Vanity Fair: A Complete Guide to the Novel’s Characters
Characters of Vanity Fair
Amelia Sedley
Although she is caring, Amelia Sedley is naive and passive and does little to help herself. She is not very beautiful (she has a round, rosy snub-nosed face and “mousy brown hair”) and is often ignored by men and women, but she is well-liked by most of the men who know her due to her sweet personality. Her popularity is often resented by other women. She marries George Osborne against his father’s wishes and consecrates herself to him despite his abandonment of her and his flirtation with Becky. After George dies in the Battle of Waterloo, she supports little George only as long as they live with her parents. She is totally dominated by her spendthrift father, who is revealed to have sold the annuity Jos had provided in order “to process her plans”, [5]) and by her increasingly peevish mother. After George Osborne’s death, Amelia becomes obsessed with her son and the memory of her husband. She ignores William Dobbin, who courts her for years, and treats him badly until he finally leaves. It is only when Becky shows her George’s letter that Amelia is able to move on, although she informs Becky that she has already written to Dobbin to ask him to return. Finally, she marries Dobbin.
Becky Sharp (Rebecca)
The anti-heroine, and Amelia’s opposite, Becky Sharp is a smart young woman with a knack for satire. She is described as a short, sandy-haired girl who has green eyes and a great deal of wit. Fluent in French and English, Becky has a beautiful voice, plays the piano, and shows great talent as an actress. She is also completely amoral and without a conscience. She does not seem to have the ability to get attached to other people and is resourceful and intelligent in her way. She is very manipulative and, after the first few chapters and her failure to attract Jos Sedley, she is not shown as especially sincere. Never having known financial or social security as a child, Becky wants above all to secure a stable position for herself, or herself and her husband after she and Rawdon are married. She advances Rawdon’s interests tirelessly, flirting with men like General Tufto and the Marquis de Steyne to get him promoted. She also uses her feminine wiles to distract the men at card parties while Rawdon cheats them blind. Marrying Rawdon Crawley in secret was a mistake, as he was running off instead of asking forgiveness from Miss Crawley. She also did not use Rawdon to manipulate Miss Crawley into giving him an inheritance. Although Becky manipulates men very easily, she does not even try to cultivate the friendship of most women. Lady Jane, Dobbin’s sisters, and Mrs. Steyne see right through her. Amelia and (initially) Miss Crawley are exceptions to the rule.
Rawdon Crawley
The younger of Crawley’s two sons, Rawdon is a dashing cavalry officer who is his Aunt Rich’s favorite until he marries Becky Sharp, who is of a far lower class. He permanently alienates his aunt, who leaves her inheritance to Rawdon’s older brother Sir Pitt instead. Sir Pitt has by this time inherited their father’s estate, leaving Rawdon destitute. Well-meaning, Rawdon has some talents in life, most of them having to do with gambling and dueling. He is very good at billiards and cards, and even if he doesn’t win he is always able to earn money by betting against less talented players. He is heavily in debt for most of the book, not so much for his expenses as for Becky’s. He’s not particularly talented as an army officer and is content to let Becky manage his career. Although Rawdon knows that Becky is attractive to men, he believes her reputation is impeccable, although she is widely suspected of romantic intrigue with General Tufto and other powerful men. No one dares to suggest otherwise to Rawdon due to his temperament and his fame for dueling. However, other people, especially the Marquis de Steyne, find it impossible to believe that Crawley is unaware of Becky’s tricks. Steyne, in particular, believes Rawdon is aware that Becky is prostituting herself and believes that Rawdon goes along with the charade in the hope of profit. After Rawdon learns the truth and leaves Becky for an overseas assignment, he abandons his son to be raised by his brother Sir Pitt and his wife Lady Jane.
Sir Pitt Crawley, Baronet
Rawdon’s older brother, Sir Pitt Crawley, inherits the Crawley estate from his elderly father, and he also inherits from his rich aunt, Miss Crawley. Sir Pitt is very religious and has political aspirations, although not many people appreciate his intelligence or wisdom, because there is not much to appreciate. A bit pedantic and conservative, Sir Pitt does nothing to help Rawdon or Becky, even when times are hard. This is mainly due to the influence of his wife Lady Jane, who dislikes Becky due to her callous treatment of her son, and also because Becky repaid Lady Jane’s former condescending kindness to her by flirting with Mr. Pitt.
Miss Matilda Crawley
Miss Matilda Crawley is everyone’s favorite rich aunt. Sir Pitt and Rawdon both court her, though Rawdon is her favorite nephew and her sole heir until he marries Becky. While Miss Crawley likes Becky and keeps her around to entertain her with her sarcasm and wit, and while she especially loves stories of reckless marriage and scandal, she does not want reckless marriage or scandal in her family. A substantial part of the first section of the book deals with the Crawleys’ efforts to ingratiate themselves to Miss Crawley in the hope of receiving a great inheritance.
George Osborne
George Osborne, his father, and his two sisters are close to the Sedley family until Mr. Sedley (Jos and Amelia’s father) goes bankrupt after some ill-advised speculation. Since George and Amelia were raised in close company and were childhood sweethearts, George defies his father to marry Amelia. Before father and son can reconcile, George dies at the Battle of Waterloo, leaving the pregnant Amelia to manage as well as she can. Raised to be a selfish, vain, wasteful, handsome, and self-obsessed investor, George squanders the last of the money he receives from his father and sets aside nothing to help Amelia. After marrying Amelia, he finds after a couple of weeks that he is bored. He flirts with Becky very seriously and is reconciled with Amelia shortly before he is killed in battle.
William Dobbin
George Osborne’s best friend, William Dobbin, is tall, lanky, and not particularly handsome. He is a few years older than George but has been friends with him since their school days, although Dobbin’s father is a fig merchant and the Osbornes belong to the gentry class and have become wealthy regardless. He defends George and is blind to his flaws in many ways, although he tries to force George to do the right thing. He pushes George to keep his promise to marry Amelia even though Dobbin is in love with Amelia himself. After George is killed, Dobbin raises an annuity to support Amelia, apparently with the help of George’s fellow officers. Later, Dobbin discreetly does what he can to help Amelia and her son George. He allows Amelia to continue her obsession with George and does not correct her mistaken beliefs about him. He hangs around her for years, whether he’s pining away from her while serving in India or waiting for her in person, allowing her to take advantage of his good nature. After Amelia finally chooses Becky’s friendship over his during their stay in Germany, Dobbin leaves in disgust. He returns when Amelia writes to him and admits her feelings for him, marries her (despite having lost much of his passion for her), and has a daughter whom he deeply loves.
Joseph Sedley
Amelia’s brother, Joseph “Jos” Sedley, is a “Nabob” who made a respectable fortune as a tax collector in India. Obese and self-important but very shy and insecure, he is attracted to Becky Sharp, but circumstances prevent him from proposing to her. He never marries, but when he meets Becky again he is easily manipulated into falling in love with her. Jos is not a brave or smart man, showing his cowardice at the Battle of Waterloo by trying to flee and buying both himself and Becky expensive horses. Becky catches him again near the end of the book, and it is hinted that she murders him for his life insurance.