Charlotte Bronte and William Thackeray

Jane Eyre and Vanity Fair were published in 1847 and both authors had a high regard for the other's achievement. They met a few times after this but each meeting was unsatisfactory as Thackeray never equalled the expectations that Charlotte Bronte had formed about this 'Titan of Mind'. She thought him 'prophet like' and 'the first social regenerator of the day', but her dedication of the second edition of Jane Eyre to him set off gossip in literary circles that she was his mistress. He was uncomfortable with her belief that he had a special 'mission' as a writer. Their somewhat farcical encounters throw light upon their personalities and work and upon the difficulties of a shy provincial woman being thrust into the sophisticated London literary world.