Following the success of the Trollope Society’s 2026 conference, Trollope: The Law & Transgression, held at Magdalene College, Cambridge, we are delighted to present a series of online Zoom talks featuring conference speakers exploring law, morality, justice, gender, religion, inheritance, equity, and social transgression in the novels of Anthony Trollope.

Unexpected Interventions: The Deus ex Machina in Court

Gilly Wilford

This paper explores the ways in which Trollope uses unexpected interventions to resolve difficult legal situations, often through figures who operate quietly behind the scenes before emerging at the last possible moment.  

From the unlikely hero, Mr Bagwax, in John Caldigate, whose dogged persistence uncovers the truth in a case of bigamy, via Mr Toogood, in The Last Chronicle of Barset, whose investigations go way beyond his legal remit to save Mr Crawley from a charge of theft, we reach Madame Marie Goesler.  Marie, in Phineas Redux, has the hardest task and carries it out quietly, determinedly and with success, saving our hero from the gallows.

Mr Dockwrath, in Orley Farm, is, by contrast a malevolent figure who leaves no stone unturned to discredit Lady Mason.

Together these cases show Trollope’s skill in creating suspense through legal narratives that are less ‘whodunnits’ than ‘how-done-it’s’ and invite reflection on justice, chance and character.

Gilly Wilford has read and enjoyed Trollope since reading The Small House at Allington in her teens. She then read the Barchester novels in the right order and used the Palliser novels as an antidote to accountancy exams.  She has spent many hours in Trollope’s company ever since.

Register free for the complete series of conference talks

You only need to register once, you can then attend any of the conference talks without needing to register again. You can cancel your registration at any time.

14 January 2027 at 8pm, Gilly Wilford – Unexpected Interventions: The Deus ex Machina in Court

11 March 2027 at 8pm, Dr Tom Crewe – How Bad is John Caldigate?

8 April 2027 at 8pm, Dr Frederik Van Dam – ‘Some gross insufficiency in the laws of extradition’: Anthony Trollope’s Phineas Redux

13 May 2027 at 8pm, Professor Linda McClain and Claire Laporte – A Taxonomy of Transgression in Anthony Trollope’s Novels: A Conversation
(The previously advertised date for this meeting was 12 November 2026.)

Click here to register on Zoom to attend Trollope: The Law & Transgression Conference Series

We will send you an email with instructions on how to join. Using Zoom is easy, just click on the link in the email and follow the instructions. Please note that you will not be able to join the meeting until 8.00pm (UK time) on the day.