William Makepeace Thackeray (18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863)

was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly «Vanity Fair», a panoramic portrait of English

society.

Thackeray, an only child, was born in Calcutta, India. In early childhood,

William was moved to London, where he entered the school Charter House. Then he studied in Cambridge but only 1 year. Some of his earliest writing appeared in university publications «The Snob» and

«The Gownsman». And after that he travelled for some time on the

continent, visiting Paris and Weimar. He returned to England and began to study law at the Middle Temple, but soon gave

that up..

In 1837, Thackeray got married, but family life wasn’t happy because of his wife's mental illness. She had to live separately from her husband and the rest of his life Thackeray lived with his two daughters.

Thackeray often wrote under the pen name,

according to popular custom at that time.

Thackeray signed a real name for the first time

in novel «Vanity Fair». The novel was written

without a precisely defined plan, so that in a

magazine it could be stretched or completed

randomly. Thackeray conceived only a few

central individuals and grouped around them

different incidents.

Becky Sharp, a poor girl has a very positive goals in life. She wants to have a good life: she uses her wit and beauty to ensnare all the right people, fascinates rich old bachelors, exploits young officer, and marry him, cheating him.

So he became a prominent member of London society and had good relationship with the

outstanding writers of the time. There other his works are «Penndenis» («История

Пенденниса»), « The History of Henry Esmond », «The

Newcomers», «The Rose and the Ring», «The Adventures of Philip»(«Приключения Филиппа в

его странствовании по свету»).

After 1854 he began to read public lectures in Europe and then in America. But he did

not read his own stories, like Dickens, and only made

several historical and literary essays and he had a great

success.

The basis of all his novels and comic sketches is his pessimism and realistic portrayal of English life. His novels are supposed always to have a perfect hero or heroine. Thackeray called his best work - "Vanity Fair" - a novel without a hero, and in this novel, as in others, brings into action perverse people or at least selfish. He convinced that evil in life much more interesting and varied than good. Representing evil and vices of people he brighter preached positive ideals. It makes his novels highly artistic and life. Therefore all his novels turned into satire, always have, however, the moral lining: vices are depicted very clearly, but not in a pretty sight.

Russian translations of Thackeray appeared in the

1850's. In particular it was translations by E N

Akhmatova.

Thackeray saw himself as writing in the realistic tradition

and distinguished himself from the exaggerations and

sentimentality of Dickens. Some later commentators

have accepted this self-evaluation and seen him as a

realist, but others note his inclination to use eighteenth-

century narrative techniques, such as digressions and

talking to the reader, and argue that through them he

frequently disrupts the illusion of reality.

His former home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent is now a fine dining restaurant named after the

author.

On 23 December 1863, after returning from dining out and before dressing for bed,

Thackeray suffered a stroke and was found dead on his bed in the morning. His death at the age of fifty-two was entirely unexpected, and shocked his family, friends, and reading

public. An estimated 7000 people attended his funeral at Kensington Gardens. He was buried on 29 December at Kensal Green Cemetery,

and a memorial bust can be found in Westminster Abbey.