Framley Parsonage

What It's About

Framley Parsonage is the fourth novel in Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire, following the young vicar Mark Robarts, who owes his comfortable living to the patronage of the formidable Lady Lufton. Ambitious to rise further in county society, Mark falls in with the reckless local MP Mr Sowerby, whose financial schemes threaten to drag him into ruin. Running alongside this is the story of Mark's sister, Lucy Robarts, and her growing attachment to Lady Lufton's son, Ludovic, Lord Lufton — a match Lady Lufton is determined to prevent.

Key Concepts

The novel weighs clerical duty against personal ambition, and examines how debt and financial guarantees could ensnare even well-meaning members of the landed gentry. It is also concerned with the rigid class barriers governing marriage, and with a mother's efforts to control her son's prospects. A subplot involving parliamentary politics and cabinet office broadens the novel's view of mid-Victorian public life.

About the Author

Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era and one of the most prolific writers of his day. He spent many years working for the General Post Office, a career that shaped his notably disciplined and regular writing habits. He brought a shrewd, often gently satirical eye to the manners, ambitions and hypocrisies of English society. His reputation declined somewhat in the years after his death but was firmly restored by the mid-20th century.