Vanity Fair

Presented as a story told through a puppet show in Hyde Park, Vanity Fair is a skilful satire of the English elite. Ambitious yet penniless Becky Sharp and her wealthy, docile friend Emma Sedley come face to face with the realities of their positions as they go into the world. Set against the background of the Napoleonic wars, the two girls must navigate the no less treacherous rituals and rigidities of polite society. Sharp, bleak and eternally relevant, Vanity Fair is Thackeray at his incisive best.