Vanity Fair - Thackeray, William Makepeace

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Résumé :
First published serially from 1847 to 1848, Vanity Fair is William Makepeace Thackeray's most famous work in which the author reflects his interest in deconstructing the notions of literary heroism of his era. It is the story of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley, who have just completed their studies at Miss Pinkerton's Academy for Young Ladies and are beginning to embark upon the world. The simple-minded nature of Amelia, who comes from a wealthy family, is contrasted with the strong-willed nature of Becky, who will stop at nothing to climb the social ranks of English society. The novel takes its name from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, one of the most famous work of Thackeray's day, in which a town called Vanity is depicted to represent man's sinful attachment to worldly things. Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, Vanity Fair is Thackeray's classic satire of the societal trappings of Victorian England, self described as a novel without a hero. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Biographie:
William Makepeace Thackeray (18 July 1811 - 24 December 1863) was an English novelist of the 19th century. Thackeray achieved recognition with his Snob Papers, 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 Dickens. In Thackeray's own day some commentators, such as Anthony Trollope, 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. During the Victorian era Thackeray was ranked second only to Charles Dickens, 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.

Sommaire:
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist and illustrator. He is most known for his satirical works, including the 1847-1848 novel Vanity Fair a panoramic depiction of British society, and the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon which was adapted for a 1975 film by Stanley Kubrick. Thackeray was born in Calcutta, British India, and moved to England after his father died in 1815. He went to several schools and briefly attended Trinity College, Cambridge, before leaving to see Europe. Thackeray spent a large portion of his inheritance on gambling and unsuccessful newspapers. He resorted to journalism to help support his family, primarily for Fraser's Magazine, The Times, and Punch. Thackeray began as a satirist and parodist, achieving prominence with pieces that reflected his penchant for roguish characters. He is well known for Vanity Fair, which starred Becky Sharp, and The Luck of Barry Lyndon. Thackeray's early works were characterized by scathing attacks on high society, military prowess, marriage, and hypocrisy, which were frequently written under several pseudonyms....