Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope

Name: Phineas Redux
Author: Anthony Trollope

Phineas Redux opens as the sequel to Trollope's earlier Phineas Finn, tracing its Irish hero's return to Westminster politics after a spell of quiet Dublin civil service. Following the death of his young wife, Phineas Finn, restless and financially independent after inheriting money from his father, accepts a summons from his old ally Barrington Erle to contest the English borough of Tankerville against the entrenched Conservative Mr. Browborough, resigning his Irish post to do so. Before the contest, Phineas reconnects with old friends: he stays at Harrington Hall with Lord and Lady Chiltern (formerly Violet Effingham), meeting the eccentric Lady Baldock, whose daughter Augusta has become a nun, and the young hunting set including Adelaide Palliser and her diffident suitor Gerard Maule. At Tankerville, agent Mr. Ruddles persuades Phineas to campaign for disestablishment of the Church of England, a position he adopts pragmatically rather than from conviction. Despite vigorous oratory, Phineas narrowly loses the election to Browborough amid evidence of bribery, but Ruddles is confident a petition and scrutiny will overturn the result. Meanwhile, national politics are thrown into turmoil when Conservative Prime Minister Mr. Daubeny, having dissolved Parliament and survived a general election with a reduced position, stuns both parties by announcing at the East Barsetshire hustings his intention to disestablish the Church of England himself, seizing the issue from the Liberals. This triggers dismay among Conservatives loyal to the Church and confusion among Liberals like Mr. Gresham, Mr. Ratler, and Mr. Bonteen, who see their natural platform co-opted. In the ensuing parliamentary debate on the Address, Gresham attacks Daubeny fiercely, but Daubeny's government survives with a majority, aided by radical support from Mr. Turnbull and Mr. Monk. Phineas travels to Loughlinter at the request of Robert Kennedy, Lady Laura's estranged husband, who has grown religiously fanatical and mentally unstable, forbidding Phineas from visiting Lady Laura in an unsettling, tense encounter involving a poker. Phineas then proceeds to Dresden, where Lady Laura Kennedy, living in exile with her aged father the Earl of Brentford, passionately confesses her enduring love for Phineas, though both agree marriage is impossible; she vows lifelong devoted friendship instead. Returning to England, Phineas learns via telegram that the Tankerville scrutiny has succeeded: Browborough is unseated for bribery, and Phineas is declared the winner, restoring him to Parliament. The narrative closes with preparations for the reopened parliamentary battle over Daubeny's Church bill, and a return to Harrington Hall, where Lady Chiltern has invited the wealthy, clever Madame Max Goesler to meet Phineas again, alongside continuing tensions over Lord Chiltern's fox hunting dispute with the Duke of Omnium's estate at Trumpeton Wood. The text breaks off as Madame Goesler awaits Phineas's arrival, with Phineas's political fortunes revived but his personal and financial future still uncertain.

By Anthony Trollope · First published 1873 · Genre: Victorian Literature, Political Fiction, Realism · 60 chapters · 304,380 words

First lines

The circumstances of the general election of 18 -- will be well remembered by all those who take an interest in the political matters of the country. There had been a coming in and a going out of Ministers previous to that -- somewhat rapid, very exciting, and, upon the whole, useful as showing the real feeling of the country upon sundry questions of public interest. Mr. Gresham had been Prime Minister of England, as representative of the Liberal party in politics. There had come to be a split among those who should have been his followers on the terribly vexed question of the Ballot. Then Mr. Daubeny for twelve months had sat upon the throne distributing the good things of the Crown amidst Conservative birdlings, with beaks wide open and craving maws, who certainly for some years previous had not received their share of State honours or State emoluments.

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Phineas Redux is listed on Textopian as a novel by Anthony Trollope, dated 1873 CE.

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Work type: Novel
Author: Anthony Trollope
Date: 1873 CE
Language: English
Genres: Victorian Literature, Political Fiction, Realism, Mystery, Romance
Length: 304,380 words
Structure: 80 chapters, 4,551 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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Genres

Victorian Literature — Given that Phineas Redux was written and published during the height of the Victorian era and it carries characteristics of that period like social commentary and realism.
Political Fiction — The plot revolves around the political career of Phineas Finn, portraying the complex political conditions of the Victorian era heavily in the story, thus making it fit into the genre of Political Fiction.
Realism — Phineas Redux is a testament to Anthony Trollope's realistic style as displayed by the detailed descriptions of 19th-century British society and its political structures.
Mystery — The book involves elements of crime and investigation around an alleged murder, making it fit within the Mystery genre.