Reader discussion: Vanity Fair

Public reader discussion about Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.

When the fatwa against Salman Rushdie came down things turned nasty, and literary society took sides. Some of the divisions remain... | Vanity Fair

By oceanlost

Has anyone here read *Joseph Anton*? It’s Rushdie’s memoir about the 9-ish years he was basically in protective hiding in England and then New York. I’m finding it really enjoyable, like it’s not just heavy stuff—he gets into all kinds of his literary friends and enemies. Also, the people who helped him are listed and it’s kind of wild: Sontag, Ginsberg, Vonnegut, Bono, Pynchon, and more.

Vanity Fair and it's trailblazing femme fatale

By Lake_Frog

I just finished *Vanity Fair* a little over a month ago and I can’t stop thinking about Becky Sharp—she’s kind of wild. People talk a lot about *Gone Girl* and how it finally gives you a femme fatale who doesn’t just get knocked down and embarrassed, but Thackeray was doing something similar way earlier with Becky. She really leans into that whole “dangerous woman ruins men” vibe, like the classic stories and myths where a woman just wrecks everyone around her. But what gets me is how Thackeray handles her story. I feel like the point of the book isn’t “look, here’s a bad woman, don’t be like her.” It feels more like a satire of Victorian society, like Becky can actually do well in a world that’s pretty shallow. And she does—she definitely pays for it though. She pushes people away, she seems to regret things sometimes, but she still keeps winning, even after the big shocking thing that basically flips her from anti-hero to full villain. The part that surprised me most is the structure. Right when she’s finally settled into high society, everything starts falling apart. Rawdon finds out about her cheating, leaves her, and takes the money she’s been building up. Becky disappears, her name gets trashed, and the book shifts to Amelia for a while, so you kind of assume Becky’s done. But then Amelia’s connected to Becky again and you find out what she’s been doing while she’s offstage. Little by little, with all that emotional messing with people—especially Amelia—and getting her way with Jos, Becky slides back into society. By the end, she’s sort of “back,” and her money is actually better than before, and she’s outlived everyone who was ever interested in her. So yeah, I guess I end up torn. On one hand, Becky is impressive in how she survives and adapts. On the other, it’s hard not to see her as dangerous and self-serving. Either way, she sticks in your head, and it feels like her whole situation still says something about people and the messiness of human life.

Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

By luckyHammer

I always wonder about these stories where the “happy ending” shows up and then the author sort of shuts the curtain. Like, shouldn’t the couple still have doubts or struggle a bit? It feels like once they cross into marriage-land everything is just supposed to be smooth and sunny, and they can only stroll off toward old age all content. But with Amelia, she doesn’t seem so settled yet—she’s right there on the other side and still looking back, worried, like she’s leaving behind those people waving goodbye from the far shore.