Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero

“Miss Pinkerton did not understand French; she only directed those who did.”

The novel begins at Miss Pinkerton’s school, where Becky and Amelia have been taught how to behave in polite society. The expectations and the etiquette of the social elite are impressed on the characters from a young age. As the novel unfolds, however, the reality of this world is revealed to be hollow and vapid. The decadence and the expectations of duty and honor are meaningless, as Becky unveils the lack of substance at the core of society. Miss Pinkerton’s shallow knowledge of the French language foreshadows the shallowness of society; she pretends to speak the language of the social elites but her actual knowledge—much like the nature of society itself—is only used to maintain order and authority.

“She would have liked to choke old Sedley, but she swallowed her mortification as well as she had the abominable curry before it.”

After leaving school, Becky sets her sights on rising to the upper echelons of English society. To do so, she must subject herself to suffering. Pretending to happily eat the spicy food is an early first step in this process, in which she must act as though she is enjoying herself while John Sedley revels in her discomfort. She endures pain to ingratiate herself with the wealthy.