Shows / The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
Ladies and gentlemen, rogues and romantics, climbers, creditors, soldiers, snobs, schemers, and saints, pray step inside.
The William Makepeace Thackeray Library brings the great novels and tales of Thackeray to life in full: a glittering procession of vanity, ambition, love, folly, fortune, and social warfare. From the dazzling intrigues of Vanity Fair to the adventures of Barry Lyndon and beyond, here is a world in which everyone has a part to play. And not everyone is quite what they pretend…
Episodes
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book II Chapter 4 - Recapitulations
In which young Henry Esmond learns the complicated and sorrowful truths surrounding his family’s honour and title through the dying confession of his patron…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book II Chapter 5 - I Go on the Vigo Bay Expedition, Taste Salt Water and Smell Powder
In which young Mr. Esmond embarks upon his first military expedition, encountering the routines and perils of war that unexpectedly rouse his spirits and renew…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book II Chapter 2 - I Come to the End of My Captivity, but Not of My Trouble
In which Harry Esmond, confined and melancholy, receives visits and reports from his old friend Captain Steele, who brings news of the noble household Esmond…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book II Chapter 3 - I Take the Queen's Pay in Quin's Regiment
In which our young gentleman, newly freed from the gloom of Newgate, is introduced to the complex and often contradictory world of his noble kin, where…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 14 - We Ride After Him to London
In which the sombre cloud of a looming quarrel gathers over the households of Castlewood, and a fatal duel—precipitated by wounded honour and accusations—casts…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book II Chapter 1 - I Am in Prison, and Visited, but Not Consoled There
In which the young Henry Esmond, wounded and imprisoned after a fatal duel, grapples with profound sorrow and the cruel reproach of his beloved Lady…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 12 - My Lord Mohun Comes Among Us for No Good
In which the arrival of a dashing and worldly Lord Mohun enlivens the sombre Castlewood household, where underlying tensions simmer between Lord Castlewood and…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 13 - My Lord Leaves Us and His Evil Behind Him
In which the young and observant Harry Esmond navigates the turbulent social and familial tides at Castlewood, marked by Lord Castlewood’s gambling woes, the…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 10 - I Go to Cambridge, and Do but Little Good There
In which the young Henry Esmond, under the kindly patronage of my Lord Viscount, embarks upon his first journey to Cambridge, encountering the favourable yet…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 11 - I Come Home for a Holiday to Castlewood, and Find a Skeleton in the House
In which young Henry Esmond returns to the venerable Castlewood Hall for a holiday, finding the household shadowed by a silent sorrow that tinges his…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 8 - After Good Fortune Comes Evil
In which a grim shadow is cast over the household at Castlewood by the arrival of small-pox in the village, provoking a mixture of fear, blame, and familial…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 9 - I Have the Small-Pox, and Prepare to Leave Castlewood
In which we witness the aftermath of smallpox upon the Castlewood household, observing the fading beauty and strained affections of Lady Castlewood, as she…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 6 - The Issue of the Plots, the Death of Thomas, Third Viscount of Castlewood
In which we witness the arrest of the Viscountess of Castlewood and the seizure of papers hinting at perilous political intrigues, while young Harry Esmond…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 7 - I Am Left at Castlewood an Orphan, and Find Most Kind Protectors There
In which young Henry Esmond finds a rare friendship in the boisterous but loyal Dick the Scholar, while quietly nurturing a reverent admiration for his…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 4 - I Am Placed Under a Popish Priest and Bred to That Religion . . .Vicountess Castlewood
In which young Henry Esmond is placed under the care of a devoted Jesuit priest whose influence shapes his early spiritual and intellectual development, amidst…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 5 - My Superiors Are Engaged in Plots for the Restoration of King James II
In which a young page, Harry Esmond, becomes privy to the secretive and perilous activities of his chaplain and guardian, Father Holt, amidst the tense…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 2 - Relates How Francis, Fourth Viscount, Arrives at Castlewood
In which the storied lineage and fortunes of the Esmond family are laid bare, revealing their entanglements with loyalty, loss, and the vicissitudes of courtly…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 3 - Whither, in the Time of Thomas, Third Viscount, I Had Preceded Him as Page to Isabella
In which the young and impressionable Henry Esmond is rescued from a harsh and uneasy childhood among French refugees and brought into the grand household of…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Book I Chapter 1 - An Account of the Family of Esmond of Castlewood Hall
In which we are courteously introduced to the world of Lord Castlewood and find the young Henry Esmond, an orphan and dependent yet noble in bearing, taken…
- The William Makepeace Thackeray Library
The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. Preface & Introduction
In which the reader is gently introduced to the venerable family estate of Castlewood in Virginia, and the noble character of Colonel Henry Esmond, whose life…