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THE CLAVERINGS by Anthony Trollope
Jun. 30th, 2013 08:42 pmThis is mostly the story of a bad woman who is not *that* bad: a bad woman who's complicated, far from wholly bad, has her own sense of honour. A bad woman who is yet stronger than the man she wants; and a bad woman who is supposed by the narrative to deserve every punishment she receives, with her strength shown by her acceptance of it.
As in ORLEY FARM and CASTLE RICHMOND, there are characters who act more nobly than most people would in real life. There are some aspects where Trollope's characterisation feels not quite real, especially in aggregate. Owen Fitzgerald, trying to divest himself of a title and wealth because the supposed heir of twenty-something years is suddenly revealed as illegitimate; Lucius Mason returning illicitly gained property possessed for twenty years; Lady Ongar releasing herself of valuable real estate and income that's hers by law. There's an idealism about it that fascinates. And the writer seems utterly sincere: the generally complex, realistic characterisation with a rosy cloud of ideals atop it is promising and inspiring to a reader. There's something loveable in the quixotic righting of wrongs. Trollope's own view was that his stories were intended to encourage better worlds rather than worse.
I thought I might succeed in impregnating the mind of the novel-reader with a feeling that honesty is the best policy; that truth prevails while falsehood fails; that a girl will be loved as she is pure, and sweet, and unselfish; that a man will be honoured as he is true, and honest, and brave of heart; that things meanly done are ugly and odious, and things nobly done beautiful and gracious.
And yet with Trollope's tendency to write as if "some giant had hewn a great lump out of the earth and put it under a glass case", as Nathaniel Hawthorne described, the writing is too realistic, nuanced, thoughtful, and richly detailed to be only shallow preaching.
THE CLAVERINGS is also the story of a woman trapped with an emotionally abusive husband in Victorian times: a depressing and well-written subplot.
A plot twist in the ending is somewhat melodramatic and would have been very difficult to foreshadow.
Trollope's hand in writing farce is not particularly strong; I can only imagine what a Wodehouse could have added to the humorous subplots in this book. Nonetheless, the level of entertainment provided is regular and there is some sardonic amusement from the more comedic characters.
Trollope's autobiography on the novel:
I consider the story as a whole to be good, though I am not aware that the public has ever corroborated that verdict.
It is rather good.
As in ORLEY FARM and CASTLE RICHMOND, there are characters who act more nobly than most people would in real life. There are some aspects where Trollope's characterisation feels not quite real, especially in aggregate. Owen Fitzgerald, trying to divest himself of a title and wealth because the supposed heir of twenty-something years is suddenly revealed as illegitimate; Lucius Mason returning illicitly gained property possessed for twenty years; Lady Ongar releasing herself of valuable real estate and income that's hers by law. There's an idealism about it that fascinates. And the writer seems utterly sincere: the generally complex, realistic characterisation with a rosy cloud of ideals atop it is promising and inspiring to a reader. There's something loveable in the quixotic righting of wrongs. Trollope's own view was that his stories were intended to encourage better worlds rather than worse.
I thought I might succeed in impregnating the mind of the novel-reader with a feeling that honesty is the best policy; that truth prevails while falsehood fails; that a girl will be loved as she is pure, and sweet, and unselfish; that a man will be honoured as he is true, and honest, and brave of heart; that things meanly done are ugly and odious, and things nobly done beautiful and gracious.
And yet with Trollope's tendency to write as if "some giant had hewn a great lump out of the earth and put it under a glass case", as Nathaniel Hawthorne described, the writing is too realistic, nuanced, thoughtful, and richly detailed to be only shallow preaching.
THE CLAVERINGS is also the story of a woman trapped with an emotionally abusive husband in Victorian times: a depressing and well-written subplot.
A plot twist in the ending is somewhat melodramatic and would have been very difficult to foreshadow.
Trollope's hand in writing farce is not particularly strong; I can only imagine what a Wodehouse could have added to the humorous subplots in this book. Nonetheless, the level of entertainment provided is regular and there is some sardonic amusement from the more comedic characters.
Trollope's autobiography on the novel:
I consider the story as a whole to be good, though I am not aware that the public has ever corroborated that verdict.
It is rather good.
