A Brief Study Of Two Women Characters In Vanity Fair

William Makepeace Thackeray, the English critical realistic writer, created two impressive and contrasting female figures in Vanity Fair: Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. The novel explores the money-oriented Victorian patriarchal system and the status-conscious world in which women were confined to roles that require their submissiveness and deprive them of power. In the novel, Thackeray attacks the corrupt and hypocritical society, the root of the Victorian virtues of marriage and family.The thesis intends to reinterpret the novel from the feminist approach, and explore Thackeray's attitude towards women. The author suggests that it is Thackeray's sympathy for women that provokes him to create these two main women characters in Vanity Fair: Becky and Amelia. Thackeray's sympathy for women comes from his own life experience, his close relationship and familiarity with them. What's more, 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 mainly lies 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's attitude toward Becky is predominantly sympathetic or admiring; and his pity and disapproval for Amelia is equally apparent. However, despite his sympathy for women in Vanity Fair, the author has noted that as a traditional male writer, Thackeray still adheres to the established Victorian values in a patriarchal society, which might also stem for his own life experience as well as his view of domestic life. That may account for his forgiving of Amelia for all her weak points.This thesis develops its arguments in the following four parts:Firstly the thesis gives a general introduction including Thackeray's life and art, literary reviews on Vanity Fair, a brief review of Beauvoir's feminist literary theories and the purpose of the thesis.The first chapter mainly deals with Thackeray's sympathy with women in general.The second chapter analyzes one of the main characters Becky, and Thackeray's attitude toward Becky. Becky is an image who has her own desire and tries to pursue the life of her ideal. She is intelligent, capable and indomitable. Thackeray holds sympathy for her and appreciates her intelligence, courage and indomitable spirit.The third chapter focuses on the image of Amelia and Thackeray's attitude toward Amelia. Amelia is an image confined to the role designated to role in the Victorian era. She is passive, submissive, vacuous and powerless. She lives as a daughter, a wife, and a mother, but never has her own will. Thackeray holds sympathy for her and disapproves her weakness and powerlessness. He forgives Amelia in the end because as a conventional male writer, he to some extent still adheres to the established Victorian values in a patriarchal society.Finally the author draws a conclusion that Thackeray's portray of these two contrasting women images demonstrates his sympathy toward women. His attitude towards these two women images comes from his life experience and his understanding of women's position in his time and society. He appreciates the strength and power of women which is embodied in the character of Becky and condemns the weakness embodied in the character of Amelia. But as a conventional male writer, he to some extent still adheres to the established Victorian values in a patriarchal society.