1815: Anthony Trollope - Palliser series IV: Phineas Redux
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1edwinbcn
Phineas Redux is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in 1873 as a serial in The Graphic. It is the fourth of the "Palliser" series of novels and the sequel to the second book of the series, Phineas Finn.
2rebeccanyc
Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope
In the fourth of the Palliser series, Phineas Finn, recently widowed after just a year of marriage, is persuaded to return to London and stand again for Parliament. He loses, but challenges the election on the grounds that the long-time holder of the seat bribed the electorate, and ultimately gains the seat. The big issue in Parliament is the "disestablishment" of the Church of England, meaning that it will have to be supported by its parishioners, rather than by the nation's coffers, i.e., the taxpayers. (In the US, we would call this separation of church and state, although, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that has come to involve much more than was originally intended.) The conservative prime minister has proposed this and the liberals (among whom Phineas finds himself), who actually support the idea, roundly criticize the prime minister for hypocrisy and vote against the measure. Ultimately, the conservative prime minister is out, and the liberal prime minister is in, thus setting the stage for a potential return to a paying position for Phineas.
But the novel is not largely about Parliament and Phineas's role in it. Rather it is about the complications of his personal life. Readers of Phineas Finn will recall that Phineas proposed to Lady Laura, only to find that she had just accepted the proposal of Robert Kennedy and that her marriage to him was so unhappy that she fled to Dresden with her father to escape him. In this novel, Phineas learns that Lady Laura has been in love with him all this time (he no longer feels the same way about her) and that Kennedy has sensed this and is insanely (and I mean insanely) jealous. When one of the London newspapermen comes to Phineas with a letter written by Kennedy he plans to run, a letter alleging that Phineas and Lady Laura have been having an affair, Phineas first goes to talk to Kennedy who, in his madness, fires a gun at him, and then goes to a lawyer friend to seek an injunction against the newspaperman printing the letter, thereby earning the bitter enmity of said newspaperman. That is one thread of the story.
Another thread is the bitter enmity of Bonteen, another member of Parliament, who accuses Phineas obliquely of "sinking the ship" when he voted his conscience on an issue in the previous novel and left Parliament; needless to say, Phineas takes offense. Bonteen and his wife are also helping Lizzie Eustace (from The Eustace Diamonds) prove that her husband, Emilius, is a bigamist who has a wife back in Prague. Then Bonteen is murdered, and while Emilius is initially arrested, he proves to have what appears to be an alibi, and then Phineas is arrested. Thus begins an ordeal of imprisonment and trial, which enables Trollope to describe the system of trials at the time, and how lawyers for the prosecution and defense deal with what is only circumstantial evidence.. Ultimately, Phineas is acquitted through the efforts of his friends, especially Marie Goesler, to find evidence incriminating Emilius.
As I have come to expect from Trollope, his characterization of women is extraordinary, especially considering the period in which he wrote. The women spring to life, not only Marie Goesler and Lady Laura, but also one of my favorite characters, Glencora Palliser, who becomes the Duchess in this novel when the old Duke of Omnium dies and her husband, Plantagenet Palliser, becomes the new Duke. Lady Chiltern, the former Violet Effingham, another previous love of Phineas's, plays a role in this novel too, as does, in a subplot, a new character, Adelaide Palliser, a cousin of the Duke's. I am sorry to say that in this novel Lady Laura has become a very unhappy and even obsessed character; although her situation is of her own making (she married Kennedy rather than Phineas because she needed money at the time, having used her own to pay off her brother's -- Lord Chiltern's -- debts), I believe Trollope is also commenting on the strictures placed on women at the time.
Of course, there are subplots too numerous for me to explain, but some involve the old Duke's attempt to leave Marie Goesler money and jewels, which she tries to reject; a controversy between the Chilterns and the Duke about fox-hunting rights; the on-again, off-again engagement between Adelaide Palliser and a man named Maule, and the attempt by another man, Spooner, to take advantage when it is off-again; and the delightful reappearance of Lizzie Eustace and her attempt to get rid of her husband.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, even if it as a tad melodramatic, and look forward to the next in the series.
In the fourth of the Palliser series, Phineas Finn, recently widowed after just a year of marriage, is persuaded to return to London and stand again for Parliament. He loses, but challenges the election on the grounds that the long-time holder of the seat bribed the electorate, and ultimately gains the seat. The big issue in Parliament is the "disestablishment" of the Church of England, meaning that it will have to be supported by its parishioners, rather than by the nation's coffers, i.e., the taxpayers. (In the US, we would call this separation of church and state, although, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that has come to involve much more than was originally intended.) The conservative prime minister has proposed this and the liberals (among whom Phineas finds himself), who actually support the idea, roundly criticize the prime minister for hypocrisy and vote against the measure. Ultimately, the conservative prime minister is out, and the liberal prime minister is in, thus setting the stage for a potential return to a paying position for Phineas.
But the novel is not largely about Parliament and Phineas's role in it. Rather it is about the complications of his personal life. Readers of Phineas Finn will recall that Phineas proposed to Lady Laura, only to find that she had just accepted the proposal of Robert Kennedy and that her marriage to him was so unhappy that she fled to Dresden with her father to escape him. In this novel, Phineas learns that Lady Laura has been in love with him all this time (he no longer feels the same way about her) and that Kennedy has sensed this and is insanely (and I mean insanely) jealous. When one of the London newspapermen comes to Phineas with a letter written by Kennedy he plans to run, a letter alleging that Phineas and Lady Laura have been having an affair, Phineas first goes to talk to Kennedy who, in his madness, fires a gun at him, and then goes to a lawyer friend to seek an injunction against the newspaperman printing the letter, thereby earning the bitter enmity of said newspaperman. That is one thread of the story.
Another thread is the bitter enmity of Bonteen, another member of Parliament, who accuses Phineas obliquely of "sinking the ship" when he voted his conscience on an issue in the previous novel and left Parliament; needless to say, Phineas takes offense. Bonteen and his wife are also helping Lizzie Eustace (from The Eustace Diamonds) prove that her husband, Emilius, is a bigamist who has a wife back in Prague. Then Bonteen is murdered, and while Emilius is initially arrested, he proves to have what appears to be an alibi, and then Phineas is arrested. Thus begins an ordeal of imprisonment and trial, which enables Trollope to describe the system of trials at the time, and how lawyers for the prosecution and defense deal with what is only circumstantial evidence.. Ultimately, Phineas is acquitted through the efforts of his friends, especially Marie Goesler, to find evidence incriminating Emilius.
As I have come to expect from Trollope, his characterization of women is extraordinary, especially considering the period in which he wrote. The women spring to life, not only Marie Goesler and Lady Laura, but also one of my favorite characters, Glencora Palliser, who becomes the Duchess in this novel when the old Duke of Omnium dies and her husband, Plantagenet Palliser, becomes the new Duke. Lady Chiltern, the former Violet Effingham, another previous love of Phineas's, plays a role in this novel too, as does, in a subplot, a new character, Adelaide Palliser, a cousin of the Duke's. I am sorry to say that in this novel Lady Laura has become a very unhappy and even obsessed character; although her situation is of her own making (she married Kennedy rather than Phineas because she needed money at the time, having used her own to pay off her brother's -- Lord Chiltern's -- debts), I believe Trollope is also commenting on the strictures placed on women at the time.
Of course, there are subplots too numerous for me to explain, but some involve the old Duke's attempt to leave Marie Goesler money and jewels, which she tries to reject; a controversy between the Chilterns and the Duke about fox-hunting rights; the on-again, off-again engagement between Adelaide Palliser and a man named Maule, and the attempt by another man, Spooner, to take advantage when it is off-again; and the delightful reappearance of Lizzie Eustace and her attempt to get rid of her husband.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, even if it as a tad melodramatic, and look forward to the next in the series.
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