One of the earliest and greatest of the Victorian Bildungsroman, this introspective novel treats London's bohemian and literary underworld and the romantic entanglements of its hero, Arthur Pendennis, with comic and uninhibited style. Son of a selfless widow, Pendennis moves from one disastrous romantic involvement to another on the fringes of the corrupt upper classes. Thackeray had slaved for ten years in this literary bohemia; the introduction considers the parallels between Thackeray's life and the novel, and examines the changes taking place in Victorian England throughout the years of the story.