ABSTRACT
William Makepeace Thackeray is one of the most famous critical realistic novelists in the nineteenth century in England. His book Vanity Fair shapes two female characters, Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. This paper makes a comparison between the two heroines from the following aspects: first, their attitudes toward society; second, their attitudes toward love and marriage; third, their attitudes toward children; fourth, their attitudes toward friendship; fifth, the two rebels in patriarchal social system. Through the comparison of the two figures, it could be seen that different family background in childhood and different experiences in adulthood shape the women’s different personalities. Meanwhile it is also found that women always hold positive attitude when faced with social pressure.
Keywords：Vanity Fair; female characters; comparison
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. The general characters of Becky and Amelia 2
2.1 The general characters of Becky 2
2.2 The general characters of Amelia 3
3. The comparison between Becky and Amelia 4
3.1 Comparison of attitude towards society 4
3.2 Comparison of attitude towards love and marriage 5
3.3 Comparison of attitude towards children 7
3.4 Comparison of attitude towards friendship 7
3.5 Comparison as two rebels towards the patriarchal society system 9
4. The reasons for the differences between Becky and Amelia 11
4.1 Different family background and living environment in childhood 11
4.2 Different experiences in adulthood 12
5. Conclusion 14
Acknowledgements 15
References 16
