Thackeray's later novels, such as Pendennis and The Newcomes, reflected a mellowing in his tone, focusing on the coming of age of characters and critical portrayals of society. During the Victorian era, Thackeray was ranked second to Charles Dickens, but he is now primarily known for Vanity Fair.
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist whose reputation rests chiefly on Vanity Fair (1847–48), a novel of the Napoleonic period in England, and The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. (1852), set in the early 18th century.
Thackeray settled down and became more responsible after his marriage in 1836. Thackeray is best known for his novel Vanity Fair, a satirical work with an attractive heroine and take-no-prisoners skewering of human weaknesses and foibles.
MSN: Kemi Badenoch reveals her surprise inspiration from Thackeray's 1848 novel Vanity Fair
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch today reveals her surprise inspiration – Vanity Fair's scheming social climber Becky Sharp. The 46-year-old confesses an unexpected fondness for Thackeray's 1848 novel and ...
Kemi Badenoch reveals her surprise inspiration from Thackeray's 1848 novel Vanity Fair
Thackeray followed in Dickens's footsteps with a lecturing tour of America. A reprise of his tour of the British Isles speaking on The English Humourists, these lectures were profitable for Thackeray and also provided influential--if now exploded--views of both Swift and Sterne.
Thackeray's years of semi-idleness ended after he met and, in 1836, married Isabella Shawe, who bore him three daughters, two of whom survived. He now began "writing for his life," as he put it, turning to journalism in an effort to support his young family.