An Analysis Of The Image Of Rebecca Sharp In Thackeray’s Vanity Fair In The Perspective Of Ethical Literary Criticism

Vanity Fair is a masterpiece of William Makepeace Thackeray. With the lifestory of Rebecca Sharp and Amelia Sedley as its main clue, this fiction vividlyreproduces the social problems caused by the prevalence of hedonism and vanity. Inthis fiction, Thackeray creates a classic character----Rebecca Sharp. Through thecharacterization of Rebecca Sharp, Thackeray truly represents the Victorian ethics anddepicts the social scene brought by hedonism and vanity.This paper reinterprets the figure of Rebecca Sharp from the perspective ofethical literary criticism. Based on the theory of ethical literary criticism, this papernot only makes an in-depth analysis of ethical environment and ethical thought, but italso explores the social and ethical reasons for Rebecca’s actions in order to gain abetter interpretation of Rebecca Sharp and Vanity Fair. This paper is divided intothree chapters.The first chapter concentrates on the critiques upon Rebecca Sharp’s actionsand her ethics. This chapter develops its argument with three sections. Firstly, in orderto obtain money and social status, Rebecca Sharp seduces men with her beauty andtricks. Secondly, she never loves her family and is devoid of gratitude. She is aheartless woman. Thirdly, she swindles everywhere for seeking pleasure, so she iscompletely a liar. In short, she is a typical representative of personal demoralization invanity fair.The second chapter analyzes the Rebecca Sharp’s life experience and the socialenvironment. This chapter is divided into three sections. Firstly, in a patriarchalsociety, if a helpless girl wants to live a stable and prosperous life, she could donothing but relying on the male. Therefore, Rebecca has to make every attempt toplease and seduce men to gain wealth and fame. However, in a hierarchical society,the upper class never view Rebecca Sharp as one member of their class. So in fact, she has been viewed as a plaything with which the upper class seek pleasure andvanity. Secondly, Rebecca’s growth experience is full of hardships. Her fear ofpoverty distorts her ethics. In her opinion, money is ethics. So she gives up all theethical constraints and became a ruthless liar. Thirdly, the humiliated lifeexperiences arouse Rebecca’s aspiration to climb into the upper class. Due to herdesire for fame and fortune, she seduces the powerful men, is unfaithful to herhusband, and eventually ruins her reputation and her life.The third chapter analyzes the social ethical environment where Rebecca Sharplives. The fiction vividly reproduces people’s ethical degeneration caused byhedonism and vanity. And Rebecca Sharp is the hopeless victim of that morally－corrupted society.Finally, the author concludes that modern ethical literary criticism andcritical realism are related. The relevance between them is demonstrated by theethical criticism and ethical critical spirit reflected in Vanity Fair. And this workprovides the emergence of the theory of ethical literary criticism with the text basisand enlightenment.