It took me a very long time to read this book. I started it a long time ago, reading it on my PDA, and read it in spurts separated by sometimes weeks or even months.
This book follows the lives of several families and particularly two female heroines and their close relations during times of Napoleon in England. Amelia (Emmy) is a daughter of a wealthy merchant, and her school friend Rebecca is a daughter of a painter and a french dancer, but she has a lot of ambition and guile.
"Vanity Fair" is a good book, but it is not a great book. Its engaging, its easy to read and fun. However, I don't think it deserves a spot on the "100 best" book lists of all time. First thing that impressed me after I put the book down, is how unlikely and unrealistic the female characters are.
Amelia is a complete incarnation of femininity, or what was perceived as feminine in the author's time and age. She hasn't gotten a mean bone in her body, she is listless, perfectly patient, endlessly kind and kind of stupid and blind to certain things. I couldn't perceive her character as a person, couldn't feel fully for her. Even at the end of the novel, when she repents and sends her patient and devoted pursuer of 15 years, William Dobbin, a letter, it is most likely dictated by her repentant and loving soul, inclined to blame itself for everything and sacrifice herself for everybody. The novelist never explains what drove her to write it, but it was likely the same feeling of needing to provide a safe and prosperous life to her child, as drove her to another uncharacteristic act - one of the only two acts this woman really performed in her life - giving her son to her father-in-law to raise when she was destitute.
Rebecca on the other hand is evil itself, clothed in the pretty and soft and vile and deceptive body of a young attractive woman. This is another extreme of the take on a female nature in a patriarchal society - woman as either a pure Madonna or an evil Lilith. Rebecca is Lilith. Never when the author is describing her thoughts or actions we get an indication that she has any soul, love, or feeling in her. Sometimes the author says something like "she said it almost with a genuine feeling" or "it got as close to the real feeling for her as it could get", but we never know that she as able to experience human emotions.
Her character is written poorly; the end of the novel is not consistent with her portrayal at the beginning. I find it very hard to believe that a woman like her could become so broken and almost give up, and especially lose control so much as to engage in excessive drinking and gambling. This was probably a nod from the author to the moral authorities of the time, to show that evil doesn't go unpunished in the society. In the end, she doesn't really give up, trying again by leeching off Amelia's naive and pliable brother, Jos, and eventially driving him into the grave.
Male characters are much more complex, varied and true. Both Amelia's broken father and his rival are portrayed with a rich palette of emotion; the first inspires pity and respect, the second, even in his most despicable moments, doesn't evoke only hatred. They are neither good or evil, they are both, like all real people are. Rebecca's husband's portrayal is especially impressive. The author is able to convincingly depict a minor character's evolution through life, from youth to maturity, and showcase his goodness deeply hidden inside.
The author is capable of writing good stories, portraying complex characters, but his narrow view of women, probably totally justifiable for a male of his time and place, makes this book fall from the "best" list for me.
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