Vanity Fair when they say. Need help learning a topic? Emilia marries George Osborne

E. Klimenko. About the novel "Vanity Fair"

Vanity Fair is one of the great literary works XIX century, the pinnacle of creativity of the classic of English literature, realist William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863). By the time The Fair appeared in the late 40s, Thackeray was already the author of a large satirical novel, The Notes of Barry Lyndon, somewhat reminiscent of adventure novels. XVIII century, as well as stories and many essays, articles and parodies. Initially, Thackeray dreamed of becoming an artist, but, without completing his education at Cambridge, where he, in his words, "only wasted his time," he became a journalist. In the 1930s and 1940s he was published in various periodicals, was a Parisian correspondent for London newspapers and tried, although without much success, to publish his own newspaper.

During these years, the English periodical press grew rapidly and its influence on the life of society intensified. “Journalists are now our true priests and kings,” said Thomas Carlyle, one of the greatest English writers, thinkers, historians and publicists of these years, in 1834.

The experience of a journalist turned out to be very valuable for Thackeray, he allowed him to become closely acquainted with modern political and literary movements, with the tastes and interests of the reader's circles. This was especially important because the number of readers, and with it the importance of fiction as an educational tool, increased. Meanwhile, the moral foundations of society were shattered more and more noticeably: the contradictions of mature capitalism and new scientific knowledge undermined the church-dogmatic foundations of ethics, on which the majority of the English used to rely. There were endless debates on moral issues. Never before had so many treatises and pamphlets been published in England, never before had so many sermons been read by followers of different creeds, and the morality of all sections of society fell, crime grew, acquiring hidden and therefore all the more disgusting forms in well-to-do circles and manifesting itself with naked cynicism. among the disadvantaged, especially in large industrial centers.

Ethics was now seen as the most important public problem, and it seemed to many that fiction could educate morality better than any pamphlets and sermons, since it does not set itself the task of instilling dogmatic rules, but acts gradually, by clear examples. The novel, both accessible and highly popular genre, seemed particularly convenient and suitable for these purposes. Novelist, developing interesting story, could captivate the reader, show him fictional people, but very similar to real ones, and thereby teach him a moral lesson.

Thus arose at that time the question of a "serious" novel, a novel at the same time entertaining, instructive, easy to understand, deep in its inner content. Thackeray especially ardently advocated the development of such a novel. He was a democratic writer, not only because on many issues he adhered democratic views, but also because he considered it necessary to convey serious literature to all sectors of society. The Fraser's Magazine, in which Thackeray contributed frequently, also stated that " modern literature appeals to all classes, ”however, this did not mean that they were going to turn to them best writers with their the best works. Although the views of the beginning of the century, according to which the people should be fed with light, semi-childish fairy tales, have receded into the past, not everyone was sure that a serious novel could be accessible to a wide readership. If in the person of Dickens Thackeray found a like-minded person on this issue, then another, very famous of his contemporary, novelist Edward Bulwer, believed that for a poorly educated audience it was necessary to write truthful, but not too thoughtful novels, achieving credibility by carefully writing out details, such as furnishings, costumes and etc. Novels with complex philosophical and psychological problems can only be intended for educated people, that is, not for the majority of readers. This view was partly to the advantage of publishing firms, which, in the pursuit of income, supplied the English public with lightweight novels from high life, nerve-wracking stories about thieves and robbers, empty collections and almanacs. In his articles and parodies, Thackeray constantly pointed out the anti-art and moral perniciousness of such reading.

Vanity Fair was conceived precisely as a novel that is both serious and accessible. Before her, the name of Thackeray managed to gain fame in England. However, he was more known as an amusing and poisonous mocker. His talent as a cartoonist also contributed to this: he often placed his drawings in magazines, for example, in the satirical magazine Punch, in which he collaborated a lot both as a writer and as an artist. Sometimes he provided comic illustrations for his own writings and even private letters. Yet laughter was not Thackeray's only element. Mournful, sometimes tragic notes also sounded in his works, as, for example, in the famous essay "Present at the execution by hanging", in some of the "Paris Essays" - wherever he, in his words, depicted "the sad reality, when thinking for which our eyes fill with tears."

More early works Thackeray, compared to Vanity Fair, look like preliminary sketches or sketches for it. This applies not only to the sketching of characters in essays that originally appeared in Punch for 1846-1847, and then included in the collection The Book of Snobs, published simultaneously with the Fair. The preparatory sketch for the first part of the novel was undoubtedly the essay “Waterloo” from the series “Small travel and roadside sketches”, and a number of everyday pictures that can be found in almost all of his works of the late 30s and 40s, for example, in “The Yellowplush Notes” and in their continuation - “The Diary of Jimz de la Plush”, in “The History of Samuel Titmarsh”, etc. 1848–1850) and the Newcomes (1853–1855).

However general idea the new novel was completely fresh. "Vanity Fair" is a work of a different scale and completely different structure than anything that Thackeray wrote before. It was also his first self-published work. The novel was published during 1847-1848 in separate notebooks. This form of publication was common in England at that time and was considered beneficial to readers.

The title of the new novel was not like - by type - the titles of more early novels and Thackeray's stories: before, he preferred either simple titles with the mention of the name of the main character: "Barry Lyndon's Happiness" ( magazine version titles), “Zeltoplusha’s Notes”, “Katerina”, or slightly parodic ones like: “A wretchedly noble story”, “The Story of Titmarsh and the famous Hoggarty diamond”, etc. “Vanity Fair” is a symbolic title. For the English, it immediately brought to mind the description of London from the allegorical novel of the 17th century, The Pilgrim's Progress. Many of them revered this book almost on a par with the Bible, next to which she stood in the homes of ordinary Englishmen. It was written by John Bunyan, a Republican soldier, a zealous Democrat and Puritan. He wrote the first part of the novel in prison, where he was imprisoned for his beliefs after the restoration of the monarchy. Instructing his contemporaries, he told them entertaining, vivid, memorable parables, understandable to everyone, and the English people loved him. Bunyan depicted the capital of England as a fair of worldly vanity, where everything is for sale: “... everything is sold at this fair: houses, lands, crafts, positions, honors, promotions, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures, pleasures of every kind ... Whores are sold here , matchmakers, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls, silver, gold, pearls, precious stones - anything. And at this fair, you can at any time see tricks, games, actions of jesters, monkeys, scoundrels and swindlers of all kinds. Here you can also see thefts, murders, adulteries, false witnesses, and, moreover, for free, and, moreover, blood-red color. In accordance with his puritanical principles, Bunyan condemned the pursuit of worldly goods, the vanity of vanities that prevent a person from fulfilling his duty to God and people. The title of the old Russian translation of "The Fair" - "Bazaar of worldly vanity" - fits well with the picture drawn by Bunyan. However, in the era of Thackeray, the pathos of puritanical protest, on which Bunyan fed, had long since dried up. And Thackeray put new content into Bunyan's words. He portrayed London and a society which, in more than a hundred and fifty years, grew out of the political and social changes that Bunyan witnessed, namely the restoration and the subsequent compromise of 1688, that is, the coup d'etat, which marked the union of the big bourgeoisie with the nobility. In the 19th century, apologists for the modern English order called this upheaval the “Glorious Revolution.” The well-known historian and prominent member of the Whig party, Thomas Macaulay, argued, for example, that it was to her that England owed its prosperity and almost flawless, in his eyes, political system. Thackeray, for his part, saw things differently. Later, after depicting in his novel Esmond (1852) the era that immediately followed the notorious compromise of 1688, he came to the conclusion that at that time there was nothing for honest, noble people in England to do. He believed that, having become close to the nobility, the bourgeoisie became infected with its vanity and lost its democracy and former progressive impulses. The ambitious fever that has gripped the upper strata of society is the core of the events in Vanity Fair, which is why the modern Russian translation of the title more accurately expresses the content of the novel than the old one.

In ambition, in vanity, Thackeray saw a flaw typical of English society, a kind of vice, which he branded with a special word - “snobbery”. The word "snob" existed in English language and before. Initially, it meant - "apprentice shoemaker." Among the student youth in the time of Thackeray, this word was often called rude, ignorant philistines. Then, in large measure with the light hand of Thackeray, it began to be applied to people who grovel before those who are above them on the social ladder, and despise those who are below them. For a title, for a high position, for a position in the world, a snob is ready to sell and betray even the people closest to him. And titles and honors are obtained for money, and the snob gets them by any means. He reaches out for money not out of mere self-interest, but in order to exalt himself.

Snobbery for Thackeray - typical feature contemporary English society. But he attributed the action of Vanity Fair to the past, placing the events of the novel not in the 40s, when it was written, but approximately between 1815 and 1830. At the same time, Thackeray noted that over the first half of the century, mores in England had changed little. Moreover, it is not immediately clear what prompted him to look back almost thirty years ago, instead of drawing modern mores.

The beginning of the 30s is the time when the parliamentary reform (1832) was being prepared and then carried out in England. Big changes were expected from her. These expectations were not justified, and the reform brought a lot of disappointment, including to the British workers. Soon the first proletarian revolutionary movement arose - Chartism.

The Chartist movement did not leave Thackeray indifferent. He repeatedly mentioned it in his letters, compiled reports for newspapers on Chartist meetings, read socialist literature, and was even going to publish a review of Chartist publications in one of the English magazines. However, the meaning of Chartism as revolutionary movement he did not understand: a Democrat and a Republican, Thackeray was by no means a revolutionary, as he himself admitted.

Nevertheless, the reform caused deep dissatisfaction with him. It did not bring any relief to the people and turned out to be beneficial mainly to large industrialists, because a significant number of seats in parliament were won by large cities, while previously some important centers, such as Birmingham, did not have their own deputies at all. At the same time, the property qualification remained high, the influence of the industrialists was enormous, and the election of this or that deputy was actually in their hands. Some damage was done to the nobility due to the destruction of the rights of "rotten towns" - the so-called towns with a small population, which, according to a long-standing apportionment, sent their deputies to parliament, and, moreover, pleasing to large neighboring landowners. At the disposal of some of these "rotten places" in the XVIII century were up to several dozen seats in parliament. (In Thackeray's novel, it is mentioned that the Crowley landowners lose two seats in Parliament, which, incidentally, did not prevent one of them, young Sir Pitt, from asceticism in the political arena.)

The nobility felt disadvantaged by the reform, and the conservatives went on the offensive: a movement was created that was called Young England, or Tory Chartism. Its program was drawn up by Benjamin Disraeli, later one of the first ideologues of British imperialism. Disraeli's theories received some support from Thomas Carlyle. Carlyle wittily criticized the social inequality existing in England and from this point of view even deserved the praise of Engels. However, his positive program was of a conservative utopian character. Idealizing the feudal past, seeing in it the traits of a valuable, as it seemed to him, patriarchy, Carlyle called for reviving it on a new basis, suggesting to the capitalist industrialists that they were obliged to show paternal care for their workers, just as the feudal lords supposedly took care of their serfs. Fraser's Magazine, in part, held similar views, an orientation gradually violated in its pages by Thackeray.

And yet, the reform of 1832, somewhat infringing on the rights of the nobility, seemed to throw a veil over orders and customs and convinced many that the country was on the path of progress. On the contrary, the previous period seemed to be an era when conservative traditions could flourish. Soon after the revolution of 1789, the teaching of Edmund Burke spread in England and France, according to which these traditions are the most valuable heritage of England, left to her from the past, and therefore they cannot be broken except with extreme caution. Burke's Meditations on the French Revolution (1790) became a reference book for the English Conservatives, who at the beginning of the 19th century were almost invariably in power. Meanwhile, even in the early years of his collaboration at Fraser's Store, Thackeray wrote that the age of robbers, that is, the Middle Ages that Burke praised, had irrevocably passed to make way for a new age - the age of deceivers and swindlers.

When Napoleon I was king of most of Europe, many believed that he was able to at least partially protect the freedoms won during the French Revolution. With its fall and the inglorious defeat at Waterloo, even this illusory hope was gone. And that it was illusory, many of his contemporaries were already aware, having finally understood, as Byron understood with pain in his heart, that Napoleon was an ambitious man among ambitious people and therefore had to turn into a despot. For subsequent generations, Napoleon's vanity became an indisputable feature of his personality and form of government. In one of the essays of the Paris cycle, arguing with Louis Bonaparte, the future Napoleon III, and condemning his attempt to revive the Bonapartist ideas and the cult of Napoleon I, Thackeray pointed out that great emperor created his own aristocracy, ambitious and vicious, like any aristocracy.

Thus, the time that Thackeray chose as the object of depiction in his novel was in his eyes a period of consolidation of conservative traditions and a breeding ground for ambition. At this time, the Marquises of Stein flourished, hereditary snobs from the breed of medieval "robbers", and the Osborns, who relatively recently received the power of "swindlers". However, the people of the 40s recognized themselves in the pages of the novel, and this meant that, despite the supposedly great democratic reforms, in England, in fact, little had changed.

On the other hand, if Thackeray had not limited his picture of morals to clear historical frames, it would have turned out that he was writing about the English way of life in general and painting it the way it was from eternity and will remain forever. In this case, there would be nothing to advocate for its improvement and wait for changes.

In an effort to raise everyday life to the level of the history of morals, Thackeray took the novels of Fielding and Smollet as a model. Among contemporary novels, he especially valued Dickens' Pickwick Club. At the same time, he believed that the history of morals reflected in the novel differs from historical works in one very significant respect: the historian registers facts in chronological order and speaks mainly about rulers, monarchs, statesmen and generals, while the novelist narrates about the private lives of ordinary mortals, which allows him to note the extent to which their actions are affected by the influence of society, and thereby draw the reader's attention to moral problems.

Of course, different people experience this influence with unequal strength, and in their behavior it manifests itself differently. Many members of a society dominated by snobbery retain glimpses in Thackeray's novel human feelings and even virtues. The author sometimes endows other characters with properties that partly soften them. negative traits: in some cases - a lack of education or just mind, in others - diseases or senile infirmity. Therefore, in Thackeray, even notorious villains never turn into powerful villains. A strong, active character easily attracts the sympathy of the reader, who, admiring his intelligence, courage and enterprise, forgives his atrocities. This often happened with the heroes of the then popular novels about thieves and robbers, which Thackeray did not like. He hated everyone who imposed his will on people by force and trampled on their rights and dignity, whether it was the ruler of an entire continent, like Napoleon I, or any petty despot who tyrannized his family. Thackeray was opposed to any attempts to glorify them and therefore had such a negative attitude towards the seductive villains of adventure novels. In his own works there are no characters written in one black paint, although such characters were often found in his famous contemporary Dickens.

At Vanity Fair, the most bad people, as well as the most powerful in terms of influencing the fate of other heroes and heroines, this is probably Sir Pitt and his sister, Marquis Stein and Osborne Sr. However, Sir Pitt, a repulsive figure, is not only disgusting, but at times pathetic, pathetic to the point of being ridiculous with his inertness, petty selfishness, bad manners and lack of understanding of the coming new age. And the noble Stein looks like a frightened, voluptuous old man in front of an enraged Rawdon Crowley, who found him alone with his wife, Becky. At the end of the novel, the breath of the July Revolution in France blows him away like stale rubbish - he dies, unable to bear the blow that it dealt to the old dynastic monarchism in Europe.

Pitt and Stein are predatory animals, but from a breed doomed to extinction. They are being replaced by big financiers and businessmen like Osborne. In their hands - on the mountain of England - her immediate future. However, in the soul of the true snob Osborne, a real feeling is smoldering - love for his son George. It is distorted, perverted by ambition, and yet George's death is a deep wound to old Osborne. He suffers. And if a person is capable of suffering, therefore, not everything human in him is destroyed.

In young, not yet fully hardened snobs, glimpses of humanity are brighter. On the eve of the battle, George repents of having offended Emilia, who was devoted to him. Rawdon's love for his little son, the determination with which he breaks up with Becky, suggests that he is not a bad guy by nature. Both Rodon and George may even please the reader, if only because they are young and not yet tempted by life.

The main character of Thackeray, Rebecca Sharp, is also able to win our sympathy with her intelligence, sense of humor, dexterity, resourcefulness and insight. After all, she sees through everyone - a quality that helps the author to reveal the essence of the other inhabitants of the Fair, although in no way prevents him from ruthlessly exposing her own machinations. The influence of the society of snobs is noticeable in her, perhaps more than in anyone else, since she does not belong to it by birth - after all, Becky is the daughter of a poor art teacher. According to her, she could be a virtuous woman if she had five thousand a year income. The need and thirst for such a life in which she would shine, pushed the little governess to tricks, deceit and fraud. Living among snobs, she appreciates what they value, and achieves a position in the world according to their rules. Without deceiving herself, she cynically accepts the world around her as it is. She is cynical, but not hypocritical. This probably partly explains the one good thing Becky does, showing Emilia what was addressed to her, Becky, love letter George. As a result, Emilia's idol is defeated, and she finds new happiness in her marriage to Dobbin. Of course, the motives for this act are more complicated. You can't completely deny Becky's wish for midnight to the happiness of the new couple. At the same time, the evil Becky is glad to strike at Emilia's most sacred feelings. Most importantly, Becky is seduced by the opportunity to dispel the halo that Emilia has surrounded George, and even many years after his death, but to tell the truth about him.

Even the beginnings of love of truth, sincere affection or other good feelings are essential in Thackeray's characters: in comparison with the faint reflections of light, the dark seems blacker. In addition, monstrous, unmitigated depravity is not often encountered in life. In Thackeray's novel, along with pronounced snobs, there are semi-snobs and characters only slightly affected by snobbery. This wins credibility, which is one of the aspects of Thackeray's humanism: you can correct people only by believing that nothing human is alien to them, neither bad nor good. They should be pitied for their error, showing them the futility of their evil desires. Therefore, they should be laughed at instead of scolded. Thackeray's laughter sometimes stings, but often irony and even sorrow are mixed with it. After all, many, like Becky, could be better if not for the influence of society with its false morality.

Thackeray sees this influence not only in people with bad inclinations, but also in people who are good by nature, for example, in the same Rawdon or in the good-natured Sedley. Only a few characters are almost completely devoid of snobbery, such as Mrs. O'Dowd, the officer's wife, or Lady Jane, though rather poorly described in the novel. Among the main actors Emilia and Dobbin are undoubtedly the most virtuous people. However, Thackeray is somewhat condescendingly sorry for Emilia and calls her "stupid". At the beginning of the book, she is a naive girl, madly in love with her George. Further - she is a widow, erecting loyalty to her deceased spouse into a cult, which she is proud of, as he exalts her in his own eyes. Therefore, she becomes deaf to the feelings and sufferings of her faithful slave Dobbin and treats him even somewhat cruelly and tyrannically. After all, snobs are ready for anything, just to exalt themselves, and oppress those who are weaker than them and who can be dominated. In other words, dear Emilia, to a certain extent, does not remain alien to snobbery.

Modest, selfless and courageous Dobbin is without a doubt the most positive image in the novel and could easily be considered its hero if the author had not placed on title page the subtitle is "a novel without a hero". This author's indication not only indicated the absence of a central character in the novel, but made it possible to think that Thackeray was denying Dobbin a heroic role. There was a lot of controversy about heroes and the heroic in Thackeray's time. Although this era received the name of the "non-heroic age" in England, the problem of the heroic was constantly discussed in these years by publicists, critics, and philosophers. Then and later, many believed that in the middle of the XIX century technical progress, the accumulation of fabulous capitals and battles on the fields of competition occupy minds more than feats of arms, and therefore the former concept of the heroic has outlived its usefulness. However, the cult of the hero was revived by Carlyle and supporters of "Young England". The Torian press propagated the idea that the hero should unite all classes around him and thus put an end to social divisions. Even some, and ardent, liberals partly joined this point of view; and Macaulay said that only a new Caesar or Napoleon, that is, a hero turned into a despot, is capable of "suppressing the predatory instincts of democracy." There were also opposite opinions. For example, the philosopher John Stuart Mill believed that strong personalities gone and, in fact, are no longer needed. “What will give us,” he said, “one person with supernatural abilities and a whole nation of passive people?” According to Mill, the well-being of England henceforth depends on a multitude of people, each of whom is entitled to think and act as he sees fit. And this meant that a person of even the most modest fate could show nobility and courage. At the same time, its activities should be guided by ethical considerations and for the benefit of the majority.

In their narrow sphere, the heroes and heroines of Dickens are courageous and capable of self-sacrifice. According to Dickens, heroism does not require either a vast field of activity or a broad outlook, but only the purity of an uncorrupted heart. Therefore, his children often act as heroic figures (Oliver Twist, little Nell, Florence and others).

For Thackeray, Carlyle's point of view was completely unacceptable: he hated despotism in all its guises. He disagreed with Dickens because, according to Thackeray, virtue and the ability to exploit in any conditions, even within the narrow limits of private life, are acquired by overcoming the harmful influences of the environment with the help of a mature mind. In the story "Katerina" (1840), he even entered into a polemic with Dickens on this subject, arguing that olivers brought up in thieves' dens cannot maintain angelic spiritual purity and naivety.

For all that, Dobbin is undoubtedly a worthy person, especially against the background of the novel. His life is not limited to London living rooms and family. Although he is not involved in business and parliamentary circles, he does not belong to the aristocracy, he is a valiant officer who distinguished himself in campaigns. And yet Thackeray is interested in him mainly as a private person. This is understandable - after all, the task of the author of the "Fair" was, first of all, to capture how people of different temperament and mind are shaped by the laws and mores of society. The Battle of Waterloo also serves the same purposes in the novel: it is very important for the author's intention that the chosen period includes such a major event that changed the fate of many people, including the personal fate of his characters - Emilia remains a disconsolate widow, Osborne multiplies his fortune and loses son, Sedley is ruined, Jozu's cowardice is exposed, and Becky gets her first opportunity to deploy her abilities as a clever swindler. For the characters in the novel, Waterloo is a source of great shock, an event that exposed the very bottom of the soul of everyone it touched.

Both at war and at home, Dobbin's behavior remains impeccable. However, one in the field is not a warrior. In the Waterloo essay, Thackeray said that the names of all those who gave their lives here should have been put on the memorial plaque in memory of those who fell on the battlefield, since not only military leaders, but the whole army won. Likewise, on the field where the carousels of the Fair revolve, it is necessary that many and many fight for good and truth before there is hope for victory.

Society is made up of individuals. The behavior of individuals determines the state of morals, but it cannot change their development. According to Thackeray, neither the heroes-leaders in whom Carlyle believed, nor the inconspicuous workers with a naive half-childish consciousness, whom Dickens painted, will correct people. People must correct themselves, realizing the value of that spark of humanity that they carry in themselves. Thackeray's look is sad because he doesn't count on a shortcut to a fix. At the same time, this view is also bright, because it contains faith in the humanity of not just a select few, but of a great multitude of people.

Demanding consciousness from people, Thackeray reveals to them the diversity of types of consciousness. Human psychology and the influence of circumstances on the formation of character greatly occupied the British in the 40s, especially after the appearance in 1843 of the famous work of John Stuart Mill "System of Logic". Like Mill, Thackeray was interested in the conditioning of consciousness. Thackeray did not reduce his views to a strict system. However, it can be seen that he attached much more importance than the positivist Mill to free will and insisted on the need to develop in individuals an innate sense of human dignity and thereby improve society as a whole. IN English literature the combination of psychological and social themes was developed, in particular, by George Meredith and John Galsworthy, who inherited a lot from Thackeray.

The psychology of the characters in Vanity Fair makes it possible to judge the moral state of the whole society: having believed in the truthfulness with which Thackeray portrays the thoughts of the characters, readers begin to believe that the whole picture of morals depicted by him corresponds to reality. In English criticism, the word "realistic" to denote a certain writing method was first applied to Thackeray. In the middle of the last century, this term did not yet have that complex and deep meaning, which he subsequently received, and meant approximately the same as the word "plausible". Some critics, calling Thackeray a "realist", even believed that he copied reality too accurately, in too much detail. However, this was unfair. Thackeray is not fond of the little things of the setting, costume, portrait, etc. for their own sake. If Becky appears at court with a brocade tren and with diamonds in her ears and on her chest (the author does not describe either the color of her dress or the details of its cut), then the reader understands that Becky, who in her youth sewed everything herself, developed a taste no worse than the most expensive dressmaker, and a little further the reader learns that the diamonds are a gift from Stein. Thus, without undue details, in this toilet - all Becky, with her delicate taste, with her promiscuity in means and thirst for success. If the piano is constantly mentioned when describing the interiors associated with Emilia, it is because it meant a lot in her life: the piano symbolizes both her overestimation of George and Dobbin's underestimation, because Emilia thought it was a gift from George, in fact the piano sent to her Dobbin without naming himself.

The novel is full of numerous conversations of the characters. However, they do not know everything about each other. While chatting with Becky at the reception, Lady Jane is unaware of the origin of the diamonds. George never knew to his death that Emilia imagined that he had sent her the piano. The most insightful of all in the novel is Becky, but Becky is a spoiled person, and her criteria and judgments often cannot be relied upon. To reveal the innermost thoughts of his heroes, Thackeray occasionally resorts to an internal monologue and at the same time achieves great lyrical power, for example, in the monologue of Emilia in her girl's bedroom. But in such monologues, the characters talk mostly about themselves, and, after all, not everyone dares to say everything to the end, even alone with himself. In addition, people are constantly mistaken in their ideas about others and about themselves. Were it not for these delusions, the end of all the untruth that the Fair lives on would soon come. The only one who knows all the ins and outs of the characters and is able to correctly evaluate them is the one who created them - the author of the novel.

"The author knows everything" - Thackeray never ceases to remind the reader. He knows all the actions and thoughts of the characters and is present on every page of the novel. The reader can and should believe him. But for this, the author needs to put on a guise that would help him win this trust. In the word from the author "before the curtain" at the beginning of the novel, the author appears to the readers in the form of a Dollmaker, who is preparing to perform at the fair. Petrushka Theater - folk theater addressed to the widest possible audience. In addition, "Petrushka" (in English "Punch") was the name of the famous satirical magazine with a buffoon on the cover, well known throughout England.

Does it follow from this that Thackeray was going to show a performance of puppets, and not the life of living people as it is? In every play and in every story there is a share of fiction, which makes it possible for artistic generalization. And Thackeray does not deceive the reader and does not hide that he invented his characters and their history. Let the reader watch the presentation. He recognizes passions and deeds similar to those he has seen in life. He will laugh, sometimes be horrified, and maybe even cry, as if all he sees is real life. At the end of the performance, the author will purposely remind him that all this is just a theater of puppets, and before his eyes he will put the puppets, which he had just pulled by the strings, into a box. Then, leaving the booth after the performance, the reader will not scold the author for deception, but will begin to reflect on the similarities between the antics of dolls and living people and will see in real life what he did not notice before or did not want to notice.

Under these conditions, the author will not appear to the reader as a boring teacher or, what would be even worse, a preacher who has risen to the pulpit to lecture him from above. At first, the author assumes the most modest pose of a fair jester, and then, if he throws off his jester outfit, he becomes an ordinary Londoner, exactly the same as most of his readers. He walks the streets of the capital, where his characters and his readers live and walk, and where they all often meet acquaintances, so that it turns out that the readers personally know the author. That is why he allows himself to have a long conversation with them, as with good acquaintances, not imposing his opinion too clearly, as it should be for a well-bred resident of London, but gradually inspiring his thoughts with a touch of voice, irony, a sarcastic grin or a short lyrical tirade, who read his book. He does not utter loud races, but rather, in his own words, "whispers in the reader's ear." His only advantage over him is that he freely reads in the hearts of men, but, not full of excessive arrogance, he willingly shares his art with anyone who agrees to learn from him.

This is how the friendship between the reader and the author is established. This friendship has survived to this day: Vanity Fair is popular and read with pleasure even now. It has been translated into many languages. The world has changed in more than a hundred years since the book first saw the light, but much in man and in human society has remained similar to what it was then.

Thackeray led his contemporaries around the Fair like a skilled guide, teaching them to be critical of what they see in themselves and around them, to delve into other people's thoughts and check their own, to look for the causes of their own and other people's shortcomings in the mores and orders of society, to notice its vices. and, moreover, to believe in the full reality of the reality from which the author's dolls are molded, not forgetting that behind the tinsel and conventionality good performance the benevolent heart of a true artist beats. In this way, Thackeray laid one of cornerstones movement, which bears the name in the history of literature - critical realism.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Vanity Fair"(English) Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero) - a classic novel by William Makepeace Thackeray about the era of the Napoleonic Wars, which was published in a satirical magazine Punch from January 1847 to July 1848.

Plot

The main characters, Miss Amelia Sedley and Miss Rebecca (Becky) Sharp, study together at Miss Pinkerton's private boarding school.

Emilia is the daughter of a successful businessman, has an even and meek disposition and is universally adored. Becky, on the other hand, is an orphan, the daughter of a drunken artist and a French dancer, who left only bright appearance, artistry, intelligence and a brilliant knowledge of the French language. She lives with Miss Pinkerton and is educated by acting as a French teacher for younger pupils.

Emilia Sedley - only person, to which Becky treats with almost sincere kindness. "Almost" - since friendship is poisoned both by Becky's awareness of the inequality of their situation, and by the fact that Emilia, who did not know the need, cannot understand Becky's problems and help her friend.

The girls leave the boarding house together. Emilia - in order to settle with her parents and soon marry the son of a wealthy businessman, officer George Osborne, whom she adores. Becky, on the other hand, got a place as a governess in one impoverished aristocratic family, but before starting work, she, at the invitation of a friend, stays with her for a while.

At Sedley's house, Miss Sharp meets Emilia's brother, Mr. Jos Sedley, a clumsy, conceited, but quite good-natured official of the East India Company. Rebecca is trying with all her might to persuade him to propose a hand and heart, but due to the indecision of Jos and the intervention of George Osborne, Emilia's fiancé, who does not want to intermarry with the "governess", Rebecca is defeated.

She is forced to leave Sedley and go to the Crowley family. In the house where Sir Pitt Crawley (an eccentric and out of his mind old man) lives with his wife, his son Mr. Pitt Crawley and younger daughters Rebecca soon gains trust and favor. But Sir Pitt's family, despite the family estate, a huge number glorious ancestors and a seat in the House of Commons, poor, and all its members eagerly await the death of Sir Pitt's sister, the wealthy Miss Matilda Crawley. The miss herself gladly accepts the universal worship of her wealth, but is going to leave her brothers and her older nephew, the respectable and boring Pitt, with her nose, making her younger nephew, officer Rawdon Crawley, his heir. While visiting Miss Crowley at Sir Pitt's estate, Becky wins her sympathy and, at her request, goes with her to London. But the place of a companion with a capricious old woman is fragile, so Becky decides to take steps to strengthen her position. When the widowed Sir Pitt arrives in London to make Miss Sharp an offer to become the next Lady Crowley, Rebecca is forced to refuse - since she is already secretly married to Sir Pitt's son and Miss Matilda's favorite Rawdon, who is in love with her without memory. Miss Crawley, having learned that her nephew has married a governess, crosses out both him and Becky forever from her heart and from her will.

Meanwhile, Emilia is also going down the aisle for George Osborne. But suddenly Mr. Sedley Sr. goes bankrupt, and old Osborne does not allow his son to marry the bankrupt's daughter. Despite the ban, as well as the fact that George himself does not have passionate love for Emilia, he still marries her. This is mainly due to the persuasion of George's friend, William Dobbin, who himself is secretly in love with Emilia, but, realizing that the girl thinks only of George, decides to step aside, reminding the young and conceited Osborne of the officer's honor, which will not be decorated with refusal. from marrying a girl just because of her sudden poverty.

The wedding took place and Honeymoon the newlyweds spend together with the Crowleys, Becky and Rawdon. Although not even a week after the wedding, George Osborne became infatuated with Mrs. Crawley. He was "saved" from fleeing with Rebecca by the war with Napoleon. Rodon and George take part in the battle of Waterloo, but Osborne does not return from it. Thus, the eternal memory and eternal devotion of his wife remained about him.

Soon, Emilia has a son, Georgie, and Becky has a son, Rodon (both named after their fathers). In the meantime, old Sir Pitt Crawley had died, and the head of the family was now his son, Pitt Jr., who, after Miss Crawley's death, became heir to her wealth. Becky, her husband and son are trying to break into high society, attending various social events, making acquaintances with "worthy" people. But this did not lead to good, and one day Rawdon caught his wife during a dubious date with a wealthy admirer, Lord Stein. An enraged husband finds a cache of money in her secretary, although, in his opinion, the family is in distress. A duel is imminent, but through intermediaries Stein and Rawdon refuse it, and the next day Rodon learns that he has been appointed to the position of the governor of Coventry Island. Rodon leaves his wife, although he sends her an annual allowance. Some time later, he dies of a fever a week before the death of his brother Pitt. The entire state of Crowley is inherited by the son of Rawdon and Rebecca, Rawdon Jr.

After a scandal with Lord Steyne, Rebecca is banished from London society and wanders around Europe in search of her fortune. Here she had to lead an extremely immoral life, become almost a gypsy. But then she meets with Amelia, Major Dobbin and Jos Sedley. From Rebecca, Emilia learns that her late husband George never really loved her, and marries Dobbin, who had previously unsuccessfully sought her hand for many years. The result of the marriage was the girl Jane.

Becky again tries to seduce Jos, and this time she succeeds. However, a few years later, Joz dies, leaving Rebecca only half of the insurance in his will: Joseph's entire fortune by that time is wasted due to Rebecca's unsuccessful machinations. Rebecca is left alone, her son Rodon does not renew relations with his mother, but provides her with financial support.

Screen adaptations

Silent movie

• - "Vanity Fair". Directed by Charles Kent. Helen Gardner as Rebecca and Rose Tapley as Emilia.
• - "Vanity Fair". Directed by Charles Brebin. Minnie Maddern Fiske as Rebecca and Helen Fulton as Emilia.
• - "Vanity Fair". Directed by Courtney Rowden. Cosmo Curly Bellew as Rebecca.
• - "Vanity Fair". Directed by Hugo Ballin. Mabel Ballin as Rebecca, Eleanor Boardman as Emilia.

Talkies

• - "Vanity Fair" . Directed by Chester M. Franklin. Myrna Loy as Rebecca, Barbara Kent as Emilia.
• - "Becky Sharp". Directed by Ruben Mamulyan. Miriam Hopkins (Oscar nomination for Best Leading Actress) as Rebecca, Frances Dee as Emilia.

England, early XIX V. Europe is at war with Napoleon, but this does not prevent many people, obsessed with ambition, from continuing the pursuit of worldly goods - wealth, titles, ranks. The Vanity Fair, the Bazaar of the Bustle of Life rages day and night...

Two young girls leave Miss Pinkerton's boarding house. Emilia Sedley, the daughter of a wealthy esquire, is a model of purely English, somewhat insipid prettiness and virtue. She "possesses a kind, gentle and generous heart", and, in truth, does not shine with her mind. Rebecca Sharpe is different. The daughter of a dissolute artist and ballet dancer, a Frenchwoman, is "small, fragile and pale," but one glance of her green eyes is already able to strike any man on the spot. Raised in merry poverty, Becky is smart, sharp-tongued, sees through people and is determined to win a place in the sun at any cost, even through hypocrisy and deceit. What to do, because the poor thing has no loving parents, no fortune, no title - all that nourishes the virtue of happier peers.

Emilia, sincerely attached to Becky, invites her to stay, and she enjoys the hospitality in the best possible way. The little cheat knows how to please everyone, but the main thing is that she tries her charms with the greatest success on Joseph Sedley, Amelia's brother. Flattery, pretense, and this "lazy, grouchy and bon vivant" is ready for the last decisive step. Unfortunately, chance intervenes and Mr. George Osborne, Emilia's fiancé, as a result of which the hopes of the young intriguer collapse, and Joseph flees. A new page opens in Miss Sharp's life: she takes up the duties of a governess at King's Crawley, the ancestral estate of Sir Pitt Crawley, "an incredibly vulgar and incredibly dirty old man", a drunkard, stingy and quarrelsome. Ingenuity, the ability to pretend and hypocrisy help Becky win the favor of all the inhabitants of the estate, starting with her pupils and ending with Mr. Pitt Crowley, the eldest son of a baronet, a true "well-bred gentleman", whom even a violent father is afraid of. As for the latter, Becky finds "many ways to be useful to him." Less than a year later, she becomes completely indispensable, almost the mistress of the house.

Royal Crowley makes an annual visit to an unmarried woman stepsister Sir Pitt, bank account which is a hefty amount. This old lady "knows atheists and the French", loves to live happily and shamelessly tyrannizes her companion, servants, and at the same time numerous relatives who hope to receive an inheritance. She hates neither Sir Pitt nor his eldest son, but she adores the youngest - Rawdon Crowley - a dim-witted officer of the guard, a varmint, a player and a duelist. Miss Crowley finds Rebecca so charming and witty that, when she falls ill, she takes her to her London home, where the romance between a beggar governess and the youngest son of a baronet ends. It ends in a secret marriage, because, despite the aunt's passion for Freedom and Equality, she can get very angry. Everything opens after the death of Sir Pitt's wife, when he, not too saddened by this untimely death, tries to return Rebecca to King's Crawley. Sir Pitt falls to his knees, offering her to become Lady Crawley, and at that moment the intrepid Becky, for the first time in her life, loses her presence of mind and bursts into "the most genuine tears." Why was she in a hurry? What a missed opportunity!

Everyone curses the young couple. No matter how hard Rodon, led by smart Rebecca, tries to regain his aunt's favor, he fails. A champion of democracy and a lover of romantic marriages, until the end of her days, she will never forgive her nephew for a misalliance. There is nothing to say about Sir Pitt: the old man literally “loses his mind from hatred and unfulfilled desires”, sinks more and more, and only his death saves the family nest from final devastation and abuse. Spouses have to rely only on the modest salary of the captain of the guard. However, the resilient Becky is fluent in an art that will come in handy more than once in her life, the art of living more or less happily without a penny of cash. She does not lose hope of taking a more brilliant place in society and agrees to be patient, and Rodon, passionately and blindly in love with his wife, turns into a happy and submissive spouse.

Meanwhile, clouds are gathering over Emilia's head, and surprisingly, Napoleon, or Boni, as the English call him, is to blame. The flight of Bonaparte from Elba and the landing of his army at Cannes change the state of affairs on the stock exchange and entail the complete ruin of John Sedley, father of Emilia. And who turns out to be “the most intractable and stubborn of creditors”? His friend and neighbor John Osborne, whom he helped to reach the people. Sedley's property goes under the hammer, the family moves to a miserable rented apartment, but Emilia does not suffer because of this. The trouble is that this simple-hearted girl does not love her fiancé the way one should love at Vanity Fair, but with all her heart and for life. She sincerely considers the empty, narcissistic and foppish George Osborne the most beautiful and intelligent man in the world. Unlike Rebecca, whose actions are dictated by "self-interest, selfishness and need", Emilia lives only by love. And George ... George graciously allows himself to be loved, without giving up purely bachelor amusements and without pampering his bride with special attention.

After the collapse of John Sedley, George's father forbids him from marrying Emilia. Moreover, her own father also does not want to hear about marriage with the "son of a scoundrel." Poor Emilia is in despair. But then Captain Dobbin intervenes, true friend George, an honest and generous person who has long been passionately in love with Emilia, not daring to admit it even to himself. He persuades George, not alien to noble impulses, to marry Emilia against the will of his father. Needless to say, his father abandons George and disinherits him.

Both disgraced couples meet in Brussels, where the regiment of George and Dobbin is marching and General of the Guard Tafto arrives with adjutant Rawdon Crowley. The regiment enthusiastically accepts Emilia, but her friend moves in a much more brilliant society. Wherever Rebecca appears, she is always surrounded by a crowd of noble admirers. George Osborne is one of them. Becky's coquetry and his own vanity drive him so far that at the ball he hands her a bouquet with a letter begging her to run away with him. (Of course, she never intended to do anything like that. She knows the price of George.) But on the same day, Napoleon's troops cross the Sambre, and George, full of unspoken remorse, says goodbye to his wife. He says goodbye, only to die in the Battle of Waterloo a few days later.

And Becky and Rodon spend three years in Paris after Waterloo. Rebecca is wildly successful, she is admitted to the highest society, the French are not as picky as the English. However, she is not going to stay in France for the rest of her life. The whole family (a son is born in Paris to Becky and Rawdon) returns to London, where the Crowleys live, as always, on credit, making promises to everyone and paying no one. Aunt Rawdon finally departs to another world, leaving almost all her fortune to her eldest nephew, married to the daughter of Lord Southdown Lady Jane, an honest and worthy woman. Sir Pitt soon dies, and the new baronet, feeling guilty towards his brother (after all, he would have got his aunt's money if he had not married a governess), considers it his duty to unite the family. And now Rebecca reappears in King's Crawley and again manages to charm everyone. What does she not have to do for this! Even feign love for her son, to whom she really does not have the slightest affection.

The subtle flattery of Rebecca captivates the newly-made baronet so much that he visits her house almost every day. Just as often there is the all-powerful Lord Stein, Becky's noble patron, the old cynic, with the help of which the former governess "scrambles and pushes forward." In what ways she achieves this, no one can say anything definite, but Lord Stein gives her diamonds and puts his cellars at her disposal. Finally, an event occurs that puts Becky on a par with respectable ladies, she is presented to the court. She enters the highest circles of London society and is convinced that the powers that be are no different from the Smiths and Joneses. When the first rapture wears off, Becky gets bored. And her husband feels more and more lonely every day among “intrigues, aristocratic gatherings and brilliant characters” and becomes more and more attached to his son.

Becky's glittering walk through Vanity Fair ends in disaster. Rawdon convicts her, if not of treason, then of betrayal, tries to challenge Lord Stein to a duel and eventually leaves England to take the post of governor of Coventry Island (procured for him by the same Lord Stein). Rebecca disappears, and Rawdon Crowley Jr. remains in the care of his uncle and his wife, who replaces his mother. And what about Emilia? The death of her husband almost cost her her life, she was saved only by the birth of her son, whom she idolizes, as she idolized her husband. For a long time she lives with her parents, endures poverty and deprivation, and finds comfort in little Georgie. But old John Osborne, struck by the resemblance of his grandson to his dead son, offers to take the boy and raise him as a gentleman. Poor Emilia parted with her son for his good, and after the death of her mother finds consolation in brightening last days old father. But just at the time when Rebecca suffers a crushing collapse, fortune turns to face Emilia. Major Dobbin returns from India along with her brother Joseph, who swears that from now on his relatives will not know the need. How the Major's devoted heart stops when he approaches the house where Mrs. Osborne lives, what happiness seizes him when he learns that she is not married. The truth is, he doesn't really have much to hope for. Emilia still does not seem to notice Dobbin's selfless, devoted love, still does not see his outstanding virtues. She remains faithful to her husband's memory, with all the hardness of virtue leaving Dobbin to "look and languish." Soon John Sedley dies, followed by John Osborne. He leaves little Georgie half of his fortune and restores the widow of his "beloved son" to guardianship. Emilia learns that she owes this to Dobbin, learns that he was the unknown benefactor who supported her in her years of need. But “for this incomparable devotion, she can only pay with gratitude” ...

On the banks of the Rhine, in a small duchy, two "girlfriends" meet again. Emilia travels abroad with her son, brother, and Dobbin, and Rebecca has long been fluttering around Europe, squandering in card games and dubious adventures the content assigned to her by her husband, and everywhere compatriots from decent society shy away from her as if she were plagued. But then she sees Joseph Sedley, and hope awakens in her soul. The poor, slandered sufferer, who was deprived of her honest name and beloved child, as in former times, easily fools around the finger of the fat dandy and Emilia, who, apparently, have not wised up in the least and have not learned anything. Dobbin, always disgusted by Becky, quarrels with Emilia over her and for the first time in his life reproaches her for not appreciating "an affection that a more exalted soul would proudly share." He decides to part with Emilia forever. And then Becky, filled with admiration for Dobbin and "contemptuous pity" for Emilia, performs the only selfless act in her life. She shows Emilia George's letter proving his infidelity. The idol is defeated. Emilia is free and can respond to Dobbin's feelings. The story is coming to an end. Dobbin connects with Emilia, they lead a quiet life in a cozy own house and befriend the inhabitants of King's Crawley. Joseph drags out the miserable life of Rebecca's slave until the end of his days. He dies under "unclarified circumstances". Dies of yellow fever and Rawdon Crawley Sr. His son, after the death of his uncle, inherits the title and estate. He does not want to see his mother, but assigns her a generous allowance, although she is already sufficiently well off. Rebecca has many friends who consider her unfairly offended. She lives in a big way and diligently does charity work. That's all. Is Rebecca happy? Are Amelia and Dobbin happy? And who among us is happy in this world?

In this article, we will describe the novel by W. M. Thackeray published in 1848 and present its summary. "Vanity Fair" - a work which takes place in England, at the beginning of the 19th century. It goes that does not prevent, however, a lot of people obsessed with ambition to continue the struggle for worldly goods - ranks, titles, fortune. Day and night, the Bazaar of Worldly Vanity - the Vanity Fair - is seething ... It is here that the fate of heroes is decided.

Rebecca and Emilia

The summary begins with the following events. Vanity Fair is a novel that opens with two young girls leaving Miss Pinkerton's boarding house. Emilia Sedley, the daughter of a wealthy esquire, is an example of English virtue and prettiness, somewhat insipid. She has a "kind", "generous" and "tender" heart, but the girl does not shine with her mind. Rebecca Sharp is different. This is the daughter of a Frenchwoman (dancer) and a dissolute artist. Rebecca is fragile, pale. However, just one glance of her green eyes can strike any man. Becky, who grew up in "merry" poverty, is sharp-tongued, she sees through people, wants to win her place under the sun at any cost, even going to deceit and hypocrisy. There is no other way, because the girl has no title, no fortune, no loving parents - that teaches virtue to her happy peers.

Becky visits Emilia

Emilia, sincerely attached to Becky, invites her to visit her, and she makes the best use of hospitality. Rebecca knows how to please everyone. But the main thing is that she tries her charms on Emilia's brother, Joseph Sedley. Pretense, flattery - and this "bonvian", "grouche" and "lazy person" is already ready for a decisive step ... Unfortunately, chance intervenes, as well as Emilia's fiancé, Mr. George Osborne. The schemer's hopes are dashed as a result, and Joseph flees.

A new page opens in Rebecca's life - she serves as a governess at King's Crawley. This is the ancestral estate of Pitt Crowley, an old man, incredibly "dirty" and "vulgar", quarrelsome, stingy and drunkard. The ability to hypocrisy and pretend, ingenuity allow Miss Sharp to win the favor of the inhabitants of the estate, from pupils to Pitt Crawley himself, the eldest son of this baronet, who is a "well-bred gentleman." Everyone is afraid of him, even the violent dad. Becky finds all sorts of ways to be helpful to his father. Not even a year passes, as the girl becomes indispensable, practically the mistress in this house.

Visit of Miss Crowley

The events of the novel continue, the main of which we have included in its summary. "Vanity Fair" is a voluminous work, so it is impossible to talk about everything in detail in the format of one article. It describes only the main events.

Every year King's Crawley visits Sir Pitt, an unmarried woman with a fair amount of money in her account. She knows the French and atheists, she loves to have fun. This old lady shamelessly tyrannizes her servant, companion, and numerous relatives who hope to receive her inheritance. This woman cannot stand either Sir Pitt or his eldest son, but she adores Rawdon Crowley, the younger, a mischievous, duelist and gambler, a dim-witted officer of the guard. Miss Crawley also thinks Rebecca is witty and charming.

Rebecca marries Rawdon Crawley

The woman, having fallen ill, takes her to her house in London, because of which the romance between the governess and Rawdon Crowley ends. It ends in a secret marriage, because, despite Miss Crawley's passion for Equality and Freedom, she can get very angry, as William Thackeray (Vanity Fair) notes. After Sir Pitt's wife dies, everything is revealed. Sir Pitt, not very saddened by her death, tries to return Rebecca to King's Crawley. He falls to his knees, asking the girl to marry him. At this moment, for the first time in her life, the intrepid Becky loses her presence of mind and cries. What a missed opportunity! Why was she in a hurry?

Tough time for newlyweds

Everyone curses the young couple. William Thackeray ("Vanity Fair") tells that, no matter how hard Rawdon, led by the smart Rebecca, wins the favor of his aunt again, he fails. A lover of romantic marriages and a champion of democracy will never forgive her nephew for a misalliance until the end of her days. Not worth talking about Sir Pitt. William Thackeray describes his condition in this way: the hero literally loses his mind from unfulfilled desires and hatred, sinks more and more. Only his death saves the family nest from outrage and final devastation. With this event, William Thackeray continues his work ("Vanity Fair"). Summary novel after the death of this hero is the following.

Now the spouses are forced to be content with only the modest salary of Rawdon, which he receives as a captain of the guard. However, Becky is fluent in the art, which will come in handy more than once - to live in clover, while not having cash. The girl hopes to take a more brilliant place in society and agrees to be patient. And Rodon, blindly and passionately in love with his wife, turns into a submissive and happy husband.

The ruin of Emilia's father

Meanwhile, clouds are gathering over Emilia's head. Surprisingly, Napoleon is to blame. The flight from Elba, the landing of his army in Cannes change the state of affairs on the stock exchange, which leads to the complete ruin of the girl's father, John Sedley. The most stubborn and intractable of the creditors is his neighbor and friend John Osborne, whom he helped to break into people. Sedley's property goes under the hammer. A family moves into a squalid rented apartment. However, Emilia does not suffer because of this. The trouble is that this ingenuous girl loves her fiancé with all her heart, and not in the way prescribed by the unspoken laws dictated by Vanity Fair. Thackeray's book is a novel in which the author thus describes the feelings of this girl. She sincerely believes that George Osborne, foppish, narcissistic and empty, is the most intelligent and handsome man in the world. Unlike Becky, whose actions are always dictated by need, selfishness and self-interest, Emilia lives only by love. And George Osborne allows this girl to love himself graciously, while not refusing bachelor entertainment, and he does not indulge his bride with special attention.

Emilia marries George Osborne

William Thackeray tells us that after the collapse of John Sedley, his father forbids George from marrying Emilia. Her own father, moreover, also does not want to think about marriage with the "son of a scoundrel." Poor Emilia is in despair. However, George's faithful friend, Captain Dobbin, a generous and honest man, who passionately loves Emilia, intervenes in the matter, not even daring to admit it to himself. He persuades George, who is no stranger to noble impulses, against the will of his father, to marry a girl. Of course, he deprives him of his inheritance and refuses his son.

Meeting in Brussels

Both disgraced couples meet in Brussels, as the regiment of Dobbin and George enters the city, and Taftoe, General of the Guard, arrives here with his adjutant Rawdon Crowley. With enthusiasm, the regiment accepts Emilia, but her friend prefers to rotate in a "brilliant" society. Wherever this girl appears, she is everywhere surrounded by many noble admirers. falls into their number. Becky's own vanity and coquetry drive him so far that he gives her a bouquet with a letter at the ball, in which he asks the girl to run away with him. Of course, she is not going to do anything like that, because she knows the price of George. Napoleon's troops on the same day cross the Sambre. Filled with unspoken remorse, George says goodbye to his wife. In a few days he will die at Waterloo.

Life of Rebecca and Rodon in Paris

And Rodon and Becky spend three years after Waterloo in Paris. Here Rodon's wife is a huge success. She is admitted into the highest Parisian society. The French are not as picky as the British. However, the girl is not going to stay here for the rest of her life. The family (Rodon and Becky have a son in Paris) returns to London after a while. Here the Crowleys, as always, live on credit, without paying anyone and making promises to everyone. Finally, Rawdon's aunt dies, leaving almost the entire fortune to her eldest nephew, who is married to a worthy and honest woman, Lady Jane, daughter of Lord Southdown. And the new baronet, feeling guilty before his brother (after all, his aunt's money would have gone to him if he had not married the governess), considers it his duty to unite the family. And here again Rebecca appears in King's Crawley and enchants everyone. For this, she even has to pretend love for her son, although in reality she does not have the slightest affection for this boy.

Rebecca and Lord Stein

The new baronet will be so captivated by Rebecca's subtle flattery that he visits her house almost every day. The girl's noble patron, the all-powerful Lord Stein, the old cynic from the novel that Thackeray wrote ("Vanity Fair"), visits there just as often. With his help, Rebecca moves forward in high society. In what ways the girl achieves this, no one knows, but the lord gives her diamonds, and also puts his cellars at her disposal. Finally, an event occurs that puts Rebecca on a par with other respectable ladies. The girl is presented to the court. This important event continues his novel Thackeray ("Vanity Fair"). The summary only briefly mentions that Rebecca is in the highest circles of London and is convinced that these people are no different from others. Becky gets bored among them. And her husband feels every day more and more lonely at all these aristocratic meetings. He becomes more and more attached to his son.

Rodon leaves England

Disaster ends Rebecca's procession through Vanity Fair. Rawdon accuses her of betrayal and tries to challenge Lord Styne to a duel. In the end, he decides to leave England in order to take the post of governor of Coventry Island, procured for him by his own enemy. Rebecca disappears, and her son Rodon remains in the care of his uncle, as well as his wife, who replaced his mother.

Emilia is raising her son

The death of her husband almost cost Emilia her life, as the writer Thackeray tells us ("Vanity Fair"). A brief summary of further events in the life of this girl is as follows. She was saved only by the birth of a son, whom Emilia adores in the same way as before her husband. She for a long time lives with his parents, courageously endures hardships and poverty, finding joy in little George. However, John Osborne, amazed at how similar his grandson is to his late son, offers his mother to give the boy in order to raise him as a gentleman. For his sake, Emilia parted ways with her son. She finds solace after her mother's death in brightening up her father's last days.

The Return of Major Dobbin

When Rebecca suffers a blow of fate, fortune turns to Emilia. Major Dobbin returns from India with Joseph, her brother. Dobbin swears that now the native girls will not know the need. He wants to marry a girl. However, he still has nothing to hope for. Emilia does not notice the devoted, disinterested love of this man, his outstanding virtues. She is faithful to the memory of her husband, leaving, with cruelty to virtue, Dobbin only to "watch and languish." Soon John Sedley dies, and then John Osborne, who leaves George half of his fortune, and also restores the widow of his "beloved son" in guardianship. Emilia learns that she owes this to Dobbin, and also that he was an unknown benefactor who supported her in her years of need. However, as before, only gratitude can she pay for his devotion.

New meeting of Emilia and Becky

In a small duchy on the banks of the Rhine, Emilia and Becky meet again. Emilia makes a trip abroad with her brother, son and Dobbin, and Rebecca has been fluttering around Europe for a long time, in a card game and adventures of a dubious nature, squandering her content, which was assigned to her by her husband. Everywhere they shy away from her in decent society, as if she were plagued. But now she notices Joseph Sedley, and hope is reborn in the girl's soul. The slandered sufferer, whose beloved child and honest name have been taken away, without difficulty, as in former times, circles this fat dandy around her finger, as well as Emilia, who has not learned anything and has not wised up at all. Dobbin, always disgusted by Rebecca, quarrels with Emilia because of her and reproaches her for the first time in her life that the girl does not appreciate his affection. He decides to leave Emilia forever. However, Becky, filled with "contemptuous pity" for the girl, and admiration for Dobbin, commits the first disinterested act in her life. Rebecca shows her friend George's letter, which proves him unfaithful. Defeated idol. Emilia is now free and therefore able to respond to Dobbin's feelings of betrayal.

Final events

Here we are approaching the end of Vanity Fair. The summary of the book consists of the following final events. Dobbin and Emilia lead a quiet life in their own house. They are friendly with the inhabitants of King's Crawley. Until the end of his days, Joseph drags out a miserable life as a slave to Rebecca. He dies under "unexplained circumstances". From dies and Rawdon Crowley Sr. After the death of an uncle, his son inherits the estate and the title. He does not want to see his mother, but he assigns a generous allowance to her, although she is quite well off without it. Rebecca has many friends who believe that she is unfairly offended. She is diligently engaged in charity, lives in a big way.

Thus ends the summary. Vanity Fair is a novel that is very popular today. And it is no coincidence. The issues raised in it are still relevant today.

Analysis of the work

Vanity Fair is the pinnacle of Thackeray's work. In the novel, realistic generalizations social criticism and satirical skill reaches its greatest strength. Thackeray managed to capture the connection between the people of the society contemporary to him. It is based on the power of money, on the "heartless purebred". In the work, society appears as a huge fair where everything can be bought and sold. Depicting the truly repulsive face of the bourgeois, the author had no illusions about the possibility of his transformation into a sympathetic one, and He only wanted to reveal, without illusions and embellishment, the harsh truth of life.

The full title of the novel is: "Vanity Fair. A novel without a hero." It was borrowed from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Thackeray called Vanity Fair the bourgeois-aristocratic society of England of his time.

Landowners and bourgeois businessmen, diplomats and members of parliament, officials and noble lords pass before the readers in a long line. They live according to the laws of Vanity Fair. In Thackeray's novel, the form of presentation of the material is peculiar. The writer compares his heroes with puppets, and himself with the puppeteer who sets them in motion. Thackeray ("Vanity Fair") gives them estimates, expresses his judgments in a number of digressions.

"A novel without a hero" means that the writer did not find among the Crowleys and Osbornes goodie. However, he does not oppose the common man of the people to the mercenary bourgeois, as, for example, Dickens. In the novel "Vanity Fair" there are no heroes from the popular environment. Captain Dobbin is the bearer of positive principles. This can be seen by reading the original work "Vanity Fair". A summary of the chapters only superficially reveals the characters. Dobbin is the only one who retains responsiveness and kindness, modesty and selflessness.

"Vanity Fair" is a book that will always be relevant, until human selfishness, which hides the roots of many of humanity's ills, is eradicated.