Vanity Fair
I hate Becky Sharpe. I mean, I really hate her like I haven’t hated a character in a book for a long time. The woman is pure evil. That said, I enjoyed Vanity Fair
I was originally reading this book online, but Michelle loaned me her Barnes & Noble Classics copy, and I was so glad - I needed the footnotes and endnotes. In the introduction, it mentioned that the novel was originally serialized in a newspaper. Maybe if it had been written as a book, it would have been given the benefit of an editor. This book was long - and Thackeray does like to go on and on and on about every single minor character, giving us their entire family history and financial situation. This was definitely more information than I needed to know - there were times when I just wished he would get back to the story!
Even though his subtitle was “A Novel Without a Hero,” this book did have a hero - William Dobbins. Physically, he wasn’t your typical hero like a Darcy or Knightly - in fact, Thackeray describes him as tall and skinny, with a yellowish face, over-large hands and feet, and a squeaky voice. But, in character and spirit, Dobbins is the hero of Vanity Fair. His devotion to Amelia, in spite of the fact that she remained committed to the memory of her worthless husband, was beautiful. I kept wishing that the story would move away from that awful Becky woman and get back to Emmy and Dobbins’ story.
All in all, I liked this book (4 stars), but I still think it would have benefited from a good editor.
Ahhhh, yes. The enchanting Becky Sharp. I can’t say I really liked Amelia any better, though. She was pretty stupid about George, imo.
At least Becky could roll with the punches so to speak. I had no patience with either of them, honestly, though.
I did like Dobbin, but also thought he should have MOVED ON. *sigh* I just can’t stand it when people go back to someone who could not care less about them, over and over….
The only character moment I really cared for/enjoyed/related to at all was Becky’s hubby, whose name escapes me at the mo… And how he cared for his child. I think I even cried for him.
Didn’t do much crying for the rest of them….
February 10th, 2008 at 10:58 pmLawanda - I liked Rawdon, too- he turned out to be a good guy who had the misfortune of marrying an awful woman.
I think in the time the book was set in, if Dobbin had moved on, that Amelia and her family would’ve ended up in the workhouse. That’s why I’m glad his love was unwavering - and that he got his heart’s desire in the end.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:15 amOh yes, I thought it was Rawdon Crawley, but could not be sure!
Did Amelia and Dobbin finally get married? I guess I forgot that part, since their characters just didn’t impress me much.
Plus I saw the movie since I read the book YEARS ago, which can sometimes get confusing (unless it is P&P, which I have read prolly 1000 times and watched each version a 100 times LOL) And the last thing I remember in the movie was Becky with the fat guy, whose name I also forget.
I really loved Rawdon Crawley (sp?) in the end though, I do remember that!
I do remember being impatient with Amelia’s parents too. But I forget why.
Don’t ya love discussing books with someone as forgetful as me?! :p Sorry!
February 11th, 2008 at 9:42 amLawanda - yes, Becky ended up with Joseph Sedley, Amelia’s brother. He died of a mysterious illness - there was much suspicion that Becky killed him - and he left her half of his estate.
Amelia’s parents were not very sympathetic characters, either! Her dad was foolish with money, and that’s why it ended up that Amelia was supporting them on her widow’s pension and had to give little Georgy over to live with his rich grandfather, who had never acknowledged her. Poverty turned her mother mean-spirited, but she stayed with them until the end.
Amelia and Dobbin did finally marry in the end, and had a daughter. Their son grew up to be great friends with Rawdon, Jr.
I am planning to Netflix the movie - I want to see what they do with a movie where the main character is so completely unsympathetic.
February 11th, 2008 at 10:35 amYes, see, I hated that Amelia’s brother was not more helpful to her and her son. He was such a jerk.
I remember the movie trying the “Becky is nasty but oh so cool” aspect, which totally ticked me off. But that is just my opinion.
One thing about the book, imo, Thackery did not mince words about how “human” people were, even if it was ugly.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:07 amLawanda - I have a feeling I’m not going to like the movie. Oh, well. And yes, Thackeray did write characters that were authentic to life.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:50 pmI listened to this on Librivox. After two hours, I went online and had Sparknotes open in another window until I got the characters straight in my mind.
I agree with Lawanda: Becky is wretched, but Amelia pretty pathetic. If I had a daughter, I wouldn’t want her to emulate either one.
February 13th, 2008 at 6:57 pmCarol - yes, I agree - neither woman would make a worthy role model! I wouldn’t mind if she married a Dobbins, though.
February 13th, 2008 at 7:44 pmActually, I think Dobbin was the best character for a reason. He was modest, helpful, caring, but still human. Because didn’t he leave like forever because he couldn’t marry Amelia?
But like his humanity didn’t make you hate him, because he was over all so good!
Becky was self serving, like Carol said, Amelia was pathetic, Amelia’s brother was selfish, George was the biggest jerk EVER. Actually I know lots of young men exactly like George. And lots of the young women you see on tv today are JUST like Becky. Which I think was sort of the point of the book….
February 14th, 2008 at 6:24 amI remember seeing the movie and leaving it with a question mark. I haven’t read the book as a result. (I know, I know…supposed to read the book first!) It IS something that I want to get around to. I just left with such a “pointless” feeling when I walked out of the theatre . . .
February 15th, 2008 at 10:08 pmtest
February 16th, 2008 at 2:09 amI read VF for the first time when I was 19. I don’t know if it’s became of my personal background, or my youth, but I was sympathetic to Becky then, and I’ve never been able to shake the impression. I thought then, and I guess I think now that Becky might have been redeemed.
I wrote up a long post explaining myself, but I lost it because I missed the security word the first time.
Sorry I don’t have time to write it all up again, but I’ll try to convey my line of thinking with this question–When, in all of Becky’s life, including childhood, did anyone do more than back her into a corner?
And I’ve have thrown the dictionary out the window, too.
February 16th, 2008 at 2:21 amThanks for the review! I picked this up at the thrift store last month and am looking forward to reading it.
February 16th, 2008 at 7:20 amKaren - I can understand her background being a reason to do whatever she had to to take care of herself and her family financially. (Short of the fact that it appears at the end of the book that she insinuated herself into Joseph Sedley’s will and poisoned him.) However, there were other flaws in her character that made me dislike her so strongly: Even though Rawdon became a strong man in marriage, and she did nothing but ridicule him; she had no time or love for her son, and even mocked Rawdon for loving and caring for him; she was horrible to Amelia, the one person who always was a friend to her - and yet she had no problem luring her husband into a flirtation, and maybe into leaving her if the war had not erupted. The one “nice” thing she did for Amelia - convincing her that she should be with Dobbin - had an ulterior motive: she wanted Amelia out of the way so she could work her wiles on Joseph.
I know that people can be a product of their upbringing, but I also have known people who have had a horrible childhood/background and who have taken the high road and not used that as an excuse to hurt and use people. Amelia could have continued to work as a governess and survived just fine - but she wanted to be in “society.” There is a difference between wanting to survive and wanting to have power and prestige.
Sorry you had trouble posting before - I have to approve each commenter’s first comment. I know you’ve been here before, but the server was reset, cause we were having issues - you know how that goes…
Thanks for stopping by!
February 16th, 2008 at 9:36 amNicola - you’re welcome - thanks for stopping by!
February 16th, 2008 at 9:37 amIt’s my fault the first post didn’t go through–I just overlooked the anti-spam word I needed to type.
I agree that Becky got worse and worse as the book went on, but just imagine what might have happened if, let’s say, she had married Jos in the first place, and his parents had welcomed her into the family. Sure, she encouraged HIM to be attracted to her without much affection on her side, but it’s no more than Charlotte Lucas does in Pride and Prejudice, and there wasn’t much apart from marriage for a woman to do back then. It wasn’t a crime. I don’t think she’d have murdered him in such a case–she’d have been grateful to him.
Suppose, later, when her secret marriage to Rawdon was revealed, that his family had assisted them and given them a small quiet home near the family estate, instead of virtually forcing them to run up debts in London?
I’d have to go back and reread the book again to find them, but there are specific sentences in the book where what Thackeray says makes me think she WAS redeemable, at first. Sure, some people overcome a unloving and miserable childhood, but she never had the least real guidance. I don’t applaud her as a heroine, by any means, but I could never hate her.
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