The Bishop's Library explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Clerical Corruption and Patronage

  The clergy's immediate speculation about the dean's successor, including the alarming possibility of Mr. Slope, highlights the political maneuvering and self-interest within the church hierarchy.

• Hypocrisy and Moral Ambiguity

  The clergymen express solemn concern for the dying dean while eagerly discussing the financial and political implications of his death, revealing their underlying hypocrisy.

Characters to notice

• Archdeacon Grantly

  Dominates the clerical gathering in the bishop's library, anxiously considering the dean's condition and the potential succession.

• Mrs. Grantly

  Arrives in Barchester after Eleanor's return and is shocked by the dean's apoplexy; goes to the deanery.

• Eleanor Bold

  Returns to Barchester from Plumstead and learns of the dean's fit from Mary Bold.

• Mr. Slope

  Mentioned as a potential candidate for the deanery, causing alarm among the clergy.

• Dr. Trefoil

  The dean who suffers a stroke of apoplexy and lies unconscious, with little hope of recovery.

• Miss Trefoil

  Sits at her father's bedside, longing to be of use during his illness.

Key passages

• “And thus the pleasant party at Plumstead was broken up. It had been a very pleasant party as long as they had all remained in good humour with one another.”

  The enjoyable gathering at Plumstead ended, having been agreeable only while everyone stayed on good terms.

  Summarizes the dissolution of the party and the underlying tensions.

• “The archdeacon alone of the attendant clergy had been admitted for a moment into the sick man's chamber. He had crept in with creaking shoes, had said with smothered voice a word of consolation to the sorrowing daughter, had looked on the distorted face of his old friend with solemn but yet eager scrutinising eye, as though he said in his heart 'and so some day it will probably be with me,' and then, having whispered an unmeaning word or two to the doctors, had creaked his way back again into the library.”

  Only the archdeacon was allowed briefly into the dean's room, where he offered a quiet word to the daughter, studied the dean's face with a mix of solemnity and self-reflection, and then returned to the library.

  Highlights the archdeacon's solemn yet self-aware visit to the dying dean.

• “What if Mr. Slope should become Dean of Barchester? To be sure there was no adequate ground, indeed no ground at all, for presuming that such a desecration could even be contemplated. But nevertheless it was on the cards.”

  The possibility of Mr. Slope becoming dean, though unlikely, was still considered a disturbing prospect.

  Captures the clergy's anxiety about Mr. Slope's potential appointment.