An edition of The American senator (1877)

The American senator

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The American senator
Anthony Trollope, Anthony Trol ...
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Last edited by ImportBot
December 4, 2022 | History
An edition of The American senator (1877)

The American senator

  • 8 Want to read
  • 2 Currently reading
  • 2 Have read

This is one of Trollope's best novels, in the present writer's opinion. Among several intermingled plots, the story arc of Arabella Trefoil is the most rewarding. The husband-hunting Arabella is absolutely one of Trollope's best characters. She is grand-daughter to a great Duke, yet her social position is precarious, because her father was a wastrel younger son who married a woman of low birth (her father was "in trade!"). He engrossed her large fortune and squandered it, leaving his estranged wife and daughter nearly destitute, and yet with an expensive social position to maintain. Read this book for Trollope's masterly delineation of how these circumstances harrow the soul and deform the character of a young woman. With no fortune except a relentless will, Arabella must marry well to save herself from the abyss of middle-aged spinsterhood, poverty, and social death. Arabella has learned to regard the men in her life as stupid but powerful enemies against whom any cruel or dishonest treatment is thoroughly justified. Men are to be flattered, fooled and captured, or dealt with according to the laws of war. Trollope makes clear that Arabella is what her avaricious, hypocritical, patriarchal social class has made her into, and she is a sympathetic character despite her hardened heart. When she is introduced, she is nearly thirty and is nearing the end of the line as a marriageable girl. "I'll tell you what it is, mamma. I've been at it till I'm nearly broken down. I must settle somewhere;—or else die;—or else run away. I can't stand this any longer and I won't. Talk of work,—men's work! What man ever has to work as I do?"

The eponymous American Senator is Elias Gotobed, of the fictional American state of Mickewa, who visits England apparently in order to inflict his opinions on everyone he meets. Trollope's senator is a self-righteous, pontificating horse's ass who offends against hospitality by lecturing and berating his hosts and their other guests at the dinner table about their laws and customs, and by meddling in local quarrels which are none of his business. In the end, the honour of England is avenged against the obnoxious Solon of Mickewa and he beats a retreat to the States with a flea in his ear. One wonders who the model(s) for this character might have been.

A third storyline involves the romantic vicissitudes of Mary Masters, a country lawyer's daughter and a typical Trollopeian nice, well-principled young girl. All these stories are woven together expertly and seamlessly. This is a book to read and re-read. There are many hunting scenes, and the conversations of the horsey set are strikingly well-observed and most enjoyable, whether you approve of blood sports or not.

Publish Date
Publisher
Penguin Books
Language
English
Pages
557

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The American senator
The American senator
2008, Oxford University Press
in English
Cover of: The American senator
The American senator
1993, Penguin Books
in English
Cover of: The American senator
The American senator
1986, Oxford University Press
in English
Cover of: The American senator
The American senator
1979, Dover Publications, Constable
in English
Cover of: The American senator
The American senator: A novel
1877, Harper & brothers
in English
Cover of: The American senator
The American senator: A novel
1877, Harper & brothers
in English
Cover of: The American senator
The American senator
1877, Belford
Microform in English
Cover of: The American senator
The American senator: A novel
1877, Harper & brothers
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Published in
London, New York
Series
The Penguin Trollope ;, 38

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
823/.8
Library of Congress
PR5684 .A8 1993, PR5684.A8 1993

The Physical Object

Pagination
vii, 557 p. ;
Number of pages
557

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL1211116M
ISBN 10
0140438386
LCCN
94207342
OCLC/WorldCat
30608537
Library Thing
87167
Goodreads
1266949

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
December 4, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
November 17, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
November 19, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
April 28, 2011 Edited by OCLC Bot Added OCLC numbers.
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from Scriblio MARC record