The American Senator

"The American Senator," published in 1875, is one of Trollope's less-known works, but serves as a valuable depiction of rural English life in the nineteenth century. The story presents Arabella Trefoil, the unabashed, fortune-hungry fiancé of British legal secretary, John Morton. The pair return from a trip to Washington in the company of an American Senator, Elias Gotobed, who later translates his experiences abroad into a commentary on the absurd and irrational aspects of English society.