The Rose and the Ring (William Makepeace Thackeray).

"The Rose and The Ring" is the author William Makepease Thackeray's second story, but it is one that takes place in 1736. The story is told with the use of interlaced narration. This is the idea in fiction literature where different events in the story are shared between two characters who are in different parts of the story, yet connected. In this story, "the rose" symbolizes love and beauty, while the "ring" represents society and its values. As a lifelong student of literature, I was especially interested in this work of Thackeray. He had delved deep into the historical and social contexts of England during the reign of Queen Anne, representing the division and underlying tension between her class, that of the landed gentry, and the aristocratic upper class. Also through his commentary on the importance of education and higher literacy in life success, Thackeray weaves together realistic descriptions of the conditions and events of a turbulent, morally complex period into his narrative structure.