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A review by patsmith139
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
5.0
A very readable tale that had me up late in the night to arrive at the very satisfactory ending. The novel is tightly structured, with some fabulous 'set pieces' and sparking dialogue. Thackeray himself is very present; he introduces himself at the very beginning of the book as 'the Manager of the Performance' and certainly doesn't leave the reader in any doubt as to his thoughts on his characters. They are by no means simply as good or bad as they first seem and his star creation, Becky Sharpe, is quite clearly intelligent, vital, entertaining and is cheerful in any and every circumstance in which she finds herself. Some of the worst slurs on her character actually don't ring true and she clearly comes to despise High Society just as she achieves her greatest triumphs in it. He finds her as fascinating as does almost every other character in the novel and though he never refers to it directly (no doubt due to the sensibilities of the time) we imagine she gets nearly as low as a lady possibly can. His asides on Becky's seemingly angelic friend Amelia, also show he loses patience with her martyrdom on many occasions.
We can see Vanity Fair as an allegory or moral fable that reveals certain universal truths about the human condition. Many of the minor characters actually have names that denote their personal circumstances or moral attributes. For instance, Tom Eaves, a gossip, is a combination of 'peeping Tom' and 'eavesdropper'. The Crawleys are prepared to do just that to gain admittance to the rank of society above the small gentry where they find themselves. Meanwhile, some of the names of the families over in the European phase of the novel are just plain hilarious in their pomposity.
But it is Becky Sharpe that is the star of the show. She is one of the great female characters in English literature. She may be wicked but it is difficult not to forgive her, to see that sparkle in her eyes and be dazzled by her vitality. 'She runs away with the author's intention (and) steals the show'. (Gilbert Phelps, from the introduction of my very ancient Pan edition of Vanity Fair)
We can see Vanity Fair as an allegory or moral fable that reveals certain universal truths about the human condition. Many of the minor characters actually have names that denote their personal circumstances or moral attributes. For instance, Tom Eaves, a gossip, is a combination of 'peeping Tom' and 'eavesdropper'. The Crawleys are prepared to do just that to gain admittance to the rank of society above the small gentry where they find themselves. Meanwhile, some of the names of the families over in the European phase of the novel are just plain hilarious in their pomposity.
But it is Becky Sharpe that is the star of the show. She is one of the great female characters in English literature. She may be wicked but it is difficult not to forgive her, to see that sparkle in her eyes and be dazzled by her vitality. 'She runs away with the author's intention (and) steals the show'. (Gilbert Phelps, from the introduction of my very ancient Pan edition of Vanity Fair)