Analysis of Female Major Characters' Social Conflicts in William Makepeace Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair'.
ABSTRACT
Dalam penulisan tugas akhir untuk memenuhi persyaratan memperoleh
gelar Sarjana Sastra di Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen
Maranatha, saya memutuskan untuk menganalisis sebuah novel karya William
Makepeace Thackeray yang berjudul Vanity Fair. Hal yang akan saya analisa dari
novel ini adalah konflik yang dialami oleh tokoh utama di dalam novel tersebut,
penyebab konflik, dan solusi yang diambil untuk memecahkan konflik tersebut.
Novel Vanity Fair menceritakan dua orang perempuan yang berasal dari
latar belakang keluarga yang berbeda. Becky Sharp berasal dari keluarga miskin,
sedangkan Amelia Sedley berasal dari kalangan atas. Dengan motif, karakteristik,
dan latar belakang mereka yang berbeda menimbulkan terjadinya konflik. Becky
Sharp lebih ambisius untuk mencapai apa yang dia inginkan, sedangkan Amelia
Sedley lebih naif dalam menghadapi konflik yang ada. Becky Sharp dan Amelia
Sedley mengalami konflik-konflik sosial yang tidak lepas dari masalah uang,
harta, kekayaan, dan status sosial.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ii
ABSTRACT
.................................................
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Methods of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Organization of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
3
4
4
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF FEMALE MAJOR CHARACTERS’
SOCIAL CONFLICTS IN WILLIAM MAKEPAEACE
THACKERAY’S VANITY FAIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
BIBLIOGRAPHY
............................................
22
APPENDICES:
.............................
Synopsis of Vanity Fair
Biography of William Makepeace Thackeray
................
23
25
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Vanity Fair
The story opens at Miss Pinkerton’s Academy for Young Ladies, where
the two major female characters, Amelia Sedley and Rebecca (Becky) Sharp, have
just finished their studies. Amelia is portrayed as good natured, kind, sweet, naïve
and shallow, and she is a daughter of a successful businessman, while Becky is
portrayed as a strong-willed and cunning young woman, determined to make her
way in society and she is an orphaned daughter of a poor artist and disreputable
opera dancer. Becky stays with Amelia in Amelia’s house at Russel Square.
After some time, Becky joins Queen’s Crawley as employee and as a
governess of Sir Pitt Crawley’s daughter (a wealthy nobleman). After a couple of
times, Sir Pitt’s second wife dies, and he proposes Becky. However, Becky rejects
Sir Pitt’s proposal because she is already secretly married to Sir Pitt’s second son,
Captain Rawdon Crawley. Crawley’s fortune is huge and Becky wants it so much,
which leads to social conflicts in Crawley’s family.
While Becky Sharp achieves anything she wants, money and social status,
Amelia’s family is bankrupt because of the stock market failure, which causes
difficulties in the process of Amelia and George’s marriage. Despite the
differences, they are married in the end. One day, George is sent to Waterloo to
23
join a battle. Unfortunately, George dies in the battle. After George’s death,
Amelia marries Dobbin, who really cares about her and has loved her for a very
long time.
24
Biography of William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray was born on July 18, 1811, in Calcutta,
India. In 1816, after his father’s death, William was sent to Chiswick, England.
He was educated at Southampton, Chiswick, and then at Charterhouse School. In
1828, Thackeray entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he left the college
without a degree. On August 20, 1836, he married Isabella Gethin Shawe and they
had three daughters, but their second daughter, Jane, died at 8 months.
In the early 1840s, Thackeray travelled between London and Paris. He
published his first essays, The Paris Sketch Book and The Irish Sketch Book. The
publication of Vanity Fair really made him famous, which first appeared in
serialized installment beginning in January 1847. His other works were
Pendennis, The Newcomers, and The History of Henry Esmod. In 1860s, he
became the first editor of Cornhill Magazine, but eventually he preferred to
contribute to the magazine as a columnist, producing his Roundbouts Papers.
During the 1850s, his health worsened and he died of a cerebral
hemorrhage on December 23, 1863. His death was entirely unexpected, and
shocked his family, friends, and readers. An estimated 7000 people attended his
funeral at Kensington Garden. He was buried on December 29 at Kensal Green
Cemetery, and a memorial bust sculpted by Marochetti for Thackeray can be
found in Westminster Abbey.
Source:
“Biography of William Makepeace Thackeray”
25
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Of the three literary genres, I decide to analyze novel. Through analyzing
the novel, I can get a lot of information and I can certainly know about issues or
events in various periods. Novel is described as “a lengthy fictitious prose
narrative portraying character and presenting an organized series of events and
setting. Every novel is an account of life; every novel involves conflicts,
characters, actions, setting, plot and themes” (Shaw 257). I will analyze a novel
written in Victorian period that describes middle and upper-class societies. There
are many great novelists in Victorian period, such as Jane Austen, Charles
Dickens, Charlotte Brönte, and William Makepeace Thackeray. The last novelist
is one of the most prominent novelists, satirists, and realists in the era, which is
why I choose to analyze Thackeray’s greatest work, Vanity Fair.
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist. Thackeray
remarks that “The art of novel is to convey as strongly as possible the sentiment
of reality”(“Literary Information of Vanity Fair”). In other words, I believe he
wants to make the event or the situation in his novel as real as possible. He was
also best-known for his satirical and moralistic studies of upper-class and middle-
1
Maranatha Christian University
class in England (Thackeray i). Some reviewers and novelists appreciated the
good of the novel. For example, Harry Thurston Peck, a reviewer said that
“Vanity Fair is one of the greatest books in English literature, but it belongs to
purely English literature…” (“Critical Essays on Vanity Fair”). Moreover, a
reviewer from The London Review acknowledged that “Vanity Fair is a
remarkable book, brilliant, entertaining…” (“Critical Essays on Vanity Fair”).
I choose to analyze Thackeray’s Vanity Fair in my thesis. From
Thackeray’s day to the present, Vanity Fair has been regarded as Thackeray’s
masterpiece. Many criticisms, reviews, and essays have appeared since the novel
first appeared in 1847. Through this novel, Thackeray wants to show the portrait
of English society during the Victorian period, a period of significant and
economic change in United Kingdom. The two female major characters, Becky
Sharp and Amelia Sedley, represent young ladies in Victorian era. They have
different desires and ways of living, which lead to many conflicts in the story.
That is why I would like to analyze the conflicts in the novel. By analyzing the
conflicts in the novel, I might find out about the social life in England in Victorian
period. Once, one of the greatest novelists in Victorian era, Charlotte Brontë
remarked:
“You mention Thackeray, and the last number of “Vanity Fair.” The more
I read of Thackeray’s works— the more certain I am that he stands alone;
alone in his sagacity, alone in his truth, alone in his feeling (his feeling,
though he makes no noise about it, is about the most genuine that ever
lived in printed page) alone in his power, alone in his simplicity, alone in
2
Maranatha Christian University
his self-control. Thackeray is a Titan” (“Contemporary Response to Vanity
Fair”).
There are three types of conflicts, but I will focus my analysis on social
conflicts because they are the most prominent aspects in the novel. The definition
of conflict, according to Harry Shaw in his Dictionary of Literary Terms, is:
“The opposition of persons or forces upon which the actions
depends in drama and fiction. There are three kinds of conflicts:
inner/psychological conflict, physical conflict, and social conflict. Physical
conflict is a struggle between man and the physical world. Inner conflict or
psychological conflict is a struggle between desires within a person. The
last type is social conflict. Shaw also divides the social conflict into two
types: the first one is a struggle between man and man; and the second one
is a protagonist against society” (Shaw 91-92).
Statements of the Problems are:
Based on the reasons above, I formulate the statement of the problem as
follows:
1.
What social conflicts are faced by the major characters in Thackeray’s
Vanity Fair ?
2.
What are the causes of the conflicts?
3.
How are the conflicts resolved?
3
Maranatha Christian University
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem above, this study is conducted:
1.
To show what social conflicts are faced by the major characters in
Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.
2.
To analyse the causes of the conflicts.
3.
To present how the conflicts are resolved.
Method of Research
I apply the library research, in which I read the primary text, William
Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. In addition, I get some data from the
Internet. I use intrinsic approach in analysing the novel. The intrinsic approach is
used to analyse the major characters in facing social conflicts. Then, I draw a
conclusion of my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
In my thesis, there are three chapters, preceded by Abstract, Table of
Content, and Acknowledgements. Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists
of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the
Study, the Method of Research and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two
is the Analysis of the Major Characters’ Social Conflicts in William Makepeace
Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. Chapter Three is the Conclusion, followed by the
Bibliography and the Appendices, which consist of the Synopsis of Vanity Fair
and the Biography of the William Makepeace Thackeray.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I am going to draw a conclusion from the analysis in the
previous chapter. From the analysis, I can see that it revolves around the lives of
two women, and both female major characters are from different social
backgrounds. Becky Sharp comes from a lower-class that makes her feels
dissatisfied with her life and makes her become a social climber. Meanwhile,
Amelia Sedley, comes from a wealthy family, but later she turns to being poor.
There are three social conflicts experienced by Becky Sharp and two social
conflicts are experienced by Amelia Sedley.
Becky Sharp is a very ambitious woman who comes from a lower-class
family and her conflicts are all related to her efforts to achieve a higher social
status. Her conflicts are triggered by her ambition to have a lot of money. Becky
does anything to get whatever she wants, even though she knows the
consequences. The first conflict is between Becky Sharp and Mrs. Bute Crawley
concerning a competition to get a fortune, which is not resolved because neither
Mrs. Bute nor Becky agrees with each other. The second social conflict is between
Becky Sharp and Crawleys’ servants concerning the servants’ envy towards
17
Maranatha Christian University
Becky, which is resolved because the Crawleys’ servants finally agree with
Becky. The third social conflict is between Becky Sharp and Rawdon Crawley,
her husband, concerning their different lifestyles, which is not resolved because
Becky and Rawdon are still of different opinions. Some of Becky Sharp’s
conflicts are not resolved because Becky does not want to change her mind and
still holds on to her opinion. The reason why she keeps to her opinion because in
Victorian era, people with a lot of money will be respected by other people and
they can control the lower-class people.
Amelia Sedley used to be rich but due to the bankruptcy, she becomes a
poor woman. She experiences two social conflicts with the Osbornes and her own
husband because they consider her to be inferior to them. The first conflict
between Amelia Sedley and the Osbornes concerning Mr. John Osborne’s refusal
to George’s marriage with Amelia is not resolved because both Amelia and the
Osbornes still disagree with each other. The second conflict between Amelia
Sedley and George Osborne concerning George’s attitude towards Jos Sedley,
Amelia’s brother, is also not resolved because Amelia still disagrees with George
even though she decides to let her husband treat her brother rudely. All of Amelia
Sedley’s conflicts are not resolved because Amelia still keeps to her opinion. She
keeps her opinion is connect to the fact that she used to be a rich girl but she turns
into poor and she is not used to be treated as the poor that is why she experiences
conflict.
There are similarities and differences on social conflicts experienced by
Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. Both of the female major characters’ conflicts
are emphasis on social status and wealth. Also, both of the major female
18
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characters experience social conflicts because they believe that they have the same
rights with those in the high-class society, even though they are from lower-class.
Different with Amelia, Becky is successful in getting her ambition of being in the
high-class society because she is more persistent and she is a social climber; thus,
she experiences conflict, whereas Amelia is not successful in placing herself in the
high-class society because she used to be rich and then she turns poor; thus, she
experiences conflicts. Moreover, Amelia is more submissive compared to Becky.
These two different characteristics result in different ways of facing the conflicts.
Through the female major characters’ social conflicts in the novel, I
find that people are selfish and materialistic. In addition, through Becky and
Amelia’s conflicts, the conflicts they had are revolves around social status and
money. I think nowadays, the conflicts of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley happen
to some of people.
In my opinion, Thackeray is successful to convey his brilliant ideas in
this novel regarding high-class people in England. I may also conclude that
through this novel, Thackeray wants to criticize the attitudes of lower-class and
high-class people in Victorian era; that social status is very important to get a
respectable reputation and to be accepted in the society, especially in high-class
society.
I believe that Becky Sharp’s and Amelia Sedley’s conflicts represent
social life in England, especially in London, in which social status becomes a
prominent cause of social conflicts. From their story, the readers will realize that
how selfishness corrupt their morality. In this novel, I am of the opinion that
19
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Thackeray describes Victorian era as the era when people see social classes as the
most important matter, especially in London, which is the setting of the novel.
Thackeray describes high-class people as a group of people who let money control
them. For example, to get more money, most of them do gambling until they get
into debts, and then they are broke. I think Thackeray wants to show how money
and social status mattered a lot in Victorian period that people thought they were
entitled to do anything with money as their sole consideration. Thus, I believe
Thackeray wants to make the readers to see that having a lot of money does not
guarantee one to get happiness.
20
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary texts:
Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair. New York: Barnes and Nobel
Classic, 2003.
References:
“Literary Information of Vanity Fair.” 2005. Aug. 2005.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill Paperback,
1976.
“Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair. London: Penguin Popular Classic,
1994.
“Critical Essay on Vanity Fair. “ 2002. Aug. 2009.
Internet websites:
“Biography of William Makepeace Thackeray.” 2009. Aug. 2009.
“Contemporary Response to Vanity Fair.” 2005. 25 Sept. 2009
22
Maranatha Christian University
Dalam penulisan tugas akhir untuk memenuhi persyaratan memperoleh
gelar Sarjana Sastra di Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen
Maranatha, saya memutuskan untuk menganalisis sebuah novel karya William
Makepeace Thackeray yang berjudul Vanity Fair. Hal yang akan saya analisa dari
novel ini adalah konflik yang dialami oleh tokoh utama di dalam novel tersebut,
penyebab konflik, dan solusi yang diambil untuk memecahkan konflik tersebut.
Novel Vanity Fair menceritakan dua orang perempuan yang berasal dari
latar belakang keluarga yang berbeda. Becky Sharp berasal dari keluarga miskin,
sedangkan Amelia Sedley berasal dari kalangan atas. Dengan motif, karakteristik,
dan latar belakang mereka yang berbeda menimbulkan terjadinya konflik. Becky
Sharp lebih ambisius untuk mencapai apa yang dia inginkan, sedangkan Amelia
Sedley lebih naif dalam menghadapi konflik yang ada. Becky Sharp dan Amelia
Sedley mengalami konflik-konflik sosial yang tidak lepas dari masalah uang,
harta, kekayaan, dan status sosial.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ii
ABSTRACT
.................................................
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Methods of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Organization of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
3
4
4
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF FEMALE MAJOR CHARACTERS’
SOCIAL CONFLICTS IN WILLIAM MAKEPAEACE
THACKERAY’S VANITY FAIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
BIBLIOGRAPHY
............................................
22
APPENDICES:
.............................
Synopsis of Vanity Fair
Biography of William Makepeace Thackeray
................
23
25
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Vanity Fair
The story opens at Miss Pinkerton’s Academy for Young Ladies, where
the two major female characters, Amelia Sedley and Rebecca (Becky) Sharp, have
just finished their studies. Amelia is portrayed as good natured, kind, sweet, naïve
and shallow, and she is a daughter of a successful businessman, while Becky is
portrayed as a strong-willed and cunning young woman, determined to make her
way in society and she is an orphaned daughter of a poor artist and disreputable
opera dancer. Becky stays with Amelia in Amelia’s house at Russel Square.
After some time, Becky joins Queen’s Crawley as employee and as a
governess of Sir Pitt Crawley’s daughter (a wealthy nobleman). After a couple of
times, Sir Pitt’s second wife dies, and he proposes Becky. However, Becky rejects
Sir Pitt’s proposal because she is already secretly married to Sir Pitt’s second son,
Captain Rawdon Crawley. Crawley’s fortune is huge and Becky wants it so much,
which leads to social conflicts in Crawley’s family.
While Becky Sharp achieves anything she wants, money and social status,
Amelia’s family is bankrupt because of the stock market failure, which causes
difficulties in the process of Amelia and George’s marriage. Despite the
differences, they are married in the end. One day, George is sent to Waterloo to
23
join a battle. Unfortunately, George dies in the battle. After George’s death,
Amelia marries Dobbin, who really cares about her and has loved her for a very
long time.
24
Biography of William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray was born on July 18, 1811, in Calcutta,
India. In 1816, after his father’s death, William was sent to Chiswick, England.
He was educated at Southampton, Chiswick, and then at Charterhouse School. In
1828, Thackeray entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he left the college
without a degree. On August 20, 1836, he married Isabella Gethin Shawe and they
had three daughters, but their second daughter, Jane, died at 8 months.
In the early 1840s, Thackeray travelled between London and Paris. He
published his first essays, The Paris Sketch Book and The Irish Sketch Book. The
publication of Vanity Fair really made him famous, which first appeared in
serialized installment beginning in January 1847. His other works were
Pendennis, The Newcomers, and The History of Henry Esmod. In 1860s, he
became the first editor of Cornhill Magazine, but eventually he preferred to
contribute to the magazine as a columnist, producing his Roundbouts Papers.
During the 1850s, his health worsened and he died of a cerebral
hemorrhage on December 23, 1863. His death was entirely unexpected, and
shocked his family, friends, and readers. An estimated 7000 people attended his
funeral at Kensington Garden. He was buried on December 29 at Kensal Green
Cemetery, and a memorial bust sculpted by Marochetti for Thackeray can be
found in Westminster Abbey.
Source:
“Biography of William Makepeace Thackeray”
25
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Of the three literary genres, I decide to analyze novel. Through analyzing
the novel, I can get a lot of information and I can certainly know about issues or
events in various periods. Novel is described as “a lengthy fictitious prose
narrative portraying character and presenting an organized series of events and
setting. Every novel is an account of life; every novel involves conflicts,
characters, actions, setting, plot and themes” (Shaw 257). I will analyze a novel
written in Victorian period that describes middle and upper-class societies. There
are many great novelists in Victorian period, such as Jane Austen, Charles
Dickens, Charlotte Brönte, and William Makepeace Thackeray. The last novelist
is one of the most prominent novelists, satirists, and realists in the era, which is
why I choose to analyze Thackeray’s greatest work, Vanity Fair.
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist. Thackeray
remarks that “The art of novel is to convey as strongly as possible the sentiment
of reality”(“Literary Information of Vanity Fair”). In other words, I believe he
wants to make the event or the situation in his novel as real as possible. He was
also best-known for his satirical and moralistic studies of upper-class and middle-
1
Maranatha Christian University
class in England (Thackeray i). Some reviewers and novelists appreciated the
good of the novel. For example, Harry Thurston Peck, a reviewer said that
“Vanity Fair is one of the greatest books in English literature, but it belongs to
purely English literature…” (“Critical Essays on Vanity Fair”). Moreover, a
reviewer from The London Review acknowledged that “Vanity Fair is a
remarkable book, brilliant, entertaining…” (“Critical Essays on Vanity Fair”).
I choose to analyze Thackeray’s Vanity Fair in my thesis. From
Thackeray’s day to the present, Vanity Fair has been regarded as Thackeray’s
masterpiece. Many criticisms, reviews, and essays have appeared since the novel
first appeared in 1847. Through this novel, Thackeray wants to show the portrait
of English society during the Victorian period, a period of significant and
economic change in United Kingdom. The two female major characters, Becky
Sharp and Amelia Sedley, represent young ladies in Victorian era. They have
different desires and ways of living, which lead to many conflicts in the story.
That is why I would like to analyze the conflicts in the novel. By analyzing the
conflicts in the novel, I might find out about the social life in England in Victorian
period. Once, one of the greatest novelists in Victorian era, Charlotte Brontë
remarked:
“You mention Thackeray, and the last number of “Vanity Fair.” The more
I read of Thackeray’s works— the more certain I am that he stands alone;
alone in his sagacity, alone in his truth, alone in his feeling (his feeling,
though he makes no noise about it, is about the most genuine that ever
lived in printed page) alone in his power, alone in his simplicity, alone in
2
Maranatha Christian University
his self-control. Thackeray is a Titan” (“Contemporary Response to Vanity
Fair”).
There are three types of conflicts, but I will focus my analysis on social
conflicts because they are the most prominent aspects in the novel. The definition
of conflict, according to Harry Shaw in his Dictionary of Literary Terms, is:
“The opposition of persons or forces upon which the actions
depends in drama and fiction. There are three kinds of conflicts:
inner/psychological conflict, physical conflict, and social conflict. Physical
conflict is a struggle between man and the physical world. Inner conflict or
psychological conflict is a struggle between desires within a person. The
last type is social conflict. Shaw also divides the social conflict into two
types: the first one is a struggle between man and man; and the second one
is a protagonist against society” (Shaw 91-92).
Statements of the Problems are:
Based on the reasons above, I formulate the statement of the problem as
follows:
1.
What social conflicts are faced by the major characters in Thackeray’s
Vanity Fair ?
2.
What are the causes of the conflicts?
3.
How are the conflicts resolved?
3
Maranatha Christian University
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem above, this study is conducted:
1.
To show what social conflicts are faced by the major characters in
Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.
2.
To analyse the causes of the conflicts.
3.
To present how the conflicts are resolved.
Method of Research
I apply the library research, in which I read the primary text, William
Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. In addition, I get some data from the
Internet. I use intrinsic approach in analysing the novel. The intrinsic approach is
used to analyse the major characters in facing social conflicts. Then, I draw a
conclusion of my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
In my thesis, there are three chapters, preceded by Abstract, Table of
Content, and Acknowledgements. Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists
of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the
Study, the Method of Research and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two
is the Analysis of the Major Characters’ Social Conflicts in William Makepeace
Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. Chapter Three is the Conclusion, followed by the
Bibliography and the Appendices, which consist of the Synopsis of Vanity Fair
and the Biography of the William Makepeace Thackeray.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I am going to draw a conclusion from the analysis in the
previous chapter. From the analysis, I can see that it revolves around the lives of
two women, and both female major characters are from different social
backgrounds. Becky Sharp comes from a lower-class that makes her feels
dissatisfied with her life and makes her become a social climber. Meanwhile,
Amelia Sedley, comes from a wealthy family, but later she turns to being poor.
There are three social conflicts experienced by Becky Sharp and two social
conflicts are experienced by Amelia Sedley.
Becky Sharp is a very ambitious woman who comes from a lower-class
family and her conflicts are all related to her efforts to achieve a higher social
status. Her conflicts are triggered by her ambition to have a lot of money. Becky
does anything to get whatever she wants, even though she knows the
consequences. The first conflict is between Becky Sharp and Mrs. Bute Crawley
concerning a competition to get a fortune, which is not resolved because neither
Mrs. Bute nor Becky agrees with each other. The second social conflict is between
Becky Sharp and Crawleys’ servants concerning the servants’ envy towards
17
Maranatha Christian University
Becky, which is resolved because the Crawleys’ servants finally agree with
Becky. The third social conflict is between Becky Sharp and Rawdon Crawley,
her husband, concerning their different lifestyles, which is not resolved because
Becky and Rawdon are still of different opinions. Some of Becky Sharp’s
conflicts are not resolved because Becky does not want to change her mind and
still holds on to her opinion. The reason why she keeps to her opinion because in
Victorian era, people with a lot of money will be respected by other people and
they can control the lower-class people.
Amelia Sedley used to be rich but due to the bankruptcy, she becomes a
poor woman. She experiences two social conflicts with the Osbornes and her own
husband because they consider her to be inferior to them. The first conflict
between Amelia Sedley and the Osbornes concerning Mr. John Osborne’s refusal
to George’s marriage with Amelia is not resolved because both Amelia and the
Osbornes still disagree with each other. The second conflict between Amelia
Sedley and George Osborne concerning George’s attitude towards Jos Sedley,
Amelia’s brother, is also not resolved because Amelia still disagrees with George
even though she decides to let her husband treat her brother rudely. All of Amelia
Sedley’s conflicts are not resolved because Amelia still keeps to her opinion. She
keeps her opinion is connect to the fact that she used to be a rich girl but she turns
into poor and she is not used to be treated as the poor that is why she experiences
conflict.
There are similarities and differences on social conflicts experienced by
Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. Both of the female major characters’ conflicts
are emphasis on social status and wealth. Also, both of the major female
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characters experience social conflicts because they believe that they have the same
rights with those in the high-class society, even though they are from lower-class.
Different with Amelia, Becky is successful in getting her ambition of being in the
high-class society because she is more persistent and she is a social climber; thus,
she experiences conflict, whereas Amelia is not successful in placing herself in the
high-class society because she used to be rich and then she turns poor; thus, she
experiences conflicts. Moreover, Amelia is more submissive compared to Becky.
These two different characteristics result in different ways of facing the conflicts.
Through the female major characters’ social conflicts in the novel, I
find that people are selfish and materialistic. In addition, through Becky and
Amelia’s conflicts, the conflicts they had are revolves around social status and
money. I think nowadays, the conflicts of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley happen
to some of people.
In my opinion, Thackeray is successful to convey his brilliant ideas in
this novel regarding high-class people in England. I may also conclude that
through this novel, Thackeray wants to criticize the attitudes of lower-class and
high-class people in Victorian era; that social status is very important to get a
respectable reputation and to be accepted in the society, especially in high-class
society.
I believe that Becky Sharp’s and Amelia Sedley’s conflicts represent
social life in England, especially in London, in which social status becomes a
prominent cause of social conflicts. From their story, the readers will realize that
how selfishness corrupt their morality. In this novel, I am of the opinion that
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Thackeray describes Victorian era as the era when people see social classes as the
most important matter, especially in London, which is the setting of the novel.
Thackeray describes high-class people as a group of people who let money control
them. For example, to get more money, most of them do gambling until they get
into debts, and then they are broke. I think Thackeray wants to show how money
and social status mattered a lot in Victorian period that people thought they were
entitled to do anything with money as their sole consideration. Thus, I believe
Thackeray wants to make the readers to see that having a lot of money does not
guarantee one to get happiness.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary texts:
Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair. New York: Barnes and Nobel
Classic, 2003.
References:
“Literary Information of Vanity Fair.” 2005. Aug. 2005.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill Paperback,
1976.
“Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair. London: Penguin Popular Classic,
1994.
“Critical Essay on Vanity Fair. “ 2002. Aug. 2009.
Internet websites:
“Biography of William Makepeace Thackeray.” 2009. Aug. 2009.
“Contemporary Response to Vanity Fair.” 2005. 25 Sept. 2009
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