SOURCE: “The Macdermots of Ballycloran: Trollope as Conservative-Liberal,” Eire Ireland, Vol. 16, No. 2, Summer, 1981, pp. 71-92.

In the following essay, Johnston appraises Trollope's political philosophy, particularly his concern for the problems of the poor, as it is revealed in Trollope's first novel, The Macdermots of Ballycloran.

Anthony Trollope revealed his abiding interest in politics not only in his novels but also in his letters and his autobiography.¹ In the autobiography, he describes his political philosophy as “advanced Conservative-Liberal,” and explains it in a discussion of the ethical implications of the relative positions in society of the rich and the poor. While he sees the poor as having been placed in their unenviable position through divine ordinance, he also sees it as part of this ordinance that their situation should be improved. He is wary, however, of political liberals who want that situation to improve at a pace so rapid...