella's matrimonial quests. The men hunt the foxes, and Arabella hunts the men. Nicely done.
The other notable part of this book involved the eponymous American Senator, Mr Gotobed, from the Great Western State of Mickewa. His role is to wander around the events of the plot and make extremely pointed comments about every institution he encounters. You mean clergymen who are responsible for people's souls can just buy a living,or have one bought for them by rich fathers, regardless of merit? You mean this electoral borough chooses its 'representative' in parliament on the basis of what the local lord wants? You call that democracy? You mean that fox hunts can just trample across farmers' lands and destroy their crops and fences and property and the farmers have no recourse? What is wrong with you people? I have noted before that Trollope is particularly interested in institutions--the church is discussed in great length in the Barsetshire novels, and parliament in the Palliser novels--but usually he explores them through the medium of fiction. This book offers a much more explicit commentary on their flaws in the mouth of Mr Gotobed. It would almost be didactic, if not for the fact that we get to see everyone's reactions to Mr Gotobed's remarks, which are extremely funny, and in themselves a commentary on British self-image. These bits of the book are not perhaps as well-integrated thematically with the other plot elements, but I really enjoyed seeing Trollope let loose on the absurdities of English society, politics, and culture.
The other notable part of this book involved the eponymous American Senator, Mr Gotobed, from the Great Western State of Mickewa. His role is to wander around the events of the plot and make extremely pointed comments about every institution he encounters. You mean clergymen who are responsible for people's souls can just buy a living,or have one bought for them by rich fathers, regardless of merit? You mean this electoral borough chooses its 'representative' in parliament on the basis of what the local lord wants? You call that democracy? You mean that fox hunts can just trample across farmers' lands and destroy their crops and fences and property and the farmers have no recourse? What is wrong with you people? I have noted before that Trollope is particularly interested in institutions--the church is discussed in great length in the Barsetshire novels, and parliament in the Palliser novels--but usually he explores them through the medium of fiction. This book offers a much more explicit commentary on their flaws in the mouth of Mr Gotobed. It would almost be didactic, if not for the fact that we get to see everyone's reactions to Mr Gotobed's remarks, which are extremely funny, and in themselves a commentary on British self-image. These bits of the book are not perhaps as well-integrated thematically with the other plot elements, but I really enjoyed seeing Trollope let loose on the absurdities of English society, politics, and culture.