Ralph the Heir
(0 User reviews)
102
1871
English
- Sir Thomas
- Popham Villa
- What Happened On The Lawn At Popham Villa
- Mary Bonner
- Mr. Neefit And His Family
- Mrs. Neefit's Little Dinner
- You Are One Of Us Now
- Ralph Newton's Troubles
- Ontario Moggs
- Sir Thomas In His Chambers
- Newton Priory
- Mrs. Brownlow
- Mr. Neefit Is Disturbed
- The Rev. Gregory Newton
- Clarissa Waits
- The Cheshire Cheese
- Ralph Newton's Doubts
- We Won't Sell Brownriggs
- Polly's Answer
- The Conservatives Of Percycross
- The Liberals Of Percycross
- Ralph Newton's Decision
- "I'll Be A Hypocrite If You Choose"
- "I Find I Must"
- "Mr. Griffenbottom"
- Moggs, Purity, And The Rights Of Labour
- The Moonbeam
- The New Heir Counts His Chickens
- The Election
- "Miss Mary Is In Luck"
- It Is All Settled
- Sir Thomas At Home
- "Tell Me And I'll Tell You"
- Alone In The House
- "She'll Accept You, Of Course"
- Neefit Means To Stick To It
- "He Must Marry Her"
- For Two Reasons
- Horseleeches
- What Sir Thomas Thought About It
- A Broken Heart
- Not Broken-Hearted
- Once More
- The Petition
- "Never Give A Thing Up"
- Mr. Neefit Again
- The Way Which Shows That They Mean It
- Mr. Moggs Walks Towards Edgeware
- Among The Pictures
- Another Failure
- Music Has Charms
- Gus Eardham
- The End Of Polly Neefit
- My Mary
- Cookham
- Ralph Newton Is Bowled Away
- Clarissa's Fate
- Conclusion
As usual, Trollope creates a nice variety of characters of different English classes, sentiments and positions. The primary themes are the inheritance of property, extravagance or reason in the spending of assets, the mating of young people, and the electoral practices of the time. The election chapters are based on Trollope's own experiences when he ran for Parliament.
There are, of course, many subplots which allow Trollope to express, through dialog, his opinions about greed, snobbery, work ethics and dandyism. Trollope probably regretted the duplicative naming of his characters after a while; we have two Gregory Newtons, uncle (and present Squire of Newton) and one of his nephews. Then there are several Ralphs: the (deceased) father, Ralph his son (the heir), and Ralph (not the heir) the son of the uncle Gregory! As they appear, Trollope has to interject "not the heir", or "the other Ralph". Ralph the heir is an extravagant, easy living young man who has spent himself into debt, and is faced with having to either sell his right to the family property, or marrying a wealthy tradesman's (a breeches maker cutely named Mr. Neefit) daughter.
Four young women are major characters, and these are sought by the two Ralphs, young Gregory, and a bootmaker, Ontario Moggs (don't you love the names?). These include the fairly sedate daughters of the family lawyer, a ravishing West Indian beauty come to live with them, and the tradesman's daughter. There are the classic novel "misunderstandings" from errors in communication; while the reader knows the real circumstances, the characters can't resolve issues apparently standing in the way of love or friendship. This is one of the few novels in which the reader can applaud such a misunderstanding, keeping the undeserving heir from unmerited success in his wooing. ( Arnold Banner)
There are, of course, many subplots which allow Trollope to express, through dialog, his opinions about greed, snobbery, work ethics and dandyism. Trollope probably regretted the duplicative naming of his characters after a while; we have two Gregory Newtons, uncle (and present Squire of Newton) and one of his nephews. Then there are several Ralphs: the (deceased) father, Ralph his son (the heir), and Ralph (not the heir) the son of the uncle Gregory! As they appear, Trollope has to interject "not the heir", or "the other Ralph". Ralph the heir is an extravagant, easy living young man who has spent himself into debt, and is faced with having to either sell his right to the family property, or marrying a wealthy tradesman's (a breeches maker cutely named Mr. Neefit) daughter.
Four young women are major characters, and these are sought by the two Ralphs, young Gregory, and a bootmaker, Ontario Moggs (don't you love the names?). These include the fairly sedate daughters of the family lawyer, a ravishing West Indian beauty come to live with them, and the tradesman's daughter. There are the classic novel "misunderstandings" from errors in communication; while the reader knows the real circumstances, the characters can't resolve issues apparently standing in the way of love or friendship. This is one of the few novels in which the reader can applaud such a misunderstanding, keeping the undeserving heir from unmerited success in his wooing. ( Arnold Banner)
There are no reviews for this eBook.
There are no comments for this eBook.
You must log in to post a comment.
Log in
