Themes and Issues

Abstract

Central to the thematic structure of Barchester Towers is the fact that a community that is predominantly conservative in its ideology finds itself governed by a group of outsiders, the most powerful of whom adhere to an ideology opposed to the conservative one. This theme of conflict between conservative forces who wish to preserve the status quo and outsiders who try to effect change is one that can be found in numerous English novels, and perhaps Trollope’s treatment of the theme particularly calls to mind Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, in which conservative rural values resist and eventually overcome threatening urban values associated with London.