William Makepeace Thackeray, Catherine

Matthew Skwiat (University of Virginia)

Ed. by Grace Moore, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Grace Moore (University of Otago)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1839 - 1840

Places

India (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

The May 1839-February 1840 serialisation of Catherine: A Story in Fraser’s Magazine marked the first novel-length work by the twenty-eight-year-old author William Makepeace Thackeray. At the time of Catherine’s release, Thackeray was making a name for himself as a writer of journalistic, satirical, and burlesque pieces for The Times, The Morning Chronicle, and Bentley’s Miscellany (Carey 1977, p. 15). Catherine would bring together Thackeray’s gift of mimicry with his interest in history and the theatre, as he lampooned the popular Newgate novels of the 1830s. It is perhaps because of its topical subject matter and tonal disparities that Catherine’s <…

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2551 words

Citation: Skwiat, Matthew. "Catherine". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 December 2022 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6141, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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