The Barsetshire Chronicles: Doctor Thorne Analysis

The Barsetshire Chronicles: Doctor Thorne is a fiction novel set in 1855 in the fictional town of Barchester in England. The narrator tells the story in first-person in a candid and tense tone. The central conflict in the novel is between Frank and his parents, who do not want him to marry Mary because she is poor and an illegitimate woman born out of wedlock. The novel is about class conflict, the necessity for money and illegitimacy.

Anthony Trollope starts the novel by exploring the theme of class conflict in society. Readers realize that class conflict is a major theme and the locomotive that powers the novel's plot. Dr. Thorne and fellow upper-class families live in exclusive estates that mark their significance in society. Thorne's neighbours that live in opulence include Sir Rodger and the Gresham family. Most families in upper-class estates have inherited aristocratic power from earlier generations, and they continue to dominate. However, readers note that Dr. Thorne lives a humble life with his niece, Mary, and one can mistake him for a poor person misplaced within upper-class families.

The second significant theme in the novel is the necessity for money. Money defines who is who in society because those in the upper class can afford anything they want. Consequently, people are willing to do anything to get money. For instance, The Gresham family is forcing their son to marry a rich woman to bail them out of their financial difficulties. Of late, the Gresham family has found itself in a financial quagmire because they cannot afford to match other upper-class families anymore. Therefore, Frank's parents insist that whether he likes it or not, he must marry rich women soon to get them out of debt.

The novel concludes by describing how lineage outweighs everything else in an aristocratic system. For instance, any person born out of wedlock is a "bad blood" and a sign of a bad omen. Dr. Thorne's niece, Mary, was born out of wedlock. Dr. Therefore, Dr. Thorne has lived with Mary as his biological daughter to preserve her societal reputation. When Frank's mother discovers that he is in love with Mary, she disapproves of the relationship because Mary is an illegitimate child with no right to inheritance.