A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FEMALE CHARACTERS IN VANITY FAIR
摘 要
威廉姆·梅克皮斯·萨克雷( William Makepeace Thackeray)是英国十九世纪最著名的现实小说家之一。他的书《名利场》塑造了两个女性人物：蓓基·夏普（Becky Sharp）和爱米丽亚·赛得利（Amelia Sedley）。本文从以下五个方面对两位女主角进行了对比：1. 对社会的看法；2. 对爱情及婚姻的看法；3.对子女的态度；4.对友情的看法；5.父权制社会的反抗者。通过对两个形象的比较，可以看出儿童时期不同的家庭出身以及成年后的境遇塑造了两个女人的不同个性。同时也能看到女性在面对社会压力时总能保持乐观的态度。
关键词：名利场；女性人物；对比
ABSTRACT
William Makepeace Thackeray is one of the most famous critical realistic novelists in the nineteenth century in England. His book Vanity Fair shapes two female characters, Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. This paper makes a comparison between the two heroines from the following aspects: first, their attitudes toward society; second, their attitudes toward love and marriage; third, their attitudes toward children; fourth, their attitudes toward friendship; fifth, the two rebels in patriarchal social system. Through the comparison of the two figures, it could be seen that different family background in childhood and different experiences in adulthood shape the women’s different personalities. Meanwhile it is also found that women always hold positive attitude when faced with social pressure.
Keywords：Vanity Fair; female characters; comparison
Contents
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………….…1
2. The general characters of Becky and Amelia……………………….……….…….2
2.1 The general characters of Becky…………………………………………………….2
2.2 The general characters of Amelia……………………………………………………3
3. The comparison between Becky and Amelia………………………………….….4
3.1 Comparison of attitude towards society……………………………………………4
3.2 Comparison of attitude towards love and marriage…………………………………5
3.3 Comparison of attitude towards children……………………………………………7
3.4 Comparison of attitude towards friendship………………………………………….7
3.5 Comparison as two rebels towards the patriarchal society system…………………9
4. The reasons for the differences between Becky and Amelia……………………11
4.1 Different family background and living environment in childhood……………11
4.2 Different experiences in adulthood…………………………………….………….12
5. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….14
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………15
References……………………………………………………………………………16
