The American Senator

Despite a decreasing popularity throughout his career, Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) has become one of the most notable and respected English novelists of the Victorian Era. His penetrating novels on political, social and gender issues of his day have placed him among such nineteenth century literary icons as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and George Eliot. Trollope penned 47 novels in his career, in addition to various short stories, travel books and biographies. «The American Senator,» published in 1875, is one of Trollope's less-known works, but serves as a valuable depiction of rural English life in the nineteenth century. The story presents Arabella Trefoil, the unabashed, fortune-hungry fiancé of British legal secretary, John Morton. The pair return from a trip to Washington in the company of an American Senator, Elias Gotobed, who later translates his experiences abroad into a commentary on the absurd and irrational aspects of English society.