In this world of bribes, vendettas and swindling, in which heiresses are gambled and won, Trollope's characters embody all the vices: Lady Carbury is 'false from head to foot'; her son Felix has 'the instincts of a horse, not approaching the higher sympathies of a dog'; and Melmotte; the colossal figure who dominates the book; is a 'horrid, big, rich scoundrel ... a bloated swindler ... a vile city ruffian'.
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