英语专业毕业论文-名利场全英

1. Introduction

This part makes a brief introduction to the author Thackeray, his novel Vanity Fair, his life and art, and introduces the heroines in the novel Vanity Fair.

Thackeray (1811-1863) was a representative of critical realism in 19th century England. He was born in India in the family of an English official. He was sent back to England for education at Charterhouse School and then at Trinity College in the age of six. In 1831 he used to study law in Middle Temple but finally he gave it up. Then he went to Paris to study painting. In 1833 he work for The National Standard as a proprietor, he both wrote and drew for it. Unfortunately, the failure of an India bank where he had deposited his inherited fortune left him without means. As a result, in order to support his family he turned to journalism for a living. In his early life, Thackeray wrote all kinds of articles, mainly short pieces for journals and relatively slim books. Up to 1847, a series of his satirical sketches were collected in The Book of Snobs. But it was not until the publication of Vanity Fair that the world recognized the appearance of a new novelist of the first rank. Vanity Fair came out in 1847-48, which established his reputation as a novelist. The novel Vanity Fair is regarded as the peak of Thackeray’s literary career. “His realism declined after that. He was somewhat alarmed by the revolutionary movement of 1848 and was not prepared to accept the idea of breaking the existing social structure. Signs of reconciliation with reality can be traced in his later writings. And he drifted two series of lectures and wrote a number ballads and verses (Sun Hanyun,130)” He died of heart disease on December 24, 1863.

“Vanity Fair”is the fiction of an English writer who lived in the

19

th century and named William Makepeace Thackeray, “Vanity Fair” is the work that makes him famous in literature, which holds the very important position in the English literature and even the world literature. It has succeeded portraying Rebecca Sharp and Amelia Sedley. It tells a story about two women who have different fates with each other. Rebecca is a beautiful woman who lives in the lowest stratum of the society, but has a higher education. The experiences of living in different environment makes her have a distorted disposition. So she tries hard to step into the upper class and aim at fame and wealth blindly. Rebecca is portrayed as a rebellious and cunning young woman determined to make her way in society. Another is kind girl---Amelia, on the contrary, a warm hearted and pure girl lives in a rich family, yearning for love, living a happy life.

The title of this work comes from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress meaning “a fair, wherein are sold all sorts vanity”, the author intended to make a vivid picture of the selfish, hypocritical and money-grabbing world of that time. The subtitle of the book is “A Novel without a Hero”. From this we can see that firstly there are no exactly positive characters in a world full of bad and cunning people. Secondly it may hint that this is a novel about women instead of men. Although the subtitle may also imply that there is no real hero in the work, Rebecca and Amelia can be the real heroines of the novel in a way.

2. Amelia’s Character

As the heroine of this novel, Amelia is a kind and pure woman, many people do not understand why not regard Amelia as a perfect character in this novel. As we can see that she has many traditional virtues, but on the other hand the author also portrayed her as a obedient and passive