From the Bookshelf of Reading the Chunksters…

Vanity Fair

William Makepeace Thackeray,

Nicholas Dames (Introduction)

Start date: January 21, 2021

Finish date: August 20, 2011

Discussion: Chunksters Planning

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May 06, 2018 Cindy Newton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-lit-english, owned-books, norton-crit

This was a reread of a book read so long ago that much of it had escaped my memory. I greatly enjoyed Thackeray's parade of the denizens of Vanity Fair, those examples of human faults and foibles. There are no truly "well-balanced" people in VF--everyone represents some extreme of human behavior. Amelia Sedley is presented as a paragon of female perfection; she is gentle, loving, generous, thoughtful, etc. Every thought, gesture, action, motive attributable to her springs from selflessness and l This was a reread of a book read so long ago that much of it had escaped my memory. I greatly enjoyed Thackeray's parade of the denizens of Vanity Fair, those examples of human faults and foibles. There are no truly "well-balanced" people in VF--everyone represents some extreme of human behavior. Amelia Sedley is presented as a paragon of female perfection; she is gentle, loving, generous, thoughtful, etc. Every thought, gesture, action, motive attributable to her springs from selflessness and love. This sounds lovely, except that her purity and highmindedness actually makes her a credulous fool. She believes the lies of those she trusts in spite of all evidence to the contrary; she ranks her own needs far below those she loves, and basically, she exists to serve the needs of her loved ones.

The antithesis of this paragon is her dear friend, Miss Rebecca Sharp. Becky is as self-serving as Amelia is selfless, as manipulative as Amelia is gullible. Becky only troubles her head about what someone else needs if it will ingratiate her with that person and ultimately benefit herself in some fashion. She is an astute student of human psychology and finesses the people around her skillfully. In no time flat she rises from the status of governess to socially prominent wife of a well-born officer in the army. Becky's scheming is often quite entertaining, and most people would not fault her for attempting to improve her position in life. Most of the people she gulls are objectionable in their own right, so we continue to support her efforts. Where she loses many of us, and how Thackeray moves her beyond devious but sympathetic young lady is her treatment of her own family. Becky is as uninterested in her husband and child as she is everyone else; in fact, she despises them and makes no effort to hide it. While many can understand her contempt for her husband, her callousness towards her own child is hard to understand. Being a non-maternal person is no excuse for hating your own child.

I enjoyed Becky's early days as she twists events into opportunities for her advancement. As she climbs, her machinations become more deliberate, more the result of long-range planning, and thus indicative of her emotional coldness. When she is younger, the possibility exists that at some point, when she feels safe and comfortable, when she reaches a point at which she no longer feels that her survival is on the line, that she will show a little more humanity. Not turn into a different person, but maybe just not be as consumed, not so incapable of normal human compassion. That never happens.

The closest thing to a hero that this "book without a hero" has is William Dobbin. Dobbin is kind, decent, and one of the few characters with a strong sense of integrity. He eludes heroic status by, like Amelia, suffering from terminal selflessness. Although he is in love with Amelia himself, he subverts his own feelings and devotes himself to her happiness, engineering her marriage to the (undeserving) object of her slavish devotion, George Osbourn. He knows of George's habitual careless unconcern for Amelia's feelings and that he is actually reluctant to wed her, but he pushes George into it. After George's death, Dobbin remains silent about his feelings, resigning himself to a life alone. Like Amelia, he puts himself at the bottom of the list of people who matter. At least he reaches a point at which he can no longer support Amelia's gullibility, and her disdain for his opinion finally pushes him over the edge. He tells her off and walks away, and I never liked him so well as I did at that moment!

Thackeray's satiric patter as he guides us through the Fair only added to my enjoyment, although I know it is annoying to some. I strongly recommend this for its humor and unforgettable characters. ...more

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Sep 25, 2012 cloudyskye rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I'm usually wary of big classics, but this one is fun. Feels familiar when one has read "Gone with the wind", Becky Sharp reminds one a lot of Scarlett O'Hara. But that's OK, I love them both. Altogether very enjoyable. ...more

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