VANITY FAIR by William Makepeace Thackeray

 

SYNOPSIS

The protagonist in this story, Becky, is a very cunning and sly lady. She is very good at pretending or acting according to the context. She’s a top tier manipulator who does everything just to live a pleasant life. Furthermore, she doesn’t really care to betray others who are close to her because she knows how to get their trust back. While I was reading this book, I thought that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t an evil person but she never ceases to amaze me by how quickly she leaves her relationships without much remorse. The story is set during the late 70s where the French Revolution started. In fact, the beginning of the book gives an insight into the life of Napoleon, whose history is well known until today, and it definitely helped me with the reading. Additionally, it refers to many traditional British clothing from the 80s so it helps not to forget their culture and make it stay relevant. - George went to see his father, but when he began to speak about Amelia, Mr Osborne became furious. “Never say that name here!” he shouted. Why not? George shouted in reply. “Amelia Sedley is the sweetest girl who ever lived! I love her. You wanted me to marry her when she was rich. I can't leave her, now that she's poor ""Leave my house!” Mr Osborne screamed. “If you marry that man's daughter, you're no son of mine!” “Then goodbye, father,” George said and he walked out of the house. The reason I mention this long passage is because it shows exactly how George and Amelia are devoted to each other. Even if Amelias’ family lost all of their money, (back then, status was crucial when it came to marriage) he still chose to run away with his loved one and decided to cut off all or most contacts with his father given that he didn’t support their relationship. (Although the ending tells otherwise…) If I were to interview the author, I would have asked him how he created Becky’s personality because I definitely think he did a marvellous job. I love stories where the protagonist isn’t really a morally good person and rather enjoy evil characters where we can see their various thoughts. However, I still disliked her for the way she treated the Colonel but especially Amelia, who did become my favourite character. Amelia was too naive and gullible (most characters too though) and Becky clearly knew that so she took advantage of the poor lady. I believe that his answer to this question would be that he searched through different personalities and came up with a complex character like her.

PERSONAL OPINION

As I mentioned before, I really liked Amelia. For me at least, it’s quite rare that such a kind-hearted person becomes my favourite character but her devotion to his late husband really moved me. But, truly, I felt bad for Dobbin. Although he also loved Amelia, he knew that she couldn’t reciprocate his feelings. Honestly, at the end of the story, I was glad when he decided to leave her because he had all reasons to but I was still glad they got married in the end. The book itself wasn’t entirely bad, but whenever everyone believed Becky I was complaining internally. Nonetheless, I would definitely recommend this book for readers who like drama (lots of drama).

REVIEW  by MAUSAMI GURUNG