vanityfair名利场各人物分析.docx

1、vanityfair名利场各人物分析vanity_fair_名利场_各人物分析满分文学 Class 1 V.Q Rebecca When she and Rawdon are living on nothing a year, Rebecca is dealing with the creditors. It is she who starts the rumor that Rawdon has inherited from his rich aunt, and thereby gets out of Paris without paying any debts, since she has

2、ordered a newly decorated apartment against her return. It is she who settles for a percentage of Rawdons debts in England, so that he may return to London for a fresh start. Among Rebeccas talents are music, both piano and voice. She can sketch, talk French like a native, dance, act, mimic. Not onl

3、y does her physical charm attract Lord Steyne, but her wit and mimicry and her ability to get money out of him, even when he realizes she is outwitting him. The more money she wheedles out of him, the more amused he is, until the fatal day when Rawdon walks in on the two of them. Rebeccas ambition i

4、s her outstanding characteristic. She sacrifices husband, child, friends to it; but she enjoys the battle. In a letter to Amelia, after Becky has gone to Queens Crawley, she says, At least I shall be amongst gentlefolks and not with vulgar city people. This jibe refers to both the Sedleys and the Os

5、bornes because George has thwarted her marriage with Joseph Sedley. She continues, You might lodge all the people in Russell Square in the house, I think, and have space to spare. Although Rebecca is a merciless social climber, has abandoned her child, whom she hates, has destroyed Rawdon and will d

6、estroy Joseph, yet it is she who brings Amelia to her senses, and who realizes that the one true gentleman in the whole of Vanity Fair is Dobbin. After eavesdropping on Williams talk with Amelia, Becky says to herself, What a noble heart that man has, and how shamefully that woman plays with it . .

7、. if I could have had such a husband as that a man with a heart and brains too! I would not have minded his large feet . . . Rebecca determines to help Williams cause with Amelia. For once she acts unselfishly. When she has destroyed the memory of George for Amelia, she soothes and kisses her, a rar

8、e mark of sympathy with Mrs. Becky. Rebecca also protects Amelia from the two ruffian friends who follow Rebecca and are intent on exploiting Amelia. Thackeray explains why Becky does what she does: She was of a wild, roving nature, inherited from father and mother, who were both Bohemians, by taste

9、 and circumstance . . . Becky succeeds in establishing herself in Vanity Fair, at the cost of the lives of two men and the alienation of all her friends and family. She serves as a direct contrast to Amelia. Amelia. Exactly opposite from Rebecca, Amelia has many advantages. Miss Pinkerton describes

10、her as industrious, obedient, sweet, and beloved. She has mastered these accomplishments: music, dancing, orthography, embroidery, and needlework. However, Miss Pinkerton suggests that she use a backboard for four hours each day for the next three years to improve her carriage, so requisite for ever

11、y young lady of fashion. The author indicates her need of backbone by suggesting the use of the backboard. Whereas Rebeccas chief quality is ruthless ambition, Amelia exhibits weak humility and blind loyalty. Only in protection and care of Georgy does she rise above her natural submission to defend

12、her own ideas. Once she prevents her mother from giving Georgy medicine, causing a rift between herself and her mother. She objects when old Osborne wants Georgy. In both cases, she returns to a sweet and reasonable attitude when she has convinced herself of her own selfishness. Protected by doting

13、parents, Amelia leads a sheltered existence saddened by Georges neglect and his apparent willingness to forget her when her fortune has vanished. Sweet, lovable, refreshing, she has not the sparkle nor the mentality of Becky. She does have the lifetime devotion of William Dobbin, who sees that Georg

14、e marries her; and looks after her when George dies. Amelias loyalty and long, blind devotion to George amount almost to stupidity. 满分文学 Class 1 V.Q Any fault in George she interprets as a fault in herself and accuses herself of guilty love to account for his having been killed. The fate of Europe i

15、s the fate of her lover to Amelia. Amelias innocence and ready belief in other people make her unbelievably good in contrast to Beckys unbelievable duplicity. Both attract young men, but for different reasons. Beckys wit and physical charm win a following, whereas Amelias goodness and sweetness char

16、m all who meet her. Becky can cry when she wants to; Amelia cries over a dead canary, a mouse, the end of a stupid novel, or the slightest unkind word to her. She remains blind to Dobbins goodness throughout much of the book and although her eyes have been opened to a certain extent regarding Becky,

17、 yet when she thinks Becky needs a friend, she returns to comfort and help her. Amelia depends on others for her opinions, and this is why it takes a sharp companion like Becky to set her straight to make her see realities. One negative reaction was jealousy of George, and she had ample reason for t

18、hat emotion, but it did not lessen her love for him. At the end of the book Thackeray calls her a tender little parasite. She has changed little from the beginning of the book. Sheltered as she has been, she has had little chance for growth. George Sedley Osborne, John Sedleys godson, has been close

19、 to the Sedley family all his life. He and Joseph have gone to school together. Old Osborne has commanded him to marry Amelia, and this plan has been understood for years. George Osborne belongs to Vanity Fair. As a boy he has been ashamed of William Dobbin, his protector at school, because he feels

20、 Dobbin is of a lower social status. His sisters convince him he is one of the most deserving characters in the British Army, and he gave himself up to be loved with a great deal of easy resignation. George loves Amelia after his fashion, but he loves himself more; and often when his sisters think h

21、e is with Amelia, he is gambling, drinking or going to the theater. Popular with the men in the regiment because of his outstanding sportsmanship, he equally charms the ladies: His whiskers had made an impression upon her . . . George had an air at once swaggering and melancholy, languid and fierce.

22、 He looked like a man who had passions, secrets, and private harrowing griefs and adventures. His voice was rich and deep. He would say it was a warm evening, or ask his partner to take an ice, with a tone as sad and confidential as if he were breaking her mothers death to her, or preluding a declar

23、ation of love. He trampled over all the young bucks of his fathers circle, and was the hero among those third-rate men. Having a faithful and generous friend in William Dobbin, George does not appreciate him. Furious with Dobbin for telling the regiment about Amelia, George soon forgets his anger, b

24、orrows money from Dobbin to buy Amelia a gift, but purchases a pin for himself. George courts the acquaintance of the nobility, as all true inhabitants of Vanity Fair, but he does not tell tales on ladies. Self-centered and selfish, he takes Amelias love and loyalty as his due, and under Dobbins pre

25、ssure marries her. When disinherited, he blames Dobbin and says he has lost his money over stupid sentiment. But when his sisters talk against Amelia, he comes to her defense in spite of their glares and his fathers anger. Infatuated with Becky, George asks her to run away with him, but the Battle o

26、f Waterloo intervenes. When George realizes he is going into battle and may never see Amelia again, he is overcome with remorse and charges William Dobbin to care for her. As an excuse for Georges irresponsibility Thackeray points out that old Osbornes attitude has been lenient toward all sorts of t

27、he wildness that George displays. Old Osborne objects only to gambling, and George gambles on the sly. While Amelia considers Georges death the greatest tragedy that could befall her, the reader realizes that, had he lived, her life would have been more sad. At times George rises to heroic proportio

28、ns, as when he stands up for 满分文学 Class 1 V.Q Amelia against his family. His inconsistency of character: The willingness to defy others in his beloveds behalf and also his willingness to betray her, mark his citizenship in Vanity Fair. Joseph Sedley Amelias brother, a bachelor on service in India as

29、 the collector of Boggley Wollah, is twelve years older than she. Of him Amelia says, he is very kind and good, but he scarcely ever speaks to me. A swell, Joseph loves fine clothes and worships the nobility. He earns his nickname Waterloo Sedley from his continuous tales of his association with the

30、 Duke of Wellington, whereas he trembled at the mere sound of the cannon. Joseph admires Lord Tapeworm, a low-class person, because he is nobility. Joseph fears his fathers coarse humor; timid around the ladies, he does not stay at home when he is in London. He is much too fat and occasionally he tr

31、ies to reduce, but he loves eating, drinking, and sleeping too much to change. When his fathers business fails, he sends money, but otherwise cant be bothered. His affections do not go deep. Rebecca finally entangles him with flattery, gains possession of his money, and hastens his death. Josephs fa

32、ther characterizes him: if you, and I, and his sister were to die tomorrow he would say Good Gad! and eat his dinner just as well as usual. William Dobbin Thackeray has called this book a novel without a hero. Actually the only gentleman in the book is William Dobbin, but as Thackeray takes pains to point out, his feet are too big for him to qualify in Vanity Fair. His name indicates a ploddera workhorsea dog, even; his devotion to Amelia is dog-like. But, in the end, even Becky, the most ardent admirer of Vanity Fair, wishes she might have had a man like Dobbin, in