Vanity Fair (novel)

Lore & Background

The novel is framed as a puppet play, with an unreliable narrator who repeats gossip at second or third hand. The story begins in London in 1814, following the cunning and moneyless Becky Sharp and the gentle Amelia Sedley. Becky schemes to marry rich, first targeting Amelia's brother Joseph Sedley, then secretly marrying Captain Rawdon Crawley. Amelia, meanwhile, marries Captain George Osborne, who is killed at the Battle of Waterloo, leaving her a widow with a posthumous son.

Reader's Guide

Vanity Fair is significant for its satirical portrayal of early 19th-century British society, using the title from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress to critique worldly attachments. It was a popular and critical success upon serialization and is now regarded as a classic.

The novel inspired the title of the British lifestyle magazine Vanity Fair, first published in 1868, known for its caricatures of Victorian and Edwardian figures. In 2003, it was listed at No. 122 on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's best-loved books. The work has also inspired several audio, film, and television adaptations.

Did You Know?

• The title comes from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (1678), where 'Vanity Fair' represents man's sinful attachment to worldly things.
• Thackeray drew many illustrations to accompany the text, reflected in the subtitle 'Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society'.