Anthony Trollope: A critical study of the short fiction

Anthony Trollope is known primarily for his prodigious literary output which includes forty-seven novels, most of them the "three-decker" so popular during the mid-Victorian period. As well, he wrote numerous signed and unsigned works of non-fiction. However, he also wrote over forty works of short fiction. almost all of which appeared in various popular periodicals of his day. Very often, Trollope used the vehicle of the short story to explore themes that challenged Victorian sensibilities. Indeed, the story line in most of the short fiction is predicated on a situation wherein boundaries of class, wealth, and birth are subject to violation. Although Trollope's extensive long fiction enjoys close scrutiny by scholars, his short fiction has not received significant critical examination; this study helps fill that critical lacuna.;Much like a serialized novel was treated, Trollope periodically gathered a group of his stories and issued the collection in a separate volume. This study examines Trollope's short fiction in the order that he collected his works. After the introductory material in Chapter 1, the succeeding five chapters treat Trollope's five collections in chronological order. In addition, Chapter 6 also includes four short stories by Trollope which were published in periodicals but were not included in the author's collections. For each of the short stories the publishing history is reviewed, the biographical context noted, and the story critically analyzed.