William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his
satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
works, particularly his 1848 novel ''
Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and the 1844 novel ''
The Luck of Barry Lyndon
''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in 1844, about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy. Thacker ...
'', which was
adapted for a 1975 film by
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
.
Biography
Thackeray, an only child, was born in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
,
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
, where his father, Richmond Thackeray (1 September 1781 – 13 September 1815), was secretary to the Board of Revenue in the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. His mother, Anne Becher (1792–1864), was the second daughter of Harriet Becher and John Harman Becher, who was also a secretary (writer) for the East India Company. His father was a grandson of
Thomas Thackeray
Thomas Thackeray (1693 – 25 August 1760) was a Church of England clergyman who taught at his old school, Eton College, and ended his career as Head Master of Harrow School. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity (DD).
Life
Born in 1693, ...
(1693–1760), headmaster of
Harrow School
(The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God)
, established = (Royal Charter)
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school
, religion = Church of E ...
.
["THACKERAY, WILLIAM MAKEPEACE (1811–1863)"]
in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
online, , accessed 4 May 2019
Richmond died in 1815, which caused Anne to send her son to England that same year, while she remained in India. The ship on which he travelled made a short stopover at
Saint Helena
Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
, where the imprisoned
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
was pointed out to him. Once in England, he was educated at schools in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
and
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
, and then at
Charterhouse School
(God having given, I gave)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, president ...
, where he became a close friend of
John Leech. Thackeray disliked Charterhouse,
and parodied it in his fiction as "Slaughterhouse". Nevertheless, Thackeray was honoured in the Charterhouse Chapel with a monument after his death. Illness in his last year there, during which he reportedly grew to his full height of six-foot three, postponed his matriculation at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
, until February 1829. Never too keen on academic studies, Thackeray left Cambridge in 1830, but some of his earliest published writing appeared in two university periodicals, ''The Snob'' and ''The Gownsman''.
Thackeray then travelled for some time on the continent, visiting Paris and
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
, where he met
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
. He returned to England and began to study law at the
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...
, but soon gave that up. On reaching the age of 21, he came into his inheritance from his father, but he squandered much of it on gambling and on funding two unsuccessful newspapers, ''The National Standard'' and ''The Constitutional'', for which he had hoped to write. He also lost a good part of his fortune in the collapse of two Indian banks. Forced to consider a profession to support himself, he turned first to art, which he studied in Paris, but did not pursue it, except in later years as the illustrator of some of his own novels and other writings.
Thackeray's years of semi-idleness ended after he married, on 20 August 1836, Isabella Gethin Shawe (1816–1894), second daughter of Isabella Creagh Shawe and Matthew Shawe, a colonel who had died after distinguished service, primarily in India. The Thackerays had three children, all girls:
Anne Isabella (1837–1919), Jane (who died at eight months old) and
Harriet Marian (1840–1875), who married Sir
Leslie Stephen
Sir Leslie Stephen (28 November 1832 – 22 February 1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, and mountaineer, and the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell.
Life
Sir Leslie Stephen came from a distinguished intellectua ...
, editor, biographer and philosopher.
Thackeray now began "writing for his life", as he put it, turning to journalism in an effort to support his young family. He primarily worked for ''
Fraser's Magazine
''Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country'' was a general and literary journal published in London from 1830 to 1882, which initially took a strong Tory line in politics. It was founded by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn in 1830 and loosely directe ...
'', a sharp-witted and sharp-tongued conservative publication for which he produced art criticism, short fictional sketches, and two longer fictional works, ''
Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
'' and ''
The Luck of Barry Lyndon
''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in 1844, about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy. Thacker ...
''. Between 1837 and 1840, he also reviewed books for ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
''. He was also a regular contributor to ''
The Morning Chronicle
''The Morning Chronicle'' was a newspaper founded in 1769 in London. It was notable for having been the first steady employer of essayist William Hazlitt as a political reporter and the first steady employer of Charles Dickens as a journalist. It ...
'' and ''The Foreign Quarterly Review''. Later, through his connection to the illustrator
John Leech, he began writing for the newly created magazine ''
Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
'', in which he published ''The Snob Papers'', later collected as ''
The Book of Snobs
''The Book of Snobs'' is a collection of satirical works by William Makepeace Thackeray published in book form in 1848, the same year as his more famous '' Vanity Fair''. The pieces first appeared in fifty-three weekly pieces from February 28, 1 ...
''. This work popularised the modern meaning of the word "snob". Thackeray was a regular contributor to ''Punch'' between 1843 and 1854.
![Crowe-Thackeray 1845](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Crowe-Thackeray_1845.jpg)
Tragedy struck in Thackeray's personal life as his wife, Isabella, succumbed to depression after the birth of their third child, in 1840. Finding that he could get no work done at home, he spent more and more time away, until September 1840, when he realised how grave his wife's condition was. Struck by guilt, he set out with his wife to Ireland. During the crossing, she threw herself from a water-closet into the sea, but she was pulled from the waters. They fled back home after a four-week battle with her mother. From November 1840 to February 1842, Isabella was in and out of professional care, as her condition waxed and waned.
[
She eventually deteriorated into a permanent state of detachment from reality. Thackeray desperately sought cures for her, but nothing worked, and she ended up in two different asylums in or near Paris until 1845, after which Thackeray took her back to England, where he installed her with a Mrs. Bakewell at Camberwell. Isabella outlived her husband by 30 years, in the end being cared for by a family named Thompson in Leigh-on-Sea at Southend, until her death in 1894. After his wife's illness, Thackeray became a ''de facto'' widower, never establishing another permanent relationship. He did pursue other women, however, in particular Mrs. Jane Brookfield and Sally Baxter. In 1851, Mr. Brookfield barred Thackeray from further visits or correspondence with Jane. Baxter, an American twenty years Thackeray's junior whom he met during a lecture tour in New York City in 1852, married another man in 1855.
In the early 1840s, Thackeray had some success with two travel books, ''The Paris Sketch Book'' and ''The Irish Sketch Book'', the latter marked by its hostility towards ]Irish Catholics
Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...
. However, as the book appealed to anti-Irish sentiment
Anti-Irish sentiment includes oppression, persecution, discrimination, or hatred of Irish people as an ethnic group or a nation. It can be directed against the island of Ireland in general, or directed against Irish emigrants and their descendan ...
in Britain at the time, Thackeray was given the job of being ''Punch''s Irish expert, often under the pseudonym Hibernis Hibernior ("more Irish than the Irish"). Thackeray became responsible for creating ''Punch''s notoriously hostile and negative depictions of the Irish during the Great Irish Famine
The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a ...
of 1845 to 1851.
Thackeray achieved more recognition with his ''Snob Papers'' (serialised 1846/7, published in book form in 1848), but the work that really established his fame was the novel ''Vanity Fair'', which first appeared in serialised instalments beginning in January 1847. Even before ''Vanity Fair'' completed its serial run, Thackeray had become a celebrity, sought after by the very lords and ladies whom he satirised. They hailed him as the equal of Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
.
He remained "at the top of the tree", as he put it, for the rest of his life, during which he produced several large novels, notably ''Pendennis
''The History of Pendennis: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy'' (1848–50) is a novel by the English author William Makepeace Thackeray. It is set in 19th-century England, particularly in London. The main ...
'', ''The Newcomes
''The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family'' is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1854 and 1855.
Publication
''The Newcomes'' was published serially over about two years, as Thackeray himself says in one of t ...
'' and ''The History of Henry Esmond
''The History of Henry Esmond'' is a historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, originally published in 1852. The book tells the story of the early life of Henry Esmond, a colonel in the service of Queen Anne of England. A typical examp ...
'', despite various illnesses, including a near-fatal one that struck him in 1849 in the middle of writing ''Pendennis''. He twice visited the United States on lecture tours during this period. Thackeray also gave lectures in London on the English humorists of the eighteenth century, and on the first four Hanoverian monarchs. The latter series was published in book form as ''The Four Georges''.[
In July 1857, Thackeray stood unsuccessfully as a ]Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
for the city of Oxford in Parliament. Although not the most fiery agitator, Thackeray was always a decided liberal in his politics, and he promised to vote for the ballot in extension of the suffrage and was ready to accept triennial parliaments. He was narrowly beaten by Cardwell
Cardwell may refer to:
Places Australia
*Cardwell, Queensland
United States
*Cardwell, Missouri
*Cardwell, Montana
* Cardwell Hall, Kansas State University
Canada
*Cardwell Parish, New Brunswick
People
*Alvin B. Cardwell (1902–1992), America ...
, who received 1,070 votes, as against 1,005 for Thackeray.
In 1860, Thackeray became editor of the newly established ''Cornhill Magazine
''The Cornhill Magazine'' (1860–1975) was a monthly Victorian magazine and literary journal named after the street address of the founding publisher Smith, Elder & Co. at 65 Cornhill in London.Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor, ''Dictionar ...
'', but he was never comfortable in the role, preferring to contribute to the magazine as the writer of a column called "Roundabout Papers".
Thackeray's health worsened during the 1850s, and he was plagued by a recurring stricture of the urethra that laid him up for days at a time. He also felt that he had lost much of his creative impetus. He worsened matters by excessive eating and drinking and avoiding exercise, though he enjoyed riding (he kept a horse). He has been described as "the greatest literary glutton who ever lived". His main activity apart from writing was "gutting and gorging". He could not break his addiction to spicy peppers, further ruining his digestion.
On 23 December 1863, after returning from dining out and before dressing for bed, he suffered a stroke. He was found dead in his bed the following morning. His death at the age of fifty-two was unexpected and shocked his family, his friends and the reading public. An estimated 7,000 people attended his funeral at Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde P ...
. He was buried on 29 December at Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...
, and a memorial bust sculpted by Marochetti
Baron Pietro Carlo Giovanni Battista Marochetti (14 January 1805 – 29 December 1867) was an Italian-born French sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Britain. He completed many public sculptures, often in a neo-classical style, plus re ...
can be found in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.[
]
Works
* ''The Yellowplush Papers'' (1837)
* ''Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
'' (1839–1840)
* ''A Shabby Genteel Story
''A Shabby Genteel Story'' is an early and unfinished novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. It was first printed among other stories and sketches in his collection ''Miscellanies.'' A note in ''Miscellanies'' by Thackeray, dated 10 April 1857, de ...
'' (1840)
* ''The Paris Sketchbook'' (1840)
* ''Second Funeral of Napoleon'' (1841)
* ''The Irish Sketchbook'' (1842)
* ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon
''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in 1844, about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy. Thacker ...
'' (1844)
* ''Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo'' (1846)
* ''Mrs. Perkin's Ball'' (1846), under the name M. A. Titmarsh
* ''Stray Papers: Being Stories, Reviews, Verses, and Sketches'' (1821–1847)
* ''The Book of Snobs
''The Book of Snobs'' is a collection of satirical works by William Makepeace Thackeray published in book form in 1848, the same year as his more famous '' Vanity Fair''. The pieces first appeared in fifty-three weekly pieces from February 28, 1 ...
'' (1848)
* '' Vanity Fair'' (1848)
* ''Pendennis
''The History of Pendennis: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy'' (1848–50) is a novel by the English author William Makepeace Thackeray. It is set in 19th-century England, particularly in London. The main ...
'' (1848–1850)
* ''Rebecca and Rowena'' (1850)
* ''Men's Wives
''Men's Wives'' (1852) is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray
External links
*
Men's wivesat internet archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It pro ...
'' (1852)
* ''The History of Henry Esmond
''The History of Henry Esmond'' is a historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, originally published in 1852. The book tells the story of the early life of Henry Esmond, a colonel in the service of Queen Anne of England. A typical examp ...
'' (1852)
* ''The English Humorists of the Eighteenth Century'' (1853)
* ''The Newcomes
''The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family'' is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1854 and 1855.
Publication
''The Newcomes'' was published serially over about two years, as Thackeray himself says in one of t ...
'' (1855)
* ''The Rose and the Ring
''The Rose and The Ring'' is a satirical work of fantasy fiction written by William Makepeace Thackeray, originally published at Christmas 1854 (though dated 1855). It criticises, to some extent, the attitudes of the monarchy and those at the to ...
'' (1855)
* ''The Virginians
''The Virginians: A Tale of the Last Century'' (1857 in literature, 1857–1859 in literature, 59) is a historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray which forms a sequel to his ''The History of Henry Esmond, Henry Esmond'' and is also loosely ...
'' (1857–1859)
* ''Lovel the Widower'' (1860)
* ''Four Georges'' (1860–1861)
* ''The Adventures of Philip
''The Adventures of Philip on his Way Through the World: Shewing Who Robbed Him, Who Helped Him, and Who Passed Him By'' (1861– 62) is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. It was the last novel Thackeray completed, and harks back to several ...
'' (1862)
* ''Roundabout Papers'' (1863)
* ''Denis Duval'' (1864)
* ''Ballads'' (1869)
* ''Burlesques'' (1869)
* ''The Orphan of Pimlico'' (1876)
Thackeray began as a satirist and parodist, writing works that displayed a sneaking fondness for roguish upstarts, such as Becky Sharp in '' Vanity Fair'' and the title characters of ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon
''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in 1844, about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy. Thacker ...
'' and ''Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
''. In his earliest works, written under such pseudonyms as Charles James Yellowplush, Michael Angelo Titmarsh and George Savage Fitz-Boodle, he tended towards savagery in his attacks on high society, military prowess, the institution of marriage and hypocrisy.
One of his earliest works, "Timbuctoo" (1829), contains a burlesque upon the subject set for the Cambridge Chancellor's Medal for English Verse. (The contest was won by Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...
with a poem of the same title, "Timbuctoo"). Thackeray's writing career really began with a series of satirical sketches now usually known as ''The Yellowplush Papers'', which appeared in ''Fraser's Magazine'' beginning in 1837. These were adapted for BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
in 2009, with Adam Buxton
Adam Offord Buxton (born 7 June 1969) is an English actor, comedian, podcaster and writer. With the filmmaker Joe Cornish, he is part of the comedy duo Adam and Joe. They presented the Channel 4 television series ''The Adam and Joe Show'' (1996 ...
playing Charles Yellowplush.
Between May 1839 and February 1840 ''Fraser's'' published the work sometimes considered Thackeray's first novel, ''Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
''. Originally intended as a satire of the Newgate
Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...
school of crime fiction, it ended up being more of a picaresque
The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for " rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrup ...
tale. He also began work, never finished, on the novel later published as ''A Shabby Genteel Story
''A Shabby Genteel Story'' is an early and unfinished novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. It was first printed among other stories and sketches in his collection ''Miscellanies.'' A note in ''Miscellanies'' by Thackeray, dated 10 April 1857, de ...
''.
Along with ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'', Thackeray is probably best known now for ''Vanity Fair''. Literary theorist Kornelije Kvas wrote that "the meteoric rise of the heroine of ''Vanity Fair'' Rebecca Sharp is a satirical presentation of the striving for profit, power and social recognition of the new middle class. Old and new members of the middle class strive to emulate the lifestyle of the higher class (noblemen and landowners), and thereby to increase their material possessions and to own luxury objects. In ''Vanity Fair'', one can observe a greater degree of violation of moral values among members of the new middle class, for the decline of morality is proportionate to the degree of closeness of the individual to the market and its laws." In contrast, his large novels from the period after ''Vanity Fair'', which were once described by Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
as examples of "loose baggy monsters", have largely faded from view, perhaps because they reflect a mellowing in Thackeray, who had become so successful with his satires on society that he seemed to lose his zest for attacking it. These later works include ''Pendennis
''The History of Pendennis: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy'' (1848–50) is a novel by the English author William Makepeace Thackeray. It is set in 19th-century England, particularly in London. The main ...
'', a Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood ( coming of age), in which character change is impo ...
depicting the coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
of Arthur Pendennis, an alter ego of Thackeray, who also features as the narrator of two later novels, ''The Newcomes
''The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family'' is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1854 and 1855.
Publication
''The Newcomes'' was published serially over about two years, as Thackeray himself says in one of t ...
'' and ''The Adventures of Philip
''The Adventures of Philip on his Way Through the World: Shewing Who Robbed Him, Who Helped Him, and Who Passed Him By'' (1861– 62) is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. It was the last novel Thackeray completed, and harks back to several ...
''. ''The Newcomes'' is noteworthy for its critical portrayal of the "marriage market", while ''Philip'' is known for its semi-autobiographical depiction of Thackeray's early life, in which he partially regains some of his early satirical power.
Also notable among the later novels is ''The History of Henry Esmond
''The History of Henry Esmond'' is a historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, originally published in 1852. The book tells the story of the early life of Henry Esmond, a colonel in the service of Queen Anne of England. A typical examp ...
'', in which Thackeray tried to write a novel in the style of the eighteenth century, a period that held great appeal for him. About this novel, there have been found evident analogies—in the fundamental structure of the plot; in the psychological outlines of the main characters; in frequent episodes; and in the use of metaphors—to Ippolito Nievo
Ippolito Nievo (; 30 November 1831 – 4 March 1861) was an Italian writer, journalist and patriot. His ''Confessions of an Italian'' is widely considered the most important novel about the Italian Risorgimento.
Life
Nievo was born and raised in ...
's ''Confessions of an Italian''. Nievo wrote his novel during his stay in Milan where, in the "Ambrosiana" library, ''The History of Henry Esmond'' was available, just published.
Not only ''Esmond'' but also ''Barry Lyndon'' and ''Catherine'' are set in that period, as is the sequel to ''Esmond'', ''The Virginians
''The Virginians: A Tale of the Last Century'' (1857 in literature, 1857–1859 in literature, 59) is a historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray which forms a sequel to his ''The History of Henry Esmond, Henry Esmond'' and is also loosely ...
'', which is set partially in North America and includes George Washington as a character who nearly kills one of the protagonists in a duel.
Family
Parents
Thackeray's father, Richmond Thackeray, was born at South Mimms
South Mimms is a village and civil parish in the Hertsmere district of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It is a small settlement located near to the junction of the M25 motorway with the A1(M) motorway and is perhaps more widely known because ...
and went to India in 1798 at age sixteen as a writer (civil servant) with the East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
. Richmond's father's name was also William Makepeace Thackeray. Richmond fathered a daughter, Sarah Redfield, in 1804 with Charlotte Sophia Rudd, his possibly Eurasian mistress, and both mother and daughter were named in his will. Such liaisons were common among gentlemen of the East India Company, and it formed no bar to his later courting and marrying William's mother.
Thackeray's mother, Anne Becher (born 1792), was "one of the reigning beauties of the day" and a daughter of John Harmon Becher, Collector of the South 24 Parganas district
South 24 Parganas (Pron: pɔrɡɔnɔs; abbr. 24 PGS (S)), or sometimes South Twenty Four Parganas and Dakshin 24 Parganas, is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Alipore. It is the largest district of West Bengal by ...
(d. Calcutta, 1800), of an old Bengal civilian family "noted for the tenderness of its women". Anne Becher, her sister Harriet and their widowed mother, also Harriet, had been sent back to India by her authoritarian guardian grandmother, Ann Becher, in 1809 on the ''Earl Howe''. Anne's grandmother had told her that the man she loved, Henry Carmichael-Smyth, an ensign in the Bengal Engineers
The Bengal Engineer Group (BEG) (informally the Bengal Sappers or Bengal Engineers) is a military engineering regiment in the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The unit was originally part of the Bengal Army of the East India Company's Ben ...
whom she met at an Assembly Ball in 1807 in Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
, had died, while he was told that Anne was no longer interested in him. Neither of these assertions was true. Though Carmichael-Smyth was from a distinguished Scottish military family, Anne's grandmother went to extreme lengths to prevent their marriage. Surviving family letters state that she wanted a better match for her granddaughter.
Anne Becher and Richmond Thackeray were married in Calcutta on 13 October 1810. Their only child, William, was born on 18 July 1811. There is a fine miniature portrait of Anne Becher Thackeray and William Makepeace Thackeray, aged about two, done in Madras by George Chinnery
George Chinnery (; 5 January 1774 – 30 May 1852) was an English painter who spent most of his life in Asia, especially India and southern China.
Early life
Chinnery was born in London, where he studied at the Royal Academy Schools. ...
c. 1813.
Anne's family's deception was unexpectedly revealed in 1812, when Richmond Thackeray unwittingly invited the supposedly dead Carmichael-Smyth to dinner. Five years later, after Richmond had died of a fever on 13 September 1815, Anne married Henry Carmichael-Smyth, on 13 March 1817. The couple moved to England in 1820, after having sent William off to school there more than three years earlier. The separation from his mother had a traumatic effect on the young Thackeray, which he discussed in his essay "On Letts's Diary" in ''The Roundabout Papers''.
Descendants
Thackeray is an ancestor of the British financier Ryan Williams, and is the great-great-great-grandfather of the British comedian Al Murray
Alastair James Hay Murray (born 10 May 1968) is an English comedian, actor, musician and writer from Hammersmith. In 2003, he was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and in 2007 he was voted the 16th gr ...
and author Joanna Nadin
Dr Joanna Nadin is a British author of children's and adult literary fiction best known for the Carnegie Medal-nominated ''Joe All Alone'' (now a BAFTA-winning BBC drama) and the Rachel Riley series of novels Based on Nadin's own childhood, the s ...
.
Reputation and legacy
During the Victorian era Thackeray was ranked second only to Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, but he is now much less widely read and is known almost exclusively for ''Vanity Fair'', which has become a fixture in university courses, and has been repeatedly adapted for the cinema and television.
In Thackeray's own day some commentators, such as Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...
, ranked his ''History of Henry Esmond'' as his greatest work, perhaps because it expressed Victorian values of duty and earnestness, as did some of his other later novels. It is perhaps for this reason that they have not survived as well as ''Vanity Fair'', which satirises those values.
Thackeray saw himself as writing in the realistic tradition, and distinguished his work from the exaggerations and sentimentality of Dickens. Some later commentators have accepted this self-evaluation and seen him as a realist, but others note his inclination to use eighteenth-century narrative techniques, such as digressions and direct addresses to the reader, and argue that through them he frequently disrupts the illusion of reality. The school of Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
, with its emphasis on maintaining that illusion, marked a break with Thackeray's techniques.
Indian popular Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
politician Bal Thackeray
Bal Thackeray (; 23 January 1926 – 17 November 2012), also known as Balasaheb Thackeray, was an Indian politician who founded the Shiv Sena, a right-wing pro-Marathi and Hindu nationalist party active mainly in the state of Maharashtra. ...
's father Keshav Sitaram Thackeray
Keshav Sitaram Thackeray (17 September 1885 – 20 November 1973; born Keshav Sitaram Panvelkar, also known as Keshav Sitaram Thakre and Keshav Sitaram Dhodapkar, commonly known by his pen name Prabodhankar Thackeray), was an Indian social refor ...
was an admirer of William, the India-born British writer; Keshav later changed his surname from Panvelkar to "Thackeray".
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature.
She enlisted i ...
dedicated the second edition of ''Jane Eyre
''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...
'' to Thackeray.
In 1887 the Royal Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
unveiled a blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
to commemorate Thackeray at the house at 2 Palace Green, London, that had been built for him in the 1860s. It is now the location of the Israeli Embassy.
Thackeray's former home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, is now a restaurant named after the author.
Thackeray was also a member of the Albion Lodge of the Ancient Order of Druids
The Ancient Order of Druids (AOD) is the senior neo-druid order in the world, and the oldest in continuous existence. It was formed in London, England, in 1781. It is represented in England, Wales, Scotland and the Commonwealth of Nations. Its ...
at Oxford.
In popular culture
* Thackeray is portrayed by Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries.
Palin w ...
in the 2018 ITV television series '' Vanity Fair''.
* Miles Jupp
Miles Hugh Barrett Jupp (born 8 September 1979) is an English actor, singer, and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian before playing the role of the inventor Archie in the children's television series ''Balamory''. He also played ...
plays Thackeray in the 2017 film '' The Man Who Invented Christmas''.
* A quote from Thackeray appears in episode 7 of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure''.
* Thackeray's quote "Mother is the name for God" appears in the 1994 movie ''The Crow''.
* Thackeray's "The Colonel" was mentioned by Anne Frank in ''The Diary of a Young Girl
''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherl ...
''.
List of works
Series
Henry Esmond
#''The History of Henry Esmond
''The History of Henry Esmond'' is a historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, originally published in 1852. The book tells the story of the early life of Henry Esmond, a colonel in the service of Queen Anne of England. A typical examp ...
'' (1852) –
#''The Virginians
''The Virginians: A Tale of the Last Century'' (1857 in literature, 1857–1859 in literature, 59) is a historical novel by William Makepeace Thackeray which forms a sequel to his ''The History of Henry Esmond, Henry Esmond'' and is also loosely ...
'' (1857–1859) –
Arthur Pendennis
#''Pendennis
''The History of Pendennis: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy'' (1848–50) is a novel by the English author William Makepeace Thackeray. It is set in 19th-century England, particularly in London. The main ...
'' (1848–1850) –
#''The Newcomes
''The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family'' is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1854 and 1855.
Publication
''The Newcomes'' was published serially over about two years, as Thackeray himself says in one of t ...
'' (1855) –
*''A Shabby Genteel Story
''A Shabby Genteel Story'' is an early and unfinished novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. It was first printed among other stories and sketches in his collection ''Miscellanies.'' A note in ''Miscellanies'' by Thackeray, dated 10 April 1857, de ...
'' (Unfinished) (1840) –
#''The Adventures of Philip
''The Adventures of Philip on his Way Through the World: Shewing Who Robbed Him, Who Helped Him, and Who Passed Him By'' (1861– 62) is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. It was the last novel Thackeray completed, and harks back to several ...
'' (1862) –
The Christmas Books of Mr M. A. Titmarsh
Thackeray wrote and illustrated five Christmas books as "by Mr M. A. Titmarsh". They were collected under the pseudonymous title and his real name no later than 1868 by Smith, Elder & Co.
''The Rose and the Ring'' was dated 1855 in its first edition, published for Christmas 1854.
# ''Mrs. Perkins's Ball
''Mrs. Perkins's Ball'' is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 ...
'' (1846), as by M. A. Titmarsh
# ''Our Street''
# ''Doctor Birch and His Young Friends''
# ''The Kickleburys on the Rhine'' (Christmas 1850) – "a new picture book, drawn and written by Mr M. A. Titmarsh"
# ''The Rose and the Ring
''The Rose and The Ring'' is a satirical work of fantasy fiction written by William Makepeace Thackeray, originally published at Christmas 1854 (though dated 1855). It criticises, to some extent, the attitudes of the monarchy and those at the to ...
'' (Christmas 1854) –
Novels
*''Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
'' (1839–40) – (originally credited to "Ikey Solomons, Esq. Junior")
*''The Luck of Barry Lyndon
''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in 1844, about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy. Thacker ...
'' (1844), filmed as ''Barry Lyndon
''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 period drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Leonard ...
'' by Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
–
*'' Vanity Fair'' (1847–53) –
*''Men's Wives
''Men's Wives'' (1852) is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray
External links
*
Men's wivesat internet archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It pro ...
'' (1852) –
*'' Lovel the Widower''
*''Denis Duval
Denis may refer to:
People
* Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris
* Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure
* Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), baron in the Kingdom of Hungary
* Denis the Carthusian (1402–1 ...
'' (unfinished) (1864) –
Novellas
*''Elizabeth Brownbridge''
*''Sultan Stork''
*''Little Spitz''
*''The Yellowplush Papers'' (1837) –
*''The Professor''
*''Miss Löwe''
*''The Tremendous Adventures of Major Gahagan''
*''The Fatal Boots''
*''Cox’s Diary''
*''The Bedford-Row Conspiracy''
*''The History of Samuel Titmarsh and the Great Hoggarty Diamond''
*''The Fitz-Boodle Papers''
*''The Diary of C. Jeames de la Pluche, Esq. with his letters''
*''A Legend of the Rhine''
*''A Little Dinner at Timmins's''
*''Rebecca and Rowena
Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...
'' (1850), a parodic sequel to ''Ivanhoe
''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...
'' –
*''Bluebeard's Ghost''
Sketches and satires
*''The Irish Sketchbook'' (2 Volumes) (1843) –
*''The Book of Snobs
''The Book of Snobs'' is a collection of satirical works by William Makepeace Thackeray published in book form in 1848, the same year as his more famous '' Vanity Fair''. The pieces first appeared in fifty-three weekly pieces from February 28, 1 ...
'' (1848), which popularised that term-
*Flore et Zephyr
*Roundabout Papers
*Some Roundabout Papers
*Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
in France
*Character Sketches
*Sketches and Travels in London
*Mr. Brown's Letters
*The Proser
*Miscellanies
Play
*The Wolves and the Lamb
Travel writing
* ''Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo'' (1846), under the name Mr M. A. Titmarsh.
* ''The Paris Sketchbook'' (1840), featuring Roger Bontemps Roger Bontemps is semi-mythical French figure who personifies a state of leisure and freedom from care. According to Pierre-Jean de Béranger, Roger Bontemps is the epitome of "Never say die".
Literary origins
The figure first appears as a literar ...
* ''The Little Travels and Roadside Sketches'' (1840)
Other non-fiction
* ''The English Humorists of the 18th Century'' (1853)
* ''Four Georges'' (1860-1861) -
*''Roundabout Papers'' (1863)
* ''The Orphan of Pimlico'' (1876)
*''Sketches and Travels in London''
* ''Stray Papers: Being Stories, Reviews, Verses, and Sketches (1821-1847)''
*''Literary Essays''
*''The English Humorists of the 18th century: a series of lectures'' (1867)
*''Ballads''
*''Miscellanies''
* ''Stories''
*''Burlesques''
* ''Character Sketches''
* ''Critical Reviews''
* ''Second Funeral of Napoleon''
Poems
*''The Pigtail''
*''The Mahogany Tree'' (1847)
See also
*''Barry Lyndon
''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 period drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Leonard ...
'', the 1975 film adaptation by Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
References
Bibliography
* Aplin, John (ed), ''The Correspondence and Journals of the Thackeray Family'', 5 vols., Pickering & Chatto, 2011.
* Aplin, John, ''The Inheritance of Genius – A Thackeray Family Biography, 1798–1875'', Lutterworth Press, 2010.
* Aplin, John, ''Memory and Legacy – A Thackeray Family Biography, 1876–1919'', Lutterworth Press, 2011.
* Catalan, Zelma. ''The Politics of Irony in Thackeray’s Mature Fiction: Vanity Fair, Henry Esmond, The Newcomes.'' Sofia (Bulgaria), 2010, 250 pp.
*Sheldon Goldfarb Sheldon may refer to:
* Sheldon (name), a given name and a surname, and a list of people with the name
Places Australia
*Sheldon, Queensland
*Sheldon Forest, New South Wales
United Kingdom
*Sheldon, Derbyshire, England
*Sheldon, Devon, England
*S ...
''Catherine: A Story (The Thackeray Edition)''. University of Michigan Press, 1999.
*Ferris, Ina. ''William Makepeace Thackeray''. Boston: Twayne, 1983.
*Jack, Adolphus Alfred
''Thackeray: A Study''
London: Macmillan, 1895.
*Monsarrat, Ann. ''An Uneasy Victorian: Thackeray the Man, 1811–1863''. London: Cassell, 1980.
*Peters, Catherine. ''Thackeray’s Universe: Shifting Worlds of Imagination and Reality''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
* Prawer, Siegbert S.: ''Breeches and Metaphysics: Thackeray's German Discourse''. Oxford: Legenda, 1997.
*Prawer, Siegbert S.: ''Israel at Vanity Fair: Jews and Judaism in the Writings of W. M. Thackeray''. Leiden: Brill, 1992.
*Prawer, Siegbert S.: ''W. M. Thackeray's European sketch books: a study of literary and graphic portraiture''. P. Lang, 2000.
*Ray, Gordon N. ''Thackeray: The Uses of Adversity, 1811–1846''. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1955.
*Ray, Gordon N. ''Thackeray: The Age of Wisdom, 1847–1863''. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957.
*Ritchie, H.T. ''Thackeray and His Daughter''. Harper and Brothers, 1924.
*Rodríguez Espinosa, Marcos (1998) ''Traducción y recepción como procesos de mediación cultural: 'Vanity Fair' en España. '' Málaga: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Málaga.''
* Shillingsburg, Peter. ''William Makepeace Thackeray: A Literary Life''. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001.
*
* Williams, Ioan M. ''Thackeray''. London: Evans, 1968.
External links
*
*
*
*
Works by Thackeray
a
eBooks @ Adelaide
Works by William Thackeray
a
Poeticous
* ttp://bartleby.com/268/4/19.html On Charity and Humor discourse on behalf of a charitable organisation
''Pegasus in Harness: Victorian Publishing and W. M. Thackeray'' by Peter L. Shillingsburg
"The Adventures of Thackeray on his way through the World: An online exhibition at the Houghton Library
* Archival material at
*
* William Makepeace Thackeray Collection. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
Poems by William Makepeace Thackeray
a
English Poetry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thackeray, William Makepeace
1811 births
1863 deaths
19th-century English novelists
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery
English Anglicans
People educated at Charterhouse School
Writers from Kolkata
Victorian novelists
Writers from London
English male novelists
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
Writers in British India
Writers who illustrated their own writing
Members of the Ancient Order of Druids