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
During an extravagant breakfast the next morning, Jos talks about how much he likes Pumpernickel and how he’s gotten to meet so many of the local nobles. Lord Tapeworm is there and seems to take an interest in Amelia. Tapeworm believes every woman who sees him falls in love with him, and so he thinks Amelia likes him. Tapeworm knows a special doctor who promises to offer a treatment to Jos that will restore his youth and make him slimmer. This doctor is the final factor that convinces Jos to spend the whole fall in Pumpernickel.
Lord Tapeworm’s name suggests that he is a parasite, and he seems to attach himself to the Sedleys and Dobbin. It is darkly humorous that Lord Tapeworm has a doctor with a miraculous weight loss treatment, since one of the symptoms of a tapeworm infestation is sudden weight loss. All of this hints that despite his title, Lord Tapeworm is trying to take advantage of his new “friends.”
Themes
Jos and Amelia get presented to the local court, and Dobbin is very impressed by Amelia’s dress. The narrator takes a moment to describe Pumpernickel, which is a beautiful and idyllic place, although it does contain political factions that can lead to bitter feuds. Amelia flourishes there, and a local prince even imagines what it would be like to marry her.
Continuing the idea that the Sedleys are wealthy but not extremely so, Amelia manages to impress some of the local gentry. This parallels Becky’s earlier triumphs, which took place on a much grander scale in Paris and Brussels.
Themes
Gambling is a big activity in Pumpernickel, and one day, a mysterious woman in a mask comes to the local gambling room. This woman speaks perfect French. Jos talks to the woman, and she mentions how Georgy (who snuck into the gambling room) looks just like George. Jos demands to know her identity, and the woman reveals that she is Becky. She calls Jos an old friend and suggests that they should go leave for a talk.
Becky has been mostly absent from the story ever since Rawdon caught her with Lord Steyne. The mask that Becky wears is fitting, given how much she tries to deceive people around her, and it perhaps also suggests that her reputation has fallen so far that she feels most comfortable in settings where she can hide her identity.
Themes
