The Prime Minister

This fifth book in Anthony Trollope's "Palliser" series finds the Duke of Omnium the reluctant head of a coalition government. While in one respect he is the perfect man for the job, in that he is the one politician that both sides trust, in another he is the worst possible choice for prime minister, since the uneasy alliance requires someone who can work with all sorts of men (including those he dislikes and distrusts), and meld the coalition's disparate elements into a working government---and this is a task beyond the powers of the thin-skinned, high-principled Plantagenet. Lady Glencora, though glorying in the Duke's appointment, sees only too clearly where he is likely to fail, and sets out to do what he cannot via a series of show more lavish entertainments intended to win the gratitude and loyalty of both parties, but which ultimately do as much harm as good. Despite her husband's declaration that he will not interfere in the upcoming Silverbridge election, Glencora continues to meddle, including encouraging social-climbing aspirant Ferdinand Lopez to consider himself "the Duke's candidate"; but when Plantagenet puts his foot down, and publicly, it sets in motion a series of events that will damage both the government and Lopez's already shaky marriage to the lovely young Emily Wharton, who has become his wife in the teeth of her family's rigid opposition and is beginning to regret it... Following on from Trollope's great but depressing "state of the nation" novel, The Way We Live Now, The Prime Minister is one of the author's darkest works, offering little relief to the reader in either of its main plots. Trollope's understanding of both men and politics shows itself again in his depiction of the uncomfortable coalition, which finally collapses from the inside due to its members' self-interest and Plantagenet's inability to be the flexible leader that the government needs. However, his parallel depiction of the Lopez marriage is severely flawed. Lopez represents the class of men that Trollope most distrusted, those making a precarious living through speculation and other financial manipulations, which he viewed as fundamentally dishonest; but while the gradual revelation of Lopez as an amoral scoundrel is painful and effective, particularly as it is seen through the eyes of his swiftly disillusioned bride, the characterisation is lacking the psychological depth and motivation that we expect from Trollope, with no more reason given within the narrative for Lopez's unprincipled and wholly selfish behaviour than that his father wasn't English: a suggestion unworthy of the author, as is the antisemitism that taints this section of the novel. That said, the climax to this secondary plot is extraordinary, one of Trollope's most powerful passages of writing. Nevertheless, the novel is on firmer ground when exploring the Plantagenet-Glencora marriage, each of them wanting to do their best for the other, yet with the two of them constantly at odds and causing one another pain through sheer incompatibility of temperament and personality.

    "What is it that you fear? What can the man do to you? What matter is it to you if such a one as that pours out his malice on you? Let it run off like the rain from the housetops. You are too big even to be stung by such a reptile as that." The Duke looked into her face, admiring the energy with which she spoke to him. "As for answering him," she continued to say, "that may or may not be proper. If it should be done, there are people to do it. But I am speaking of your own inner self. You have a shield against your equals, and a sword to attack them with if necessary. Have you no armour of proof against such a creature as that? Have you nothing inside you to make you feel that he is too contemptible to be regarded?"
    "Nothing," he said.
    "Oh, Plantagenet!"
    "Cora, there are different natures which have each their own excellencies and their own defects. I will not admit that I am a coward, believing as I do that I could dare to face necessary danger. But I cannot endure to have my character impugned,---even by Mr. Slide and Mr. Lopez."
    "What matter,---if you are in the right? Why blench if your conscience accuses you of no fault? I would not blench even if it did. What;---is a man to be put in the front of everything, and then to be judged as though he could give all his time to the picking of his steps?"
    "Just so! And he must pick them more warily than another."
    "I do not believe it. You see all this with jaundiced eyes. I read somewhere the other day that the great ships have always little worms attached to them, but that the great ships swim on and know nothing of the worms."
    "The worms conquer at last." show less

Trollope, Anthony. The Prime Minister. 1876. Palliser No. 5. Project Gutenberg.
The Prime Minister is a novel written twenty or thirty years before its time. It tells the story of two marriages--one with what Trollope considers a too-busy political wife, and one with a tyrannical, dishonest bullying husband. It is a novel that cries out for some intense drama about sexual feelings and behavior, which Trollope’s audience and marketers could never accept. It needs, in a word, someone like E. M. Forster, who would be born three years after this novel was published. The novel is also marred by Trollope’s blatant anti-Semitism. Once again, though, I appreciate the subtle way in which Trollope depicts the precarious position of show more middle-class and even upper-class women. Without plenty of inherited money, there is no social safety net, and even with money, any woman in the public eye is in danger of having her reputation ruined by even well-intentioned acts of kindness that go wrong. Independence is something Trollope women can talk about and wish for, but it is always constrained and dangerous to attempt. show less

Plantagenet Palliser has reached the height of his career. When neither the conservatives nor the liberals can garner enough support to form a government, they turn to the Duke of Omnium (as Plantagenet is now) to serve as prime minister at the head of a coalition government. The Duchess (the former Lady Glencora) is ecstatic and immediately sets out to form a shadow government among the leading women of the country. But the poor Duke couldn't be more miserable when he discovers that his position, and the stability of the government, hinges on his complete inaction. (Except for ceremonial stuff.)

A secondary plot concerns Emily Wharton, the only daughter of a wealthy London gentleman who is determined to marry Ferdinand Lopez over her show more father's objections. Mr. Wharton objects to Lopez because he's not an English gentleman. (In other words, he's foreign and has Jewish ancestry.) Emily quite rightly objects to her father's prejudice. Unfortunately, while they're focused on Lopez's ancestry, they both fail to note that his primary occupation of futures trading will not provide the necessary financial stability to support a wife and family. The results are both tragic and predictable.

In a way, this is a story of frustrated ambition and of two unhappy marriages. The Pallisers' temperaments make them ill suited for each other, with seemingly incompatible goals. Plantagenet wants to be useful, while Glencora wants to be important. Plantagenet is unhappy when he's in an important position without useful work. Insufficient income seems to be at the root of the Lopez's marital problems, but as the Pallisers' situation proves, it takes more than money to make a happy marriage. show less

Ahhhh. I love Trollope. Every time I start one of his books I wonder why I waited so long. This is the fifth in the Palliser series and spends a lot of time with my favorite, Lady Glencora Palliser (now Duchess) and Plantegenet Palliser (Duke of Omnium). The Duke of Omnium is made Prime Minister and the political part of the book revolves around this appointment and what he and Glencora can make of it.

The other story going on is of Emily Wharton, a young, wealthy woman who marries the man of her choice against her family's wishes. She chooses Ferdinand Lopez over the childhood friend who has been courting her his whole life, Arthur Fletcher. This choice leads to a disastrous and unhappy marriage. Emily's father has a good head on his show more shoulder and refuses to hand over his daughter's fortune to Lopez, who would certainly have lost it to gambling on the stock market. After Emily's husband dies, she is faced with another choice, whether to embrace happiness with Arthur who is still waiting patiently for her, or to wallow in her bad choices and punish herself for life.

I loved this installment in the series, though the story surrounding Emily's second chance at marriage dragged on a bit too long for my taste. I love Lady Glencora, though, so I was happy to read a book that she featured in so strongly. As always in Trollope, characters from previous novels appear - I was thrilled with Lady Eustace's appearance and with the slight reference to Frank and Mary Gresham who I loved in Doctor Thorne. show less

This is the fourth of the Palliser novels that I have read (I skipped over The Eustace Diamonds with no ill effect) and so far it's the best of the bunch. In it Anthony Trollope offers two intertwining tales: that of the government of the upright and dutiful Plantagenet Pallier, Duke of Omnium, and the courtship of Emily Wharton, the daughter of a rich barrister, by the slick speculator Ferdinand Lopez. While I started the novel to read the first tale, I soon found myself much more interested in the development of the latter, which was perhaps a little predictable but no less engrossing for it. Yet Trollope's depiction of politics is no less entertaining in this novel, largely because of his focus on the machinations of the duke's wife, show more Lady Glencora Palliser. Though well-meaning, Trollope sees her efforts as counter-productive, which certainly raised questions for me as to why she is regarded by so many as one of Trollope's greatest heroines. Independent and willful as she may be, she seems to be presented in this novel mainly as a cautionary note as to the folly of women participating in politics, as her actions create many of the problems her husband's government subsequently faces. Nevertheless, she is marvelous as a plot device, and is one of the greatest strengths of this enjoyable book. show less

I didn’t mean to read ‘The Prime Minister’ quite so soon, or to rush through it quite so quickly, but I had to step back into Trollope’s world because there seemed to be so many old friends I wanted to see again, so many interesting new people to meet, so many intriguing things happening.

Plantagenet Palliser, the Duke of Omnium, was Prime Minister!

He headed a coalition government, and he had risen not so much as the result of his own charisma and ambition, more because there was no other candidate acceptable to all of the parties and willing to do the job. Now to rise to such a position is a great thing, but I feared for the new Prime Minister. He was too honest, too sensitive, and too unwilling to compromise his principles. show more Wonderful qualities in so many ways, but qualities you would want in a right-hand man, that would make you want to pick him for your team or hold him up as a role model; but not qualities that would make him a great leader of men.

The Duchess of Omnium – the erstwhile Lady Glencora Palliser – on the other hand was in her element. She would entertain, she would socialise, she would intrigue. She would play her part to the full, and she was in so many ways a far better politician that her husband. Never was it clearer that they loved each other but they would never quite understand each other.

It was lovely to watch them and to listen to them. And, maybe even better, were the conversations between the Duchess and her dearest friend Mrs Finn – the erstwhile Madame Max. That friendship is so well balanced and so well drawn.

The stories of the Duke and Duchess are set against – and entangled with – the stories of Ferdinand Lopez and Emily Wharton.

Ferdinand Lopez was a handsome adventurer of Portuguese-Jewish descent. It was clear from the start that he was to be the villain of the piece, and he plotted and schemed to acquire wealth and rise up through society. He was determined to secure the hand of Emily Wharton, the daughter of a wealthy and successful barrister. Mr Wharton was firmly set against the match, and determined that his daughter would only marry the son of an English gentleman. He favoured Emily’s childhood friend Arthur Fletcher, but Lopez had her heart.

The deadlock was broken when Lopez, apparently, saved the life of Emily’s brother, and her father reluctantly consented to the marriage.

It was then that Lopez’s campaign escalated. He used his wife to extract significant sums of money from his father-in-law to fund speculations, he exploited – and cheated his lower class business partner. He has some successes but he had more failures, and put more and more pressure on his wife to extract more funds from her father. His attempt to enter the House of Commons, to established him as an English gentleman, fails and Arthur Fletcher takes the seat. he blames everyone but himself.

That had consequence for the Duchess of Omnium – who had been charmed by Lopez and so gave him her support – and in turn for the Prime Minister, who could not, would not, allow his wife’s name – or his principles – to be compromised.

Mr Wharton realised that when he dismissed Lopez’s suit he had neglected to consider other things that would make him an unsuitable husband for his daughter. He did what he could, Emily knew that she had to accept the consequences of her decision; the arc of the relationship between father and daughter was one of my favourite things about this novel.

As Lopez made his determined rise and when he came tumbling down he did a great deal of damage. When both his business and his marriage collapsed around him he made the most dramatic of exits. The repercussions of his actions though would be felt for a long, long time.

His end was inevitable, but the gap that he left was huge, he was such a fascinating, charismatic character. It took the story a while to re-establish itself without him.

But there is a whole world in this story, and the world continues to turn. I loved watching so much going on, at Westminster, in the town, in the country. The scope of the story is vast, and the author’s command of it is magnificent.

There are themes that are horribly relevant today – the consequences of coalition government, and the role the fourth estate – represented here by Mr Quintus Slide …..

There are many things that can be said about this book. I have come to see that Trollope accepted society’s norms and believed that they would continue to hold sway; that he could draw a good villain but he clearly gave much more time to the great and the good; that he gave consideration to how a gentleman should live and behave, and of the consequences of their social position and above all of marriage for women ……

Above all this is a wonderfully rich human drama.

The world that Trollope has created in the Palliser novels and the people that live in it are so very, very real.

I find it easy to simply accept it for what it is, and I love spending time there. show less

Ugh, that was interminable! I'm sorely tempted to give this 2 stars, which is annoying because i was all set to give it 4 or 5 during the early chapters.
This is actually two almost completely separate stories sewn together. The primary story following Ferdinand Lopez, an ambitious young wall-street type willing to do whatever it takes to make it rich. The secondary story follows Duke Plantagenet Palliser as he is asked to head up a coalition government.
Its sort of 'Wall Street' meets 'The West-Wing', and its good, there's a lot to like here. Interesting characters and politics. All of the main cast seem well rounded.
It gives an honest and somewhat horrifying view of the lives and social positions of women (or at least rich women) of show more the period, while not looking down on them.
Oh and i saw a parallel, (real or imagined) between the lives of Emily in one narrative and Plantagenet in the other. I think both characters were prideful but also weak and it was an interesting comparison, although i can't be sure it was the authors intent.
I really liked it... and then it just kept going.. and going.. and going! Seriously, even on their own each of the narratives would have been unnecessarily stretched, stitching two together was just cruel and unusual. show less