Barry Lyndon

Barry Lyndon is William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel presented as the memoirs of an Irish adventurer seeking wealth and rank. Redmond Barry recounts military service, gambling, marriage, and social advancement in a voice that persistently claims credit and shifts blame. The narration invites a judgment different from the one he wishes to secure. Set amid the opportunities and hierarchies of eighteenth-century Europe, the story examines the attraction of aristocratic status and the damage caused by treating other people as instruments of ambition. Its comedy depends on the exposure of a carefully defended self-image.