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), Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1839 - 1840

Places

India (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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The May 1839-February 1840 serialisation of

Catherine: A Story

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

critical popularity has waned. Thackeray’s biographer Gordon N. Rey found the novel “more impressive in its parts than as a…

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2551 words

Citation: Skwiat, Matthew. "Catherine". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 December 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6141, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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