Point of View

The novel is told from the third person omniscient point of view. The author can see everything that the characters do as well as discuss their motives and feelings. At many times during the story, the author specifically addresses the reader to explain why he has chosen to show some event or to elaborate on the feelings of the characters.

One of the more interesting aspects of this is that the author is very clear that he is telling a fictional story and at many points refers to his writing of the novel that the reader is reading. He uses the characters and events to present his own opinion about many novel conventions.

Setting

The majority of the story takes place in the Barchester diocese, in the various homes of the characters. Most conversation is restricted to the privacy of individual homes or rooms and very...