Abstract

 Vanity Fair, written by William Makepeace Thackeray, is a critical realistic work, exposing the hypocritical, cruel society of the Victorian age. Thackeray satirized the early 19th-century British society through the most impressive character, Rebecca Sharp. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the conflicts reflected in Rebecca Sharp, which include the conflicts within Rebecca herself, the conflicts between Rebecca and the other female protagonist ——Amelia and the conflicts between her feminist thoughts and the social climate of male chauvinism of that time. Through the analysis of the conflicts, this paper reveals the impetus of Rebecca’s fate and the hypocritical, cruel society.

Key words: Vanity Fair, Rebecca, conflicts

摘 要

威廉•梅克皮斯•萨克雷的《名利场》是一部反映虚伪、残酷的维多利亚社会风尚的批判现实主义作品。萨克雷通过塑造利蓓卡•夏泼这一主要角色讽刺了19世纪早期的英国社会。本论文旨在分析利蓓卡这个人物身上反映出的各种矛盾、不一致之处。这些矛盾和不一致包括利蓓卡自身固有的矛盾，她与另一女主角艾米丽亚的矛盾，以及她的女性解放思想与当时社会的男权主义之间的矛盾。通过这些矛盾的分析，揭示了《名利场》中利蓓卡这个人物的命运的推动力并揭露了当时社会的虚伪与残酷。

关键词：《名利场》；利蓓卡；矛盾冲突

1. Introduction
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811―1863) is one of the greatest representatives of the critical realistic writers in the nineteenth century. He was born in Calcutta, India where his father, Richmond Thackeray held the high rank of secretary to the board of revenue in the British East India Company. His mother, Anne Becher was the second daughter of Harriet and John Harman Becher who was also a secretary for the East India Company. His father died in 1815 when Thackeray was only four years old. Then he was educated at a preparatory school, and then to a public school at the Charterhouse which he hated. In 1829, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he remained for a little more than a year, but never too keen on academic studies. He left the University in 1830. His experience at a school run by Dr. Turner gave him experiences later used in his novel Vanity Fair. In 1834, Thackeray went to Paris and took up the study of art. “He had early shown talent as a caricaturist”. He married an Irish girl Isabella, second daughter of Colonel Matthew Shawe, who was the model of the character of Amelia in Vanity Fair. They had three daughters, one dying in infancy. He began to “write for his life”, as he put it, turning to journalism in an effort to support his young family.