TROLLOPE'S SOCIAL VALUES: SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN THE BARSETSHIRE NOVELS Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors DeSando, John Anthony, 1940- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 05/10/2021 10:41:35 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/290300 INFORMATION TO USERS This dissertation was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. 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The University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1972 Language and Literature, general University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan © COPYRIGHTED BY JOHN ANTHONY DESANDO 1972 iii THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. TROLLOPE'S SOCIAL VALUES: SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN THE BARSETSHIRE NOVELS by John Anthony DeSando A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 7 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by John A. DeSando entitled "Trollope's Social Values: Social Structure in the Barsetshire Novels" be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend its acceptance*." This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library* Brief quotations from this dissertation are allow­ able without special permission» provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manu­ script in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: •<? ' ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express here my sincerest gratitude to the members of my committee for the numerous important suggestions they offered for this study: Dr. Albert Gegenheimer, Dr. Carl Keppler, Dr. Carl Ketcham, and Dr. Gene Koppel. Special thanks are due to my director, Dr. Jo Inman, who inspired me through every phase of the research* from initial discoveries to final proofreading. I am also indebted to Norwich University for its financial aid and to Pamela Hershey for her hours of exacting typing. And, finally, I wish to thank my wife, Patricia, without whose patience and encouragement this dissertation would not have been completed. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT vi I. TROLLOPE1S PERSONAL ATTITUDE TOWARD SOCIAL STRUCTURE 1 II. THE WARDEN: THE BLESSEDNESS OF SOCIAL STABILITY 2H III. BARCHESTER TOWERS: THE ABSURDITY OF SOCIAL CLIMBING «*9 IV. DOCTOR THORNE: THE NECESSITY OF GOOD BREEDING 83 V. FRAMLEY PARSONAGE: SOCIETY AT FAULT 113 VI. THE SMALL HOUSE AT ALLINGTON: THE COMPLEXITY OF SOCIAL CLIMBING 1"»3 VII. THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET: A MILD REAFFIRMATION OF SOCIAL VALUES 171 VIII. CONCLUSION 181 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 191 V ABSTRACT Most critics have until recently considered Anthony Trollope to be primarily an objective historian whose literary accomplishment lies in his realistic por­ trayal of Victorian social life. Generally these critics have given careful attention to his realism emd his docu­ mentary abilities rather than to his artistry. But some modern scholars are beginning to discern complex subjec­ tive attitudes underlying his works, and in that spirit this study, through an analysis of his Autobiography and his Barsetshire novels, reveals that Trollope creates his fictional society according to his own assumptions about social position. From his "angle of vision" he establishes a society in which he favors social movers and socially stable characters and punishes social climbers. In his Autobiography Trollope admits that the bar­ riers between the classes should be broken, but he also affirms the necessity for observing differences between the classes. He reflects these social attitudes in his novels, depicting a consistently stable social system which preserves class distinctions while it allows justi­ fiable social advancement. After the analysis of Trollope's vi vii social opinions in the Autobiography, this study relates them to the cases of social stability, movement, and climbing in each Barsetshire novel. In addition to offer­ ing consistent examples, each novel seems to emphasize a particular aspect of his social scheme. For example, in The Warden Trollope stresses through his characterization of Mary Bold the blessedness of social stability, while in Barchester Towers he shows, in the ambitious Obadiah Slope, that the opposite of stability, social climbing, is both absurd and punishable. In Doctor Thorne Trollope reveals his conservative belief that an essential element of successful social movement to the upper class is good breeding. In Framley Parsonage he allows Griselda Grantly, who does not have the proper qualifications, to climb successfully in order to satirize society for per­ mitting this unethical social activity. With his social system clearly defined in preceding novels, in Small House at Allington Trollope particularly emphasizes the complexity of social climbing, as in the case of Adolphus Crosbie, an attractive character who nonetheless deserves and receives punishment for his climbing. Trollope mildly reaffirms his social values in the Last Chronicle of Barset by favorably treating the socially stable charac­ ters like Lily Dale and the social mover Josiah Crawley, and by punishing social climber Dobbs Broughton. viii Thus Trollope's subjective attitudes about social activity are consistent and discernible in his works. It can be surmised that according to his ethical standards he felt one ought usually to remain in the class where he was born* but that if he is morally principled, intelli­ gent, properly educated, and unambitious for the social move, then he may, by natural advancement within his pro­ fession or by marriage based on true love, rise to a higher class. When one lacks proper qualifications for social movement and ambitiously seeks a higher position, he is a "social climber," and he should be punished for his ambition. The revelation of these attitudes under­ lying Trollope's works seems to demand that he be judged hereafter not on the basis of his historical accuracy but rather on the basis of his merit as a true novelist shaping and interpreting the material he chooses. CHAPTER I TROLLOPE'S PERSONAL ATTITUDE TOWARD SOCIAL STRUCTURE Most critics reading Anthony Trollope's Barsetshire novels praise him for realistically portraying Victorian so­ cial life; only a few realize that he expresses a subjective vision in these works. Novelists like Dickens and Thackeray are always recognized not only for realistically describing