William Makepeace Thackeray is an English satirist and a true master of a realistic novel. In 1847-1848, he published the novel Vanity Fair. This grandiose work brought the writer popularity. It should be noted that Thackeray's previous literary works came out under a pseudonym, but the novel Vanity Fair was signed in the proper name of an English satirist.
Start
Pension Pinkerton is leaving two young people. One of them, Emilia Sedley, is the daughter of a wealthy English nobleman. Emilia - a girl brought up and endowed with all kinds of virtues. And why are kindness, generosity, and heartfelt tenderness considered impassive and rather dreary qualities? Unclear. But along with the positive character traits, Emilia was frankly stupid. There was nothing in it that would speak of high intelligence.
The second girl who left the boarding house was Rebecca Sharp. The exact opposite of the first heroine. Rebecca is the daughter of an unknown French dancer and a mediocre artist. This young lady was a fragile creature. Small stature and asthenic pallor, which had nothing to do with the pallor of aristocratic skin. The girl grew up in absolute poverty, but with cheerful hues of dragonfly-hoppers. In this environment, she learned wit, deception, hypocrisy, dissoluteness and had an absolutely adventurous mindset.
How often in life that opposites attract. Girls are unusually friendly. So different, and therefore they are drawn to each other. Emilia lacks the fire and Becky's indefatigable vitality. And that, in turn, is attracted by the refinement and aristocracy of her friend. Well, and, of course, the fact that she is from a wealthy family. Rebecca is invited to visit. She is doing her best to please the rich relatives of Emilia. She just does it masterly. Applying her seductive charms to Emilia’s brother, Joseph Sedle, she practically falls in love with him. And all that was needed was to use flattery and outright lies. And this insignificant idiot dug into a liar head over heels. But her plans were not destined to come true, as Emilia's fiance, George Osborne, intervenes.
But is it possible to stop a flawed girl on the way to her own happiness. Rebecca tries on the role of governess on the estate of Pitt Crowley. This is a vile old man, vulgar, dirty, smelling bad of a drunkard. Well, to whom, no matter how the hypocrite, the fit and the liar, Miss Sharp would not become his favorite. It took a girl less than a year to become practically the mistress of this English kingdom.
Crowley's stepsister
Every year, Crowley’s Kingdom comes to visit Sir Pitt’s half-sister. The old lady is a tyrant. She exhausts the servant in every possible way and receives great pleasure from it. Miss Crowley is very rich, and numerous relatives hope that they will get at least something from the inheritance. This old miss recognizes no one except Rodon Crowley. A walker, a player and a duelist, not at all burdened with his mind, is considered the favorite of an old aunt. In addition to him, Miss Crowley is imbued with sympathy for the governess Rebecca, who is trying to please her in everything. Rodon Crowley and Rebecca secretly marry.
Despite the fact that Miss Crowley is sympathetic to Rebecca, she is against the misalliance of her beloved nephew and cannot forgive him for this. The tradition and its commitment to marriage of convenience remains unchanged. Rebecca is upset that she hurried to marry a young girl. Since soon a seat was vacated next to Sir Pitt. And he offers the young governess a hand and a heart. The girl understands that she missed her chance and sobs uncontrollably from bitterness and anger.
The affairs of the young couple are getting worse and worse. An aunt on her nephew in resentment, Sir Pitt died, leaving almost nothing but the desolation of the family nest. Rebecca and Rodon Crowley now live only on his small salary as captain of the guard. But the young spouse does not like this state of affairs, and she decides to get a fun life by any means.
Clouds gathered over Emilia’s head
Unpleasant events take place in Emilia’s house. The flight from Elba of Napoleon and the landing in Cannes of his army adversely affect the state of affairs on the exchange. This leads many to ruin, including Emilia's father, John Sedley. Their property goes under the hammer. The family moves to wage wretched housing. But Emilia is not unhappy for this reason. She loves her fiancé George Osborne with all her heart, but it is he who becomes the source of all her misfortunes.
He pays for her disinterested love by inattention, coldness, lack of tenderness, and constant adventures to the left. But still this union to be. And Emilia marries her lover against the wishes of her father. The parent of the groom himself was against this wedding because of the ruin of the bride's house. Captain Dobbin, passionately in love with Emilia, facilitated the reunion of the two young men. His generosity and honesty allowed him to abandon his feelings for the girl, seeing that she was in love with another. As a result, the young couple is deprived of the financial support of the groom's father and lives only on a salary, like the young Rebecca family.
Fatal meeting
Two young couples meet in Brussels. The regiment of Dobbin and George, as well as the General of the Taffto Guard and his adjutant Rodon Crowley, were sent to this city. Becky immediately makes a lot of necessary acquaintances. She is surrounded by fans, including Emilia’s husband. Becky's coquetry, despite her friendship with Emilia, goes so far as to fascinate her with George Osborne inviting Rebecca to flee with him. He can offer nothing to a young girl except his passionate heart. But it does not interest her; she needs money. Full of remorse and disappointment, George says goodbye to Emilia and leaves for war. After a short time he was killed at Waterloo.
Return to Crowley Kingdom
The Rodon and Rebecca family leave for Paris. There they spend three years. The young woman here wins hearts. Now she has reached her Olympus. She is accepted in the highest Parisian society. But after a while the young couple returns to London. They live on credit, borrowing from right and left.
Aunt Rodon dies, but bequeaths his property to the eldest nephew. He is married to a beautiful and dignified woman from high English society, Lady Jane. The baronet brother feels pity for the younger relative and invites him and Rebecca to live together on their estate. Rebecca reappears in the Kingdom of Crowley. She again weaves intrigue and tries to charm everyone with her deceitful virtue. The newly made baronet is caught like a fish on a hook on the flattery of a schemer. Rodon's older brother is a frequent visitor to their family. Here, almost every day, the nobleman who protects the girl, Lord Stein, abides. With his light hand, Rebecca meets many influential people.
The Lord gives her diamonds. Finally, she manages to stand on a par with noble and respectable ladies. Rebecca is introduced to the courtyard. High society accepts it, and Rebecca sees that his morals are not so virtuous. Here lies the same lie, toadness, hypocrisy and flattery. Her husband is burdened by such a life, these receptions and balls. He is increasingly moving away from his wife and becomes attached to his son, who is not needed at all by a young mother. As a result, he takes Rebecca to clean water, convicting her of infidelity, and challenges her patron to a duel. It all ends with Rodon leaving England to become governor of Coventry Island.
The couple broke up. Rebecca also disappears from view. Their son is raised by an uncle and his wife. She becomes a real mother for the boy.
Emilia
A young woman is having difficulty surviving the death of her beloved spouse. The birth of her son saves her from despair. They live with their parents and patiently endure extreme poverty.
John Osborne, grandfather, seeing how a little boy looks like his dead son, is imbued with love for him and offers Emilia to give him up for education. The young mother agrees. She understands that her son will have all the best and will make a sacrifice. Emilia devotes herself to caring for an elderly father after her mother died. She brightens up his loneliness. The selflessness of this woman is amazing. And fortune finally turns to face her.
Major Dobbin returns from distant India. A loving officer offers help to the Emilia family. The woman is so deeply depressed by the loss of her husband that she does not notice Dobbin's love for herself. Emilia's father is dying. He also goes to the forefathers and father-in-law, bequeathing half of his fortune to his beloved grandson, restoring the guardianship of the widow of the deceased son. She later finds out that she owes everything to the officer. He was the secret benefactor who did not allow them to starve to death.
Emilia and Rebecca
Their meeting takes place on the banks of the beautiful Rhine. Emilia with her son and brother travel. Rebecca at this time squanders in the card games the last money that she got from her husband, and leads acquaintance with dubious personalities. She has not been accepted in decent society for a long time, considering that the presence of this woman is an insult. Seeing Emilia’s brother, old forgotten feelings stirred in Becky’s soul. She hopes for a better outcome. Launches its spell. Tales of scary stories about himself. As if her beloved child was taken away and her good name was dishonored.
Joseph is once again caught by the cunning schemer. Yes, Emilia also taught nothing to life. She was filled with pity for her ex-girlfriend. Dobbin warns his beloved that Rebecca is not who she claims to be. They quarrel a lot. And the officer decides to leave the woman, not finding her understanding. In this situation, Rebecca unexpectedly behaved. She shows Emilia’s letter containing evidence of George’s infidelity. Emilia realizes that he never really loved her. Now she knows who was devoted to her all the time, took care of her and loved her. She responds to the feelings of Dobbin. They live together a long and happy quiet life in a small and very comfortable house and are friends with Crowley. Joseph, Emilia’s brother and Rebecca’s husband, are dying. The woman herself lives comfortably, has many friends, but until the end she does not find her true happiness.
