Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Vanity Fair, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Greed and Ambition
Vanity
Social Class and Character
Gender
Inheritance and Family Life
Summary
Analysis
Miss Crawley returns to her home in her chariot. She feels ill, and servants send off for a doctor. Becky eventually comes to take care of her, causing a stir among Miss Crawley’s usual servants. Eventually, Becky is alone in the room with Miss Crawley, and outside the room, the other servants get jealous about how everyone in Queen’s Crawley seems to have taken a liking to Becky. When Miss Crawley gets up the next day, she seems much better. It turns out she just ate and drank too much at dinner.
Becky’s intentions are obvious—with Miss Crawley ill, there is potentially limited time left for Miss Crawley to amend her will, and so Becky wants to make the most of that remaining time to try to win a slice of Miss Crawley’s inheritance. Although the servants would not in line to inherit all of Miss Crawley’s wealth, they may still be hoping for something, and so they look resentfully on the possibility that Becky could take it all for herself by winning Miss Crawley’s favor at the last minute.
Themes
Becky becomes such a dedicated nurse to Miss Crawley that Violet and Rose miss out on lessons from their governess. Meanwhile, Lady Crawley is also sick, but she doesn’t complain, so few people notice. Captain Rawdon, who came to see Miss Crawley, gets an extension on his leave, and Sir Pitt is also there for Miss Crawley. Although Becky doesn’t tell anyone, Miss Crawley is a difficult patient who gets angry and always thinks she’s about to die.
In addition to giving Becky a chance at winning an inheritance, Becky’s nursing of Miss Crawley also conveniently gives Becky an excuse to avoid her other job as a governess. Sir Pitt and Rawdon both understand exactly what Becky is going, and so they also make personal appearances at Miss Crawley’s place, in order to make their own bids for a share of the inheritance.
Themes
While Rawdon is there, he tells Mrs. Bute that he thinks he might love Becky, since he can tell that Mrs. Bute is trying to set him up with Becky for some reason. Mrs. Bute says that he’ll soon have Becky in the family—not as a wife, but as a stepmother, if anything ever happens to Lady Crawley. Rawdon admits that he could see Sir Pitt doing this. Rawdon happens to mention to Becky how Sir Pitt seems interested in her. She replies that she can defend herself just fine.
Mrs. Bute plays this situation carefully—she does indeed want Rawdon to marry Becky (so that Rawdon will lose Miss Crawley’s favor and potentially his inheritance), but instead of telling him his directly, Mrs. Bute instead emphasizes how much Sir Pitt loves Becky. This statement—which is true—helps convey to Rawdon that if he wants to marry Becky, he may have to do so urgently. Mrs. Bute hopes to get him married quickly, before he can consider the potential consequences of his actions.
Themes
Miss Crawley suspects Becky is only nursing her with the intention of getting something out of it, but she appreciates Becky’s company all the same. When Miss Crawley feels well enough to drive around with Becky, one of the places they go is Russell Square, where Amelia lives. Becky introduces Miss Crawley to Amelia, and Miss Crawley immediately likes the timid girl. Later, Miss Crawley suggests setting up Rawdon and Amelia, but Becky tells her that Amelia is engaged to George. Rawdon knows Dobbin, and he realizes that also knows George because he won a lot of money from him at billiards.
Although various characters are all trying to take advantage of Miss Crawley to win her fortune, Miss Crawley herself isn’t above playing the situation to her advantage—she knows what Becky is doing but wants Becky’s attention anyway. Miss Crawley likes being in control, which also helps to explain why she instantly likes the passive Amelia—she favors Amelia as a wife for Rawdon because she knows Amelia wouldn’t be able to change Rawdon.
Themes
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Rawdon goes on about how it’s so easy to get money out of George until Miss Crawley tells him to stop. She asks if George is presentable, and Rawdon admits that he is most of the time. Miss Crawley invites both George and Amelia to come see her, and they accept.
Rawdon’s description of George and how he’s always losing money at billiards makes George sound disreputable. In fact, George is indeed a bit of a scoundrel when it comes to gambling and potentially also women, but his family’s good reputation means he doesn’t have to face the consequences of these actions for the time being. Moreover, the fact that George remains presentable—that is, acceptable on the surface— despite his questionable behavior is enough for Miss Crawley.
Themes
When he arrives, George introduces himself to Miss Crawley. He, Rawdon, and Becky all talk about what it’s like to be a governess. The subject of Jos comes up, and Becky hints at how George talked Jos out of marrying her, embarrassing George in front of everyone. Later, George warns Rawdon to always stay alert when he’s around Becky. But when George tells Amelia that he warned Rawdon, Amelia gets angry.
Becky has learned how to follow the rules of polite society while simultaneously letting everyone know that she is annoyed with what George did. George clearly doesn’t appreciate the gesture, since he warns Rawdon not to marry Becky as revenge. What George doesn’t count on, however, is that Rawdon has a very different personality than Jos and doesn’t let others sway him so easily.
Themes
Later, when they have time alone, Amelia tells Becky that she can tell that Becky has a secret, a secret that the narrator hints will soon come out. Soon after this visit, Lady Crawley dies, making Sir Pitt a widower again. No one shows much grief, although Miss Crawley complains that she’ll have to move the date of a party she planned. One morning, Sir Pitt himself comes to visit. Miss Crawley says she’s too sick to see him, but Sir Pitt says he’s actually there to see Becky.
While the narrator has made ironic or sarcastic comments before, this is perhaps the first occasion when he deliberately withholds information from readers. The purpose seems primarily to build suspense. This was particularly important because Vanity Fair was originally published serially, and readers would have to wait for the next installment of the story to come out to find out what happens next. This chapter ends with one of the most significant cliffhangers in the novel.
Themes
Sir Pitt begs Becky to come back to teach Rose and Violet—she has been gone for three months. Becky feels it wouldn’t be right to go back alone with Sir Pitt. Sir Pitt says his whole household is a mess and that he needs her back. He says that if she likes, she can even come back as the third Lady Crawley. He says he’s “an old man, but a good’n” who has about 20 years left in him. He promises to treat her well. Suddenly, Becky begins to cry. She reveals that she’s already married.
While Sir Pitt has been patient with Becky, even he gets exasperated after she leaves her governess position for a full three months. Sir Pitt’s marriage proposal to Becky is comically pragmatic: He offers to marry her just so that the two of them can ride alone in a carriage together, then he tells her exactly how much longer she can expect to have him alive as a husband. While Sir Pitt claims he’d take good care of Becky, he also proposes to her so soon after the death of his previous wife that it raises the question of how attentive a husband he really is.
Themes
