(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Introduction by Catherine
Peters A panoramic satire of English society during the Napoleonic
Wars, Vanity Fair is William Makepeace Thackeray's masterpiece. At
its center is one of the most unforgettable characters in
nineteenth-century literature: the enthralling Becky Sharp, a
charmingly ruthless social climber who is determined to leave
behind her humble origins, no matter the cost. Her more gentle
friend Amelia, by contrast, only cares for Captain George Osborne,
despite his selfishness and her family's disapproval. As both women
move within the flamboyant milieu of Regency England, the political
turmoil of the era is matched by the scheming Becky's sensational
rise--and its unforeseen aftermath. Based in part upon Thackeray's
own love for the wife of a friend, Vanity Fair portrays the
hypocrisy and corruption of high society and the dangers of
unrestrained ambition with epic brilliance and scathing wit.