摘 要

威廉·梅克比斯·萨克雷是19世纪英国杰出的批判现实作家，也是著名的讽刺大师。《名利场》是萨克雷批判英国上流社会的代表作。《名利场》主要讲述了出生于英国上层社会的富家女艾米丽亚与来自底层社会的贫困女利蓓加的不同人生轨迹，以此无情地揭露了封建贵族荒淫无耻、腐朽堕落的本质和资产阶级追名逐利、尔虞我诈的虚伪面目。

本论文从两位女主人公利蓓加和艾米丽亚截然不同的家庭背景、个性特点、价值观以及各自的最终命运等四个方面出发，对她们进行细致而全面的对比分析。并得出结论：萨克雷通过塑造这两位截然不同的女性形象来表达他对维多利亚时期不同类型女性的同情、关注以及对父权制的不满。本论文通过对这些方面的分析，让读者进一步了解《名利场》这部作品并对萨克雷在该作品中所表达的创作思想有更深入的认识。

关键字：威廉·梅克比斯·萨克雷；《名利场》；对比分析；利蓓加；艾米丽亚

Contents

1. Introduction------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1

2. Demonstration---------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

2.1 Different family backgrounds and growing environments-----------------------------4

2.1.1 Rebecca Sharp: born in poverty and growing up alone------------------------------4

2.1.2 Amelia Sedley: well-born and growing up with parental love----------------------5

2.2 Different personalities-----------------------------------------------------------------------5

2.2.1 Rebecca Sharp: clever, cunning and unconventional --------------------------------5

2.2.2 Amelia Sedley: gentle, docile and traditional------------------------------------------7

2.3 Different values------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

2.3.1 Different attitudes towards fame and gain---------------------------------------------8

2.3.2 Different attitudes towards marriage and love-----------------------------------------9

2.3.3 Different attitudes towards their children---------------------------------------------10

2.4 Different ultimate fates -------------------------------------------------------------------11

2.4.1 Fate of Rebecca Sharp: falling into the abyss of vanity----------------------------11

2.4.2 Fate of Amelia Sedley: living in affluence and blessedness------------------------11

3. Conclusion------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12

Works Cited -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13

Bibliography ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14

A Contrastive Study of Rebecca and Amelia in Vanity Fair

1. Introduction

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811--1863), a British novelist, born on July 18, 1811, in Aripa, near Calcutta, India. He was a representative of critical realism in the 19th century England, enjoying a lasting reputation as a critical realist as Charles Dickens.

His father was a tax collector and administrator for the east India company. His father died and his mother remarried when he was only a child, and then he was sent back to England to study. In 1829 he graduated successfully from the public school and entered the University of Cambridge. In Thackeray’s early education, independent spirit influenced him deeply. He attended various schools, and left Thinity College, Cambridge without taking a degree. He once went on a study tour to Germany. In 1833 he sponsored the weekly Flag, and in October 1833 he went to Paris to specialize in fine arts. Thackeray was the Paris correspondent for The London Gazette in 1836. Soon after, the Gazette ceased publication and he returned to England to earn a living by writing. In 1836 he married Isabella in Paris, an Irish girl who enchanted him with beautiful singing. And she was the model for Amelia in Vanity Fair.

They once had three daughters, but one died in infancy. Since the fourth year of their marriage, Isabella had been mentally disordered and never recovered. The little girls were sent to Thackeray’s mother in Paris. With a ruined fortune and a tragic marriage, the young man was forced to live on his pen to support his daughters and wife. Politically, Thackeray advocated social reform and democracy. He considered it as his duty to expose the vices of the corrupted society of his age, especially those in the upper-middle class. And he also regarded snobbery and the money-grabbing as the chief vice of his society. He always wrote in an ironical tone of an onlooker. The characters, in his works, of social-climbers, snobs and money-grabbers could be found in any social class. He was able to disclose the darkness of society with his pen, and Vanity Fair is a vivid embodiment of the society of that time.