Work record

The Prime Minister

Name: The Prime Minister
Author: Anthony Trollope

Anthony Trollope

1876 · 19th Century · Novel · English

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Abstract

Written: 1874-1876
Setting: 1870s; London, Gatherum Castle, Silverbridge and Herefordshire
Author: Anthony Trollope
Country: England
Language: English
Genre: Political novel
Form: Novel in 80 chapters
Recommended: Grades 10–12 (Very long Victorian political novel; one suicide.)

Office. With neither party strong enough to rule alone, a shy, scrupulous duke is persuaded to head a coalition ministry, accepting from duty rather than desire.

Hostess. His vivacious duchess resolves to make the government glitter, filling their great country seat with guests and dispensing favours.

Embarrassment. Her backing of a smooth adventurer in the family borough ends in defeat, a demand for expenses, and newspaper attacks on the premier's honour.

Adventurer. That same newcomer marries a barrister's daughter against her father's will, gambles in commodities, ruins his partner's household, and finally throws himself before an express train.

Close. The widow slowly accepts her faithful first suitor; after three wearing years the duke resigns, relieved and wounded.

Reading. The fifth Palliser novel offers a searching portrait of conscience in power and of a marriage tested by politics. Readers should note the narrator's Victorian prejudice toward the foreign-born adventurer and discuss it critically. Classes can compare the duke with real Victorian premiers. They might also debate whether a leader's private conscience should ever give way to the practical bargaining that coalition government seems to require, and what the duchess's ambitions cost both husband and wife.

Main characters

Plantagenet Palliser: A conscientious prime minister.
Lady Glencora: His lively, ambitious wife.
Ferdinand Lopez: A charming, unscrupulous speculator.
Emily Wharton: A young woman deceived by Lopez.
Arthur Fletcher: Emily's loyal admirer.
Abel Wharton: A wealthy, cautious barrister.

Summary

The Prime Minister, published in 1875-76, is the fifth of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels. Plantagenet Palliser, now Duke of Omnium, is asked to lead a coalition government because neither party can command a majority; he accepts out of duty rather than ambition, though he is shy, sensitive and ill-suited to the compromises of politics. His wife Glencora, delighted, determines to make his ministry a social success and throws herself into lavish entertaining at their country house of Gatherum Castle. Her generous but careless patronage brings trouble when she encourages Ferdinand Lopez, an adventurer of foreign and obscure origin, to stand for Parliament at Silverbridge, a borough controlled by the Duke's family. The Duke, who refuses to interfere in elections, is publicly embarrassed when Lopez loses and then demands repayment of his expenses, and a newspaper attacks the Prime Minister. The second plot follows Lopez himself, who marries Emily Wharton, daughter of a wealthy barrister, against her father's wishes and in preference to her faithful admirer Arthur Fletcher. Lopez speculates in dubious commodities, deceives his partner Sexty Parker, ruins Parker's family, and tries to extract money from his father-in-law. His wife comes to see his cruelty and dishonesty. Facing ruin and exposure, Lopez throws himself under a train at Tenway Junction. Emily, ashamed and grieving, at first refuses to marry Arthur Fletcher, but after long mourning she accepts him. Meanwhile the coalition grows weak, and after three years the Duke resigns, relieved yet wounded. Trollope's portrait of a scrupulous and lonely man in high power, and of a marriage tested by politics, is among his best, and the novel examines honor in public life, the influence of money, and prejudice against outsiders. Students should notice that the narrator's descriptions of Lopez reflect Victorian prejudices against foreigners and possibly Jews, which Trollope leaves ambiguous.

Virtues in this work

Honor: The Duke refuses to buy political support.
Justice: He insists on fair dealing even when it costs him.

Plot or Argument

A coalition
Palliser, Duke of Omnium, becomes prime minister of a coalition.
Glencora's entertaining
The Duchess entertains lavishly and backs Lopez at Silverbridge.
Lopez's marriage
Lopez marries Emily Wharton, speculates and ruins Sexty Parker.
Fall
Lopez dies by suicide; the ministry falls; Emily marries Arthur Fletcher.

Characters

Plantagenet Palliser, Duke of Omnium
A conscientious prime minister.
Lady Glencora, Duchess of Omnium
His lively, ambitious wife.
Ferdinand Lopez, adventurer
A charming, unscrupulous speculator.
Emily Wharton, Lopez's wife
A young woman deceived by Lopez.
Arthur Fletcher, suitor
Emily's loyal admirer.
Abel Wharton, Emily's father
A wealthy, cautious barrister.

Lessons

Conscience in power
The Duke is honest to the point of weakness.
- Why does Palliser accept office?
- What makes him a poor politician?
- Is honesty a weakness in a leader?
Related across the library
- The Travels of Marco Polo, Lesson: A merchant's eye on a great empire
  A merchant's eye on a great empire. Marco notices what a Venetian trader would: paper money, coal, salt, pepper, silk, the post-stations, the bridges and canals of Kinsay. His admiration for Kublai's government, wealth and order made Europe aware that a civilization larger and richer than its own lay at the far end of Asia.
- The Vicar of Wakefield, Lesson: Patience under trial
  Patience under trial. Like Job, the vicar loses wealth, home, health and freedom but keeps his faith.
- The Overcoat, Lesson: Rank and power
  Rank and power. The person of consequence treats Akaky harshly to display his own importance. The story examines how hierarchy affects behavior.
- Common Sense, Rights of Man, The Age of Reason, and The American Crisis, Lesson: Inherited power needs justification
  Inherited power needs justification. Paine refuses to treat monarchy, aristocracy, or priestly authority as self-evident. Institutions must answer reason and public good.
- The Fall of Constantinople, 1453, Lesson: Division weakens a people
  Division weakens a people. The quarrel over union with Rome divided the Byzantines, and rivalry between Venice and Genoa and the indifference of Western rulers limited help. Runciman shows how disunity among Christians shaped the city's fate, while also noting that the last liturgy in Hagia Sophia gathered both parties.
Marriage under strain
Glencora's ambitions embarrass her husband.
- How does Glencora help and harm the Duke?
- How do they reconcile?
- What do they learn about each other?
Related across the library
- Amelia, Lesson: Marriage as a moral form
  Marriage as a moral form. The novel treats marriage as a daily discipline under pressure, not only a romantic ending.
- Paradise Lost, Lesson: Marriage before and after the Fall
  Marriage before and after the Fall. Milton celebrates wedded love as a holy gift in Eden, then shows the same love disordered when Adam chooses Eve over obedience. The poem treats marriage as a partnership whose happiness depends on both partners' loyalty to God.
- TSC Industries, Inc. v. Northway, Inc., Full Text
  in Mills we attempted to clarify to some extent the elements of a private cause of action for violation of a In a suit challenging the sufficiency under a and Rule a-9 of a proxy statement soliciting votes in favor of a merger we held that there was no need to demonstrate that the alleged defect in the proxy statement actually had a decisive effect on the voting So long as the misstatement or omission was material the causal relation between violation and injury is sufficiently established we concluded if the pr...
- The Meek One, Lesson: Understanding too late
  Understanding too late. The narrator's insight comes only after her death, in a monologue that circles and contradicts itself. The story dramatizes the difficulty of seeing oneself truly.
- A Little Princess, Chapters 15–16, The Magic and The Visitor
  Ram Dass's fire, food and blankets restore the two girls, and Carrisford's own health improves as he takes an interest in the child next door.
Speculation and character
Lopez's financial schemes reveal his character.
- How does Lopez treat Parker?
- Why does Emily marry him?
- Is Trollope fair to Lopez?
Related across the library
- The Wealth of Nations, Lesson: The wealth of a people, not of its treasury
  The wealth of a people, not of its treasury. Smith measures national wealth by the necessaries and conveniences of life enjoyed by the people, and holds that the labouring poor who feed, clothe and lodge the nation should themselves be well fed, clothed and lodged. Generous wages are a sign of a growing society.
- David Copperfield, Lesson: Money and character
  Money and character. Micawber's improvidence, Heep's greed and Betsey's apparent ruin show how money tests character. Dickens finds virtue in honesty under financial pressure.
- Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge, Full Text
  years from the opening of the bridge and at the expiration of that time it was to belong to the commonwealth The corporation have regularly paid to the college the annual sum of l and have performed all of the duties imposed on them by the terms of their charter In the legislature of Massachusetts incorporated a company by the name of The Proprietors of the Warren Bridge for the purpose of erecting another bridge over Charles river This bridge is only sixteen rods at its commencement on the Charlestown side from...
- Sermons on Several Occasions and Primitive Physick, Lesson: Practical care can be theological
  Practical care can be theological. Wesley makes bodily visiting, advice, discipline, and relief part of religious life. Care is not an appendix to doctrine but one of its tests.
- The Wealth of Nations, Book I, ch. viii
  Poverty and child mortality in the Highlands of Scotland; the poor bear many children but rear few.

Context

The novel reflects mid-Victorian politics, including coalition governments and electoral reform, and the speculative finance of the 1870s.

Composition

Published in eight monthly parts by Chapman and Hall in 1875-76.

Reception

Reviewers were cool at first; later critics praised its study of the Duke and Duchess.

Power / Politics Marriage Honor Shame Money Wealth Class / Society

Comparisons

Can You Forgive Her?
The first Palliser novel, where the Pallisers' marriage begins.
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today
An American satire of speculation and politics.

Quotes

“But a Prime Minister cannot escape till he has succeeded in finding a successor”

— Anthony Trollope, The Prime Minister, Chapter VI (Project Gutenberg #2158).Quote card

Moby-Dick, Chapter 9
Delight is to him, who gives no quarter in the truth, and kills, burns, and destroys all sin though he pluck it out from under the robes of Senators and Judges. The close of the sermon on Jonah in the Whaleman's Chapel.
Can You Forgive Her?, Chapter XI
What should a woman do with her life? The narrator reflects on Alice's question.
Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, Full Text
as possible I reserved my attentions for my old regiment known so well in my native island My poor th their loss was terrible I dressed the wound of one of its officers seriously hit in the mouth I attended to another wounded in the throat and bandaged the hand of a third terribly crushed by a rifle-bullet In the midst of this we were often interrupted by those unwelcome and impartial Russian visitors--the shells One fell so near that I thought my last hour was come and although I had sufficient firmness to thro...
Captains Courageous, Chapter VII
The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord! I was--I am a minister of the Gospel. Leave him to me When the Jennie Cushman's skipper is brought aboard after losing his son, Penn's lost memory and calling return and he speaks with the authority of a pastor, quoting Job 1:21.
United States v. The Amistad, Statement of the case and arguments of counsel
who were worth and while on the voyage from Havana to Principe the slaves rose upon the master and crew of the schooner and killed and murdered the master and one of the crew and two more of the crew escaped and got away from the schooner that the two Spaniards on board to wit Pedro Montez and Jose Ruiz remained alive on board the schooner after the murder of the master and after the negroes had taken possession of the vessel and cargo that their lives were spared to assist in the sailing of the vessel and it wa...

“There is no evil in politics so great as that of seeming to buy the men who will not come without buying.”

— Anthony Trollope, The Prime Minister, Chapter LXIV (Project Gutenberg #2158).Quote card

The Gettysburg Address, Source
The Gettysburg Address Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal Now we are engaged in a great civil war testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure We are met on a great battlefield of that war We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live It is alto...
Commentaries on the Laws of England, Lesson: The law as guardian of those who cannot guard themselves
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Youngberg v. Romeo, Full Text
amended complaint was filed alleging that the defendants were restraining respondent for prolonged periods on a routine basis The second amended complaint also added a claim for damages to compensate Romeo for the defendants' failure to provide him with appropriate treatment or programs for his mental retardation All claims for injunctive relief were dropped prior to trial because respondent is a member of the class seeking such relief in another action An day jury trial was held in April Petitioners introduced...
The Law, Lesson: Rights come before law
Rights come before law. Bastiat argues that personality, liberty and property are not created by legislation but are its cause: people make laws to protect what they already have from God. Law therefore has a fixed purpose, the common defence of individual rights.
Youngberg v. Romeo, Full Text
applicable involuntary commitment provision of the Pennsylvania Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act Pa Stat Ann Tit b Purdon At Pennhurst Romeo was injured on numerous occasions both by his own violence and by the reactions of other residents to him Respondent's mother became concerned about these injuries After objecting to respondent's treatment several times she filed this complaint on November in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as his next friend The complaint a...

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

Why the Duke accepts office.
Glencora's entertainments at Gatherum Castle.
The Silverbridge election.
Lopez's dealings with Sexty Parker.
The scene at Tenway Junction.

Key terms and names

Coalition: A government formed by more than one party.
Borough: A town that sent members to Parliament.
Patronage: The power to give jobs or favors.
Speculation: Risky investment in hope of quick profit.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension Why is the Duke chosen prime minister?
Comprehension How does Glencora involve herself in Silverbridge?
Comprehension What happens to Lopez?
Interpretation Why does the Duke refuse to buy support?
Interpretation How is Emily changed by her marriage?
Big Question Can a perfectly honest person succeed in politics?

Faith Connections

Proverbs 29:2 (Scripture)
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.
Proverbs 28:20 (Scripture)
He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Integrity in public life is costly but essential; the Duke's scruples weaken his ministry yet preserve his honor, while Lopez's dishonesty destroys him.

Rhetorical device: parallel plots. The Duke's honest politics are set against Lopez's dishonest finance.

Debate: Resolved: that the Duke was too scrupulous to govern.

Memory Work

But a Prime Minister cannot escape till he has succeeded in finding a successor
Chapter VI. Trollope's wry observation on leaving office.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Compare the Duke and Lopez as men facing public judgment.

Comparison with Can You Forgive Her?: Compare the Pallisers' marriage here with its beginning in Can You Forgive Her?

Creative Prompts

Essay
Is the Duke a good prime minister?
Dialogue
Write the conversation between the Duke and Glencora after the Silverbridge election.
Classroom
Research a real Victorian coalition government and compare it to the novel.