The fifth novel in Anthony Trollope’s Barsetshire sequence, The Small House at Allington introduced Lily Dale, the protagonist who would become his readers’ favorite. It is a sad tale, for which Trollope makes no excuse, although he acts more tenderly toward Lily in her loss of love, leaving her to survive as a spinster, than he did with the heroine of his Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite (1871), who dies from her broken heart.

The novel reflects many of the elements common to the sequence, including multiple plots, with the subplots supporting themes of the major action. It also incorporates humor, often in the form of skillful irony, despite its sadness. In addition, it contains characters recognizable to avid Trollope readers from his other work: Septimus Harding and Plantagenet Palliser, the latter in a subplot romance of Griselda Dumbello that emphasizes the male assumption that women will conform to their wishes.

Trollope assumes a narrative approach that he seemed to favor, telling his story from the point of view, or perspective, of a female character. Lily and her sister Bell live with their widowed mother at the title residence, the Small House at Allington, where they enjoy the patronage of Mrs. Dale’s late husband’s brother, Squire Dale. The squire remains unmarried, living in his great house, removed from life but sympathetic toward his extended family.

A London civil servant, Adolphus Crosbie, captures Lily’s heart, fascinated by her naiveté and the arcadian innocence suggested by her name, but too jaded to recognize her spiritual value. Adolphus’s focus on materialism becomes clear in an interview with Squire Dale when the squire questions his ability to support Lily “with all those comforts to which she has been accustomed.” Endeavoring to get some promise of income from the wily squire, Crosbie nobly states, “As a matter of course, I would not take a shilling from her,” and is surprised by the squire’s return, “Then that settles it.” While Lily cannot recognize an opportunist, the squire certainly does.

Crosbie rejects Lily for the wealthy Lady Alexandrina Decourcy of Courcy Castle. The two make an unhappy marriage that ends with their separation. Despite courtship by the admirable Johnny Eames, Lily cannot overcome her passion for the out-of-reach Adolphus, and she rejects Eames’s attentions. Her name remains a symbol of death, but it is the death of hope rather than a physical death Lily will endure, later explained when she states that she feels married to the man to whom she gave herself and in whose love she “rejoiced.” Trollope emphasizes his often-used theme of the capricious nature of love, portraying without didacticism the fickle nature of passion.

Eames’s lonely existence in London is emphasized along with the financial problems that grow from his isolation. His observations add a dark humor as well as some balance to the innocence of the rural life enjoyed by the Dales, whose surname suggests their surroundings. Episodes in Eames’s life include drunken husbands, obvious duplicity on the part of scheming women who trap inexperienced men, and all the farce expected in a boarding house that acts as the setting for a raw burlesque. Eames serves as a reflection of Crosbie, a young man not born to wealth yet corrupted by the city in the same way Crosbie was corrupted—by compromising his ideals in order to become successful. He eventually fights and defeats Crosbie, an act finding favor with the Dales but producing small satisfaction for the brokenhearted Lily.

The various heartbreaks are relieved by Bell’s romance with and marriage to Dr. Crofts, a local physician she chooses over her uncle’s wish that she marry her well-placed cousin, Bernard Dale. Crofts remains the only male in the story that respects the wishes of women, thus acting as a foil to the other men.

In addition to a poignant love tale, the novel might be seen as a comment on the selfish concerns of aristocracy, the pride of family name, or an elevation of country life over the more duplicitous life of the city. Trollope revisits his enduring belief that a woman should never be forced into an arranged marriage, his famously stated idea in his autobiography. His writing a story about men who err in judging more correct women might be considered a socially subversive approach during his Victorian era. He includes a sharp reflection on his own trade when Mrs. Dale observes about Plantagenet, “The quick seeing of the meaning must depend a little on the reader, must it not?”

Analysis of Anthony Trollope’s Novels

Bibliography
Kincaid, James. The Novels of Anthony Trollope. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Markwick, Margaret. Introduction to The Small House at Allington, by Anthony Trollope. London: The Trollope Society, 1997, xi–xvii.

Categories: British Literature, Literature, Novel Analysis

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