William Thackeray

William Makepeace Thackeray(1811–1863) was a British novelist, known for his sharp wit and keen observations of Victorian society. After his father’s death, his mother Anne, who worked for the East India Company, sent him back to England. He attended Charterhouse, a place that he often satirized as ‘Slaughterhouse’ in his works. His breakthrough came with the publication of Vanity Fair in 1848. He married Isabella Gethin Shawe at 25 and worked as a regular contributor to many newspapers such as Fraser’s Magazine, The Morning Chronicle, The Foreign Quarterly Review and Punch to support his family. Thackeray’s wife later succumbed to depression and was eventually cared for by the Thompson family, outliving her husband by 30 years. He achieved immense fame and was sought after even by the lords and ladies he satirised, often being compared to Charles Dickens and remaining in the top three writers during his time. Thackeray, known as the ‘greatest literary glutton’, passed away at the age of 52. His writing style, characterized by his keen observation of human behaviour and his sardonic humour, continues to captivate readers to this day.

Noteworthy works by William Makepeace Thackeray:

The Yellowplush Papers (1837)

A Shabby Genteel Story (1840)

The Paris Sketchbook (1840)

The Luck of Barry Lyndon (1844)

The Book of Snobs (1848)

Pendennis (1850)

Men’s Wives (1852)

Ballads (1857)

The Virginians (1859)

The Orphan of Pimlico (1876)