 First edition title page | |
| Author | Anthony Trollope |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Series | Palliser |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Chapman & Hall |
Publication date | November 1875 – June 1876 (serial in 8 parts); 4 volumes, June 1876 (book) |
| Media type | Print (serial & hardback) |
| Preceded by | Phineas Redux |
| Followed by | The Duke's Children |
The Prime Minister is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in 1876. [1] It is the fifth of the "Palliser" series of novels.
When neither the Whigs nor the Tories are able to form a government on their own, a fragile coalition government is formed, with Whig Plantagenet Palliser, the wealthy and hard-working Duke of Omnium, installed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Duchess, formerly Lady Glencora Palliser, attempts to support her husband by hosting lavish parties. Palliser, initially unsure that he is fit to lead, grows to enjoy his high office, but becomes increasingly distressed when his government proves to be too weak and divided to accomplish anything. His own inflexible nature does not help.
A significant sub-plot centres on Ferdinand Lopez, a financially overextended City adventurer of undisclosed parentage and ethnicity, who wins the favour of Emily Wharton. She marries him despite her father's objections, in preference to Arthur Fletcher, who has always been in love with her. As in Trollope's earlier Palliser novel Can You Forgive Her? , in which the heroine also has to choose between two suitors, the enticing and charismatic suitor is revealed to have many unpleasant traits, and Emily soon has cause to regret her choice. Lopez meets the Duchess at one of her parties, and she unwisely encourages him to stand for Parliament in the local Silverbridge constituency. He campaigns against Arthur Fletcher, but withdraws from the contest when he sees he has no chance of winning. Lopez writes to the Duke, insisting on being reimbursed for his election expenses since the Duchess had led him to believe that he would have the Duke's endorsement (despite having his expenses already paid in full by his father-in-law).
The Duke is furious with his wife, who disobeyed his explicit order not to interfere in the election, but his strong sense of personal honour obliges him to meet Lopez's demands. This causes a minor political scandal when it becomes known, as it appears to many people that the Duke used his great influence and wealth to try to buy a seat in Parliament for a supporter. This causes him great unhappiness, but he is stoutly defended in the House of Commons by Phineas Finn, eponymous hero of Phineas Finn and Phineas Redux , two earlier books in the Palliser series.
Lopez's high-risk gambles lead to his financial ruin and, after trying to persuade the wealthy Lizzie Eustace (protagonist of The Eustace Diamonds ) to run away with him to Guatemala, a proposition she somewhat contemptuously rejects, he takes his own life by throwing himself in front of a train. After a period of mourning, Emily is persuaded, without too much difficulty, to marry Arthur Fletcher.
Eventually the coalition government breaks up and the Duke resigns, with both regret and relief, and withdraws into private life, hoping to be of use to his party again in the future.
Anthony Trollope was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote novels on political, social, and gender issues, and other topical matters.
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Princess of Mindelheim, Countess of Nellenburg, was an English courtier who rose to be one of the most influential women of her time through her close relationship with Anne, Queen of Great Britain. The Duchess of Marlborough's relationship and influence with Anne were widely known, and leading public figures often turned their attentions to her, hoping for favour from Anne.
The Reform Club is a private members' club, owned and controlled by its members, on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it had an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male clubs to change its rules to include the admission of women on equal terms in 1981. Since its foundation in 1836, the Reform Club has been the traditional home for those committed to progressive political ideas, with its membership initially consisting of Radicals and Whigs. However, it is no longer associated with any particular political party, and it now serves a purely social function.
Framley Parsonage is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope. It was first published in serial form in the Cornhill Magazine in 1860, then in book form in April 1861. It is the fourth book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series, preceded by Doctor Thorne and followed by The Small House at Allington.
Phineas Finn is a novel by Anthony Trollope and the name of its leading character. The novel was first published as a monthly serial from 1867–1868 and issued in book form in 1869. It is the second of the "Palliser" series of novels. Its sequel, Phineas Redux, is the fourth novel in the series.
Phineas Redux is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in 1873 as a serial in The Graphic. It is the fourth of the "Palliser" series of novels and is a sequel to the second book of the series, Phineas Finn.
The Duke's Children is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published between 1879 and 1880 as a serial in All the Year Round. It is the sixth and final novel of the Palliser series. In 2020, the original text of The Duke's Children was restored for publication of a new edition led by editor Steven Amarnick.
The Eustace Diamonds is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published between 1871 and 1873 as a serial in the Fortnightly Review. It is the third of the "Palliser" series of novels, though the characters of Plantagenet Palliser and his wife Lady Glencora are in the background.
Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury was an English peer and Whig politician who was part of the Immortal Seven group which invited William of Orange to depose King James II of England during the Glorious Revolution. He was appointed to several minor roles before the revolution, but came to prominence as a member of William's government. Born to Roman Catholic parents, he remained in that faith until 1679 when—during the time of the Popish Plot and following the advice of the divine John Tillotson—he converted to the Church of England. Shrewsbury took his seat in the House of Lords in 1680 and three years later was appointed Gentleman-Extraordinary of the Bedchamber, suggesting he was in favour at the court of Charles II.
Doctor Thorne is the third novel written by Anthony Trollope in his Chronicles of Barsetshire series, between Barchester Towers and Framley Parsonage. It was published by Chapman and Hall in London in 1858. The idea of the plot was suggested to Trollope by his brother Thomas. Though set in Barsetshire, Barchester and its residents take little part in the proceedings. The novel is mainly concerned with money and position.
Can You Forgive Her? is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in serial form in 1864 and 1865. It is the first of six novels in the Palliser series, also known as the Parliamentary Novels.
The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe, appeared in four volumes on 8 May 1794 from G. G. and J. Robinson of London. Her fourth and most popular novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho tells of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers misadventures that include the death of her mother and father, supernatural terrors in a gloomy castle, and machinations of Italian brigand Signor Motoni. It is often cited as an archetypal example of the Gothic novel.
The Bedchamber crisis occurred on 7 May 1839 after Whig politician William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne declared his intention to resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after a government bill passed by a very narrow margin of only five votes in the House of Commons. Following a few false moves toward an alternative Tory prime minister and a Conservative government, Lord Melbourne was reinstated until the 1841 election, when the Conservative party took over.
The Palliser novels are six novels written in series by Anthony Trollope. They were more commonly known as the Parliamentary novels prior to their 1974 television dramatisation by the BBC broadcast as The Pallisers. Marketed as "polite literature" during their initial publication, the novels encompass several literary genres including: family saga, bildungsroman, picaresque, as well as satire and parody of Victorian life, and criticism of the British government's predilection for attracting corrupt and corruptible people to power.
The Pallisers is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels. Set in Victorian era England with a backdrop of parliamentary life, Simon Raven's dramatisation covers six novels and follows the events and characters over two decades.
He Knew He Was Right is an 1869 novel written by Anthony Trollope which describes the failure of a marriage caused by the unreasonable jealousy of a husband exacerbated by the stubbornness of a willful wife. As is common with Trollope's works, there are also several substantial subplots. Trollope makes constant allusions to Shakespeare's Othello throughout the novel. Trollope considered this work to be a failure; he viewed the main character as unsympathetic, and the secondary characters and plots as much more lively and interesting, but it is one of his best known novels. It was adapted for BBC One in 2004 by Andrew Davies.
Women Pleased is a late Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy by John Fletcher that was originally published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.
The American Senator is a novel written in 1875 by Anthony Trollope. Although not one of Trollope's better-known works, it is notable for its depictions of rural English life and for its many detailed fox hunting scenes. In its anti-heroine, Arabella Trefoil, it presents a scathing but ultimately sympathetic portrayal of a woman who has abandoned virtually all scruples in her quest for a husband. Through the eponymous Senator, Trollope offers comments on the irrational aspects of English life.
The Claverings is a novel by Anthony Trollope, written in 1864 and published in 1866–67. It is the story of a young man starting out in life, who must find himself a profession and a wife; and of a young woman who makes a marriage of convenience and must accept the consequences of her decision.
"Tell it to the Marines" is an English-language idiom, originally with reference to Britain's Royal Marines, connoting that the person addressed is not to be believed. The phrase is an anapodoton – the full phrase is "tell it to the marines because the sailors won't believe you", but only the first clause is usually given, standing for the whole. The idiom depends on its implication that marines, unlike the speaker, will gullibly believe nonsense.
The Prime Minister public domain audiobook at LibriVox 