英文读书报告.pdf

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1、-.The Reading Report of Vanity FairStudent number:1.The author:Thackeray William Makepeace was anEnglish journalist,novelist,famous for his novelVANITY FAIR(1847-48),a tale of middle-classfamilies in London.Most of Thackerays major novels were publishedas monthly serials.Thackeray studied in a satir

2、ical and moralistic lightto describe middle-class English life.He was once seen as the equalof his contemporary Dickens.William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta in 1811.Hisparents returned to England in 1817 and Thackeray was educated atCharterhouseand Trinity College,Cambridge.His father wa

3、s an officerof the East India pany.When he was 4 years old,his father died and awealthy merchant became his stepfather who always moved in politesociety.However,Thackeray became addicted to gambling and leftCambridge in 1830 without a degree and heavily in debt.And then hebegan writing.Thackeray mov

4、ed to Paris where he became the Frenchcorrespondent for the radical newspaperThe Constitutional.WhenTheConstitutionalceased publication,Thackeray moved back to Englandand began contributing articles to a wide variety of newspapers and-.可修编.-.journals,includingThe Times,The Morning Chronicle,FrasersM

5、agazine andPunch Magazine.And Thackeray began writingnovels and in 1844Frasers MagazineserializedBarry Lyndon.Becauseof life experience about moving in upper society and knowing therules very much,in 1847 Thackeray published his most famous novel,Vanity Fair.This was followed byThe History of Henry

6、Edmonds(1852),New es(1853)andThe Virginians(1857).Although asuccessful novelist,Thackeray continued to write articles for journalssuch asPunch Magazine.In 1859 he became editor of theCornhillMagazine,a monthly literary journal published by George Smith.William Makepeace Thackeray died in 1863.2.The

7、BackgroundThis novel was drawn from the British upper society of the early 19century.On the time the British was a powerful country havingprosperous industry.The whole society was controlled by wealthymerchants who got great profits through exploiting the workers oroppressing the people of the colon

8、ies,meanwhile the war for morecolonies between British and France was at the corner.As to the current upper class,they were busy in chasing andpeting fame and fortune,interested in showing off how elite the liveswere.The so-called upper class and successful men paid much-.可修编.th-.attention to how to

9、 extend their wealth and enjoyed vanitybringingpleasure and a sense of superiority.3.The Summary of The BookThe story starts at Miss Pinkertons Academy for Young Ladies,where Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley,two major charactersstudied.They are preparing to depart for Amelias house which is in RussellS

10、quare.At Russell Square,Miss Sharp is introduced to the dashing andconceited Captain George Osborne whom Amelia has been into sinceshe was at a young age,and to Amelias brother Joseph Sedley,aclumsy but rich civil-servant working at the East India pany.BeckynoticesMr.Sedley and hopes to marry him in

11、 order to getwealthy,but she fails because of warnings from Captain Osborne,Sedleys own shyness,and Mr.Sedleys own embarrassment over hissome foolish behavior after being drunk at Vauxhall.Staying for not long time,Becky Sharp says farewell to Sedleys familyand begin the service of the crude and pro

12、fligate baronet Sir PittCrawley,who has employed her as a family tutor to his daughters,where she met his second son Rawson Crawley.Her outstandingbehavior at Sir Pitts house gains his favor,and after the premature-.可修编.-.death of his second wife,he proposes to her.However,he finds thatshe is alread

13、y secretly married to Rawdon.Sir Pitts elder sister Miss Crawley,who is a spinster,is very rich,having inherited her mothers fortune of 70,000.The Crawleyfamilies are longing for her property and actingratiatingly in front ofher.Initially her favorite is Sir Pitts younger son,Captain RawdonCrawley.A

14、nd for some time,Becky acts as Miss Crawleys panion forsmart behaviors,living with Miss Crawley in London and Becky isdeeply attracted by the lives of rich upper classes in the London Town.After breaking the news of her marriage with her nephew,out of angerand a feeling shamed,Miss Crawley decided n

15、ot to inherit her nephew.The married couple constantly attempt to obey to Miss Crawley,andshe relents little.However,she refuses to change her will.While Becky Sharp is living better,Amelias father,John Sedley,isbankrupted.The Sedleys and Osbornes were once close allies,but therelationship between t

16、he two families is ended after the Sedleys broke,and the marriage of Amelia and George is forbidden.George ultimatelydecides to marry Amelia against his fathers will simply,at the sametime,due to the pressure of his friend Dobbin who cares Amelia a lot,and George is consequently inherited nothing fr

17、om his father.Whilethese personal events take place,here es the Napoleonic Wars.George Osborne and William Dobbin are suddenly deployed-.可修编.-.to Brussels,as Captain Crawley at Brighton.Already,the newlywedded Osborne is growing tired of Amelia,and he bees attracted toBecky who can help to show his

18、advantages.At a ball in Brussels,George gives Becky a note inviting her to runaway with him.He regrets this marriage shortly decided with Amelia,who has been deeply hurt by his attentions towards her former friend.The morning after,he is sent to Waterloo with Captain Crawley andDobbin,leaving Amelia

19、 distraught.Becky,on the other hand,isindifferent to her husbands departure.She tries to help Amelia,butAmelia responds angrily,disgusted by Beckys flirtatious behavior atthe ball and her lack of concern about Captain Crawley.Becky,regardless of this snub,wants to save the situation between the twow

20、omen that have kept friendship for years.Becky is not veryconcerned for the oute of the war,either.IfNapoleonic should win,she plans to bee the mistress of one of marshals,and meanwhile shemakes a profit selling her carriage and horses at inflated prices topanicking Britons seeking to flee the city.

21、She plans almost everything,as the author writes,”she is hard like a nut.”Captain Crawley survives,but George dies in the battle.Ameliabears him a son who is also named George.She returns to live withher parents and is going to raise the kid by herself.Meanwhile,Dobbin,who is young Georges godfather

22、,gradually begins to express his love-.可修编.-.bravely for widowed Amelia throughlasting kindnesses to her and herson.Dobbin picks up Amelias precious piano at an auction,butAmelia mistakenly assumes this was done by her late husband.She istoo much in love with Georges memory to feel Dobbins affection

23、s.Sadly,Dobbin goes to India for many years.As to Becky,she also has a son,but unlike Amelia,who devotesherself to and even spoils her child,Becky is a cold mother.Shecontinuesher climbing up in London and she meets the greatMarquess of Steyne,who even brought her fathers paintings and nowhelps her

24、and introduces her to upper society in London.She makes asuccess.But Rawdon gambles heavily.And Becky accepts trinkets andmoney from her many admirers and sells some of for cash.She alsoborrows heavily from the people around her and seldom pays bills.The wealthy life the couple lives is not true as

25、it is.Ultimately Becky issuspected by Rawdon of carrying on an extramarital affair with theSteyne,which leads to breaking up with Rawdon.He leaves Becky andtakes his son to his brothers wife,Lady Jane,who helphim out.Rawdon is ordered out of the way.Becky,having lost both husbandand credibility,is w

26、arned by Steyne to leave the United Kingdom andwanders in different counties.Rawdon and Beckys son is left in thecare of Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane.However,wherever Becky goes,-.可修编.-.she is followed by the shadow of the Marquess of Steyne.No soonerdoes she establish herself in native polite society

27、 than someoneappears who knows her disgraceful history and spreads rumors,which holds back Becky in her way.As Amelias son George grows up,his grandfather turns up andtakes him back from poor Amelia.After twelve years abroad bothJoseph Sedley and Dobbin return to the UK.Dobbin professes hisunchanged

28、 love to Amelia,but Ameliastill cannot forget the memory ofher dead husband.Dobbin also bees close to young George,and hiskind,mild manner makes a good influence on the spoiled young man.And it is revealed after Osbornes death that he had amended his willand left young George half of his large fortu

29、ne and Amelia a generousannuity.When Amelia,Joseph,George,and Dobbin go on a trip to Germany,they encounter the poor Becky.She meets the young George at a cardtable and then finds Joseph Sedley.At that time,Becky hasunfortunately changed-She is drinking heavily,losing her singingvoice and much of he

30、r pretty looks,and spends time with card sharksand con artists.For Joseph pleading,Amelia agrees to meet Beckyin spite ofDobbins disapproval.Dobbin quarrels with Amelia and finally realizes-.可修编.-.he is wasting his love on a woman too shallow to return it.However,when two women meet,Beckyshows Ameli

31、a the note that George hadgiven her which asks her to run away with him.This destroys Ameliasidealized image of George,contributes returning love of Amelia toDobbin.Becky es back to Joseph.He eventually dies of a suspicious ailmentafter signing a portion of his money to Becky as life insurance.Hisde

32、ath has made her fortune.In the end,Rawdon is dead and his son grows up to a new baronet.Becky is now living well again,active in aid of various charitablecauses,supported financially by her son.4.Personal Analysis and mentsSomeone saysVanity Fairas a novel without a hero.Through awoman pursuing fam

33、e and wealth,it is revealed what the currentwhole society is like,especially upper society.Becky is portrayed as a strong-willed and cunning young womandetermined to make her way in upper society,and Amelia Sedley as agood-natured,loveable and simple-minded young girl.Becky Sharp,self-determined and

34、 sophisticated,shapes herselfoverwhelming and polite in order to climb out of poverty;Amelia-.可修编.-.Sedley,kind and generous,never petes with others,a bit weak and notknowing the difficulty as Becky.They are totally distinct in characters,which leads to different endings.To be honest,I have to say t

35、hat Becky wins my appreciation.Thestruggling experience of her is still charming nowadays.To run out ofpoverty is indeed correct and there is nothing to criticize.She isinitiative to live for what she want and on the way to the life shepursues she doesnt hurt anyone,neither Amelia nor Rawdon,evenshe

36、 helps Amelia during the bad time.Although her behavior isntcherished very much which I cant agree with,she has a cleardestination to go for.pared to Becky,Amelia is too weak and silly.One losing her innermind and dream cant live a perfect life.In my view,kindness cantkeep oneself from danger,being

37、cheated and being betrayed.On theone hand,we should treat friends like Amelia treats Becky,whichgives birth to the reward from Becky.On the other hand,we mustlearn to protect ourselves instead of being hurt.Through the grey time,Amelia gets the good life luckily.As to Becky,she finally lives life we

38、llagain.All she has done during her lifetime is climbing out of povertyand she does it.She turned herself into a mean woman endeavoringto get fame and wealth.I still remember that lines,”Im hard as a nut”.Im sure that I dont want to be a weak Amelia,in the regard of-.可修编.-.Becky,what I agree with is that a person should keep a pursuit and gofor it by himself.-.可修编.