Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair, with it's rich cast of characters, takes place on the snakes-and-ladders board of life. Amelia Sedley, daughter of a wealthy merchant, has a loving mother to supervise her courtship. Becky Sharp, an orphan, has to use her wit, charm, and resourcefulness to escape from her destiny as a governess. This she does ruthlessly, musing I think I could become a good woman, if I had £5000 a year. Thackeray's story is set at the time of the battle of Waterloo, in which the Sedley fortunes are lostand Amelia is back to square onewhile Becky rises wit.