Is He Popenjoy?

Is He Popenjoy ?

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Trollope always seems to me to be somewhat of a feminist, but that is mostly because he so often writes of society through the lens of his female characters. In Is He Popenjoy? I think this is one of his that might make for a lively in person group discussion.

Is a married woman's platonic friendship with a single man improper? Can a married man's receipt of a love letter from a woman not his wife constitute infidelity? How have the rights of inheritance evolved, and when is it right to question them? The marriage vows included the wife promising to obey her husband - was it ever right to ignore this promise?

Then there is the question of in-laws - good, bad and indifferent.

Is He Popenjoy?, by Anthony Trollope

I liked this book more than I expected when I started. Trollope gets wordy occasionally and there were places when I wanted him to just get on with it. Still, it crosses the threshold of 5 stars, though it probably sits toward the bottom of that group. I quite liked it, actually. I picked up Is He Popenjoy? Well, Lord Popenjoy, Lord Schmopenjoy. And how these gender politics interact with class hierarchy. The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination lately, but Victorian women did write things, with various degrees of tortuousness, that explored gender stereotypes, roles and ideas.

And there are literally zillions of books by Victorian men that incorporate troubling gender stuff, largely unexamined. But this book is a rare bird: So what often-unexamined ideas does Trollope examine? He scrutinizes the child-child to wife-child transition. He looks at that gendered double standard for behavior. At times the book comes off as pretty misogynistic, which usually leads me to make obnoxiously audible retching sounds.

Weirdly, though, this one turns out to be more thoughtful and compassionate about this sort of thing than, for instance, much of Dickens. They might not put up their feet and stay there awhile, but at least the story makes that place conceivable. Or the limited options available to most women due to class and gender. Any audible retching sounds were also suppressed by the fact that this book is chock-full of questions: And Trollope tempers his ossification on other topics, too.

The novel engages with that troublesome modernity in a similarly ambiguous way. Plus, some characters are distinctly 2-D, like the requisite oily, scheming clergyman who reads like an oily, scheming after thought. Also, six thousand million characters into his novelistic career, he may have been running a wee bit short of inventiveness when it came to evocative names, e. Trollope, you clever minx.

Trollope, you…oh, never mind. So let me sum up: This book pairs well with Anything having to do with gender in Victorian England. Like, oh, The Madwoman in the Attic: View all 3 comments. I think that Is He Popenjoy? For Trollope, inspiration was just a sham, and it was definitely his talent that enabled him to keep up that half-ironic, half-paternal, all in all so elegant, authorial voice that made most of his writing so characteristic and enjoyable. At times, however, you can see that writing was a routine for him, and I think the meandering ending of Is He Popenjoy?

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I was glad when I finally reached the ending of that story. Nevertheless, the novel has three wonderful female characters — the inexperienced Mary Lovelace, who learns to hold her ground in her marriage, the underhanded and deceitful Mrs. She, no doubt, was young, and practice had not come to her. As matters stand, Is He Popenjoy? This is not only one of Anthony Trollope's sunniest novels, it is probably the best one of his books to start with if you have never read any of his works before. On one hand, Is He Popenjoy? If the Italian claimant to the title is indeed Popenjoy, that prevents the marquis's brother, Lor This is not only one of Anthony Trollope's sunniest novels, it is probably the best one of his books to start with if you have never read any of his works before.

If the Italian claimant to the title is indeed Popenjoy, that prevents the marquis's brother, Lord George Germain, from inheriting. Lord George is married to a beautiful young woman named Mary Lovelace, daughter of the local dean of the cathedral. Most of the story tells of their travails as a young married couple, especially where it involves mutual trust.

There are some wonderful characterizations in the novel and a devastating satire on 19th century British feminism. Even as a re-read, I enjoyed the book as much as the first time I read it seven or eight years ago. This one's a keeper. Nov 07, Maan Kawas rated it really liked it. I really enjoyed this novel by AnthonyTrollope! Apr 16, David rated it it was amazing Shelves: Shall I start my review with a question?

I think I shall.

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What induces an author to use a question as a book title? It always seems a bit off-putting to me. This is excellent Trollope. Like a lot of later Trollope, it is a good deal darker than his early novels. This never went over well with his contemporary readers. I think Shall I start my review with a question? I think while a writer is still alive, the readers who love him have invested that love in his earlier novels, and they hope his next novel will be just like the ones before. After he's dead, we have access to the entire corpus, and although we read the books one by one, we don't have the same expectations that the writer's contemporaries had -- and of course we often don't read his works in the order they were published.

I'm reviewing Trollope's novels in the order they were published, but that is not the way I read them. The question here has to do with the legitimacy of an infant. Is he the heir Popenjoy, or is he illegitimate and therefore no heir at all. His father, the Marquis, has returned to England with him and his mother, an Italian marchioness. The Marquis and Marchioness have been married on the Continent.

Or so they say. But as anyone who has read Victorian novels -- certainly anyone who has read Trollope -- knows, a Continental "marriage" is always a red flag. But the heirship question is really a minor part of this novel. Few of the characters here are very honorable. The Marquis is one of Trollope's meanest creatures. And even some of those we are disposed to like when we first meet them turn out to be bigoted and selfish.

Although it's sometimes presumptuous to try to imagine yourself in another century, I think I can see why many of Trollope's contemporary readers didn't like this novel. But the things they wouldn't have liked are the very things we expect in a modern novel. I think I said that already, but it's worth saying again.

Jul 27, Michael Baranowski rated it really liked it. Silly-sounding title, but a perfectly fine Anthony Trollope novel, though certainly not the first thing I'd recommend to anyone unfamiliar with the best 19th century British novelist don't even get me started about Dickens. Sep 20, Anne rated it really liked it Shelves: This book took a long time to get going for me—not until the end of the first volume.

Before then there was too much setup, too many unpleasant characters, and too much snobbery, prudery, anti-Semitism, and sexism. There was still plenty of the latter in the second volume, but not as much. Trollope's great strength is his subtle understanding of personal relationships, and when that drama got going, he was in his stride. The Dean, I think, is one of his greatest creations—not an admirable man by This book took a long time to get going for me—not until the end of the first volume.

Is He Popenjoy? by Anthony Trollope

The Dean, I think, is one of his greatest creations—not an admirable man by any means, but so vividly drawn, and probably emblematic of many other people of the time. And the way the author shows the complex and painful interactions in the Germain family is masterful.

There aren't many novelists who are as realistic about family relationships. Enjoyable, interesting, but a little overdone I enjoyed this book and even found it riveting for a large part of the middle. But there were needless and boring characters, mostly just the women's rights activists, who merely added to the length of the book and not to Its plot development.

Overall though, I very much enjoyed reading it. Reminds me a little of "he knew he was right" but with a much nicer ending!

May 25, Mandolin rated it it was ok. Tagged as 19th century British literature , legitimacy , Trollope. This sounds rather complex. Glad to know you like it. I suppose I saw it on the shelf for so long, it became a fixture. Your allusion to the complex plot with lots of subplots remind me of a book that I am currently reading, Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens. Summarizing that plot will be a nightmare! Sounds great and I admire your skills at writing about such a complex plot. For me, learning how to say no, stand for themselves and think by themselves are an important part of the things I want to pass on to my children.

When will I find the time to read all the books I want to discover? It sounds fun, but I still plan to read the Barchester novels first. Interesting about the feminists. Perhaps he sympathises with greater rights for women, but considers those who advocate it to be unsympathetic. We see that still today for other issues — there are plenty for example who support gay rights in principle but dislike gay rights activists seeing them as shouty and demanding. Quite how people are supposed to get their rights though, without shouting and demanding for them, never seems quite to get answered. Have you read any others?

Austen is a great favourite of mine.

Have you seen any of the adaptations? That was my first I finished it today. What the adaptations had in common was they made it sweeter. The BBC version is a classic series, but the book is better. I too had never read Austen I imagine that comes from being a teenage guy but after seeing screen versions of most of the books, I finally tried one Mansfield Park, if I recall and knew immediately that I had to read them all. Only in the books can you find the true complexity that Austen captured.

There is also a Barchester one which I thought gave rather short shrift to those novels , but they did go all out on the political novels — to good effect, I thought. And as much as I like Trollope, the prospect of trying to read all his novels would simply be too daunting for me. Then again, you are a completest when it comes to these prolific authors — I am quite content just to read the best and sample a few of the rest. How could I resist? I spent a few months last year endlessly watching Austen on film.

Unfortunate that Austen wrote a handful of novels but then they are all perfect. BTW, it took reading Gissing to appreciate how wealthy Darcy is. Also the family members were in a very vicarious financial situation that he deliberately ignored. I am a huge fan of Trollope despite all his literary flaws and endless errors within texts eg stating someone has one elder brother at the beginning of a plot, only to forget and state that they have four elder brothers later in the plot etc!

As the message was in Italian, and as Mr. De Baron did not read the language, he was at a loss. He has got away from all his troubles,—lucky dog! They hardly ever brought him to me, and when they did, it bothered me. And yet, somehow it pinches me;—it pinches me. They shall have trouble enough before they find themselves at Manor Cross. You never saw him. De Baron, wondering why such a communication should have been made to him.

I hardly know whether she had been married or not. I never could quite find out. There were two ceremonies. I believe the Dean knows quite as much about it as I do;—very likely more. What a rumpus there has been about a rickety brat who was bound to die. By George I will. Fancy, if the Dean had killed me. I wonder how it would have gone. There was nobody there to see, nor to hear. If you want ever to see me again, you must come to Como.

De Baron took his leave, and the Marquis prepared for his departure. As he was stepping into the carriage at a side door he was greeted by Mr. The Marquis looked at him, muttered something, and snarled as he hurried up the step of the carriage. Groschut on the path. Before lunch everybody in the house knew that poor little Popenjoy was dead, and that the Dean had, in fact, won the battle,—though not in the way that he had sought to win it.

Lord Brotherton had, after a fashion, been popular at Rudham, but, nevertheless, it was felt by them all that Lady George was a much greater woman to-day than she had been yesterday. It was felt also that the Dean was in the ascendant. The Marquis had been quite agreeable, making love to the ladies, and fairly civil to the gentlemen,—excepting Mr. Groschut; but he certainly was not a man likely to live to eighty.

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He was married, and, as was generally understood, separated from his wife. He merely sent me word by Mr. De Baron afterwards assured Lady Brabazon that the poor father had been very much cut up. Great pity was expressed throughout the party, but there was not one there who would not now have been civil to poor Mary.

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