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Chapter 40
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Vanity Fair, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Greed and Ambition
Vanity
Social Class and Character
Gender
Inheritance and Family Life
Summary
Analysis
Rawdon and Becky finally see Pitt Crawley again. They notice that the estate has changed since the last time they were there. Pitt Crawley was correct that Lady Southdown wouldn’t actually leave the house, and she greets Rawdon and Becky indifferently. Lady Jane greets them more affectionately, although Rawdon suspects she must be up to something.
Similar to the aftermath of Miss Crawley’s death, the distribution of Sir Pitt’s inheritance temporarily causes the Crawley family to come back together, now that there’s no longer money to compete over. Lady Jane is one of the most moral characters in the story, and so the fact that Rawdon suspects she may be up to something suggests that his own scheming lifestyle has caused him to be paranoid—his selfishness has corrupted his worldview to the point that he can’t fathom that Lady Jane could be genuinely altruistic.
Themes
Becky sees Rose and Violet, who are now grown up. Becky tries to be modest, remembering she was once their governess, and they appreciate her effort. Lady Jane takes Becky to her room, and Becky asks to see Lady Jane’s children. Becky wins the affection of the Lady Jane’s daughter Matilda, then she decides to try to improve her relationship with Lady Southdown. She does this by pretending to be sick and then asking Lady Southdown for medical advice. Becky forces herself to drink the medicine Lady Southdown provides, but after enduring this, Becky ultimately wins Lady Southdown over.
Becky is acting unusually humble at the funeral, suggesting that she must have a plan in mind. She tailors her efforts to her audience, realizing that the best way to win over Lady Jane is to win over Matilda, and the best way to win over Lady Southdown is to flatter her medical expertise (suggesting that, like Miss Crawley, Lady Southdown likes to complain about her own health). The medicine Becky has to take symbolizes how bitter it feels for her to try to pretend she likes Lady Southdown.
Themes
Pitt Crawley feels that for all Becky’s flaws, she has improved Rawdon—plus, their marriage led to Pitt Crawley himself inheriting everything from Sir Pitt. Becky goes to great lengths to assure everyone that she doesn’t regret missing out on the inheritance and enjoys living in poverty, which helps her raise her favor even more with Pitt Crawley and his family.
The manners-obsessed Pitt Crawley naturally feuded with his rambunctious brother Rawdon, but under Becky, Rawdon has become more subservient. Pitt sees this as an improvement, perhaps hinting at how his interest in manners comes from a desire to control people, just as Becky has learned to control Rawdon. As is often the case, Becky goes too far with her acting, claiming that she enjoys living in poverty, when in fact everyone who knows her knows that isn’t true.
Themes
Sir Pitt didn’t have a true friend in his entire life and never attempted to make one, so he is forgotten shortly after his death. Mourners bring handkerchiefs to his funeral in case they cry, but they never do. In the days after the ceremony, Rawdon finds that witnessing the wealth of Sir Pitt’s old estate makes him act kinder toward his brother, Pitt Crawley. Miss Briggs sends letters with updates from Rawdy back in London. Pitt Crawley agrees to pay for Rawdy’s education.
This passage attempts to humanize the unruly Sir Pitt, suggesting that his erratic behaviors—his drinking and his unkempt appearance, for instance—were caused by loneliness. Sir Pitt’s death confirms yet again that a fancy title doesn’t define a person, since despite supposedly being such an illustrious person, no one at Sir Pitt’s funeral cries for him.
Themes
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Becky thinks about how she’d like to be the wife of a country gentleman and how she’d be a better person if she had a large yearly allowance. She thinks about how far she’s advanced in life compared to where she started and figures that it’s because she’s smart and most of the rest of the world is full of fools. When Becky and Rawdon finally prepare to leave Pitt Crawley, Becky is happy to see how warmly everyone wishes her goodbye but also happy to finally get back to London.
This is a famous passages in the book because it succinctly asks a moral question that runs through the rest of the book: Would Becky still be manipulative if she didn’t need the money, or would she be able to be a good person if she simply had the right yearly allowance? The novel offers many reasons to be skeptical of Becky’s belief that she could be a better woman—thus far, she’s been consistently manipulative. In addition, many wealthy characters, like Lady Southdown, are just as manipulative as Becky despite their ready access to funds. Still, this passage gets at the idea that poverty and necessity can limit people’s choices, forcing them to act in morally ambiguous ways; meanwhile, wealthy people simply choose to act that way.
Themes
