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Dr Wortle's School (Penguin Classics)
 
 
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Dr Wortle's School (Penguin Classics) [Kindle Edition]

Anthony Trollope (Author), Mick Imlah (Introduction)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review) |
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Product Description

Product Description

Mr Peacocke, a Classical scholar, has come to Broughtonshire with his beautiful American wife to live as a schoolmaster. But when the blackmailing brother of her first husband - a reprobate from Louisiana - appears at the school gates, a dreadful secret is revealed and the county is scandalized. Ostracised by the community, the pair seem trapped in a hopeless situation - until the combative but warm-hearted headmaster of the school, Dr Wortle, offers his support, and Mr Peacocke embarks upon a journey to America that he hopes will lay to rest the accusations once and for all. A perceptive exploration of Victorian morality, Dr Wortle's School (1881) also contains echoes of Trollope's own life, and his personal affection for the vivacious Bostonian Kate Field.

Synopsis

This story, set in against one of Trollope's favourite backgrounds - parochial and diocesan life - explores the themes of loyalty, bigamy and legitimacy in foreign parts. As with all of Trollope's novels, he focuses on reflecting the human character and in recording Victorian England.
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Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 334 KB
  • Print Length: 140 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1451565771
  • Publisher: Penguin (29 April 1999)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B002RI9B0I
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #270,445 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Anthony Trollope
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Exceptional even among the Penguin introductions, Imlah's helpful guide to this Trollope will be of use to lay reader and student alike. I am a great lover of Trollope, but I still learned a great deal from this edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:  6 reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
A Trollope Treat 12 Sep 2000
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Dr. Wortle's School is basically the story of two couples in love and how their affections disrupt the tranquil setting of the school. The main plot revolves around Dr. Wortle's "usher" or school assistant, Mr. Peacocke and his wife. A scandal from their past threatens their happiness. The second, very minor, plot is the love story between Dr. Wortle's daughter, Mary and the good-natured Lord Carstairs.

The joy of the novel is watching Dr. Wortle deal with these crises. Will he stand by Mr. Peacocke in his time of need? Will he allow his daughter to become engaged to the very young Lord Carstairs? The answers to these questions and the reactions of the other characters are handled in the typical Trollope fashion, with compassion and common sense. Sprinkle the whole thing with deft strokes of humor and you have what is Dr. Wortle's School.

As I mentioned in my review of Castle Richmond, I am amazed what a modern thinker Trollope was. His reputation as a "old-fashioned" author is entirely undeserved. In a day and age (late 1870s)when actions and image were everything, where a hint of scandal could ruin a person, it must have seemed radical to stress that persons should be judged as much on their "nature" or character as anything else. This is one of those general notions that could be applied just as well in 2000 as in 1878.

You might wonder, given what I have already said, why I give Dr. Wortle's School four stars. When you compare them to his towering Last Chronicle of Barset, Orley Farm and The Way We Live Now, it seems a slight injustice to those five star books to give all the others five stars. Dr. Wortle's School is very readable certainly, but it does not quite obtain the status of "masterpiece" that these other novels can claim. As always, Trollop's humor, dialogue, and characterizations make this an enjoyable novel that can be recommeded to anyone.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
A moral dilemma 16 Nov 2003
By Eileen Rieback - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This novel, one of Anthony Trollope's shortest, deals with a scandal that arises when the bigamous marriage of school teacher Mr. Peacock and his supposed wife is uncovered. In the moral climate of Victorian England, the repercussions of that discovery spread swiftly and severely. The fallout not only harms the Peacocks, but schoolmaster Dr. Wortle and the reputation of his school. The story dwells less upon the secret bigamous marriage itself than upon the the moral dilemma resulting from it: whether something that seems on the surface to be immoral is in truth not really a sin. Dr. Wortle, rather than the Peacocks, is the central character of the story. It is through his fair and compassionate eyes that the reader ponders whether the relationship between Mr. Peacock and his "wife" was really less sinful than any other choice available to the couple. His views are contrasted to those of the Church and to the society as a whole.

Trollope introduces a note of levity to the story with a side plot concerning the love between Dr. Wortle's daughter Mary and young Lord Carstairs, a student at the school. Trollope also takes some interesting potshots at America, particularly the lawlessness and licentiousness of the American West. A good introduction and footnotes to the novel provide background information on Trollope's ideas and personal life, and how they are reflected in the story. If you are hesitant to try a novel by Trollope, this would be a good one to start with.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
A well-balanced portrait of compassion and forgiveness 12 Sep 2000
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
In 'Dr. Wortle's School' Anthony Trollope takes on a very controversial and scandalous subject, that of a bigamous marriage. With a very even hand Trollope allows us to see into the motivations of his characters and truly come to understand why they've done the things they've done, and how they justify their actions. Instead of preaching religion, which clearly isn't Trollope's style, he chooses to take a more liberal look at the underlying morality of the actions of his characters. 'Dr. Wortle's School' has a very modern ring for a Victorian novel, and the themes and characters could easily have been depicted by Joanna rather than Anthony Trollope. Add to that the mysterious tone of Wilkie Collins and you have a very satisfying Victorian novel.
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