W. M. Thackeray the Genius and the Eternal Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair is the masterpiece of William Makepeace Thackeray, one of the most important novelists of critical realism in the 19th century British literature. “Description of what is true” and “advocation of what is benevolent” are the two basic tasks in it. This paper makes a comment on all the innovative artistic skills revealed in the novel and Thackeray’s limitations due to the time he lives in. However, sticking to the principle of being true and unique, Thackeray has made great artistic achievements in the developing history of British realistic novels.