The Reading Report of Vanity Fair Student number: 1. The author:Thackeray William Makepeace was an English journalist, novelist, famous for his novel VANITY FAIR (1847-48), a tale of middle-class families in London. Most of Thackerays major novels were published as monthly serials. Thackeray studied in a satirical and moralistic light to describe middle-class English life .He was once seen as the equal of his contemporary Dickens.William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta in 1811. His parents returned to England in 1817 and Thackeray was educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Cambridge. His father was an officer of the East India Company. When he was 4 years old, his father died and a wealthy merchant became his stepfather who always moved in polite society. However, Thackeray became addicted to gambling and left Cambridge in 1830 without a degree and heavily in debt. And then he began writing. Thackeray moved to Paris where he became the French correspondent for the radical newspaper The Constitutional. When The Constitutional ceased publication, Thackeray moved back to England and began contributing articles to a wide variety of newspapers and journals, including The Times, The Morning Chronicle, Frasers Magazine and Punch Magazine. And Thackeray began writing novels and in 1844 Frasers Magazine serialized Barry Lyndon. Because of life experience about moving in upper society and knowing the rules very much, in 1847 Thackeray published his most famous novel, Vanity Fair. This was followed by The History of Henry Edmonds (1852), New comes (1853) and The Virginians (1857).Although a successful novelist, Thackeray continued to write articles for journals such as Punch Magazine. In 1859 he became editor of the Cornhill Magazine, a monthly literary journal published by George Smith. William Makepeace Thackeray died in 1863. 2. The BackgroundThis novel was drawn from the British upper society of the early 19th century. On the time the British was a powerful country having prosperous industry. The whole society was controlled by wealthy merchants who got great profits through exploiting the workers or oppressing the people of the colonies, meanwhile the war for more colonies between British and France was at the corner. As to the current upper class, they were busy in chasing and competing fame and fortune, interested in showing off how elite the lives were. The so-called upper class and successful men paid much attention to how to extend their wealth and enjoyed vanity bringing pleasure and a sense of superiority.3. The Summary of The Book The story starts at Miss Pinkertons Academy for Young Ladies, where Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley, two major characters studied. They are preparing to depart for Amelias house which is in Russell Square.At Russell Square, Miss Sharp is introduced to the dashing and conceited Captain George Osborne whom Amelia has been into since she was at a young age, and to Amelias brother Joseph Sedley, a clumsy but rich civil-servant working at the East India Company. Becky notices Mr. Sedley and hopes to marry him in order to get wealthy, but she fails because of warnings from Captain Osborne, Sedleys own shyness, and Mr.Sedleys own embarrassment over his some foolish behavior after being drunk at Vauxhall.Staying for not long time, Becky Sharp says farewell to Sedleys family and begin the service of the crude and profligate baronet Sir Pitt Crawley, who has employed her as a family tutor to his daughters, where she met his second son Rawson Crawley. Her outstanding behavior at Sir Pitts house gains his favor, and after the premature death of his second wife, he proposes to her. However, he finds that she is already secretly married to Rawdon.Sir Pitts elder sister Miss Crawley, who is a spinster, is very rich, having inherited her mothers fortune of 70,000. The Crawley families are longing for her property and act ingratiatingly in front of her. Initially her favorite is Sir Pitts younger son, Captain Rawdon Crawley. And for some time, Becky acts as Miss Crawleys companion for smart behaviors, living with Miss Crawley in London and Becky is deeply attracted by the lives of rich upper classes in the London Town. After breaking the news of her marriage with her nephew, out of anger and a feeling shamed, Miss Crawley decided not to inherit her nephew. The married couple constantly attempt to obey to Miss Crawley, and she relents little. However, she refuses to change her will.While Becky Sharp is living better, Amelias father, John Sedley, is bankrupted. The Sedleys and Osbornes were once close allies, but the relationship between the two families is ended after the Sedleys broke, and the marriage of Amelia and George is forbidden. George ultimately decides to marry Amelia against his fathers will simply, at the same time, due to the pressure of his friend Dobbin who cares Amelia a lot, and George is consequently inherited nothing from his father. While these