William thackeray (1811 - 1863) Questions and tasks.

I. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the proper and geographical names:

William Makepeace Thackeray

['wIljqm 'meIkpJs 'TxkqrI]

Napoleonic [nq"pqVlI'PnIk]

Henry Esmond ['henrI 'esmqnd]

Esq. (esquire) [Is'kwQIq] Richard ['rICqd]

Charterhouse ['CRtqhQVs]

Trinity College ['trInItI 'kPlIG]

Cambridge ['keImbrIG] Irish ['aIqrIS]

Cornhill ['kLnhIl] Punch ['pAnC]

Major Gahagan ['meIGq gq'heIgn]

Catherine ['kxTqrIn]

Barry Lyndon ['bxrI 'lIndn]

Amelia Sedley [q'mJljq 'sedlI]

Becky Sharp ['bekI SRp]

Pendennis ['pendqnIs] Oxbridge ['PksbrIG]

Beatrix ['bIqtrIks] Virginians [vq'Ginjqnz]

George [GLG] Harry Warrington ['hxrI 'wPrINtqn]

Philip ['fIlIp]’ Denis Duval ['denIs djH'vxl]

II. Read the text:

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863), English novelist whose reputation rests chiefly on “Vanity Fair” (1847-48), a novel of the Napoleonic period of England, and “The History of Henry Esmond, Esq.” (1852).

Life. Thackeray was the only son of Richard Thackeray, an administrator in the East India Company. His father died in 1815, and in 1816 William was sent home to England. His mother joined him in 1820. After attending several grammar schools, Thackeray went in 1822 to Charterhouse, the London public (private) school, where he led a rather lonely and miserable life.

He was happier while studying at Trinity College, Cambridge (1828-30). In 1830 he left Cambridge without taking a degree, and during 1831-33 he studied law in London. He then considered painting as a profession; his artistic gifts are seen in his letters and many of his early writings, which are energetically illustrated. At last he saw himself obliged to earn his living as a journalist. At first he wrote sketches for comic papers and magazines. In 1836 he married a penniless Irish girl. They had 3 daughters, one died in infancy. His wife became insane, she never recovered and long survived her husband, living with her friends in the country. So Thackeray was, in reality, a widower, and gave much attention to his daughters, for whom he established a home in London in 1846.

In 1847-48 his best novel “Vanity Fair” appeared in monthly issues. It brought Thackeray both fame and prosperity, and from then on he was an established author on the English scene. During his life he didn’t travel much. He lectured in the United States in 1852-53. But after 1856 he settled in London. He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1857, quarreled with Dickens, formerly a friendly rival and in 1860 founded The Cornhill magazine, becoming its editor. After he died in 1863, he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Early writings. The 19th century was the age of the magazine, which had been developed to meet the demand for family reading among the growing middle class. In the late 1830s Thackeray became a notable contributor of articles on varied topics to The New Monthly Magazine, to Punch. His work was often anonymous or written under different pen names. He collected the best of his early writings in “Miscellanies” 4 vol. (1855-57). These include “Major Gahagan” (1838-39), a fantasy of soldiering in India; “Catherine” (1839-40), a good realistic crime story; “The Luck of Barry Lyndon” (1844; revised as “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon”, 1856), which is a historical novel and his first full-length novel. He also did some of his verses. Like many good prose writers he was good at writing light verse and ballads.

Mature writings. With “Vanity Fair” (1847-48), the first work published under his own name, Thackeray adopted the system of publishing a novel serially in monthly parts that had been so successfully used by Dickens. The novel deals mainly with the interwoven fortunes of two contrasting women - Amelia Sedley and Becky Sharp. The wealthy, wellborn, passive Amelia and the ambitious, energetic, scheming, provocative, and essentially amoral Becky, daughter of a poor drawing master, are contrasted in their fortunes and reactions to life, but the contrast of their characters is not the simple one between moral good and evil - both are presented with dispassionate sympathy.

[ This novel represented English society during the Napoleonic wars. The rich movement and colour of this panorama of early 19th-century society make “Vanity Fair” Thackeray’s greatest achievement; the narrative skill, subtle characterization, and descriptive power make it one of the outstanding novels of its period. But this novel is more than a portrayal and imaginative analysis of a particular society. Little by little, we are prepared for Thackeray’s conclusion: “Ah! Vanitas Vanitatum! Which of us is happy in this World? Which of us has his desire, or having it, is satisfied?” It is its tragic irony that makes “Vanity Fair” a lasting and insightful evaluation of human ambition and experience. Subtitled “A Novel Without a Hero”, the novel is deliberately antiheroic. The world to Thackeray is Vanity Fair, where men and women are, to use his own words, “greedy, pompous, mean, perfectly self-satisfied and for the most part foolish and selfish, all eager after vanities.” They despise poverty and kindness of heart and do not understand where true happiness lies. ]

Successful and famous, Thackeray went on to exploit two lines of development opened up in “Vanity Fair”; a gift for evoking the London scene and for writing historical novels that demonstrate the connections between past and present. He wrote “The History of Pendennis” (1848-50), which is partly autobiographical. He shows his first love affair, his experiences at “Oxbridge University”, his working as a London journalist and so on - achieving a convincing portrait of a much-tempted young man.

Turning to the historical novel, Thackeray chose the reign of Queen Anne and showed it in “The History of Henry Esmond, Esq.” (in 3 volumes) (1852). The story began in 1692 and ended in 1718. The two main characters - Beatrix and Esmond - are given against a background of London society and the political life of the time. This novel is considered to be one of the best evocations in English of the atmosphere of the past age.

Thackeray returned to the contemporary scene in his novel “The Newcomers” (1853-56). This work is essentially a detailed study of prosperous middle class society and is centered upon the family of the Newcomers.

“The Virginians” (1857-59), Thackeray’s next novel, is set partly in America and partly in England in the second half of the 18th century and is concerned mostly with the lives of two brothers, George and Harry Warrington, who are the grandsons of Henry Esmond, the hero of his earlier novel. Thackeray wrote 2 other serial novels - “Lovel the Widower” (1860) and “The Adventures of Philip” (1861-62). He died after having begun writing the novel “Denis Duval”.

Assessment. In his own time Thackeray was regarded as the only possible rival to Dickens. His pictures of contemporary life were obviously real and were accepted as such by the middle classes. A great professional, he provided novels, stories, essays, and verses for his audience. His novel “Vanity Fair” is still the most interesting and readable work of Thackeray and has retained its place among the greatest historical novels of the English language.

3. Answer the questions to discuss the text in detail. Use the text for reference.

1. Where did W.M.Thackeray get education? How did he decide to earn his living? What was he interested in?

2. Why did he work for magazines? What works were published in them? Did he write anonymously?

3. What novel brought Thackeray both fame and prosperity? What are the greatest author’s achievements in it? Comment on the subtitle of the book “A Novel Without a Hero”.

4. Why did he turn to historical novels? What periods of English history did he describe in them? Who are the main characters?

5. Prove that in his own time Thackeray was regarded as the only possible rival to Dickens.

IV. Translate in writing the passage in brackets.

V. Speak on the life and creative work of W.M.Thackeray.