John Carey

William Makepeace Thackeray

Chronicles the exploits of Becky Sharp, an unscrupulous young woman who is determined to achieve wealth and social success.

Vanity Fair

Vivian

Contrary to the Victorian literary heroism, Vanity Fair is a novel without a hero, that depicts satirically an era when people spend most efforts keeping up pretenses of a grandeur life and living above their means. (And I must say we as a society are still plagued by this disease to this day.)

The protagonist Becky Sharp, the daughter of a poor painter and Opera singer, is a ruthless and shameless social climber that marries, charms, and schemes all the way into the upper class circle. But can you really blame her? Born a woman in a time when birth and wealth determine everything while brain and talents matter little, she has learned how to survive ever since a little girl. With Becky in mind, it's also hard to congratulate on the other more virtuous characters' improved circumstances due to some inheritances falling into their lap. Becky's famous statement - "I could be a good woman if I had five thousand pounds a year" - leaves one indignant and then disturbed.

There are no characters without faults in Vanity Fair, and that makes the novel more realistic than its contemporaries.

Vanity Fair

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