Vanity Fair

Where do I even begin? This book is 804 pages and narrates the lives of 2 women over a span of 15 years. It is HUGE!! It is not for the lighthearted because it is a very hard book to stay focused on. However, all that being said... I liked the book. I didn't love it, but I did like it.

I think the thing I noticed the most while reading ths book is how much I tend to identify with the main characters. Now Becky Sharpe is definitely not a respectable person by any means. She will sell anyone out just for a chance at their money or to raise her own social standing. I unfortunately found myself somewhat scheming about how best to meet the boys who would take me to the "ideal" position in society--at least in my view. I wouldn't say that I was anywhere near her level though. She would tear any marriage apart to advance her own standing in the world... I just reconnected with friends who I hadn't talked to in awhile.

Another thing I noticed was the play on values in this book. Amelia is set up to be the perfect woman... she is demure, well-bred, and she ends up marrying a man who is tremendously wealthy and loves her to death. Becky on the other hand has a hard life, she is always plotting and scheming how to get ahead only to be found out and cast from that society. No one ever knows how she feels about something because she will tell people very different things so she can achieve her desired ends. However... there is one thing that Becky has over Amelia--she can survive in any situation. Although they are both fairly destitute, Becky knows how to take advantage of a situation so that it works out in her best interest. While Amelia is half starving and selling everything she has (since she has no useful skills to employ herself with), Becky is taking the same amount of money and living in a grand house and has fine gown, and is even presented at Court. At the end of the story Amelia gets the amazing huband, the country house, and the genteel lifestyle, but unlike the Jane Austen story which would leave Becky destitute or in an unhappy marriage, Becky continues to live the life she wants. She fashions herself a Lady and lives in Europe with a footman and doing works of charity for the church as any other proper Lady would do.

So what is the moral of the story? Sometimes bad people thrive, but that doesn't mean that they win or that they're happy. Amelia has a clear consciounce and doesn't have to worry about making amends for anything, while Becky is always running from her past.