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1、第14页AComparativeStudyofBeckySharpandAmeliaSedleyinVanityFairW.M.Thackerayisarepresentativeofcriticalrealismin19thcenturyinEngland.HismasterpieceVanityFairhasbeenconsideredtobeoneofthegreatcomicnovelsofalltime,andalandmarkinthehistoryofrealisminfiction.Vanit
2、yFairisametaphorforthehumanconditionandtakesitsnamefromJohnBunyan’sallegory“Pilgrim’sProgress.”Thetitle“VanityFair”showsThackeray’sopinionoftheEnglishbourgeoisandaristocraticsociety:hypocritical,money-worshipping,morallydegraded.Thesub-titleofthenovelis“ANo
3、velwithoutaHero”.Itwaspublishedin1848.Thestoryisabouttheupperclassofearlynineteenthcentury.ThisnovelofEnglishmannersandhumanfrailtiescentersaroundtwowomen:BeckySharp,anorphanwhoseonlyresourcesarehervastambitions,herwitandherloosemorals.Sheisconsideredtobeon
4、eofthemostremarkablecreationsinVictorianliterature,whileThackeray’snarratorexposeshersubterfugesandinsinuatessexualimmoralityandevenmurder.ThackerayjuxtaposesBecky’sstorywiththatofAmelia,thenaive,sentimentaldaughterofawealthymerchantwhogoesbankruptpartwayth
5、roughthenovel.Herartlessmodestyanddevotiontoherfirstlove—GeorgeOsborne,contrastsharplywithBecky’samoralmachinationsandsocialclimbing.Nevertheless,sheisnotperfect.Throughthecomparisonbetweenthetwoheroines,andtheanalysisoftheearlynineteenthcentury,theauthorre
6、vealsthepredicamentsofwomenatthattime,andreaderscangetabetterunderstandingofthetwoheroines.I.BackgroundofEarlyNineteenthCenturyTheprecisianmaylimittheVictorianperiodtotheyearsbetween1837and1901,butanewerareallybeginswiththepassageoftheReformBillin1832andclo
7、sesattheendoftheBoerWarin1902.DuringthelongreignofQueenVictoria,Englandgrowsfromanagriculturalcountryintoanindustrializedoneandbecomestheworkshopoftheworldaswellasitsfinancialandpoliticalcenter.IntheageofQueenVictoria,novelflourishesandwithitagalaxyofbrilli
8、antnovelistsappearsontheliteraryscene.TheVictorianAgecanberoughlydividedintothreeperiods:theearlyperiodisfrom1832to1848,itisatimeofsocialunrest;themiddleperiodisfrom1848to1870,itisaperiodofeconomicpros