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Phineas Finn: The Irish Member (Oxford World's Classics)
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Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Author: Anthony Trollope
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Average Customer Rating:
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Phineas Finn: The Irish Member (Oxford World's Classics) Description
Dewey Decimal Number: 570
EAN: 9780192835338
ISBN: 0192835335
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 776
Publication Date: 1999-12-09
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
Editorial Review of Phineas Finn: The Irish Member (Oxford World's Classics)
Customer Reviews of Phineas Finn: The Irish Member (Oxford World's Classics)
Review Summary: Great romance
Review: If I were going to be stranded on a desert island with only one novel to read for the next 50 years, this would be the one I'd want. The world picture it paints is finely detailed and entirely believable; and taken together with Phineas Redux it comprises the most nuanced exercise in character development I've ever seen in English fiction.
Trollope's London is thickly populated with memorable characters, but two women stand out in particular: Lady Laura Standish and Marie Max Goesler. Both are gifted, charming, and in love with the eponymous hero -- a handsome (but poor and socially inconsequential) Irish barrister who finds himself swept up into the world of parliamentary politics.
Without giving away too much, Lady Laura becomes a kind of study thwarted passion. She is riveting; a sad, tragic figure but one the reader never stops caring about. Trollope considered her to be the best character in the novel, and one of his finest literary achievements. Phineas proposes marriage to Lady Laura, and she rejects him, pledging herself instead to a rich man she does not love. This rejection happens quite early in Phineas Finn, but it haunts the characters through both Phineas novels like original sin and propels the entire plot.
About Madame Max I feel I can't safely say too much without spoiling everything, but she is, to my mind, utterly captivating and the actual best character in the books. The scene in which she seduces the Old Duke by allowing him to catch a glimpse of her perfectly turned ankle is the best written seduction scene I've ever had the pleasure to read anywhere. One doesn't usually think of Trollope as a steamy sort of writer, but this is certainly very very erotic stuff.
Another reviewer states that many feel the conclusion of Phineas Finn to be rather weak. Perhaps. But Trollope says that Phineas Finn and Phineas Redux should be understood to comprise but a single narrative. I suspect that many readers who've had the patience to read through both novels will agree with me in stating that the conclusion to the latter novel is probably the most gratifying they have ever read, but it wouldn't be so had the first novel ended in any other way.
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Review Summary: Unlucky in Love, Unlucky in Politics, but Irrepressible
Review: Recently, a personal tragedy resulted in a rare hiatus in my reading. In attempting to return to normal, I found the only author that suited (and soothed) me was Anthony Trollope. As an English major at Dartmouth, I never encountered his works, and none were on the required reading list; yet now, there are few writers who can "embed" me in their world so easily as Trollope.
This is the second of the Palliser series of six novels, the first of which was CAN YOU FORGIVE HER? Although it is not a prerequisite to understanding PHINEAS FINN, I recommend that readers start at the beginning, so that they have some idea of British parliamentary politics in the mid 19th century and the characters of Plantagenet Palliser, his wife Lady Glencora and their circle.
To begin with, there was at that time no monetary recompense for being a member of the House of Commons. The assumption was that: (1) the member was independently wealthy or (2) the member had a day job which paid his bills. This becomes an overriding issue in the novel.
Enter Phineas Finn, an engaging Irishman, who gives up the practice of law to run for an Irish seat in the House -- much to the consternation of his friends and relatives who worry how he is to make ends meet. He joins in with a group of Liberal politicians centered around Lord Beresford and his beautiful daughter, Lady Laura Standish. No sooner does Phineas get up the courage to propose to her than he finds he has been beaten to the punch by a wealthy Scottish member, who happens to be a dour and rigid Presbyterian.
Next he targets Violet Effingham, who has an on-again, off-again relationship with Lord Chiltern, the brother of Lady Laura. In targeting Violet, Phineas runs up against the choleric Chiltern, whose "red hair is no lie," to quote one of my favorite lines in THE QUIET MAN. The two actually fight a duel across the Channel on a Belgian beach with no serious injory to either party. But Violet makes up her mind for Lord Chiltern, and Phineas is out in the cold again.
As Phineas eventually makes it into the Treasury, which does carry some salary, he meets a beautiful wealthy Jewess named Mme Max Goesler, who has some feelings for him. Unfortunately, he had fallen under the tutelage of Mr. Monk, another Liberal politican who runs up against the prevailing political winds in the house. Not only does Phineas become a victim for his principles, but the Liberals are voted out; and Phineas is out of a job and flat broke.
He returns to Ireland, marries an old childhood sweetheart, and gets a sinecure position in Cork as the Tories busily redraw the political map under Disraeli (called Daubeny in the novel).
In addition to being a charmer -- though a bit feckless at times -- Phineas finds himself liked wherever he goes. Mind you, not enough to nab a beautiful, wealthy wife -- but there is a sequel to come called PHINEAS REDUX, which I am reading now, in which Phineas makes a comeback in his old haunts.
As in all of my favorite Trollope novels, there are the obligatory fox hunting scenes, including one in which Phineas helps save Lord Chiltern, whose horse rolls over on him. He even saves the life of Mr Kennedy, Lady Laura's husband, by driving away some muggers. There is something sunny about the title character, and this quality shines throughout the novel.
Anthony Trollope wrote some 47 novels: This one is one of the best, and will certainly make for an enjoyable read.
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Review Summary: The Lady That's Known as Max
Review: The chances are that "Phineas Finn" will not be the first or the second or even the third Trollope novel that you read. Several Barsetshire novels and "The Way We Live Now" are likely to get pride of place. This is probably fair enough. But that fact says more about the merits of the other books than of any defect in "Phineas Finn." It isn't perfect, but it is a very satisfying novel, indeed - perhaps the best "political" novel since Disraeli's "Sybil," It is "political," that is, not in the sense that it tackles big issues, as "Sybil" does - "Phineas Finn" gives a once-over to voting rights, tenant rights and the Irish but it's all somewhat perfunctory. No: it is "political" in the sense that it is about the lives and fortunes of a public man, and of those who offer help or hindrance on the way.
The core elements of the plot are fairly familiar: callow youth sets out to conquer the world and finds out that it's trickier than it looks. Impetuous young woman enters into marriage full of high hopes only to find out that she is stuck with a bad deal. But then, you don't read Shakespeare for plot. I wouldn't say that Trollope is Shakespeare. Still, it is impressive how much by way of character and situation both writes can milk out of a structure that is almost haphazard.
Other commentators have also noted that the ending to "Phineas Finn" is weak, but I don't see that as a crippling vice: I'm hard put to think of a really good novel whose ending is not weak.
One of the many notable facts about the cast of characters is its great range: we have the home folk in Ireland. We have a marvelous portrait of Finn's landlord, the law-copyist, and his employer, the successful barrister - in each case, along with their wives. We have a narrow-minded country squire and a feckless young playboy. And we have a sketch, brief and incomplete but still convincing, of the grandest peer in the realm.
Aside from the sheer breadth of reach, the other thing to be said about the cast is the extraordinary range of interesting women. Phineas, devil that he may be, catches the fancy of at least one back home in Ireland and three more in London. Trollope is often good with women and here in particular he shows remarkable sympathy and comprehension of what they are up against. And not least of the three is, of course, the remarkable Madame Max Goesler, who is surely in contention for recognition as the most remarkable Trollope character at all-for a lady named Max with a touch of a moustache, she is a Victorian sexpot.
It would be fun to read this in comparison with Henry Adams' "Democracy" another novel of politics in more or less the same period, though on another continent. Meantime, I'm clearing time to read the rest of Trollope's "political" novels, in the hope that he maintains the high standard that he has set here.
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Review Summary: Can you forgive the Spoilers?
Review: This Oxford World's Classics edition contains two appendices titled Explanatory Notes and Who's Who. Unfortunately, they give away plot developments not only for this book but also for sequels in the Palliser Novels, of which Can You Forgive Her? is the predecessor to this work. This seems altogether unforgivable, so I recommend you seek out another edition. The novel itself is quite good if you have a lot of time; I was looking forward to the sequels, but now that I know so much of what is going to happen...
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Review Summary: Thinly Plotted, but Wonderfully Critical
Review: At the heart of Trollope's Phineas Finn lies quite a unique (and perhaps presciently postmodern) notion of politics. However, to get at this theory, we readers must wade through the immense amount of exposition that typifies Trollope's writing. We must patiently and assiduously gather plot details from the frequent and plentiful parlor chat, table talk, and other various and sundry gossip that Trollope uses to advance what is an otherwise exceedingly meager plot. Nevertheless, such exposition, which moves at a pace roughly equivalent to that of continental drift, rewards the reader with quite a keen insight into mid-nineteenth century British politics and its relationship to the reality of human nature.
Perhaps the easiest way to approach the political critique at the heart of this novel is by defining the operative assumptions underlying representative politics in general. In theory, representative government is intended to grant the citizenry a say in legislative process, albeit indirectly. A particular representative is supposed to vote on a piece of proposed legislation in such a way that reflects the greater concerns of his constituency. Prior to the events of Phineas Finn, British representative government is grappling with the issue of whom to extend the franchise based on the criteria of real wealth, property, region of origin, etc. One thus gets the sense that the presence of such exclusionary criteria betrays a rather Platonic distaste for general democracy on the part of the parliament ministers. Thus, in creating a system of barriers or gateways between the public at large and the legislative apparatus, the governing body reduces the potential for an anarchic clamor of myriad and wide-ranging interests on the part of the citizenry, which could potentially derail the legislative process altogether. As a result a properly civic-minded representative may always act for the good of his constituency by exercising his judgment, regardless of whether or not his vote conflicts with his constituents' desires. In other words, built into this system of government is the elitist conviction that the governed may be at times too unruly to exercise its franchise prudently. Therefore, by withholding the franchise from those deemed too ignorant to vote wisely (a determination based on various socioeconomic considerations), and by inserting elected officials between the enfranchised and the legislative apparatus itself, government achieves a normative regularity.
However, with the implementation of such a system of governments also come opportunities to exploit and abuse the system. A certain aphorism-- which I attribute to Michel Foucault, though I am not entirely certain that it is indeed his-- comes to mind: "a system is defined by what escapes it." In other words, because a system results from the desire to perpetuate the plane of consistency from which it emerges, the system must necessarily exclude that which is inconsistent with its purpose. Therefore, around any system arises a margin of excluded possibilities and potentialities; however, those dedicated to the system seek to refine it in such a way as to increase its power to envelop and re-absorb that which it had originally pushed to its margins. Thus any system exists in a state of perpetual refinement because it aims to absorb back into itself that which has escaped it into the margins.
Into such a system steps the young and callow Phineas Finn, a man who is indeed marginal in that he is Irish and a commoner, and it is that position of marginality which the system seeks to incorporate into itself. However, one must understand that the system does not incorporate into itself those who dwell at its margins in order to empower them. Rather, it seeks to neutralize the threateningly unregulated marginality that individuals like Phineas Finn represent by bringing them into its regulatory, normalizing regime, and as we shall soon see, this is precisely what almost happens to Phineas.
With the above in mind, one may ask if whether there is any real benefit to entering such a system, if it is indeed essentially neutralizing and normalizing. I answer provisionally that the system into which Phineas enters, i.e., British Parliament, conceals its regulatory, homogenizing and neutralizing essence beneath a seductive veneer of power and celebrity, and it is this veneer to which Phineas succumbs. That is, it seems that at first a government office offers one the ability to satisfy one's desires, because it is a forum policymaking that also generates a cult of celebrity, and I need not explain the advantages of being a celebrity. Therefore, although we may initially think Phineas one lucky devil, we soon discover that Phineas's various political adventures are characterized by the necessity of forsaking that which he desires. For example, Phineas must abandon his desire for Lady Laura Standish because he cannot satisfy Lady Laura's own political ambitions, and later his political indebtedness to Lord Brantford forces him to abandon of his desire for Violet Effingham, with whom Lord Chiltern is in love. In fact, Phineas soon discovers that posturing, longwinded orations and cloakroom alliances epitomize politics more than any deep desire to get things done.
Mr. Kennedy, on the other hand, is quite a virtuous consummate politician, because he is devoted to carrying out every administrative detail that accompanies government office. In truth though, he is really nothing more than a particularly diligent paper pusher. But, however propitious his demeanor is to the endless administrative duties he must carry out, Trollope nevertheless portrays him as a dry, sober, and nearly humorless. Furthermore, Trollope also portrays Mr. Kennedy a sort of gentle but effective disciplinarian in his married life. Thus we may conclude that political success requires the abnegation, or at least the endless deferral, of one's true desires, and that the most successful politician is one who can most effectively subordinate his desire to the workings of government. Therefore, the system seduces Phineas and his peers with a promise of power that it never delivers, and furthermore the system steals one's position of resistance from him via assimilation into a normalizing regime.
Thus we have arrived at the essence of Trollope's political critique: that the British system of representative government is not dedicated to progress, but to stasis. The government preserves and extends the influence of the status quo through a subtle and complex array of practices: e.g., needlessly repetition of proposed legislature, stupifyingly long-winded filibusters, etc. These practices thus result in a perpetual deferral of desire on the part of plebeian, politician and rising young man alike.