Vanity Fair [antikvár]

Introduction Vanity Fair was Thackeray's first major novel, and is commonly considered to be his masterpiece. The story is set in the period of the Napoleonic wars and, like so many classic works of literature, mixes ambition, greed, duplicity, coarseness, riches, and poverty into one of literature's great satirical pictures, which the author intended to be applied to early/mid-Victorian England. We meet, through the medium of Miss Pinkerton's Academy for young ladies, the socially and economically advantaged Amelia Sedley in stark contrast to the disadvantaged but sharp-witted Rebecca (Becky) Sharp. However, roles are soon reversed as Amelia is disinherited and descends into poverty, while Becky leads an extravagant life against the glittering backdrop of London society. There is also a rich cast of other characters, which includes Amelia's elephantine brother Jos; the coarse bully Sir Pitt Crawley, and his brother, the Rev. Bute Crawley, the devotedly loyal William Dobbin, and the tyrannical Lady Southdown. This novel is the perfect starting point for those wishing to discover Thackeray's bright wit, attractive humour, and seldom matched comic powers. Vanity Fair was written at No. 16 (then No. 13) Young Street, London, and it was some time before Thackeray persuaded the proprietors of Punch to accept it for publication, in one shilling numbers, beginning in January 1847, with illustrations by the author. The book was not an immediate success with either the critics or the public, and the publishers even hesitated over continuing publication. Vanity Fair appeared in yellow covers, and was in competition for sales with Dickens' Dombey & Son, which was then appearing monthly in green paper covers. Then came a break, after eight numbers had appeared, one was read by Mrs Carlyle, who wrote to her husband that it ' beats Dickens out of the world'. After ten numbers had appeared, it was very favourably reviewed by The Edinburgh Review. However, the best was yet to come, in December 1847, inside a year since publication began, Charlotte Bronte wrote of Thackeray and Vanity Fair, 'His wit is bright, his humour attractive but both bear the same relation to his serious genius that the mere lambent street-lighting playing under the edge of the summer cloud does to the electric death-spark hidden in its womb'. Charlotte