Thackeray, William Makepeace (1811-1863), was one of the great novelists of the English Victorian Age. His Vanity Fair is one of the finest and best-known novels in English literature. Thackeray wrote in a colorful, lively style, with a simple vocabulary and clearly structured sentences. These qualities, combined with his honest view of life, give him an important place in the history of realistic literature.
Early career.
Thackeray was born on July 18, 1811, in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. At the age of 5, he was sent to England to live with relatives and begin his education. He was lonely and unhappy during his school years. “I have the same recollection of Greek in youth that I have of castor oil,” Thackeray once said. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge University, in 1829. No great scholar, he left after a year and a half to travel abroad.
Thackeray had trouble finding a career. He studied law for a short time, and went to art school in Paris. Meanwhile, he had spent his inheritance, losing part of it to professional gamblers. To make a modest living, he turned to writing book reviews, stories, and satirical sketches for magazines.
In 1836, Thackeray married Isabella Shawe. She became incurably insane following the birth of their third daughter in 1840. This tragedy darkened Thackeray’s natural good humor. But he needed money more than ever, and he continued turning out articles and stories.
Most of Thackeray’s early writings were humorous, and were published under such ridiculous pen names as Michael Angelo Titmarsh. In 1848, he published The Book of Snobs, a collection of his magazine writings in which he poked fun at social pretentiousness.
Later career.
Thackeray ensured his fame with Vanity Fair (1847-1848), probably his best novel. Like most of his books, it was first published in monthly parts. A gifted caricaturist, Thackeray did his own illustrations for this novel, which traces the fortunes of a group of young Londoners of the early 1800’s.
Thackeray called Vanity Fair “a novel without a hero,” in keeping with his belief that most people are a mixture of the heroic and the ridiculous. He knew that men and women are complex, and he avoided oversimplifying them. He wrote with affection about kind and gentle Amelia Sedley. But he also called Amelia “a silly little thing.” Becky Sharp, low born but more clearly the “heroine,” is selfish, cunning, and cynical. Becky is never bitter, however, and readers admire her ability to survive by her wits in a society based mainly on privilege and wealth.
The novel Pendennis (1848-1850) is partly autobiographical. It has the mellow, reflective quality that colors much of Thackeray’s writing.
Henry Esmond (1852) is set in England in the early 1700’s, a period that Thackeray loved. The book describes the loves and adventures of Esmond, who narrates the book. Henry is also only “part hero.” Although a virtuous man, he is also complex and often gloomy.
The Newcomes (1853-1855) is the complex story of three generations of the Newcome family. Ethel Newcome is one of Thackeray’s finest characters. She has gentleness and sympathy, but also intelligence and spirit.
Thackeray’s view of life.
Thackeray disliked people who were unduly impressed by birth and rank. His skillful ridicule of snobs and hypocrites is even evident amid the broad humor of his early works. His realistic temperament enabled him to see and satirize inconsistencies in life. He once said of one of his characters that he “failed somehow in spite of a mediocrity which ought to have ensured any man a success.” Thackeray knew that rogues sometimes do well while the innocent suffer, and that virtuous people can be dull and rascals can be lively. Such ironic twists in his books were misunderstood by some people, who accused Thackeray of being cynical.
Others complained that Thackeray’s writings were sentimental. For example, he seemed to admire womanhood as an abstract ideal. When he wrote about young ladies who were gentle and affectionate but perhaps not very bright, he sometimes fell into a style of adoration. But his deep honesty made him show, at the same time, how these sentimental people were often stupid and occasionally harmful. His critics often fail to see that Thackeray really hated cruelty and greed, and admired goodness and warm-heartedness. He died in London on Dec. 24, 1863.
