Vanity Fair

Born in Calcutta, British India, in 1811, William Makepeace Thackeray was sent to England for schooling after his father's death in 1815. He attended Charterhouse School, which he later satirized as "Slaughterhouse" in his works, and briefly studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, before leaving to travel Europe. During his travels, he met literary figures like Goethe in Weimar. After squandering his inheritance on gambling and unsuccessful ventures, Thackeray turned to journalism and writing to support himself. He contributed to publications such as Fraser's Magazine, The Times, and Punch, where his satirical pieces gained popularity. His personal life was marked by tragedy when his wife, Isabella Shawe, suffered from mental illness, leading to her long-term institutionalization. Thackeray's literary career reached its pinnacle with the publication of Vanity Fair in 1847-1848, a novel that offered a scathing critique of British society. He continued to write notable works like Pendennis and The History of Henry Esmond, solidifying his reputation as a leading novelist of the Victorian era. Despite declining health, he remained active in literature until his death in 1863.