First published in 1861, Anthony Trollope's Framley Parsonage is part of a series of books by the author collectively known as the "Barsetshire Chronicles." Though it is the fourth novel in this series, it was the very first novel that Trollope ever published in serial form. His preference was for completing a novel before publication, but he was coerced into altering that previous steadfast rule. The result is indicative of its origin. The book is Dickensian in the sense that it is leisurely paced, contains multiple plot threads, and is focused primarily on delineating character as a means of unifying thematic connections.
The central plotline focuses on a new young vicar in Framley named Mark Robarts who has come into his position of clerical power through the influence of a wealthy woman, Lady Lufton. This particular aspect of the novel is centered upon the ambitions of Robarts as he also begins to come under the influence of a man whom Lady Lufton refers to with demonic nicknames, a Whig MP named Sowerby. Thus, Robarts is pulled between two competing political ideologies since Lady Lufton supports the opposition party known as the Tories.
Lady Lufton is also central to the other major plotline in which she aims to marry her son into a wealthier family. That son, Ludovic Lufton has fallen in love with Lucy, the vicar's sister. It is within this narrative thread that one of the overarching themes of the story is more closely scrutinized: what it means for a person to be "significant." Lady Lufton has determined that though there is nothing else wrong with Lucy Robarts—she is even willing to overlook that she brings no wealth—she is most assuredly not significant enough to marry into the Lufton lineage.
Since Trollope was writing for his largest audience to date as a result of publishing the story in serial installments three chapters at a time, one can easily assume that it is not a book headed toward a tragic conclusion. Ultimately, the story concludes with Ludovic rebelling against his mother's wishes and happily marrying Lucy.
One seemingly legitimate way of approaching analysis of the unifying plots is to argue that it is a celebration of feminism. After all, the true center of power in Framley is not its young vicar, but Lady Lufton. It is she who wields the most influence and it is she who has handpicked the new vicar. Indeed, Lady Lufton is a towering figure in the novel who plays a major role in both of the primary plot points. She is also featured in the most memorable moment in the subplot related to Robarts' dalliance with Sowerby. At a party attended by everybody who is anybody, a pivotal moment occurs at which Lady Lufton dramatically proceeds to curtsey while "looking full in her foe's face" that ends "an ineffable amount of scorn expressed in the lines of her mouth." Though she winds up winning the battle against Sowerby at that moment on her own, her longer-term battle with him over the possessorship of the new vicar's soul ends much more ambiguously.
Robarts does end up becoming a pawn in the political gamesmanship of Sowerby and in the process loses some of his ethical luster. It is the fact that Robarts is willing to defy the woman to whom he owes his position and under whose influence he makes many decisions that serve to create this ambiguity. Robarts comes to regret getting involved with Sowerby and ultimately does revert back to unquestioned obedience to Lady Lufton, but only after her son has intervened to keep the vicar from complete disaster.
Likewise, Ludovic also defies his mother when he rejects her choice for a proper wife. The forty-third chapter of the novel is subtitled "Is She Not Insignificant?" This question seems to be aimed directly at Lucy Robarts since seven pages into the chapter Lady Lufton makes a pronouncement about Lucy to her son.
By the story's end, of course, it is Lady Lufton herself who seems to have shrunk in significance, not Lucy Robarts. After all, her son has rejected this critique completely and proceeds to marry the woman he loves. Meanwhile, Lady Lufton has failed to manage her influence over Mark Robarts to the degree that it is Ludovic—and not his mother—who must rescue the vicar's finances and ethical standing. The woman who is most insignificant by the end of this novel is, ironically, Lady Lufton herself. This turn of events may be seen just as ironically—or even lacking irony—as the narrator's commentary on the status even of wealthy and influential women in England at the time. The novel eventually concludes by proposing the idea that the character being referred to within the question "Is She Not Insignificant?" is none other than Lady Lufton.
