To call anything written by Trollope "minor" is to commit a great sacrilege; however, Dr. Wortle's School, while written late in Trollope's life—and published the year preceding his death—is far from the range, breadth, and scope that one associates with Trollope's work.

Trollope is not a hit-or-miss writer: his "misses" are ones that would race triumphant around even the most laudable titles of authors in the same vein. But it appears that Trollope requires a much larger canvas in order to do what he does best: interlocking stories; multiple storylines; commentaries on class and gender; and so on.

While Dr. Wortle's School has Trollope's trademark theme of how embedded discourses of morality run counter to the ever-changing world in which he and his contemporaries lived, its laconic nature means that Trollope at times reverts to didacticism which in his longer works is beneath the surface: here, though, it is all the more apparent given the brevity of the text itself.

This is not to say that the novel isn't good: it's wonderful. But it's not one that anyone should read who is unfamiliar with Trollope's work ([b:The Claverings|469232|The Claverings|Anthony Trollope|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348961776s/469232.jpg|795351] is the best for that, in my opinion), and one also feels that this is ground that he has covered before (and in much more skillful a manner) in his more mature and well-known titles.

One of the best Victorian novelists—he truly was. His humanity and his compassion are especially felt in this particular book, a title recommended for Trollope fans who may desire less of a commitment as far as length goes but who still need their Trollope fix.

3.5/5 stars ( )

This was another quite enjoyable fairly short novel by Trollope. The eponymous headmaster discovers that two of his employees Mr and Mrs Peacocke are not in fact lawfully married. They had married in the USA, in St Louis, believing Mrs Peacocke's wastrel first husband to be dead, but he subsequently turned up. While Doctor Wortle is understanding of their position, others in the community including the local gossip Mrs Stantiloup, and the Bishop, take a dim view of the supposed immorality of this situation, despite the Peacockes' mutual devotion. The situation is eventually resolved after Mr Peacocke makes a journey across the whole of the USA. This is an interesting exploration of what was a moral dilemma in 1881 but which would not be now. There is also a more conventional subplot about the Wortles' daughter Mary's engagement to a young aristocrat. ( )

“It is often a question to me whether the religion of the world is not more odious than its want of religion.” — Anthony Trollope, “Dr. Wortle's School”

Jesus himself, when sounding off against hypocrites, probably would have agreed with Dr. Wortle in his comment above, for hypocrisy and an absence of grace are themes that run through Anthony Trollope's 1881 novel “Dr. Wortle's School.”

Dr. Wortle operates an exclusive school for boys bound for Oxford and Cambridge, and there is no shortage of parents willing to pay the steep tuition. That is, until controversy erupts regarding an excellent teacher named Mr. Peacocke when it is discovered Peacocke and his wife may not be legally married. The couple had married in America after learning that her husband had died, but then this supposedly late husband had reappeared. Rather than separate, the couple fled to England. Then the husband's brother shows up with blackmail on his mind.

With more charity than most people in his situation might possess, Dr. Wortle sends Mr. Peacocke back to America to determine whether that husband really is alive or, as Dr. Wortle suspects, now dead. Meanwhile he allows Mrs. Peacocke to remain in her residence at the school. This starts tongues wagging, and parents begin withdrawing their sons from the school.

In a subplot, Lord Bracy, one of Dr. Wortle's most promising students, falls in love with the doctor's daughter.

The story actually seems a bit thin, but Trollope milks it for everything it holds, while making readers consider how they might act were they in the position of Mr. Peacocke, Mrs. Peacocke, Dr. Wortle or one of the other key characters. Sometimes choosing between right and wrong, or between the lesser of evils, seems easier when it is not your choice to make. ( )

Shorter by half than most Trollopes, but just as good. A look at how gossip can taint someone's respectable life, how a supportive friend can suffer because of his support and how people, once judgmental and condemnatory, will pretend it never bothered them when the situation is resolved. If we think that shaming someone or mocking someone by social media is new, it isn't; it's just faster now. ( )

This book very much felt like a book of its time, as opposed to Austen's work which, while very much couched in its era, is also universal. Trollope is great fun to read, funny, engaging, but ultimately, frivolous. All the fuss about a couple who married when they thought the woman's husband was dead when he really wasn't but is now...sigh. The stakes just weren't high enough for me to be rabidly interested in the outcome. And the add-on plot about Dr. Wortle's daughter and her earl-suitor felt clumsy. I did adore Dr. Wortle's emotional outbursts and his deeply felt sense of injustice. God knows how many letters exactly like the ones he writes in this book I've penned and never sent. Or worse, penned and sent. ( )