On Trollope's Criticism Of The Church Of England In The Warden And Barchester Towers

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882), most noted for his "Barsetshire" novels and "Palliser" novels, was a prolific writer whose work offers us an unsurpassed portrait of the professional and landed classes of Victorian England. Throughout his life, he wrote all together forty-seven novels, several travel books, biographies, as well as collections of short stories and sketches, so he enjoyed considerable acclaim as a novelist in and beyond his own lifetime. Trollope was the most controversial novelist in Victorian England. After his death, his fame declined. But in the 20th century especially after the World War II, his popularity and reputation were gradually regained. Today much more attention has been paid to him.His "Barsetshire" chronicles include six novels:The Warden (1855), Barchester Towers (1857), Doctor Thorne (1858), Framley Parsonage (1861), The Small House at Allington (1864), and The Last Chronicle of Barset (1867). The action of these novels was for the most part set in the imaginary Barsetshire and its cathedral town Barchester in the west of England. The Church, the Civil Service, the Parliament, the Law, the rural gentry-Trollope was the first novelist in his "Barsetshire" series to truthfully map the subtle interrelations of these various institutions in Victorian England.The Warden and Barchester Towers were Trollope's first two successful novels from which he established his manner and material, and without any doubt, the two novels first informed the world of his genius. In this thesis, the author chooses the first two novels of Trollope's "Barsetshire" series, The Warden and Barchester Towers, as her case study. After careful reading and profound thinking, the author finds Trollope's criticism of the Church of England in mid-Victorian England. So as to explore the criticism of the Church of England in Trollope's The Warden and Barchester Towers, the author of the thesis should first make clear the general state of the Church of England in the mid-Victorian period, particularly the close relationship between the Church of England and the English politics, and the threat to the institution of the Church of England as a result of the challenges coming from the changing society, which sped up the division between the High Church and the Low Church. And meanwhile, Trollope's pessimism about the Church of England will also be revealed from his concern for the institution of the Church of England and his concern for the schism within the Church. Next, the author places her emphasis on Trollope's criticism of the secularization and the doctrines of the Church of England. Mainly based on the detailed analysis of The Warden and Barchester Towers, the author makes known Trollope's criticism of the secularization of the Church of England from the following two aspects:the secularization of the religious people including the clergymen and their wives; the secularization of the clerical affairs within which the problems of clerical scandals, clerical pluralism and absenteeism, and clerical fighting stand out. Then, the author centers on Trollope's criticism of the doctrines of the Church of England, concentrating on the rigid Church dogmas-dehumanization which can be reflected through Mr. Harding's spiritual pain, and the divided Church doctrines between the High Church and the Low Church owing to the absence of standard doctrines. Additionally, the author of this thesis reviews and concludes Trollope's criticism of the Church of England in the last chapter. At the same time, the author points out the enduring appeal of Trollope's novels.