名利场读书报告BookReportonVanityFair.doc

Book Report on Vanity Fair The author of Vanity Fair , William Makepeace Thackeray , is born in Calcutta in 1811. After a major financial loss, he is forced to earn his living by writing . The novel Vanity Fair which is a financial success , quickly establishes Thackerays literary reputation. The story opens at Miss Pinkertons Academy for Young Ladies, where Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley have just completed their studies and are preparing to leave for Amelias house in Russell Square. Becky is a clever and strong-willed young woman determined to make her way in society, and Amelia Sedley is a tender , simple-minded young girl. At Russell Square, Miss Sharp lures Amelias brother , Joseph Sedley , a rich civil-servant , and hopes to marry him , but eventually fails . So she leaves this family . Baronet Sir Pitt Crawley invites her to be his daughters governess . Her behavior at Sir Pitts house gains the favour of Sir Pitt, who proposes to her after the death of his second wife . However, she tells him that she has already secretly married to his second son, Rawdon Crawley. For some time , Becky acts as a companion of Miss Crawley , Sir Pitts sister , a rich old woman who initially wants to give her fortune to Sir Pitts younger son, Captain Rawdon Crawley . But the news of their marriage gives out , she is so angry that she changes her will to Rawdon Crawleys elder brother Pitt Crawley. In the meantime , Amelias father, John Sedley, is bankrupted , so the marriage between Amelia and George is forbidden by old Mr Osborne , Georges father . But George ultimately decides to marry Amelia against his fathers will . Suddenly , the Napoleonic Wars are breaking out , so men are dispatched to the battle . However , at a ball in Brussels , George gives Becky a note inviting her to run away with him. The next moring , he is sent to Waterloo, with Captain Crawley and Dobbin . Amelia is so sad but Becky on the other hand , is indifferent about her husbands departure . After the wars end , Captain Crawley survives, but George dies in the battle . While Amelia gives birth to a boy who is also named George , she returns to lead a poor life with her parents . Meanwhile , Dobbin gratually bigins to express his love for Amelia. But she is addicted to Georges memory regardless of Dobbin affections . Sad , he goes to India for many years . Additionally , Becky also has a son, named after his father , but unlike Amelia , Becky is a cold mother . In London , she meets the great Marquess of Steyne who introduces her to London society . However , the close relationship between them is discovered by Rawdom . He leaves his wife and is sent to an island . He leaves his son in the care of Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane . At this time , Mrs Crawley has lost both husband and reputation. After twelve years abroad both Joseph Sedley and William Dobbin return to England. Dobbin expresses his unchanged love to Amelia, but she tells him she cannot forget the memory of her dead husband. Soon after old Mr Osbornes death , it is revealed that he has left young George half his large fortune and Amelia a generous annuity .Then Amelia , Joseph , George and Dobbin go on a trip to Germany , where they come across with the poor Becky at a card table . Joseph is attracted by her and wants them to reconciliate . But Dobbin disproves of it , so Amelia quarrels with him . Finally he realizes that he is wasting his love on a woman who lives in the memory of her dead husband , so he leaves her . At this moment, Becky shows Amelia the note that George has given her, asking her to run away with him . This breaks Amelias idealised image of her husband , so she rushes to Dobbin and expresses her love .Becky resumes her lure of Joseph Sedley and gains control over him. He eventually dies of a disease and his death brings her a fortune . In the end Rawdon Crawley dies weeks before his elder brother .I think Becky Sharp is an excellent woman better than thousands of man . She is poor originally but she has a srong will , even though when the wars are breaking out , she is still optimistic . She has experienced a life up and down . The novel tells us no matter how glorious you are , all return to dust eventually , and perh