GREAT LITERARY LADY: Becky Sharp
‘She was of a wild, roving nature, inherited from father and mother, who were both Bohemians, by taste and circumstance…’
Becky Sharp is one of the most enduring characters of William Thackeray’s 1848 novel Vanity Fair. She is drawn as the quintessential anti-heroine, by turns a ruthless social climber and coquettish ingénue who must use all her wit and wiles to carve out a life for herself within high society. Due to lack of inherited status or wealth, she ruthlessly clings to the pursuit of her ambition, forfeiting her morality on the way up the ladder.
Thackeray contrasts cynical Becky, an orphan governess of bohemian parents, with her friend Amelia Sedley, the cosseted and naive daughter of a wealthy London merchant. When Becky is invited to stay she begins to ingratiate herself to the household in pursuit of a husband. In reality she views men and everyone else throughout the novel with cold indifference, never expressing love but often feigning attraction and concern to get what she wants.
This is a morality tale in which the artful Becky exposes the petty politics of human relationships: the destructive folly of preening selfaggrandisement, displayed by so many of the characters in the book. Yet for all her imperfections, Becky endures because she is not at all apologetic in her pursuit of personal fulfi lment. Such audacity fl ies in the face of the moral strictures of the time, making her a timeless anti-heroine.
Anna Sawa
Becky Sharp is one of the most enduring characters of William Thackeray’s 1848 novel Vanity Fair. She is drawn as the quintessential anti-heroine, by turns a ruthless social climber and coquettish ingénue who must use all her wit and wiles to carve out a life for herself within high society. Due to lack of inherited status or wealth, she ruthlessly clings to the pursuit of her ambition, forfeiting her morality on the way up the ladder.
Thackeray contrasts cynical Becky, an orphan governess of bohemian parents, with her friend Amelia Sedley, the cosseted and naive daughter of a wealthy London merchant. When Becky is invited to stay she begins to ingratiate herself to the household in pursuit of a husband. In reality she views men and everyone else throughout the novel with cold indifference, never expressing love but often feigning attraction and concern to get what she wants.
This is a morality tale in which the artful Becky exposes the petty politics of human relationships: the destructive folly of preening selfaggrandisement, displayed by so many of the characters in the book. Yet for all her imperfections, Becky endures because she is not at all apologetic in her pursuit of personal fulfi lment. Such audacity fl ies in the face of the moral strictures of the time, making her a timeless anti-heroine.
Anna Sawa