Dr Wortles School

Summary

Dr. Wortle's School is Trollope's most merciless attack on the false moralising and hypocrisy of the Victorian age. When Dr. Wortle, in good faith, hires a couple as teacher and matron at his school, scandal about their marriage is subsequently brought to light. Will the doctor submit to the social pressures brought to bear on him by the gossip, the local newspaper and the bishop or hold true to his humanism, perhaps losing his respect, school and livelihood as a result? In this story Trollope invites discussion of the prevailing doctrines of English society in the late 19th century. It is one of his best works, truly a classic of literature.