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
That summer, when Parliament is out, many people go on holidays, and this includes Georgy, Amelia, Dobbin, Jos, as well as many of their friends. The travel by boat across Europe, including the Netherlands, France, and Germany. Amelia constantly draws what she sees, and Dobbin always carries her drawing equipment and praises her. Jos, meanwhile, often skips afternoon trips to nap so that he is well-rested for dinner.
The trip to Europe shows how far the Sedleys have risen in status, since such a trip would’ve been unimaginable for Amelia not that long ago. This passage shows how, for as much as the characters care about local matters, like specific neighborhoods of London, they also live in a time of increasing globalization and more connections between Britain and the wider world.
Themes
Amelia hears opera for the first time and finds that she likes it. She is happy to have so many new experiences abroad. As she spends more time with Dobbin, she begins to have more respect for him. At one theater show in Pumpernickel (Germany), someone mistakes Amelia for Dobbin’s wife, causing everyone to blush. Meanwhile, Dobbin meets a Secretary named Lord Tapeworm. After the show, everyone decides they like Pumpernickel enough to stay longer.
Pumpernickel is a somewhat exotic place for these characters, but it also lacks the glamor of somewhere like Paris, reinforcing the idea that the Sedleys are wealthy, but they’re not among the wealthiest people around. The connection between Amelia and Dobbin is so strong that even strangers in a foreign country can see it.
Themes
