Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero, Volume I
William Makepeace Thackeray
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Presented as a puppet show at a bustling fair, the novel follows two contrasting young women: gentle, trusting Amelia Sedley and penniless but fiercely ambitious Becky Sharp. After failing to secure Amelia’s wealthy brother Jos, Becky becomes a governess in the Crawley household and secretly marries Captain Rawdon Crawley, thereby losing the favour of his rich aunt. Meanwhile, Amelia’s father is ruined, and George Osborne’s family opposes their marriage, but the loyal William Dobbin persuades George to keep his promise to her. When Napoleon returns from Elba, George, Dobbin, and Rawdon are sent to Brussels, accompanied by Amelia and Becky. Amid the excitement before Waterloo, George grows tired of his devoted wife and becomes dangerously attracted to Becky. The battle abruptly ends his ambitions and Amelia’s happiness, leaving George dead while the surviving characters face an uncertain future shaped by love, money, and social ambition.