Humanity Through Thackeray's Lights

William Makepeace Thackeray's narrative lenses are analyzed in three novels: Vanity Fair, Pendennis and The Newcomes. Vanity Fair exhibits a panorama of the world through the vision of two women who develop their own strategies for survival against their fated circumstances. Pendennis is a journey of an individual. The narrative lenses focus on a young boy's quest for the definition of a gentleman. Through the defined philosophies of a handful of men in the novel, Thackeray reveals his personal definition of a gentleman. The narrative lenses widen again in The Newcomes to incorporate a family who are part of an emerging middle-class. Thackeray shows us a slice of society through a domestic drama while highlighting the plight of the Victorian woman. Through the world in Vanity Fair, an individual in Pendennis and a family in The Newcomes, Thackeray displays his views on man, woman and the world. In dissecting humanity, Thackeray also reveals himself, his gentleness, sadness, despair and love for his fellow human-being.