The American Senator

I have noted Trollope's penchant for sloppiness in my review of Rachel Ray. As I noted there, one must make allowences for this author -- given the astonishing number of novels he wrote and the serialized format he wrote in. But it does tend to annoy, as does Trollope's tendency to repeat himself. Again, the result of the serialization, no doubt. One must also make allowences because Trollope wants to say so much and so much of what he says is important. In this novel, for example, he performs an intellectual tour-de-force by adopting the view of a brash (and annoying) American Senator in order to criticize English culture -- especially the meager results of the Reform movement and the quaint tradition in his day of purchasing clerical livings. It is quite astonishing to watch Trollope pull it off! There are also the other pet Trollope themes, including the role of women in Victorian society, the demise of Victorian values, and a relentless attack on the growing ills of materialism. Those themes may sound a bit like Chicken Little to one who has not read Trollope. But they are serious and seriously persued by this man who saw well beneath the surfact of capitalism and was not blinded by the smoke from the steam engine.

All of the underlying themes of Trollope's work are in this book; (1) the underlying strength of women; (2) the weakness of men; (3) and the portrayal of how people manipulate, or attempt to manipulate each other. This book has well-developed characters - as always with Trollope, including a young woman who is seeking to marry a rich man, a rich lord, two rich men who are members of the upper class (but one rung below the lord), a successful farmer, a lawyer, an heiress and a couple of nice people. The book has two successful love stores (Reginald/Mary and Rufford/Penge) and three failed love stories (Twentyman/Masters; Trefoil/Rufford and Trefoil/Morton). It deals honestly with the emotions of all concerned. Every scene is put together with the thoughtful approach of Trollope, who never lets any strand of the plot dangle. What makes this book unusual is Senator Gotobed, who is on a visit from America. The Senator speaks frankly about everything and often offends his English hosts. His comments bring buried tensions to the surface. I ended up admiring the Senator because of his fearlessness and outspokenness. He is, of course, ridiculous and Trollope was having a bit of fun by introducing him to the story.

The American Senator of the title is a stuffy, boring old man who wants to understand English politics and morality but also wants to impose his own morality upon the English. Sadly, the book could have been far more exciting without this character. On the other hand, the characters remaining are interesting enough. This book is mainly about love, or about the pursuit of love or fortune. The scheming and penniless Arabella Trefoil is engaged to a man who we quickly see is far too good for her, and what he sees in her beyond her remote beauty is a big question that is never quite resolved. However, wanting a fortune, she maintains her engagement in private while denying it in public, thus finding herself able to pursue the local squire, Lord Rufford, who is also taken with her beauty but on advice of friends, becomes reluctant to truly woo Arabella. Social interactions between all these parties, including their antecedents, are quite interesting and fill a good portion of the book. On the other hand, another love affair of lesser merit but far more honesty is that of Mary Masters and Reginald Morton, a romance against the Masters' family wishes who pressure both her and the unfortunate Larry Twentyman to make a match. Intrigues from minor characters, plots and subplots, though rather too much mention and detail of fox hunting, still this is a fun read.

I've read several books by Trollope and enjoyed this one very much. It includes most of the standard Trollope elements: two people who are in love with each other, but too shy to say so; a fortune-hunting woman and the men she's after; members of the clergy; a bit of Parliament; family life in England in the 1870s; fox hunting; and satire of life in both England and the United States. The characters are extremely well drawn. Although the writing is "old fashioned," the emotions and situations are up-to-date. There is humor, pathos and excellent description.