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
The late Sir Pitt’s family heraldic emblem still hangs over the front door of his mansion as a sign of mourning. Miss Briggs sometimes brings Rawdy by the mansion while meanwhile Becky takes charge of selling off Sir Pitt’s old furniture and other possessions. Some nights, Becky makes her husband, Rawdon, dine out so that she can entertain Pitt Crawley with Miss Briggs. Becky emphasizes that because she’s poor, she had to learn to cook well, and this makes Pitt Crawley thinks of the terrible pies that his rich wife, Lady Jane, makes.
By selling Sir Pitt’s furniture, Becky gets to imagine what things would’ve been like if she were currently his widow (and so got to keep all the money she makes). The old Sir Pitt liked Becky to the point where he was willing to marry her, and Becky is counting on the fact that Pitt Crawley (now the new Sir Pitt) will feel the same way. While Becky may be talented in some areas, like writing and music, she has never before demonstrated a talent in cooking, making it obvious to everyone except perhaps Pitt Crawley that she’s scheming once more.
Themes
Literary Devices
Rawdon and Becky would like to get some money out of Pitt Crawley, which is why Becky is charming him, but Becky feels it isn’t safe yet to ask directly. Becky knows that Pitt Crawley sees how little she and Rawdon live on. Despite their dwindling money, Becky still buys extravagant gifts, like a velvet coat for Rawdy, even though he will soon outgrow it. As Rawdy grows up, he notices that Becky often sings for guests but never for him. One day, when Rawdy eavesdrops on Becky singing to their visitor, Lord Steyne, she catches Rawdy, gets angry, and boxes his ears.
Lord Steyne started appearing at the house right around the time when Becky mentioned wanting to hire a companion for herself when Rawdon was away. This suggests that perhaps Becky was trying to calm Rawdon’s suspicions of infidelity at the very moment when she was planning to do things that would warrant suspicion. Meanwhile, while Rawdy has been too young to notice his mother’s neglect so far, he now begins to understand. Becky’s singing represents the effort she’ll put into trying to win money out of strangers but not into taking care of her child.
Themes
Servants begin to gossip about whether Becky is trying to make a conquest with Lord Steyne, whose carriage often stops by, and they also talk about how badly Becky treats Rawdy. As the family gets ready to head to Queen’s Crawley and see Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane for the Christmas holiday, Rawdon scolds Becky for not treating Rawdy very well. Becky doesn’t want to bring Rawdy on the trip, and so they compromise by wrapping Rawdy up and letting him travel on the roof of the coach where he won’t bother Becky.
Becky shows her total disregard for Rawdy’s welfare by making him travel on the roof of her carriage, as though he’s just a piece of cargo they’re bringing along. Christmas is traditionally a holiday about selflessness (as Thackeray’s contemporary rival Charles Dickens wrote about in A Christmas Carol), and so it’s ironic that for Becky, Christmas becomes a chance to try to make more money.
Themes
Literary Devices
Becky, Rawdon, and Rawdy make it to Queen’s Crawley and have dinner with Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane. At dinner, Becky compliments Pitt and Lady Jane’s son, Pitt Binkie. The visit lasts several days, and the men often go on walks in the morning to admire how Pitt Crawley has changed Sir Pitt’s property. Pitt stresses to Rawdon how expensive these renovations have been, then he asks if Rawdon might lend him some money for replacing a gate. Rawdon grudgingly agrees.
Becky will compliment the son of her in-laws but not her own son. Once more, her greed and vanity corrupt her family life and inhibit her ability to show love. Becky’s scheme to get money out of Pitt Crawley goes wrong, however, when Rawdon finds out that Pitt Crawley himself has little money, having lost it on expensive renovations. Despite Pitt Crawley’s seemingly more respectable appearance, he has his own “addictions”—a compulsive need to keep up good appearances—that cause him to spend money just as freely as Rawdon.
Themes
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