Book Review: The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I doubt I’ve marked most spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.
This wasn’t my favorite Trollope, but even a “not favorite” is better than no Trollope. I’m not quite sure how to explain. There was some William Makepeace Thackeray – one character compared with the Becky Sharp of Vanity Fair – and some Wilkie Collins – a mystery regarding gemstones with detectives a la The Moonstone. There may even have been some Dickens – the slow, smooth, fine grind of the British justice system brings Bleak House to mind. At points, Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart was also brought to mind – the conscience indicted by an external source – in this case a £10k diamond necklace that hangs about as a noose about the neck.
We have yet another poor, young Parliamentarian (third in three books) in Frank Greystock. Frank is actually the protagonist of this book, I think, even though we spend significantly more time with his cousin Elizabeth (Lizzie), Lady Eustace (our Becky Sharp). Lizzie would seem pitiable – just kind of clueless and lost – if Trollope didn’t constantly remind us of her perfidy, cunning, and selfishness. She definitely uses her physical beauty for power advantage and sympathy. His voice seems almost as though he’s sorry to bring up again that we aren’t supposed to have sympathetic feelings toward Lizzie even though she falls into scrapes out of ignorance as much as bring them on herself through slyness.
Her slyness seems to include a memory that is subject repeated assertion – if she says it enough, even she believes it and can insist upon to others who … almost believe her. She loves Byron the diamonds were given to her – she’s asserted it to herself over and over even though she doesn’t understand. We see it in the Queen Mab section, that she memorizes a portion that she doesn’t understand so that she can use it performatively and doesn’t have to engage with the work itself. Her companion would have been capable of interacting with the text with her, but she isn’t interested in anything real here. It’s all about the show.
Lord George, in the end, (view spoiler)[tears away all of the excuses and confusions and shows Lizzie her true colors; he reveals herself to herself. That’s good for the reader, but, of course, she feels attacked and does not repent. It makes me think of all the excuses for our own sin that we make to rationalize our behavior and how someday, that will all be revealed. There will be nowhere to hide. (hide spoiler)]
But, back to Frank Greystock. The reader wonders the whole book if he will remain faithful to his good Lucy Morris. The reader is told in Chapter 3 that Lucy is not the heroine of the piece. (and promises one to come into the story (view spoiler)[Lady Glencora? (hide spoiler)]). Famously, in Vanity Fair, there are no heroes – or so Thackeray tells us – and it almost feels as though Trollope is trying the same thing. Lizzie Eustace is very like Becky Sharp down to the neglected child; is Lucy Morris similar to Amelia Sedley and is Frank Greystock like Dobbin? Faithful but distracted. (view spoiler)[Frank re-promises to Lucy and she finds a safe harbor until they can afford to wed in his family’s home. Frank was constant in his heart but his behavior did not always portray that to others. (hide spoiler)]
PORTRAY … The Eustace Diamonds is all about how we portray ourselves to the world. I knew if I kept typing, I’d figure it out. Ahhhhh … I feel a little foolish, one of the many sites of the story is Portray Castle which Lizzie has for life after her first husband passes away. (My excuse is listening to the book, not eye reading). So many characters were performative in their bearing: Lizzie and her poetry reading, Mrs Carbunkle in her wedding planning, Lady Linlithgow as the grand lady despite her poverty, Mr Emilius (the many who said he was a pastor, but did he truly have a call?), the Fawns – scared of everyone judging them and careful to cultivate appearances appropriate to their station.
Even the diamonds – the whole argument about whether they are (or can be) heirlooms or paraphernalia – is about how they perform in society; their perception, their portrayal. And Mr. Palliser’s quest (oh, yes, some Arthurian pieces are here too) Mr. Palliser’s quest to change the British coin to a decimal system – can a farthing be a fifth instead of a fourth? Does the language matter?
Ahhhhh. How do we portray ourself to others? to ourselves? to our God? Yes. The Eustace Diamonds have clicked into place. I probably like The Eustace Diamonds better now than I did at the beginning of this review …
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