Catherine: A Story

William Makepeace Thackeray

2019年11月 · Good Press

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In "Catherine," William Makepeace Thackeray delves into the complexities of love and desire, crafting a narrative steeped in irony and social commentary. Set against the backdrop of early 19th-century England, Thackeray employs a rich, satirical prose style that mirrors the frivolous society he critiques. Through the life of Catherine, a spirited and somewhat rebellious young woman, Thackeray explores themes of marriage, fidelity, and the societal expectations placed upon women, making it a pivotal work within the Victorian literary canon that challenges the norms of its time. William Makepeace Thackeray, renowned for his sharp wit and keen observation of social mores, was influenced by his own experiences with love and loss, as well as his dissatisfaction with the societal constraints of his era. As a contemporary of Charles Dickens, Thackeray's works often reflect the complexities of human nature and the class struggles of Victorian society. "Catherine" can be viewed as a personal exploration reminiscent of Thackeray's own romantic misadventures, rendered with both humor and poignant realism. Recommended for readers seeking a nuanced exploration of love and a critique of societal norms, "Catherine" offers a compelling glimpse into the heart of Victorian England. Thackeray's blend of satire and sincerity captivates, making this novel a must-read for anyone interested in the evolution of modern literature and the intricacies of human relationships.

著者について

William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta, India, where his father was in service to the East India Company. After the death of his father in 1816, he was sent to England to attend school. Upon reaching college age, Thackeray attended Trinity College, Cambridge, but he left before completing his degree. Instead, he devoted his time to traveling and journalism. Generally considered the most effective satirist and humorist of the mid-nineteenth century, Thackeray moved from humorous journalism to successful fiction with a facility that was partially the result of a genial fictional persona and a graceful, relaxed style. At his best, he held up a mirror to Victorian manners and morals, gently satirizing, with a tone of sophisticated acceptance, the inevitable failure of the individual and of society. He took up the popular fictional situation of the young person of talent who must make his way in the world and dramatized it with satiric directness in The Luck of Barry Lyndon (1844), with the highest fictional skill and appreciation of complexities inherent within the satiric vision in his masterpiece, Vanity Fair (1847), and with a great subtlety of point of view and background in his one historical novel, Henry Esmond (1852). Vanity Fair, a complex interweaving in a vast historical panorama of a large number of characters, derives its title from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and attempts to invert for satirical purposes, the traditional Christian image of the City of God. Vanity Fair, the corrupt City of Man, remains Thackeray's most appreciated and widely read novel. It contrasts the lives of two boarding-school friends, Becky Sharp and Amelia Smedley. Constantly attuned to the demands of incidental journalism and his sense of professionalism in his relationship with his public, Thackeray wrote entertaining sketches and children's stories and published his humorous lectures on eighteenth-century life and literature. His own fiction shows the influence of his dedication to such eighteenth-century models as Henry Fielding, particularly in his satire, which accepts human nature rather than condemns it and takes quite seriously the applicability of the true English gentleman as a model for moral behavior. Thackeray requested that no authorized biography of him should ever be written, but members of his family did write about him, and these accounts were subsequently published.