But if the New Criticism, which was the prevailing approach during my undergraduate years, taught us anything, it is that the work stands on its own merits. We know very little about how the great cathedrals were built—we know few names of architects or engineers. But there they are. How would our assessment of these great accomplishments be modified by greater knowledge of the details of their conception and construction? Would we rearrange our pecking order of their superiority? Sometimes we can know too much.
But in the case of Anthony Trollope, we do know that he produced forty-seven novels, and other assorted writings—another of those examples of the great energy of the Victorians. Certainly there are clunkers in the lot, particularly among his earlier works, such as The Macdermots of Ballycloran and La Vendée. And the results were mixed when he attempted to get away from the English countryside, as in The Fixed Period. But I began going through them for the sleepers—the underappreciated novels that deserve more recognition. And sure enough, there are a significant number of these. It's been fun to look—as though I were rummaging around in a trunk full of books in a dusty attic to see what's in there. This is a report of what I found.
Taylor Prewitt
Fort Smith, Arkansas
REQUIRED READING FOR THE SEMINARY
THE WARDEN
While touring Sussex in 2007, Mary and I came across a building near the Long Melford church with the following plaque:
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HOSPITAL OF THE HOLY AND BLESSED TRINITY ESTABLISHED IN 1573 BY SIR WILLIAM CORDBELL OF MELFORD HALL AS AN ALMSHOUSE FOR 12 AGED MEN AND A WARDEN AND STILL SERVES ITS ORIGINAL PURPOSE. TODAY IT ALSO PROVIDES ACCOMMODATION FOR WOMEN AND MARRIED COUPLES. IT IS AN ENDOWED CHARITY |
We knew all about an almshouse for twelve aged men and a warden. We had read The Warden. This is the first in the Barsetshire series, six novels dealing with the clergy in and around Barchester Cathedral. Although I have often thought the Barsetshire series should be required reading for all seminary students, The Warden is perhaps less pertinent to today's church, because it exposes the disproportionately high incomes earned by some of the clergy in the Church of England, and the disproportionately small amount of work done by some. Since this is an infrequent issue in today's churches, some appreciation of the concerns in Victorian England is gained from a tabulation of clerical incomes in the novel, converted into an approximation of 2013 currency values: