He Knew He Was Right
1869
Trollope titled it with bitter irony: Louis Trevelyan absolutely knew he was right, and that certainty is what destroys him. This is a ruthless psychological study of jealousy masquerading as righteous indignation a husband so convinced of his wife's betrayal that he cannot see his own cruelty. Emily Rowley, daughter of a colonial governor, has committed no infidelity except the crime of having a male friend from her past. Colonel Osborne is merely a friend. But Louis's suspicion curdles into obsession, then abuse, then legal battle, and finally madness. Trollope, who considered this novel a failure, underestimated its power: the portrait of a man who destroys his family while believing himself the aggrieved party remains uncomfortably relevant. The novel cuts against the sentimental marriage plots of its era, refusing to offer easy reconciliation or redemption. Instead it asks uncomfortable questions about what marriage actually was for women in Victorian England, about property and possession dressed up as love. The secondary characters, particularly the lively Nora and the roguish Sir Marmaduke, provide counterpoint to the main tragedy, but it's Louis's slow-motion catastrophe that haunts. For readers who want fiction that understands how certainty can become a form of violence.
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“Words spoken cannot be recalled, and many a man and many a woman who has spoken a word at once regretted, are far too proud to express that regret.””
— Anthony Trollope
“I am not fit to marry. I am often cross, and I like my own way, and I have a distaste for men.””
— Anthony Trollope
“Romance is very pretty in novels, but the romance of a life is always a melancholy matter. They are most happy who have no story to tell.””
— Anthony Trollope
“Who would ever think of learning to live out of an English novel?””
— Anthony Trollope
“Wine is a dangerous thing, and should not be made the exponent of truth, let the truth be good as it may; but it has the merit of forcing a man to show his true colors.””
— Anthony Trollope
“Courtesty and cordiality are not only not the same, but they are incompatible. Why so? Courtesy is an effort, and cordiality is free.””
— Anthony Trollope
“If I had a husband I should want a good one, a man with a head on his shoulders, and a heart. Even if I were young and good-looking, I doubt whether I could please myself. As it is I am likely to be taken bodily to heaven, as to become any man's wife.””
— Anthony Trollope
“Familiarity does breed contempt;”
— Anthony Trollope
“idleness is the root of all evil.””
— Anthony Trollope
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Trollope, Anthony. He Knew He Was Right. Lex, lex-books.com/book/he-knew-he-was-right-39b6c93f-aa1c-4577-8596-078042b0b44e.Trollope, A. (1869). He Knew He Was Right. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/he-knew-he-was-right-39b6c93f-aa1c-4577-8596-078042b0b44eTrollope, Anthony. He Knew He Was Right. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/he-knew-he-was-right-39b6c93f-aa1c-4577-8596-078042b0b44e.
