The Warden
'The Warden' Summary
The Warden concerns Mr Septimus Harding, the meek, elderly warden of Hiram's Hospital and precentor of Barchester Cathedral, in the fictional county of Barsetshire.
Hiram's Hospital is an almshouse supported by a medieval charitable bequest to the Diocese of Barchester. The income maintains the almshouse itself, supports its twelve bedesmen, and, in addition, provides a comfortable abode and living for its warden. Mr Harding was appointed to this position through the patronage of his old friend the Bishop of Barchester, who is also the father of Archdeacon Grantly to whom Harding's older daughter, Susan, is married. The warden, who lives with his remaining child, an unmarried younger daughter Eleanor, performs his duties conscientiously.
The story concerns the impact upon Harding and his circle when a zealous young reformer, John Bold, launches a campaign to expose the disparity in the apportionment of the charity's income between its object, the bedesmen, and its officer, Mr Harding. John Bold embarks on this campaign in a spirit of public duty despite his romantic involvement with Eleanor and previously cordial relations with Mr Harding. Bold starts a lawsuit and Mr Harding is advised by the indomitable Dr Grantly, his son-in-law, to stand his ground.
Bold attempts to enlist the support of the press and engages the interest of The Jupiter (a newspaper representing The Times) whose editor, Tom Towers, pens editorials supporting reform of the charity, and presenting a portrait of Mr Harding as selfish and derelict in his conduct of his office. This image is taken up by commentators Dr Pessimist Anticant, and Mr Popular Sentiment, who have been seen as caricatures of Thomas Carlyle and Charles Dickens respectively.
Ultimately, despite much browbeating by his son-in-law the Archdeacon and the legal opinion solicited from the barrister, Sir Abraham Haphazard, Mr Harding concludes that he cannot in good conscience continue to accept such generous remuneration and resigns the office. John Bold, who has appealed in vain to Tom Towers to redress the injury to Mr Harding, returns to Barchester where he marries Eleanor after halting legal proceedings.
Those of the bedesmen of the hospital who have allowed their appetite for greater income to estrange them from the warden are reproved by their senior member, Bunce, who has been constantly loyal to Harding, whose good care and understanding heart are now lost to them. At the end of the novel the bishop decides that the wardenship of Hiram's Hospital be left vacant, and none of the bedesmen are offered the extra money despite the vacancy of the post. Mr Harding, on the other hand, becomes Rector of St Cuthbert's, a small parish near the Cathedral Close, drawing a much smaller income than before.
Book Details
Author
Anthony Trollope
England
Anthony Trollope was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves ar...
More on Anthony TrollopeDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
William -- The Fourth by Richmal Crompton
In this, William and his gang of friends find themselves embroiled in a series of comic mishaps and misunderstandings. From mistaken identities to sec...
Days With Sir Roger de Coverley by Richard Steele
This is a charming book that takes readers on a delightful journey through the life and adventures of the beloved character, Sir Roger de Coverley. Wr...
Asphodel by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
The story of a young woman named Rachel West who is forced to navigate the complex social hierarchy of Victorian England. The book was first published...
Rachel Gray by Julia Kavanagh
In the heart of bustling Victorian London, amidst the throngs of people and the clamor of city life, Rachel Gray stands as a beacon of quiet strength...
Memorias de un Abogado by José Milla y Vidaurre
¡Sumérgete en las intrigas y los secretos de la sociedad guatemalteca del siglo XIX con "Memorias de un Abogado" de José Milla y Vidaurre! En esta cau...
Three Girls in a Flat by Enid Yandell
Three Girls in a Flat, is a semi-autobiographical account of her work as a sculptor for the Horticultural Building at the World's Columbian Exposition...
The Luckiest Girl in the School by Angela Brazil
It tells the story of a young girl who is the luckiest in her school, not just because of her good fortune, but also because of her adventurous spirit...
Lodore by Mary Shelley
The central story follows the fortunes of the wife and daughter of the title character, Lord Lodore, who is killed in a duel at the end of the first v...
A House of Gentlefolk by Ivan Turgenev
Home of the Gentry also translated as A Nest of the Gentlefolk, A Nest of the Gentry and Liza , is a novel by Ivan Turgenev published in the January 1...
The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes by Anonymous
The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities is a Spanish novella, published anonymously because of its anticlerical content. I...
Reviews for The Warden
No reviews posted or approved, yet...