Vanity Fair

Interesting Facts

• The book was initially published as a series of installments in a magazine, a popular format in the 19th century.
• The main heroine, Becky Sharp, is considered one of the most famous anti-heroines in literature.
• Thackeray used the subtitle "A Novel Without a Hero," emphasizing the absence of a traditional positive hero in the book.
• The author often addresses the reader directly, breaking the fourth wall and creating the effect of the narrator's presence.
• The book is a satire on early 19th-century British society, mocking its vices and hypocrisy.
• The novel contains many autobiographical elements, as Thackeray himself experienced financial difficulties and knew middle-class life from the inside.
• The illustrations for the first edition of the book were done by Thackeray himself, who was also a talented artist.