Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1847-48, satirizing society in early 19th-century Britain.

Even before the last part of the serial was published, critics hailed the work as a literary treasure.

Although the critics were superlative in their praise, they expressed disappointment at the unremittingly dark portrayal of human nature, fearing Thackeray had taken his dismal metaphor too far.

In response to his critics, Thackeray explained that he saw people for the most part "abominably foolish and selfish".

The work is often compared to the other great historical novel which covered the Napoleonic wars: Tolstoy's War and Peace.

While Tolstoy's work has a greater emphasis on the historical detail and the effect the war has upon his protagonists, Thackeray instead uses the conflict as more of a backdrop to the lives of his characters.

For Thackeray, the Napoleonic wars as a whole can be thought of as one more of the vanities expressed in the title.