Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair, though published about a hundred and twenty five years ago, is a “modern” novel with a rich appeal to modern sensibility. While it reflects the Victorian age, it has certain qualities which are relevant to our own times, to all time, in fact. Thackeray’s sense of realism was too strong to allow the artificial creation of a hero. The real world has no heroes, therefore, Vanity Fair has none, though there is a large variety of characters moving in and out of this panoramic vistas.