
On A Broad And Colourful Canvas, Extending From Urban And Rural England To Waterloo And The Continental Haunts Of Exiles, Thackeray Gives Us One Of The Greatest Social-satirical Novels In The Language-one Of The Most Entertaining And Profound, And, In The Person Of Becky Sharp, We Have One Of Literature's Most Resourceful, Attractive, And Amoral Characters. Essentially A Commentary On Hypocrisy And Those Ethical Principles To Which Society Pays Lip-service, Vanity Fair (1847-8) Invites Us To Consider Which Is To Blame: The Opportunist Or The Society That Makes Opportunism Necessary. This Edition, Which Reproduces The Text Of The Oxford Thackeray Enhanced By John Sutherland's Lively Introduction And Notes, Includes All Of Thackeray's Own Illustrations. About The Series: For Over 100 Years Oxford World's Classics Has Made Available The Widest Range Of Literature From Around The Globe. Each Affordable Volume Reflects Oxford's Commitment To Scholarship, Providing The Most Accurate Text Plus A Wealth Of Other Valuable Features, Including Expert Introductions By Leading Authorities, Helpful Notes To Clarify The Text, Up-to-date Bibliographies For Further Study, And Much More.
The narrative follows the social ascent of the cunning Becky Sharp as she navigates the rigid class structures of 19th-century British society. Becky Sharp, a woman of limited means but immense ambition, seeks to secure her place among the elite by manipulating those around her. She faces opposition from the entrenched aristocracy and the moral expectations of the era, which demand conformity and propriety. The story unfolds through a third-person omniscient narrator who frequently interrupts the action to provide cynical commentary on the characters' motivations and the vanity of the world they inhabit.
Discussion often centers on the effectiveness of Thackeray's satirical voice and his refusal to provide a traditional moral center for the narrative. Readers frequently highlight the sharp contrast between the opportunistic Becky Sharp and the passive Amelia Sedley as a primary engine for the book's thematic depth. Critics often note that the pacing is deliberate, reflecting the sprawling nature of the social landscape the author intends to critique. The work remains a frequent subject of analysis regarding its commentary on the ethics of ambition and the performative nature of Victorian social life. Many readers find the narrator's constant interjections to be a defining feature that distinguishes the work from other novels of the period.
Page Count:
1008
Publication Date:
2008-01-01
ISBN-10:
0191500348
ISBN-13:
9780191500343
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