Thackeray and Slavery

Library Journal

In a compelling addition to our knowledge of Thackeray's life and writings, Thomas argues persuasively that slavery is the central figural device in the author's novels. Thomas (English, Villanova Univ.) explores the cultural and biographical context of each novel to demonstrate that Thackeray's use of slavery as an image of bondage and freedom for all persons is most successful in the novels-- Vanity Fair , Henry Esmond --written before his encounter with the slave trade in America in 1851-52. While Thomas's readings are clear and insightful, they are often plodding and repetitious. The book would have been more helpful had it focused on the early novels rather than taking a panoramic view of the image of slavery. Thomas might also have used the insights of reader-response criticism to provide us with a better sense of how Thackeray's contemporary readers reacted to his use of this image in his fiction. Recommended only for large academic collections.-- Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Westerville P.L., Ohio

Booknews

Throughout Thackeray's career, he repeatedly alluded to literal or figurative slavery in his work. Thomas examines relationships in Thackeray's fiction in which people have been reduced to objects and power is an end. These relationships include not only actual slaves and blacks, but also servants, dependents of all races, upper-class women sold into marriage, and children struggling to escape parental domination. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)