vanity fair名利场读后感英文版

As the manager of the Performance sits before the curtain on the boards and looks into the Fair, a feeling of profound melancholy comes over him in his survey of the bustling place. There is a great quantity of eating and drinking, making love and jilting, laughing and the contrary, smoking, cheating, fighting, dancing and fiddling; there are bullies pushing about, bucks ogling the women, knaves picking pockets, policemen on the look-out, quacks (OTHER quacks, plague take them!) bawling in front of their booths, and yokels looking up at the tinselled dancers and poor old rouged tumblers, while the light-fingered folk are operating upon their pockets behind. Yes, this is VANITY FAIR; not a moral place certainly; nor a merry one, though very noisy. Look at the faces of the actors and buffoons when they come off from their business; and Tom Fool washing the paint off his cheeks before he sits down to dinner with his wife and the little Jack Puddings behind the canvas. The curtain will be up presently, and he will be turning over head and heels, and crying, "How are you?" A man with a reflective turn of mind, walking through an exhibition of this sort, will not be oppressed, I take it, by his own or other people's hilarity. An episode of humour or kindness touches and amuses him here and there--a pretty child looking at a gingerbread stall; a pretty girl blushing whilst her lover talks to her and chooses her fairing; poor Tom Fool, yonder behind the waggon, mumbling his bone with the honest family which lives by his tumbling; but the general impression is one more melancholy than mirthful. When you come home you sit down in a sober, contemplative, not uncharitable frame of mind, and apply yourself to your books or your business. I have no other moral than this to tag to the present story of "Vanity Fair." Some people consider Fairs immoral altogether, and eschew such, with their servants and families: very likely they are right. But persons who think otherwise, and are of a lazy, or a benevolent, or a sarcastic mood, may perhaps like to step in for half an hour, and look at the performances. There are scenes of all sorts; some dreadful combats, some grand and lofty horse-riding, some scenes of high life, and some of very middling indeed; some love-making for the sentimental, and some light comic business; the whole accompanied by appropriate scenery and brilliantly illuminated with the Author's own candles. What more has the Manager of the Performance to say?--To acknowledge the kindness with which it has been received in all the principal towns of England through which the Show has passed, and where it has been most favourably noticed by the respected conductors of the public Press, and by the Nobility and Gentry. He is proud to think that his Puppets have given satisfaction to the very best company in this empire. The famous little Becky Puppet has been pronounced to be uncommonly flexible in the joints, and lively on the wire; the Amelia Doll, though it has had a smaller circle of admirers, has yet been carved and dressed with the greatest care by the artist; the Dobbin Figure, though apparently clumsy, yet dances in a very amusing and natural manner; the Little Boys' Dance has been liked by some; and please to remark the richly dressed figure of the Wicked Nobleman, on which no expense has been spared, and which Old Nick will fetch away at the end of this singular performance. And with this, and a profound bow to his patrons, the Manager retires, and the curtain rises. LONDON, June 28, 1848 Every year, when winter descends on the country, one of English literature’s great works always finds itself pulled down from my bookshelf: namely, William Thackeray’s immortal Vanity Fair. The reason is simple: no degree of chilliness in the air can extinguish the book’s incredible warmth and humour. It is a tonic. 每年,随着冬季的降临,总有一部英国文学的伟大作品从我的架上取下——威廉·萨克雷不朽的《名利场》。原因很简单:空气中的寒意无法驱散书中那不可思议的激*情和幽默。它可是滋补品。 Being an accepted classic, Vanity Fair is no doubt familiar to many readers. But its indelible characters and set-pieces still deserve mention. From the sly anti-heroine Becky Sharp to the gentle-mannered Dobbin — and from the mistreatment of a dictionary to the battlefield death of one character (I won’t reveal whom!) — there is not one component of the story which detracts from the whole. 作为一部公认的经典,《名利场》无疑广为读者所熟知。然而书中不朽的人物和场景设置仍值得一提。 从狡猾的反派女主人公贝姬·夏普到举止文雅的道宾;从不当地对待字典到一个人物战死沙场——没有一个组成部分是不为整体服务的。 The plot and characterisation are underpinned by Thackeray’s acute eye for social detail. He is cutting, of course, but never slips into crude caricature. The result is a portrait of 19th-century society which feels authentic and unpompous. If Vanity Fair succeeds, it is because it is —like much of Dickens’s output — a great work of journalism. 情节和人物塑造都要归功于萨克雷对社会细节敏锐的捕捉。他的语言是尖刻的,那毫无疑问,但是,绝不沦为粗劣的歪曲的讽刺。而其结果就是一幅描绘十九世纪的肖像画,感觉如此真实,不虚夸。如果说《名利场》是成功的,那么它成功在于——如同很多狄更斯的作品一样——它是一部伟大的新闻学作品。 To paraphrase The Spectator’s own motto, Vanity Fair is champagne for the soul. For that, I give it my highest recommendation, and raise a glass to Mr William Makepeace Thackeray. 套用一下《旁观者》杂志自己的座右铭——《名利场》是给灵魂享用的香槟。为此,我给予它最高的推荐,并举杯向威廉·萨克雷先生致敬。 Amelia Sedley, of good family, and Rebecca Sharp, an orphan, leave Miss Pinkerton's academy on Chiswick Mall to live out their lives in Vanity Fair — the world of social climbing and search for wealth. Amelia does not esteem the values of Vanity Fair; Rebecca cares for nothing else. Rebecca first attempts to enter the sacred domain of Vanity Fair by inducing Joseph Sedley, Amelia's brother, to marry her. George Osborne, however, foils this plan; he intends to marry Amelia and does not want a governess for a sister-in-law. Rebecca takes a position as governess at Queen's Crawley, and marries Rawdon Crawley, second son of Sir Pitt Crawley. Because of his marriage, Rawdon's rich aunt disinherits him. First introduced as a friend of George Osborne, William Dobbin becomes the instrument for getting George to marry Amelia, after George's father has forbidden the marriage on account of the Sedley's loss of fortune. Because of George's marriage, old Osborne disinherits him. Both young couples endeavor to live without sufficient funds. George dies at Waterloo. Amelia would have starved but for William Dobbin's anonymous contribution to her welfare. Joseph goes back to his post in India, claiming such valor at Waterloo that he earns the nickname "Waterloo Sedley." Actually he fled at the sound of the cannon. Both Rebecca and Amelia give birth to sons. Rebecca claims she will make Rawdon's fortune, but actually she hides much of her loot, obtained from admiring gentlemen. When she becomes the favorite of the great Lord Steyne, she accumulates both money and diamonds. In the meantime innocent Rawdon draws closer to Lady Jane, wife of Rawdon's older brother, Pitt, who has inherited from the rich aunt. When Rawdon discovers Rebecca in her treachery, he is convinced that money means more to her than he or the son whom she has always hated. He refuses to see her again and takes a post in Coventry Island, where he dies of yellow fever. Because her parents are starving and she can neither provide for them nor give little Georgy what she thinks he needs, Amelia gives up her son to his grandfather Osborne. William Dobbin comes back from the service, reconciles old Osborne to Amelia, whereat Osborne makes a will leaving Georgy half of his fortune and providing for Amelia. Rebecca, having lost the respectability of a husband, wanders in Europe for a couple of years and finally meets Joseph, Georgy, Amelia, and William on the Continent. Rebecca sets about to finish what she started to do at the first of the book — that is, to ensnare Joseph. She does not marry him, but she takes all his money and he dies in terror of her, the implication being that she has, at least, hastened his death. At the end of the book Rebecca has the money necessary to live in Vanity Fair; she appears to be respectable. William has won Amelia. Rebecca has been the one who jolted Amelia into recognition that George, her first love, wasn't worthy. Little Rawdon, upon the death of his uncle Pitt and his cousin Pitt, becomes the heir of Queen's Crawley. Little George, through the kindness of Dobbin, has lost his distorted values obtained in Vanity Fair. Ⅲ. Comments on the book In this novel, I like the name of novel "Vanity Fair" and the subtitle "A Novel without a Hero". When I see the name, I understand the main idea of the novel. The Victorian egoistic, hypocritical, and money-grabbing aristocratic and commercial society is a vanity fair. It is not only a show of Thackeray's cynical view toward life but also a declaration of that the epoch in which capitalists or aristocrats posed themselves as heroes. For instance, Amelia Sedley is a fool; her husband has slept with Becky Sharp, but she still sticks to her loyalty to him and keeps Dobbin waiting for her hand. At the same time, the writer adopts a great number of rhetorical devices to describe the two main figures' words, expression and behavior. That makes the sentences vivid and arouses the readers' interest in reading. The images, plot and language show the hidden paradox of sensuality and redemption. The book gives me a whole view of the nobility's life which is pretty extravagant. Reading between the lines, I can find that Becky is a beautiful, strong-willed and cunning young woman who is determined to make her way to the upper society. To get rid of poverty, Becky makes every possible effort, by hooking or by crooking. She is a great believer of Be yourself and on your way! Given in the modern society, Becky is an ambitious woman. She is not afraid of failure. However, because of the lack of a perfect plan, she failed in the end. Becky is a tragedy in character. By contrast, Amelia Sedley is a good-natured, loveable though simple-minded young girl. She does not understand what life is. She is portrayed as a coward. She is pitiful but happy. She does not run counter to her fate, but yield herself up to it quite contently. Yet God blesses her. She comes across a perfect man Dobbin and gets married to him at last. When I read to the part where Becky seduced Amelia's husband, I felt a strong hatred for Becky inside myself. When it comes to that Amelia was abandoned by her husband, I had my sympathy for her. When I finished reading, I had deep feelings. I could not help asking myself: 'What kind of person am I? The Becky or the Amelia?' Fortunately, I am none of them. As James Allen puts it: 'Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.' I will bravely seek after the happiness like Becky, but never in her way. Although Vanity Fair was written in the 19th century, the novel is still of reflective value to our real world. In our society, people are unable to see things clearly. They are confused because their minds are full of wealth, power, vanity or so-called love. This love is like a game, not a true love. It's easy for us to encounter some Beckys in the real world. Becky is a representative of people who are governor-oriented or money talks. In their mind, power and money means everything. They can give up all for positions and money. In the novel, to enter the upper class, Becky sets morality aside to seduce Amelia's husband. She is a negative example which reminds us what is not to be done. On the contrary, Amelia stands for those people who are spineless. They are conventional and tend to accept the reality as it is. They have no intention to struggle for something better. And therefore, it's difficult for them to have a place in the world. However, as a female, I think Becky is very brave. Everyone longs for happiness. Everyone pursues happiness. Thus, what Becky has done are only for her simple aim----happiness. Because she comes from an ignoble family, she has to try her best to do everything. She has only herself to rely on. She believes that a woman of low birth can marry into the purple. Due to her strong-mindedness, she never gives up when difficulties arise, though sometimes she is in the wrong way. Nowadays, people are going after fame and fortune. Once you have owned one of them, others will pay social attention to you, which makes you arrogant and proud and forget who you are. That's what Becky does. On one hand, she is full of ideas and intelligence. On the other hand, she is dangerous and cunning. It is true that every one should try his best to achieve what he is pursuing. But we should do it in a proper and moral way. And whatever we do, we shouldn't forget that love and humanity should remain the most cherishable elements in our life. Amelia is a kind, warm-hearted and tolerant person. She gets well along with each other. If Becky Sharp can own all these virtues she can also live a good life. However, something happens in life is inevitable. It is her poor family background that makes Becky become so audacious. Vanity Fair is a trap that everyone is likely to step into however careful he may try to be. Thackeray has drawn a lifelike tableau of the Vanity Fair in reality in the novel. That is the reason why the novel has been popular for so many years. Besides, the novel reminds me of one popular American TV series Gossip Girl. In the TV series, it also describes the life of the upper society. Th