Picton, Hervé
From Newman to Colenso: Trollope and the Church of England
- 2006.
24
Critics rarely agree when assessing Trollope’s religious affinities. His scathing denunciation of the scandals then discrediting the High Church clearly shows he did not in the least support that party. A careful examination of his works and biography reveals his Tractarian sympathies but also, paradoxically, his support of the Broad Church, a party at odds with Newman and his followers.However, a chronological study of his writings, supported by a consideration of both his biography and the changes in the intellectual climate, brings to light Trollope’s progression from initially conservative views to a distinctly liberal outlook in the second half of his career, the years 1865-1866 appearing as a period of transition.