1. Give examples of Thackeray’s use of symbolism in figures of speech and in names. 2. How can it be said that Amelia mistreats those who are humblest before her? 3. How does Thackery use his own experience as a source in Vanity Fair? 4. What faults make this novel […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsCritical Essays Humorous Situations in Vanity Fair
Joseph, embarrassed when he first meets Rebecca, turns red, can’t talk, and yanks the bell rope loose. Sir Pitt is a stingy, dirty, disreputable boor who can’t spell, doesn’t read, eats boiled mutton, and has but one candle in the house; but it stands in an ornate silver candlestick, and […]
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Thackeray’s irony takes a wide range — sometimes biting, sometimes playful, but always pertinent. A sample of comment on money follows: “I for my part, have known a five-pound note to interpose and knock up a half-century’s attachment between two brethren; and can’t but admire, as I think what a […]
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Some of the names have symbolic significance and some apparently are used for humor or irony’s sake. For certain occupations the author chooses “killing” names: Lance, the surgeon; Mrs. Briefless, the barrister’s wife; Sir Thomas Coffin, the celebrated hanging judge; Dr. Ramshorn, the preacher; Mr. Bawler, minister of the Darbyites. […]
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Samuel Chew notes that Thackeray spent much of his time “parodying and satirizing romantic sentiment” and that he “possessed a terrible power to detect and expose men’s self-deceptions, shams, pretenses and unworthy aspirations.” Also, Thrall and Hibbard in the section on satire in their Handbook refer to Thackeray as one […]
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The symbolism described in the foregoing paragraphs constitutes one form of imagery. To continue with similar figures which may not be considered broadly symbolic, one reads of Miss Pinkerton, “the Semiramis of Hammersmith.” Sermiramis was an Assyrian queen noted for beauty, wisdom, and voluptuousness. Hammersmith was a metropolitan borough of […]
Read more Critical Essays Imagery in Vanity FairCritical Essays Symbolism in Vanity Fair
Thackeray takes symbols from everyday life, from the classics, and from the Bible. He shows Rebecca ensnaring Joseph in a tangle of green silk, at their first acquaintance. As Becky climbs the social stairway, she is likened to a spider. At the close of the book, she has literally entangled […]
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The story is presented by summarized narrative, bits of drama, interpolated essays, without much recourse to the minds of the characters. If there is any doubt as to how the reader should judge an individual, the author steps in and makes appropriate comment. For example, when the Sedleys lose their […]
Read more Critical Essays Technique and Style of Vanity FairCritical Essays Idea
The title suggests the idea: Vanity Fair. The treasures of Vanity Fair, that is, money and position, are desirable but transient. The gaiety, the mask of the ball, do not stay with the person when he faces death. Thackeray does not underestimate the importance of having a home, clothes and […]
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The setting so far as physical place is concerned, moves from London to Brighton, to the Continent including Paris, Rome, Brussels, and “Pumpernickel,” a small German principality. The reader moves from city house to country estate, from private academy to the sponging house, or debtors’ jail. But there is also […]
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