William Thackeray's Vanity Fair : the complete absence of the traditional hero

Abstract EN

This paper aims to study William Thackeray's Vanity Fair by using an analytical method of the central theme of the novel, its main characters as well as some of the minor, important characters.

It begins with a general introduction about the novelist and his age and literary career followed by the first section which is a brief review of the characters and events of the novel.

The second section analyses the very details of the novel depending on its plot and the conversations between characters.

The third section asserts the hypothesis of the study and the conclusion shows that William Thackeray had managed in achieving a narrative form, unprecedented by any of his contemporaries, in which there is no role for the traditional hero.