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Vanity Fair ——A Novel without a Hero by William Makepeace Thackeray Contents About the author Brief introduction of Vanity Fair Characters and plots Theme William Makepeace Thackeray a British novelist Vanity Fair on par with Dickens the Vitoria times representative novelist. Brief introduction of Vanity Fair Vanity Fair (1847-1848): A novel William Makepeace Thackeray. The leading character is Becky Sharp, an unscrupulous(寡廉鲜耻的) woman who gains wealth and influence by her cleverness. Setting: Time and place: In early 19th century of England . Circumstance The story happens in the middle-upper class. At that time, the industry and business are booming and the war between Britain and France breaks. The sub-title of the book, “A Novel Without a Hero”, suggests the fact that writers intention was not to portray individuals, but the bourgeois(资产阶级的)and aristocratic(贵族的) society as a whole. Style: satirical novel of social reality Realistic—“I have no brains above my eyes; and I describe what I see”. Satiric—“…Mrs. Crawley, who may have been disposed during this period of elation to slight the people—honest young military men mostly—who formed her husband’s chief society.” Becky Sharp (Rebecca) : an orphan who is a strong-willed and clever young woman determined to make her way in society and climb up into the upper class. Amelia Sedley : the daughter of a wealthy merchant . A good natured, loveable though simple-minded young girl who wholeheartedly loved her husband. George Osborne Amelia Sedley William Dobbin Becky Sharp Rawdon Crawley Joseph Sedley Plots Becky and Amelia leave school Becky tries to entrap Joseph Becky becoming Sir Pitt Crawley’s governess, secretly married to Rawdon Crawley Amelia’s father got bankrupt, captain Dobbin helped Amelia and George Osborne to get married who later died in the battlefield Rawdon Crawley imprisoned for debt, finds Becky entertaining Lord Steyne. Leaves for India and dies of fever