Vanity Fair: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

Becky smiles as she sees Jemima’s shock after she throws the dictionary away, but Amelia also looks dismayed. Amelia asks how Becky could do such a thing to the dictionary, but Becky laughs and asks if Miss Pinkerton is going to order them back and punish them. Becky says she hopes to never see the school again. She enjoyed flustering Miss Pinkerton by speaking French and praising Napoleon, but Amelia feels Napoleon is like the devil.

Becky has had a reputation for being disagreeable since a young age. Her father was an artist who once gave lessons at Miss Pinkerton’s school. He was clever but careless and used to get drunk and beat Becky and her mother. Becky’s mother was an opera singer from France, and Becky often tells exaggerated stories of her mother’s illustrious ancestors.

After the death of Becky’s mother, her father was too deep in alcoholism to take care of her, so he wrote a letter asking Miss Pinkerton to take her in right before he too died. Becky was allowed to stay at the school so long as she taught French. Becky is short, pale, and blonde. Miss Pinkerton originally accepted Becky because she believed Becky was meek (due to her small size). But Becky struggled to endure the school’s rigid formality, leading her to cry with rage when she was alone in her room in the garret (attic).

After her parents’ deaths when she was still new at the school, Becky resented how the girls around her seemed to be happy because of their wealthy families. She decided to study music and languages with the ultimate goal of preparing herself to leave the school. One day, Miss Pinkerton noticed Becky’s music talent and asked if Becky would like to teach the children, but Becky refused to do it until she got paid extra for music lessons. While Miss Pinkerton obliged, she hated Becky from that day on. Becky recommended that Miss Pinkerton could get rid of her by finding a job for her as governess to a rich family.

Miss Pinkerton tried many methods to control Becky, including scolding her in public, but they didn’t work. At last, she grudgingly recommended Becky to a family as a governess. Miss Pinkerton considered Amelia’s friendship with Becky to be Amelia’s one flaw.

Now, Amelia and Becky return to Amelia’s home, and Amelia gives her friend a tour of the house. Amelia gives expensive gifts to Becky, like rings and muslin clothing. Amelia has an older brother named Joseph (Jos) who was off in India making a lot of money but is currently back home. Becky is jealous, but Amelia says that despite being nice, Jos rarely even speaks to Amelia. Becky says she’s disappointed to hear that Jos isn’t married because she likes little children. In fact, Becky already knew Jos was unmarried and just figured that since Jos is single and rich, and since Becky is spending two weeks with the Sedleys, she might as well try to marry him.