Women In The Eyes Of Thackeray

William Makepeace Thackeray is one of the representatives of the English critical realistic writers. And Vanity Fair has been generally regarded as his masterpiece. It follows the fortunes of two contrasting but inter-linked lives, through two women characters—Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. In the novel Thackeray examines the position and role of women in a money-oriented and status-conscious male world and attacks a corrupted, hypocritical society which advocates the Victorian virtues of marriage and family. The book accompanies the lives of Becky and Amelia through happy times and sorrowful days.This thesis is devoted to a reinterpretation of Vanity Fair from a feminist critical perspective, or to the exploration of Thackeray's attitude toward women in the novel by means of textual analysis, with a focus on the reasons for and sources of Thackeray's sympathy with women in general and the analysis of the two female characters Becky and Amelia. The author holds that Thackeray's sympathy with women displaying in the characterization of these two women coincides with Beauvoir's feminist literary theories, since both of them show great concern for women and truly describe women's existing situation in the male-dominated societies. Hence Beauvoir's theories are employed as a general framework for the research.Following Beauvoir's feminist critical theories, the author suggests that it is Thackeray's sympathy for women that provokes him to create a Victorian rebellious woman Becky and her foil Amelia, the Victorian "Angel in the House" in Vanity Fair. It is observed that Thackeray's sympathy for women stems from his own life experience, his close relationship and familiarity with them. In addition, women's living conditions and the prejudice and discrimination against them from the Victorian society also invite his sympathy. The author argues that Thackeray's sympathy for the two female characters lies not only in his great concern about their existing situation, but also in his appreciation as well as disapproval of the qualities displayed by them. He approves of Becky's rebellious behaviors against the Victorian conventions, her self-consciousness, courage, self-reliance, self-possession and indomitability in times of adversity, and disapproves of Amelia's weakness, passiveness, unworthiness and parasitism. Through textual analysis and interpretation, the author arrives at the conclusion that Thackeray'sattitude toward Becky is predominantly sympathetic or admiring though he does not approve of some of her actions. And his pity for Amelia is equally apparent, although he disapproves some of her attributes.However, despite his sympathy for women in Vanity Fair, the author has noted that as a traditional male writer, Thackeray somehow adheres to the established Victorian values in a patriarchal society, which might also stem from his own life experience as well as his view of domestic life. That may account for his ambiguity about Becky's innocence or guilt and his forgiving of Amelia for all her weak points.This thesis is divided into four parts. Part 1 is a general introduction to the whole thesis. It includes Thackeray's life and art, the theme and the main idea of Vanity Fair, literary reviews on Vanity Fair, a brief review of Beauvoir's feminist literary theories and the purpose of the thesis. Part 2 traces the reasons for and sources of Thackeray's sympathy with women in general. Part 3 is devoted to the analysis of the two women characters—Becky the Victorian "adventuress" and her foil Amelia the Victorian "Angel in the House". Part 4 is a summary of the whole thesis.