Abstract

Vanity Fair is a famous novel written by Thackeray and it is widely read and loved by people all over the world. In the novel, there are two heroines, Becky and Amelia. The images of the two are full, especially Becky, who is one of the most successful and typical characters in novels. Through this novel, we can see the 19th century English society at all levels and how different people survive in the cruel society. This thesis aims to analyze the images of two female in order to spy on the British capitalist social climate at that time.
Researching this topic has important significance in understanding and becoming familiar with the society and culture of the 19th century British capitalism.
This paper will analyze the two heroines from four aspects, beginning with their very different personalities, followed by the reasons to form their characteristics, including the macro-and micro-causes. Then it comes to their different attitudes to marriage and finally, their fate in the end. Then, there will be a conclusion that we should learn the good points from both of them, which will help us a lot in the study and work in our life.
Through the analysis of the two female images, we can find that British society at that time was not only a patriarchal society, but also a material society which paid great attention to money and social status. Therefore, no matter how hard women struggled, they were always subordinate to men and society and their tragedy has been preordained since their birth.

Key words: characteristics, marriage, fate, capitalistic, patriarchal, material

摘要

《名利场》是19世纪英国著名小说家萨克雷的成名作，至今仍被广泛地诵读，受到很多人的喜爱。女主角蓓基和爱米丽亚的形象十分丰满，特别是蓓基，更加栩栩如生，是文学作品中一个非常典型的女性形象。透过这篇小说，我们可以看到19世纪英国上流社会的各个层面，以及不同的人怎样在社会中谋得他们的一席之地。本文旨在剖析两位女主人公的形象，从而窥探19世纪英国资本主义的社会风气。研究此课题对了解和熟悉19世纪英国资本主义社会文化具有重要的意义。
本文将从四个方面分析两位女主人公，首先是她们迥异的性格，其次是形成她们性格的原因，包括宏观原因和微观原因，然后是她们对于婚姻和爱情的不同态度，最后是她们各自的最终下场。
通过对两位女主角的分析，我们能发现当时英国社会不仅是父权社会，而且是十分注重金钱和地位的物质社会，不管女性的身世如何，她们始终是男性以及社会的附属品，她们的悲剧是从一出生就已经注定了的。

关键词：性格 婚姻 命运 资本主义 父权 物质