Penguin Classics: Vanity Fair

No one is better equipped in the struggle for wealth and worldly success than the alluring and ruthless Becky Sharp, who defies her impoverished background to clamber up the class ladder. Her sentimental companion Amelia, however, longs only for caddish soldier George.

As the two heroines make their way through the tawdry glamour of regency society, battles – military and domestic – are fought, fortunes made and lost. The one steadfast and honourable figure in this corrupt world is Dobbin, devoted to Amelia, bringing pathos and depth to Thackeray’s gloriously satirical epic of love and social adventure.

This edition follows the text of Thackeray’s revised edition of 1853, John Carey’s introduction identifies Vanity Fair as a landmark in the development of European Realism, and as a reflection of Thackeray’s passionate love for another man’s wife.