Book Review
Mar. 2nd, 2011 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Small House at Allington
by Anthony Trollope
This book, the fifth of the Barsetshire novels, revolves around the romantic entanglements and family relationships of Lily and Bell Dale, young women of modest means who live with their mother in a small house on their uncle's estate. It's a very quiet and unassuming novel, and my least favorite of the Barsetshire sextet so far. There is not a lot of satisfying resolution at the end, and some of the characters become a little annoying as time goes on.
The main driver of the plot is Lily's engagement to and then jilting by Crosbie, a rising civil servant. Crosbie proves to be a jerk who unscrupulously jilts Lily because she does not have money of social position. He quickly turns around and marries the daughter of an earl. One of the beauties of the novel is that Trollope does not then drop Crosbie out of the story, but follows him through his re-engagement and marriage, allowing the reader the schadefreude of seeing just how big of a mistake he has made and how miserable he becomes because of the unpleasantness of the his wife and her family.
Lily, however, refuses to give up her love for Crosbie and move on with her life. She absolutely will not even entertain the idea of eventually loving and marrying another, even when a devoted suitor appears. Towards the end of the book, Lily states that she considers Crosbie as her husband and herself thus as a widow, for she will always love him above all else in the world. I found this foolish and maddening on her part.
Until I considered the possibility that Trollope is implying that Crosbie and Lily had sex. They had opportunity, since it is clear that they did spend time alone together walking in the fields. In Lily's reflections on her relationship with Crosbie, Trollope does use language that suggests sexual desire: "In my heart I am married to [Crosbie]. I gave myself to him, and loved him, and rejoiced in his love. When he kissed me I kissed him again, and I longed for his kisses. I seemed to live only that he might caress me." Also, when Lily addresses her feelings about the possibility of eventually falling in love with another, she uses language very similar to that which Trollope uses elsewhere in the book to discuss the near-adultery of two minor characters. In that context, Lily's behaviour makes more sense, considering Victorian attitudes about sex, marriage, and fidelity. I think Trollope also meant to imply that Crosbie seduced Lily, because at no time is Lily's morality or conduct called into question. She is always viewed sympathetically and as the one sinned against, never as the sinner. All the moral outrage is directed at Crosbie.
by Anthony Trollope
This book, the fifth of the Barsetshire novels, revolves around the romantic entanglements and family relationships of Lily and Bell Dale, young women of modest means who live with their mother in a small house on their uncle's estate. It's a very quiet and unassuming novel, and my least favorite of the Barsetshire sextet so far. There is not a lot of satisfying resolution at the end, and some of the characters become a little annoying as time goes on.
The main driver of the plot is Lily's engagement to and then jilting by Crosbie, a rising civil servant. Crosbie proves to be a jerk who unscrupulously jilts Lily because she does not have money of social position. He quickly turns around and marries the daughter of an earl. One of the beauties of the novel is that Trollope does not then drop Crosbie out of the story, but follows him through his re-engagement and marriage, allowing the reader the schadefreude of seeing just how big of a mistake he has made and how miserable he becomes because of the unpleasantness of the his wife and her family.
Lily, however, refuses to give up her love for Crosbie and move on with her life. She absolutely will not even entertain the idea of eventually loving and marrying another, even when a devoted suitor appears. Towards the end of the book, Lily states that she considers Crosbie as her husband and herself thus as a widow, for she will always love him above all else in the world. I found this foolish and maddening on her part.
Until I considered the possibility that Trollope is implying that Crosbie and Lily had sex. They had opportunity, since it is clear that they did spend time alone together walking in the fields. In Lily's reflections on her relationship with Crosbie, Trollope does use language that suggests sexual desire: "In my heart I am married to [Crosbie]. I gave myself to him, and loved him, and rejoiced in his love. When he kissed me I kissed him again, and I longed for his kisses. I seemed to live only that he might caress me." Also, when Lily addresses her feelings about the possibility of eventually falling in love with another, she uses language very similar to that which Trollope uses elsewhere in the book to discuss the near-adultery of two minor characters. In that context, Lily's behaviour makes more sense, considering Victorian attitudes about sex, marriage, and fidelity. I think Trollope also meant to imply that Crosbie seduced Lily, because at no time is Lily's morality or conduct called into question. She is always viewed sympathetically and as the one sinned against, never as the sinner. All the moral outrage is directed at Crosbie.
