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
A few days after the wedding but also a few days before going to Brighton, Dobbin is still taking care of George’s business in London. Dobbin finally goes to see Mr. Osborne in person, feeling nervous about the news he has to deliver. When Mr. Osborne sees Dobbin, he believes George is about to give up and finally listen to Mr. Osborne.
Mr. Osborne’s confidence that he can convince George to follow his will just shows how little he really knows his son. The parents in the novel all have strong opinions about how their children should be, since they want to ensure that their inheritance goes to the right person, but the children often have their own very different ideas.
Themes
Dobbin begins by telling Mr. Osborne the news (which he has just recently heard, at this point in the story) that he and the rest of the army, including George, are all headed to Belgium in a week. Dobbin suggests that, in case anything happens to George while fighting, perhaps Mr. Osborne should reconcile with George. Mr. Osborne praises Dobbin and says he’s only ever tried to do the best for George.
Dobbin tries to break the news to Mr. Osborne gradually, by suggesting that Mr. Osborne might want to reconcile with George without fully explaining that George has just gotten married against Mr. Osborne’s wishes. Mr. Osborne clearly doesn’t pick up on these hints because he lacks the self-awareness to see himself as being at all at fault for his recent estrangement from George.
Themes
Mr. Osborne begins to detail his plan to get George to marry Miss Swartz, and Dobbin stops him, saying Mr. Osborne is deluding himself. He reminds Mr. Osborne that George and Amelia were already engaged, but Mr. Osborne just gets angry. Dobbin gets angry too, saying he won’t hear anyone insult Amelia. Dobbin walks out without telling Mr. Osborne the news, but he tells a clerk at Mr. Osborne’s office that George married Amelia five days ago.
Dobbin makes one last attempt to subtly let Mr. Osborne know that George has already married before at last he just has to say it outright. Dobbin’s decision to tell a clerk about George’s marriage instead of telling Mr. Osborne could be for a couple different reasons; it’s possible that even Dobbin is afraid of having to deal with Mr. Osborne’s reaction, or perhaps Dobbin feels that Mr. Osborne is so unworthy (because he doesn’t appreciate Dobbin’s beloved Amelia) that he doesn’t deserve to hear the news directly.
Themes
Literary Devices
When Mr. Osborne goes home for dinner that evening, he seems to know about George’s marriage and notices that a place at the table has been laid for George. Mr. Osborne gets angry and tells a servant to take that place away. After dinner, he retires alone to his study. While the others in the house are relieved to be away from Mr. Osborne, they fear that things don’t look good for George. In the study, Mr. Osborne looks at old pictures of George. Going through more papers, he pulls out an old family Bible where inside he his family tree. Very deliberately, he removes George from the page. Then he burns his will, writes a letter, and tells a servant to deliver it.
Thackeray doesn’t depict the actual moment Mr. Osborne learns about George’s marriage, perhaps because his reaction in this scene is dramatic enough to convey exactly how he feels. When Mr. Osborne ceremoniously takes out the Bible with a family tree in it, it shows that he is not just casually angry—he has decided that he needs to cut off all ties with George immediately, and he acts ceremoniously, as though performing a religious rite, to show how serious he is.
Themes
Literary Devices
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To help George, Dobbin tries to befriend another lawyer at Mr. Osborne’s firm. The lawyer reveals that Mr. Osborne has been making an account of all sums paid to George in the past three years. He refuses to help Dobbin, believing George should’ve married someone richer. Dobbin continues doing what he can to help George, although he realizes that perhaps the one he’s really trying to help is Amelia.
With inheritance being such a major issue for these characters, even the relationship between a father and a son could involve several lawyers. Dobbin understands the importance of this bureaucracy and tries to use it to his advantage, but the world of wills and lawyers is ultimately somewhat alien to him, since he is not as obsessed with wealth and status as many of the other characters.
Themes
Dobbin goes to dinner with an old general he knows who always took a liking to him. He learns more about the plans for the army to go to Belgium. Dobbin tells his friend and fellow soldier Stubble the news. He then considers writing to George and Amelia, but he decides not to disturb their honeymoon in Brighton with news of the war. Meanwhile, one of George’s sisters hears Mr. Osborne say that Dobbin is banished from their house forever.
Particularly as it goes on, the novel begins to jump around in time. This is primarily because of the ensemble nature of the book, where, because there are so many important characters, it might be logical to follow one character for a period of time, then go back to show the same period from a different character’s perspective.
Themes
Literary Devices
