James Baquet

We’ve been hearing the story of the schemer Becky Sharp in Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair.” At this point, we’ve met Becky and her best friend Emmy; Becky’s husband Rawdon; and Emmy’s husband George and brother Jos.

The three soldiers — Rawdon, George, and Dobbin — are deployed to Belgium to fight Napoleon. Becky, Emmy, and Jos go along. George becomes attracted to Becky and plans to run away with her, but he is killed in battle when the army sends him to Waterloo. Rawdon and Dobbin survive. Emmy returns to her parents’ home to raise her son, named George after his father. Dobbin goes off to India in the service.

Becky now takes up with another rich man, the Marquis of Steyne. Things are going well when Rawdon is arrested for debt, perhaps as a result of Becky’s scheming to get him out of the way. When he is released, Rawdon returns home, sees Becky with Steyne, and strikes him. He then finds Becky’s money and leaves her. Steyne gets Rawdon a position as governor of an undesirable location — a sort of exile — and Becky wanders the continent.

Years pass. Emmy’s son George grows up and is taken in by his grandfather — George’s father, Mr. Osborne — who has remained distant from Emmy. Dobbin returns to profess his love for Emmy, but she gently rejects him, clinging to her memories of George. When Mr. Osborne dies, he leaves half of his fortune to young George, and, at Dobbin’s urging, gives Emmy a generous allowance.

After his death, Emmy, Jos, George, and Dobbin go to Germany, where they find Becky a “fallen woman.” Becky works her wiles with Jos, and Emmy agrees to let Becky join them — but Dobbin forbids it. When Emmy insists, Dobbin leaves and rejoins the army.

But Becky wants Emmy to marry Dobbin, so she shows Emmy a note that George Sr. gave her the night before Waterloo, asking her to run away with him. Emmy realizes that George was not the man she remembered, and, reunited with Dobbin, returns to England. Jos dies — perhaps suspiciously, after leaving a good deal of his money to Becky. She, too, returns to England and lives respectably, but none of her old friends will have anything to do with her.

Vocabulary:

Which word above means:

1. hanging on to; not letting go of

2. support money paid regularly

3. doesn’t allow

4. banishment, being sent away

5. doesn’t accept

6. assigned, sent to

7. insistence, strongly advising

8. not wanted, unattractive

9. worthlessness， lack of real value

10. in a questionable way