英国文学导读 (48).pdf

Vanity Fair  Vanity Fair is the most successful novel by Thackeray.  It was first published as a 19-volume monthly serial from 1847 to 1848, carrying the subtitle Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society.  It was then published as a single volume in 1848 with the subtitle A Novel without a Hero. 1. Major characters Rebecca (Becky) Sharp Rawdon Crawley Sir Pitt Crawley Amelia Sedley Joseph Sedley George Osborne Captain Dobbin Lord Steyne 2. Story  Rebecca Sharp and Amelia Sedley’s graduated from Pinkton Girls’ School.  Becky stayed with Emmy in her wealthy London family.  Hoping to marry Jos, Becky enticed him, but she failed.  Becky became a governess to the daughters of Sir Pitt Crawley.  Sir Pitt proposed marriage to he after the death of his second wife.  He found that Betty had secretly married his second son, Captain Rawdon Crawley.  Rawdon Crawley was disinherited.  Amelias father became bankrupt. George Osborne married Amelia with the help of Dobbin, and George was consequently disinherited.  During the Napoleonic War, George was killed, while Dobbin and Rawdon survived. Amelia bore a posthumous son. Dobbin paid for a small annuity for her and expressed his love for her, but she could not forget her husband who already betrayed her.  Becky also had a son, named Rawdon after his father. The couple managed to live in style in Paris and then in London on credit even when they ruined those who trusted them.  Rawdon was in debt and suspected that Becky was not faithful and was forced to leave for and then died in a colony.  Dobbin returned to Amelia. Amelia finally realized that George was not perfect and accepted Dobbin.  Becky met Jos in Europe. Jos died a few month later, leaving a sum of money to Becky. 3. Themes  The world is shown as full of all kinds of vanity, esp. snobbe