名利场读后感.docx

1、名利场读后感My Review on the Book Vanity Fair.Introduction 1.1 Social backgroundSince the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 18th century, the class structure of English society had undergone radical changes. The Industrial capitalists began to play a more important role and vied for politica

2、l power with the old aristocracy. Due to the support of the people this struggle of power ended in the victory of bourgeoisie over the aristocracy. With the development of capitalism, there arose a powerful working class, though the conflict between labour and the capital was for some time the backg

3、round of the struggle between the feudal and bourgeois classes. But from the thirties of the 19th century, the struggle between the workers and capitalists became the feudalmental contradiction in English social life.Now England became a typical capitalist country. Having consolidated its positions

4、at home, the British bourgeoisie strengthened its policy of colonial expansion in all parts of the world, successively competing for markets with other powerful countries of the world. So England was experiencing at the same time an aggravation of contradiction both at home and abroad. In spite of t

5、he parliamentary reform in 1832, the living conditions of workers did not grew better but steadily worse. In 1834 there was the passage of the Poor Law. According to it, the inhuman work-houses were established, in which the poor people had to do heavy tasks and live no better than in jails. The gre

6、at misery of the workers led to an upsurge of labour movements and the organization of the workers into unions. In 1836 arose the working-class movement known as Chartism. In 1837, the workers formulated their political demands in The Peoples Charter. The peoples parliaments gathered in 1837 and on

7、The Peoples Charter there were over a million signatures of workers. During the forties, the revolutionary events on the European continent led to a strengthening of the English working-class movement. But the late forties witnessed the decline of Chartism owing to the defeat of the revolutions on t

8、he Continent and the easing of social tension in England.The crying social contradictions were reflected in the writers work of the time. 1.2 Brief introduction of the author Thackeray was a representative of critical realism in 19th-century England. Vanity Fair was his masterpiece.William Makepeace

9、 Thackeray was born at Calcutta in 1811. His father, Richmond Thackeray, had been an Indian civil servant, as had Williams grandfather. His mother was nineteen at the date of his birth, was left a widow in 1816, and married Major Henry Carmichael Smyth in 1818. At the age of six, Thackeray was sent

10、to be educated in England. On his way to England from India, the small Thackeray saw Napoleon on St. Helena. His attendance at a school run by a Dr. Turner gave him experience later used in Vanity Fair. Always an independent spirit, he went his own way, attending various schools, but leaving Cambrid

11、ge without taking a degree. His relatives wanted him to study law; he leaned toward the fine arts. At Trinity College, Cambridge, he contributed to a little paper called The Snob.A visit to Weimar bore fruit in the sketches of life at a small German court which appears in Vanity Fair. In 1832, he in

12、herited a sum which amounted to about five hundred pounds a year. The money was soon lost some in an Indian bank, some at gambling, and some in two newspapers, The National Standard and The Constitutional.About 1834, Thackeray went to Paris and took up the study of art. He had early shown talent as

13、a caricaturist. His pencil was at its best in such fantastic work as is found in the initial letters of the chapters in his books, and in those drawings made for the amusement of children.He married Isabella, an Irish girl, daughter of Colonel Matthew Shawe, who enchanted him with her singing, and w

14、ho was the model for Amelia in Vanity Fair. Three daughters were born, one dying in infancy. After the birth of the third child, Mrs. Thackerays mind was affected and she had to be placed with a family who took care of her. The little girls were sent to Thackerays mother in Paris. Although Mrs. Thac

15、keray outlived her husband by thirty years, she did not recover. As A young man with a ruined fortune and a tragic marriage, Thackeray was forced to earn his life with his pen. Politically Thackeray was a radical, advocating social reform and democracy. In his opinion, the existing society was corru

16、pted as well as corrupting. He took it as his duty to expose the vices of his age, especially those in the upper-middle class. And He also regarded snobbery and the money-grabbing as the chief vice in his society. He criticizes the social moral that makes up the society. His criticism embraces peopl

17、e of all social strata; his social-climbers and snobs and money-grabbers can be found in any class. He always speaks in an ironical, sarcastic and cynical tone of an on-looker. He used his pen to disclose the darkness of society, and the Vanity Fair is a vivid and satire embodiment of that time and

18、society. Thackeray also wrote a novel Peng Dennistoun, Henry Esmond, Niu Kemu a, Virginian, novella Barry Lintons experience, short story Set snob set, and so on. Among them, Henry Esmond and Niu Kemu a most outstanding.Summary of the book Amelia Sedley, of good family, and Rebecca Sharp, an orphan,

19、 leave Miss Pinkertons academy on Chiswick Mall to live out their lives in Vanity Fair the world of social climbing and search for wealth. Amelia does not esteem the values of Vanity Fair; Rebecca cares for nothing else. Rebecca first attempts to enter the sacred domain of Vanity Fair by inducing Jo

20、seph Sedley, Amelias brother, to marry her. George Osborne, however, foils this plan; he intends to marry Amelia and does not want a governess for a sister-in-law. Rebecca takes a position as governess at Queens Crawley, and marries Rawdon Crawley, second son of Sir Pitt Crawley. Because of his marr

21、iage, Rawdons rich aunt disinherits him. First introduced as a friend of George Osborne, William Dobbin becomes the instrument for getting George to marry Amelia, after Georges father has forbidden the marriage on account of the Sedleys loss of fortune. Because of Georges marriage, old Osborne disin

22、herits him. Both young couples endeavor to live without sufficient funds. George dies at Waterloo. Amelia would have starved but for William Dobbins anonymous contribution to her welfare. Joseph goes back to his post in India, claiming such valor at Waterloo that he earns the nickname Waterloo Sedle

23、y. Actually he fled at the sound of the cannon. Both Rebecca and Amelia give birth to sons. Rebecca claims she will make Rawdons fortune, but actually she hides much of her loot, obtained from admiring gentlemen. When she becomes the favorite of the great Lord Steyne, she accumulates both money and

24、diamonds. In the meantime innocent Rawdon draws closer to Lady Jane, wife of Rawdons older brother, Pitt, who has inherited from the rich aunt. When Rawdon discovers Rebecca in her treachery, he is convinced that money means more to her than he or the son whom she has always hated. He refuses to see

25、 her again and takes a post in Coventry Island, where he dies of yellow fever. Because her parents are starving and she can neither provide for them nor give little Georgy what she thinks he needs, Amelia gives up her son to his grandfather Osborne. William Dobbin comes back from the service, reconc

26、iles old Osborne to Amelia, whereat Osborne makes a will leaving Georgy half of his fortune and providing for Amelia. Rebecca, having lost the respectability of a husband, wanders in Europe for a couple of years and finally meets Joseph, Georgy, Amelia, and William on the Continent. Rebecca sets abo

27、ut to finish what she started to do at the first of the book that is, to ensnare Joseph. She does not marry him, but she takes all his money and he dies in terror of her, the implication being that she has, at least, hastened his death. At the end of the book Rebecca has the money necessary to live

28、in Vanity Fair; she appears to be respectable. William has won Amelia. Rebecca has been the one who jolted Amelia into recognition that George, her first love, wasnt worthy. Little Rawdon, upon the death of his uncle Pitt and his cousin Pitt, becomes the heir of Queens Crawley. Little George, throug

29、h the kindness of Dobbin, has lost his distorted values obtained in Vanity Fair. . Comments on the bookIn this novel, I like the name of novel “Vanity Fair” and the subtitle “A Novel without a Hero”. When I see the name, I understand the main idea of the novel. The Victorian egoistic, hypocritical,

30、and money-grabbing aristocratic and commercial society is a vanity fair. It is not only a show of Thackerays cynical view toward life but also a declaration of that the epoch in which capitalists or aristocrats posed themselves as heroes. For instance, Amelia Sedley is a fool; her husband has slept

31、with Becky Sharp, but she still sticks to her loyalty to him and keeps Dobbin waiting for her hand.At the same time, the writer adopts a great number of rhetorical devices to describe the two main figures words, expression and behavior. That makes the sentences vivid and arouses the readers interest

32、 in reading. The images, plot and language show the hidden paradox of sensuality and redemption. The book gives me a whole view of the nobilitys life which is pretty extravagant. Reading between the lines, I can find that Becky is a beautiful, strong-willed and cunning young woman who is determined

33、to make her way to the upper society. To get rid of poverty, Becky makes every possible effort, by hooking or by crooking. She is a great believer of Be yourself and on your way! Given in the modern society, Becky is an ambitious woman. She is not afraid of failure. However, because of the lack of a perfect