Doctor Thorne

Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope

Doctor Thorne opens in East Barsetshire, a county whose landed gentry prize blood, breeding, and the hunt above all else. Old John Newbold Gresham's son, Francis Gresham of Greshamsbury, marries Lady Arabella de Courcy, sister of the Whig Earl de Courcy, and thereby ruins his standing with the Tory county families; three costly, failed election contests and years of extravagant living—fed by Lady Arabella's demands and the squire's own passion for keeping a pack of hounds—leave the Greshamsbury estate deeply mortgaged. Of their many children, only two daughters, Augusta and Beatrice, and one son, Frank, along with a few younger girls, survive to adulthood. As the story opens, Frank has just come of age, and the once-lavish family celebrations are muted by the squire's financial embarrassment. The village doctor, Thomas Thorne, is introduced as a proud, combative, but warmhearted man of good but lesser gentry blood, cousin to the Thornes of Ullathorne. Years earlier his dissolute brother Henry seduced Mary Scatcherd, sister of stonemason Roger Scatcherd, under promise of marriage; Roger killed Henry in a drunken rage and served six months for manslaughter. Dr. Thorne took charge of the resulting infant, also named Mary, after Mary Scatcherd's intended husband agreed to marry and emigrate with her only if she left the baby behind. Thorne swore Mary's mother to secrecy about the child's fate, deliberately concealing the connection from Roger Scatcherd, and raised the girl as his own niece, telling no one but old Mr. Gresham the full truth. Dr. Thorne settled in Greshamsbury, scandalizing the local medical establishment (especially the pompous Dr. Fillgrave) with his low fees and dispensing habits, but won the old squire's friendship and became devoted to the family, particularly nursing young Frank and later the Gresham daughters through illness. He clashed with and was later reconciled to Lady Arabella after several of her children died. Meanwhile, Roger Scatcherd rose from stonemason to wealthy railway contractor and baronet, still trusting only Dr. Thorne with his affairs, though he drinks dangerously; his sale of Boxall Hill to Scatcherd and subsequent mortgage loans through Thorne's mediation have entangled the doctor further in the squire's debts. Mary Thorne, raised almost as one of the Gresham children and educated alongside Beatrice and Augusta, has grown into a spirited, proud young woman devoted to her uncle and to Beatrice, though the aristocratic de Courcy relations, especially Lady Alexandrina, treat her as beneath their notice. At Frank's coming-of-age festivities, Frank—already smitten—declares his love to Mary, who firmly rebuffs him, insisting he call her "Miss Thorne" and warning that continued attentions will force her from Greshamsbury; yet she is visibly hurt when he flirts with Patience Oriel. Mary presses her uncle to learn her true parentage, and Thorne, though anguished, confirms she is his brother's illegitimate daughter and assures her that her mother, whatever her misfortune, was not judged to have disgraced herself—though he withholds the mother's name and the Scatcherd connection, and privately worries whether he was right to raise her as a lady with no fortune and no acknowledged place in the world. Meanwhile, the Countess de Courcy and Lady Arabella discuss the family's desperate need for Frank to "marry money," fixing on the wealthy Miss Dunstable as a prospect, and the countess corners Frank after the party to insist he abandon any romantic notions and visit Courcy Castle to court her. Frank, having just pledged his heart to Mary Thorne (and been overheard by his sister Augusta, prompting a quarrel and Mary's proud declaration that she has nothing to hide), reluctantly agrees to go, while privately resolving to remain loyal to Mary. Augusta herself is engaged to the wealthy but low-born Mr. Moffat, a match arranged by the de Courcys and accepted for its financial advantage despite the family's snobbery about his origins. Roger Scatcherd, now Sir Roger, is meanwhile preparing to contest the Barchester parliamentary seat as a Radical against the de Courcy candidate—who proves to be Mr. Moffat—while Dr. Thorne is summoned to Boxall Hill to attend Scatcherd, whose heavy drinking has brought on a dangerous physical crisis, attended by his devoted wife, Lady Scatcherd, and his dissipated clerk, Winterbones.

By Anthony Trollope · First published 1858 · Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Drama · 47 chapters · 261,498 words

First lines

Before the reader is introduced to the modest country medical practitioner who is to be the chief personage of the following tale, it will be well that he should be made acquainted with some particulars as to the locality in which, and the neighbours among whom, our doctor followed his profession.

What this Textopian page supports

Doctor Thorne is listed on Textopian as a novel by Anthony Trollope, dated 1858 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Good citation fit

Similar titles

Genres

Tags

19th century · British literature · social class · romance · inheritance · family dynamics · gentry · satire · character study · moral dilemmas · courtship · wealth

Contents

More by Anthony Trollope