141
Thackeray’s satire reaches its climax when he describes Sir Pitt
Crawley, a typical snob of Vanity Fair. “Here was a man, who could
not spell, and did not care to read - who had the habits and the
cunning of a boor; whose aim in life was pettifogging; who never had
a taste, or emotion or enjoyment, but what was sordid and foul; and
yet he had rank, and honours, and power, somehow; and was a
dignitary of the land, and pillar of the state. He was High Sheriff, and
rode in a golden coach. Great ministers and statesmen courted him;
and in Vanity Fair he had a higher place than the most brilliant
genius of spotless virtue”.
The novel focuses on the fate of two girls with sharply contrasting characters - Rebecca (Becky) Sharp
and Amelia Sedley. Both characters are depicted with great skill. Becky is good looking, clever and gifted.
She possesses a keen sense of humour and a deep understanding of human nature. At the same time, she
embodies the very spirit of Vanity Fair, as her only aim in life is at all costs to find her way into high society.
Becky believes neither in love nor in friendship. She is selfish, cunning, and cynical, and ready to marry any
man who can give her wealth and a title.
In contrast to Rebecca, Amelia is honest, generous and kind to all the people she comes in touch with
and is loved by all. But she, too, cannot be regarded as the heroine of the novel. She is not clever enough to
understand the real qualities of the people who surround her. She is too intelligent, naive and simple-
hearted to understand all the dirty machinations of the clever and sly Rebecca. Thackeray writes about
Amelia Sedley as a kind and gentle being, but at the same time calls her “a silly little thing”.
The most virtuous person in the novel is Captain William Dobbin. He worships Amelia, and his only
aim in life is to see her happy. He does not think of his own happiness. Knowing that Amelia loves George
Osborne, Dobbin persuades him to marry the girl. He knows that his own life will be a complete
disappointment, but he does not care. His personal feelings are of no importance for him in comparison
with those of Amelia. Though Dobbin, like Amelia, is an exception in Vanity Fair, he is too simple-minded
and one-sided to be admired by the author.
Though nothing in the early nineteenth century approaches Dickens and Thackeray, the novel in that
period showed great variety. Fiction had become the dominant form in literature, and the problem of
recording even its main types becomes difficult.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: