Conclusions

The last 100 pages or so of Trollope's The Prime Minister were a bit of a let-down, at least in terms of the Emily/Arthur romance. In contrast I quite enjoyed the last days of the Palliser administration, and the formation of the new government. The political element of the novel is entirely convincing all the way through, and really quite an unusual achievement. The notion of dealing with a PM who doesn't exactly want the position and the human cost in doing his duty is extremely insightful at every point. The very lack of fireworks is beguiling. Given Trollope's essential conservatism I suppose this quietist version of the political world might be seen as deeply reactionary, but the novel also manages to deal convincingly with the currents of political change and progress. And Trollope is quite brilliant in conveying a sense of how things get done, or don't get done, in the corridors of power.

But the stuff about Emily refusing the marriage everyone wants for her was all a bit much. I suppose it's in there because Victorian readers liked their gratification delayed but I was rather hoping that Arthur would find some other (reasonable) woman and kick it all in the head. Either that, or have Emily absolutely refuse him out of her sense of misguided integrity and end the novel on a deeply sombre note of disappointment (as Tolstoy might have done.) But I don't think Trollope's readers would have stood for that.