Novels

Framley Parsonage

FramleyParsonageIt’s been awhile since I ventured into the 19th century with Anthony Trollope. I’ve read The Warden and Barchester Towers, and I thought Framley Parsonage came next. Turns out I was wrong; I skipped over Dr. Thorne. But I still enjoyed reading about Mark Robarts, a parson with social and professional ambitions that get him into trouble, and the cast of characters surrounding him.

Robarts has habits that make his patroness, Lady Lufton, uncomfortable. He likes to ride in the hunt. He likes to talk horses and other impious topics. And he likes to hang around with the wrong sort of people — moneyed, worldly folk in whom he sees the possibility of advancement. In a way he is proven right, for he gets a nice promotion thanks to his friend Sowerby, a member of parliament. Sowerby is also a notorious debtor, however, and in a moment of weakness Mark signs his name as security to one of his bills — and then another. When collection day comes and neither Sowerby nor Mark have the money, the “shepherd” is led off to the slaughter when bailiffs arrive to take account of all his possessions. That is until — well, it would spoil the plot for me to say more.

Suffice it to say that Mark vows never to put his name on a bill again. His wife Fanny stands loyally by in total support, without a trace of bitterness. She is the archetype of the Victorian “angel in the house,” and an example of the curious mix of social realism and sentimentality in this novel. Other female characters — Fanny Robarts, Mark’s sister Lucy, Lady Lufton, Mrs. Crawley (the wife of a neighboring clergyman) and even the coldly beautiful Griselda Grantly — must all prove their mettle not by straightforwardness but by clever maneuvering. In several ways this book reminded me of a Jane Austen novel, though Austen died when Trollope was just two years old. The wisdom of the women is shown mainly in their ability to make a good marriage, a matter of paramount importance.

Several clergymen are depicted, from the politically important Dr. Grantly to the miserably poor Rev. Crawley to the naive but good-hearted Mark Robarts. Trollope for the most part avoids their spiritual lives and focuses on their significance and mode of operation socially. There is one brief explanation of Robarts’s easygoing nature, offered in defense of his enjoyment of hunting and other controversial pastimes. He wants to mix with the world rather than be simply a voice “against cakes and ale,” available when needed to the worldly as well as to the pious. The issue of clerical pride comes up more than once, both in Mr. Crawley’s refusal to accept charity despite his needy family and in Robarts’ initial refusal of help in his debts. On the whole Trollope seems to think religion is made more palatable by a dose of humility in its clerics, and perhaps even a crushing experience.

There is much more to the story — other characters, other plotlines, some political, and some romantic. For me it was an entertaining read that fell into the category of escape literature. I enjoyed my time as a fly on the wall in 19th century England and look forward to more jaunts among the people of Barsetshire.

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