Old good England... Everything what you can get while reading Trollope’s books is a great delight. Barchester Towers is a book which you need to take to relax, not to rush anywhere. Just wrap yourself with a blanket and plunge into a small series of your imagination. There are many interesting characters in this novel and you will not remain indifferent.
It is more a cognitive book than a fascinating one. There is a lambent humor, eccentric characters and their intrigues – everything is the same as in the old traditional English novels. Here Victorian Age is represented in the most detailed manner, despite the fact that the city of Barchester does not exist on the map of England. This place is invented by the author, in which, like in any other English city of those times, there are own foundations, traditions and the clergy that supports them. Trollope tells about such clergy in his novel – intrigues and strife, the focus of which is the Bishop’s Palace in Barchester after the death of the Bishop, Dr. Grantly.
There is a merciless satire above the clergy. Bishops, archdeacons and priors occupy “the entire canvas” of the novel. The novel begins as usual with a struggle for power. The old bishop dies and everybody wants to take his place and rule. However, in the end this power is given to another secondary person.
Trollope is a very talented author! He offers us a topic of which we always prefer to steer clear – religious conflicts. It is not just about religious disputes. There is the worst thing between the characters – who will take the tidbit. Practically, all the main characters are clergymen. It seems that it will be very boring to read this book. However, the author manages to make his novel fascinating with the help of this topic, where it is decided which of the two priests will take place in the poorhouse and then who will become an abbot of the cathedral. In addition to men, women are also present in the novel – wives, daughters and widows as a tidbit. Each of them also has their own unique character. The female sex is not abandoned or reduced to pink cheeks and sighs from the singing of the nightingale. Among them, there are completely courageous women.
Nevertheless, the most beautiful character in this novel is undoubtedly its author. Trollope is incredibly good, because he is not afraid to laugh at his characters and, most importantly, at himself. Probably, he needs courage and wild self-confidence for such a manner of writing the novel.
The author tries to find good advantages in every inhabitant of the book, especially in the behavior. It bribes and disposes to the author. It immerses the reader into the world of Barchester. The endless desire to return there appears repeatedly due to the mischievous laughter, the satisfaction of the childish sense of justice and the story’s kindness. Trollope gives interesting information about the spiritual and religious life of Victorian England. However, the most important thing is that this novel is a wonderful sample of English humor.
