Palliser novels

The Palliser novels are six novels, more correctly known (before the BBC television adaptation aired) as the "Parliamentary Novels", by Anthony Trollope.

The common thread is the wealthy aristocrat and politician Plantagenet Palliser and his wife Lady Glencora. The plots involve British and Irish politics in varying degrees, specifically in and around Parliament. The Pallisers do not always play a major role; in The Eustace Diamonds, they only comment on the main action.

The books are:

The series overlaps with Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire, also six novels, which deal with life in the rural fictional county where the Palliser family is politically important.

Plantagenet Palliser

Plantagenet Palliser is a main character in the Palliser novels. First introduced as a minor character in The Small House at Allington, one of the Barsetshire novels, Palliser is the heir presumptive to the dukedom of Omnium. Palliser is a quiet, hardworking, conscientious man whose chief ambition in life is to become Chancellor of the Exchequer. After an unwise flirtation with the married Lady Dumbello (daughter of Dr. Grantly and granddaughter of the Reverend Mr Harding from The Warden and Barchester Towers), he agrees to an arranged marriage with the great heiress of the day, the free-spirited, spontaneous Lady Glencora M'Cluskie. She, at first, finds him boring and considers running away with her dangerous other suitor, the dashing but penniless Burgo Fitzgerald. After he learns of his wife's feelings and plans, Palliser persuades her to travel in Europe to cement their relationship—and is promptly offered the post of Chancellor, which he declines with great regret, since his first priority is his wife. Despite their greatly different natures, the couple settles down to a happy married life. The last book in the series, The Duke's Children, deals with the lives and loves of their three children.

He is eventually offered the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer anyway. However, upon inheriting the dukedom, he is forced to relinquish his beloved post, as it is against constitutional practice for a member of the House of Lords to hold that post. In The Prime Minister, when neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives are able to form a majority, a weak coalition government is the only solution. He is asked to become Prime Minister because he is an undivisive figure. But he is too sensitive to enjoy his tenure. Socially awkward, he is especially vexed by his wife's lavish parties, which are her attempt to help influence others to support him. Due to the fragile nature of the coalition, he accomplishes little other than to keep the kingdom on an even keel. By the time he leaves office, it is with regret, having grown accustomed to the power of his lofty position and greatly disappointed that he has not been able to do more. He declines a place in the Liberal cabinet which follows his, feeling it inappropriate to serve in a cabinet once he has led one, but after some thought, leaves the door open to a return to participation in the government in future, and when the Liberals regain power at the end of The Duke's Children, he accepts a Cabinet post as Lord President of the Council.

When the duchess dies unexpectedly, he comes to realise how necessary she had been to his happiness. She has been his only true friend; all others were either merely political allies or her friends. The widower is left to deal with the marriage choice of two of his three grown children, neither of whom initially meets with his approval.

The Omnium Government

Cabinet members

Non-cabinet

Changes

Sir Orlando Drought resigned ostensibly over disagreements with Government policy, but in reality because he believed the Leader of the House of Commons should be Prime Minister, and his political ambitions were frustrated. He was replaced as First Lord of the Admiralty by Phineas Finn and as Leader of the House of Commons by Joshua Monk, who retained his post as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The name of Finn's replacement as Chief Secretary for Ireland is not mentioned.

Sir Timothy Beeswax resigned over the County Suffrage Bill. No replacement for him is mentioned prior to the end of the Omnium government.

List of minor characters

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

K

L

M

O

P

S

T

V

W

Adaptations

In 1974 the BBC adapted the Palliser novels as a twenty-six part serial The Pallisers, also using some material from Trollope's Barsetshire novel The Small House at Allington (1864).

There was also a 12-part BBC Radio 4 "Classic Serial" dramatisation in 2004, which has been re-broadcast a number of times on BBC Radio 4 Extra. The serial was narrated by David Troughton as Trollope, with Ben Miles as Plantagenet Palliser and Sophie Thompson as Lady Glencora.

References

  1. ↑ Trollope, Anthony (2012), Phineas Redux (audio), Blackstone.
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