Vanity Fair
by William Makepeace Thackeray
- First published
- 1848
- Reading level
- Plain English
- Price
- Free
About the book
"Vanity Fair" by William Makepeace Thackeray is a novel published serially from 1847 to 1848. Set during and after the Napoleonic Wars, it follows two contrasting women: the cunning, ambitious Becky Sharp, who schemes her way through society despite having no money, and the gentle, wealthy Amelia Sedley. Subtitled "A Novel without a Hero," this satirical work deconstructs traditional ideas of heroism while exposing the vanities and pretensions of early 19th-century British society through an unreliable narrator who frames the story as a puppet show.
- Satire
- England
- Married women
- Female friendship
- Social classes
- British
Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #599. Vanity Fair on Wikipedia.
