Vanity Fair

"Ah! Vanitas Vanitatum! Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?-Come, children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out."

- William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair (1848) by William Makepeace Thackeray follows the lives of Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley. Amelia comes from a well-to-do family, and Becky is an orphan. Living in a world obsessed with vanities of wealth, egotism and excess, where social climbing and search for wealth becomes essential, Amelia and Becky, emerge as conflicting characters. Amelia does not believe in the false doctrines of the world whereas Becky cares for nothing else. Their struggles, beliefs, and achievements in a world full of vanities in the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, makes the central plot of this remarkable novel.