Customer Reviews

The Warden

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a simple, short novel dealing with the ethical dilemma of a virtuous man. The Reverend Harding is the warden of a small home providing quarters for 12 retired, indigent workers. The facility is provided for by a trust set up by its founder over two hundred years ago. Income off the land provides revenue for the maintenance of the home and a living for the warden.. The warden has traditionally been the benefactor of this income which has increased over the years. The Rev. Harding is a gentle, honest man who has never given thought to his 800 pound annual revenue until a young reformer files suit, claiming the intent of the will is being violated. Harding thinks about the matter and is inclined to resign. The Bishop and Archdeacon argue that he is entitled to the income.

This book certainly would be a good one for a book club read and discussion. The reformer, the lawyers, the church hierarchy and Reverend Harding all have their views on the matter. Author Trollope does not really pass final judgment on his characters; none of them are cast in black and white terms. In fact Trollope makes the unusual move of bringing a criticism of both the press and Charles Dickens into the novel. The press makes strident value judgments about issues without bothering itself with all the facts or considering the effect their articles will have on the people involved; Charles Dickens treats people as being all good or all bad. Indeed, I found myself arguing with myself for several days after reading The Warden. What should the Rev. Harding done? Was the issue shrouded in shades of gray, or was it clear cut one way or the other?

Many critics consider this to be one of Trollope's lesser works, yet to me it is a very interesting, valuable presentation of an ethical dilemma. And for readers who are reluctant to pick up Victorian novels because of their common 700+ page lengths, this is a little gem at less than 300 pages. Criticism? Well I did a bit of eye-rolling during some of the melodramatic passages. All and all, though, this is an excellent read. From an historical standpoint there was considerable attention being paid to clergy income during this period in England. Trollope's tale was very timely in this regard.

One final note. There are many outstanding Victorian novels that I would give a five star rating to. This book doesn't quite fit into that hall of fame so I have given it just 4 stars, which shouldn't be interpreted as a slight to Mr. Trollope or The Warden.

I read "Barchester Towers" which is the sequel to this some years ago, and I must confess that whilst I liked it I found it very padded out in the second half. "The Warden" is a shorter and in my opinion a superior book. It is the first of the Barchester series and it makes an excellent introduction to Trollope's work. It tells of a dispute that arises between the Church of England and reformers over the rights of the warden of a hospital to the excess proceeds of the land which funds the hospital. In modern terms the hospital is a kind of retirement home for poor workers. The reformers led by John Bold believe the excess funds should go to the hospital residents. The church hierarchy led by Dr Grantly, the archdeacon of Barchester defend the rights of the church, but are content with legal technicalities. This turns into a great public scandal, and the warden Mr Harding suffers a moral dilemma over whether he really is entitled to the money. Trollope looks at both sides of the dispute dispassionately. His sympathies are with the warden who is shown to be the only person who really cares about the wellbeing of the hospital residents. Things are complicated by the fact that Dr Grantly is married to one of Mr Harding's daughters and John Bold is in love with the other. For those such as myself who are more familiar with the works of Charles Dickens it is interesting to see 19th century England from a different (more conservative) perspective. The novel also includes a satire of Dickens via a character called Mr Popular Sentiment.

For many years, the kindly and unambitious Rev. Septimus Harding has been warden of Hiram's Hospital, a residence for poor men who have nowhere else to go, a place where they may live comfortably, get a small stipend from the estate of Mr. Hiram, and live out their lives in peace. The warden of Hiram's Hospital has also been living at peace, until John Bold, a young reformer, questions why Mr. Harding, as warden, gets eight hundred pounds a year for accepting the title of warden, which does not require him to do much else. The bedesmen living in the hospital get only shillings, and Bold wonders whether the real intentions of Hiram's bequest to establish the hospital, more than four hundred years ago, are being honored in the present.

In this first of the Barsetshire Chronicles, published in 1855, Trollope establishes the gently satiric tone and mood which pervade the series. Here he focuses on the church, its clergymen, and their roles in society, showing Rev. Harding to be a man of honor and trust (though a bit too comfortable and unimaginative to ask the hard questions) and contrasting him with Archdeacon Grantly, his son-in-law, who enjoys the power and perks of his position and feels that the world owes him whatever what he can get from it. The stultifying church hierarchy sees its role as almost royal, above the fray and dedicated to sustaining itself.

The conflict which arises when John Bold and Tom Towers, an arrogant newspaperman, become allies in the investigation of the warden's position becomes even stronger when some of the bedesmen are encouraged to demand one hundred pounds a year. Rev. Harding becomes the humiliated subject of editorials, pamphlets, and even a novel showing the "abuses" of his power. Dr. Pessimist Anticant, the pamphleteer, is thought to be a parody of Thomas Carlyle, and the novelist, Mr. Popular Sentiment, is thought to be Charles Dickens. The fact that John Bold, who started it all, is in love with the warden's daughter creates further complications.

Trollope is a delightful writer whose style is to entertain the reader while raising some thoughtful questions. Though he takes his writing seriously and creates memorable characters behaving, as a rule, like real people, he does not take himself seriously, nor does he feel the need to be a social reformer. His humor and amiability give a freshness to novels like this one, which, despite its age, is amusing and perceptive. His later novels, like The Way We Live Now, are far more complex--but just as much fun. n Mary Whipple

Barchester Towers
Doctor Thorne (Barsetshire Novels)
Framley Parsonage

Trollope's debut novel about a man of conscience proved the first of a series set in fictional Barchester. Despite its slow start due to extensive exposition, the story gradually unfolds until the three main characters rush off to London--that great resolver of country crises. There is much internal debate as the "disinterested victim" ponders his comfortable situation. His quiescent conscience slowly awakens to a possible moral injustice, as a result of a sincere lawsuit provoked by an ardent reformer--in tune with 19th century England's mood for social reform. Two outside forces combine to make Mr. Warding's
existence miserable: the ponderous process of the Law (as represented by Sir Abraham Haphazard) and the unbridled power of the Press (in the person of Tom Towers, that "compounder of thunderbolts").

Rev. Septimus Harding at 50 is a mild-mannered Cathedral preceptor, who also serves as warden to a charity hospital for 12 aged men who are no longer able to earn their keep. Far from stealing anything from them, he has acutally increased their daily allowance from his own purse, but the mood of reform which sweeps the nation has caught even Barchester in its pitiless scrutiny. The press condemns; the young reformer (who is coincidentally the suitor of Harding's younger daughter) sets in motion the legal machinery which will surely topple this 400-year-old Injustice.

Now for the critical debate: does the State have the right to dictate to the Church how it shall spend its monies? Is temporal authority to tread upon, investigate, and demand reform in sacred matters? Is there no sanctity of the cathedral Close? Gentle Harding becomes trapped in the middle of this public debate--his heart smitten with personal pain in case he has inadvertently committed great wrong through merely doing his best for the men in his kindly care. Bullied by the Archdeacon, his overbearing son-on-law, the Warden embarks on a moral journey to find peace of mind. His only consolations are his devoted daughter (who denies her own heart in order to remain loyal to her tormented
father) and his aged friend, the Bishop, who is embarrassed but powerless before his pompous son, the Archdeacon. How can such a public outcry be appeased; how can true justice be done for the old beadsmen? Yet, must a man sacrifice his conscience for
the good of others?

Tropllope warns of the dangers of the pen: both the ruthless Press and the more subtle but effective novelist. It is difficult to stay the course of the pendulum of reform once it has been set in motion, as John Bold regretfully
discovers. This is a short intense novel of personal conviction and moral courage, a classic for thoughtful readers. The author provides hints into his characters' personalities by their very names, as did Dickens. [One wonders how such a church vs state situation would be handled today. Alabama courthouse.}

The Warden is a brief novel, the first of the Barsetshire Chronicles. It tells the story of Mr. Harding the Warden of Hiram's Hospital. Over time, John Hiram's bequest has been faithfully distributed to the intended recipients, but his estate has grown so much that Mr. Harding now receives far more than the hospital's wards. John Bold, a local young doctor in love with Mr. Harding's daughter, feels this is unjust. How will the conflict resolve itself?

Thundering newspaper editorials are written, lawyers are consulted and the conclusions are clear. Yet in the end what fixes everything is Mr. Harding's own conscience. An innocent, trusting man caring deeply for his daughter, for the twelve men in his ward, and for his honest reputation Mr. Harding cannot endure the odium of public reproach. In the end, he rises above the issue in a gesture worthy of Cyrano de Bergerac, worthy of Jean Valjean but in fact belonging to a minor country church official. Inspiring stuff.

I should add one thing. There is a slight element of tragedy at the end. Things don't work out for the best and Mr. Harding's noble gesture does bring harm to his wards by depriving them of his care. A wonderful thing with Trollope is how nothing is cut and dry. He correctly presents real life as being messy, however much we would strive to clean it up.

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

The Warden is the first work by Trollope that I have read, so my surprise about its modern issues comes from my ignorance. I have always been a little bit put off about reading Trollope because I have heard that his themes and interests were very specific to the Victorian period and were quite difficult for modern readers. As it happens, this was not my experience of the book in the least. I found it crisp and very readable. The themes of corruption, intentions, and charity are possibly even more relevant today then they would have been during Trollope's lifetime.

I always enjoy a writer who can use a very subtle palette on the characters. I liked Mr. Bold and his conflicting emotions very much. I found his mix of motivations both moving and believable. He is a believable and finely crafted mix of real social commitment, love for Eleanor, and a selfish desire to be seen by the public as the avenging crusader.

The theme of human vs. institutionalized charity is cleverly done, and the points are made without being too brutal or obvious.

Without knowing more of the Trollope works, it would be difficult for me to say whether this is a good place to have begun or not. All I can really say was that I really enjoyed it, and plan on going to read the rest of the Barchester novels. I would recommend it to virtually any reader.

The series of twelve novels that Anthony Trollope wrote about the fictional county of Barchester, England and its inhabitants (I'm including the Palliser books in that calculation) are among the greatest, most entertaining achievements of English literature. And here's where it all begins: "The Warden," a short, sweet tale of a clergyman's burgeoning social conscience, and the uproar that causes in a small, rural community. Perhaps this makes "The Warden" sound more dry than it is; it's actually an amusing, warm-hearted read. Be forewarned that it's not Trollope's best (he's still feeling his way both as a writer and a social critic), but it's the novel that brought him to public attention, and it's essential reading for those starting the series. In particular, it sets up conflicts and personal dynamics that are key to the novel's immediate successor, the brilliant and hilarious "Barchester Towers." Were "The Warden" to exist on its own, it could be dismissed as a slight, second-rate work; as a prelude to what follows, it's important and indispensible.

Trollope started the Barsetshire series in 1855. The Warden was the first volume, and it was not a commercial success. When success came for the sequels, people went back to this relatively small novel, and found that it was quite a good prequel to Barchester Towers.
Barsetshire is a fictive county in West England. It has been identified as a combination of Salisbury, Exeter and possibly others. It has some places which would also serve in later novels, like Silverbridge and Gatherum Castle for the Palliser novels.

The novel is decidedly satirical and deals with three English institutions: the Church of England, the law, and the press.
Our hero is Septimus Harding, the `warden' of a charity organization attached to the cathedral. Harding is a lower clergyman with personal connections to the bishop, whose son had married Harding's first daughter. Harding is the good guy. He is `painfully fearful of having to come to an open quarrel with any person on any subject.'

And then there is another `good guy', a do-gooder, a busybody Brutus, a `reformer', who thinks that Harding is milking a charity at the expense of the beneficiaries. The story gets complicated by the fact that the man also wants to marry Harding's second daughter, apart from trying to rip apart his life.
Technically the issue is this: the charity is based on the estate of a man long ago, who gave fixed amounts to a number of poor men, and the remainder to the warden. Then after some time, the estate had appreciated and the warden's share looked rather substantial. Has he cheated his poor men? We can also look at it from a modern angle: are the overheads of this charity reasonable?
Apart from the legal problem, the main theme of the book is untrammeled press power. The do-gooder takes his suspicion to a newspaper, which makes a big deal out of it and is not obliged to publish counter positions. The theme is picked up by popular sentiment.

Most Trollope novels were monsters of hundreds of pages, and often they contained several interwoven stories, which all could have been subjects of separate novels. This one here has only one story, which makes for nice brevity. It is very enjoyable, though the plot does not sound like a prima facie comedy.
Trollope was much into names at this time, more than later. One can like it or not, it does add a punny element to the serious story.
The busybody's name is John Bold.
The lawyer is called Haphazard.
The medical doctor is Dr. Fillgrave.
The man with 12 children is called Quiverful.
Charles Dickens is satirized as Popular Sentiment (and publishes a novel on the case, called The Almshouse) (This has a touch of the neophyte novelist's envy for the successful colleague.)
Thomas Carlyle (the reactionary) shows up as Dr. Pessimist Anticant.

Much of the irritating power of this ambiguous and great little novel comes from its ambivalence about its theme: while we sympathize with the warden, we can't quite answer the question whether he is right; while we can't quite disagree with the case as started by Bold, we do dislike him strongly for his dogoodism. On the other hand, we also wish him well with Nelly (while we hate the self-righteous first son in law of the warden, the prig of an archdeacon).
Trollope plays with us. Good start!

In this delightful short novel, Trollope highlights and satirizes clerical abuses in the 19th century Church of England. The story centers around a legacy that was intended for charitable purposes but which is now being used to provide a comfortable sinecure for a minor clergyman. However, rather than taking the easy route of painting the recipient, Mr. Harding, as a conniving exploiter, Trollope instead portrays him as an innocent and gentle figure who lovingly cares for the bedesmen of the charity and who innocently accepts his excessive income as a customary gift. As the story unfolds, another harsher figure, Archdeacon Grantly, aggressively defends the church's rights, but Mr. Harding is unwilling to accept the public odium of his position and also slowly comes to believe that he should not accept his income unless he can be certain it was what the long dead founder intended. Thus Trollope succeeds in highlighting and attacking a then common clerical abuse, but in a way that largely avoids attacking the clergy themselves.

I particularly enjoy The Warden because of the very gentle way in which Trollope exposes and satirizes human weaknesses. He avoids being harsh or critical and instead draws the reader into a gentle understanding that author, reader, and characters all share many of the same follies, frailties and self-deceptions. Archdeacon Grantly may often be pompous and foolish, but he is also very human.

The Warden is sometimes seen merely as a preamble to the more elaborate delights of Barchester Towers, but at around 280 pages it is a fine gem in its own right.

I got this initially just to have the background for Barchester Towers (it wasn't necessary; BT can stand alone) but it made a Trollope fan of me. Now I'm working my way through the whole Barchester series, enjoying the language and dry wit. It probably helps to be an Anglican/Episcopal so the vocabulary of the English church is not so unfamiliar, but once past that Trollope draws some great characters, who with some minor modifications would transcend time and place.