Patterns in Thackeray's fiction

Thackerays great subject was the realization of the self; his method, the exploration of the formal causes of success and failure in the selfs struggle toward fulfillment. The initial form he used to scrutinize and represent the ego was parody, a method for which he was well-suited, possessing, as he did, the kind of consciousness based on an ear for language and the necessary wide, literary sophistication. Although the nature and value of Thackerays art is not limited to parody, the form was fundamental to his career as Professor Wheatleys original study reveals in tracing the skeins and patterns in the fiction of the 19th-century novelist. The authors approach is through the early imitations and caricatures which launched Thackeray as a writer; the beginnings are shown to be relevant to the later masterful major fiction.