Previous
Dobbin
Jos is the son of Mr. Sedley and Mrs. Sedley and the brother of Amelia. His most notable characteristic is his enormous appetite for food and alcohol, and this leads to his enormous weight and his frequent liver problems. He develops a fascination with India after working there for much of his adult life, although he seems to prefer London, where he can lavishly spend the money he makes in India on food and drink. Jos is easy to influence and wealthy, which is why Becky initially attempts to marry him, though George manages to talk him out of it. While other “wealthy” characters in the book take out loans to maintain their extravagant lifestyles, Jos always has ample money from his business in India. However, many years after she first meets him, Becky eventually tricks Jos into falling for her so that she can run his affairs; she then isolates Jos from his family and drains his money. Jos grows frail and then dies, possibly due to Becky poisoning him, although this is never confirmed. Jos’s represents the consequences of having too big of an appetite; the story suggests that Jos’s pampered lifestyle is self-destructive and makes him vulnerable to people like Becky.
Jos Quotes in Vanity Fair
The Vanity Fair quotes below are all either spoken by Jos or refer to Jos. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
‘Try a chili with it, Miss Sharp,’ said Joseph, really interested.
‘A chili,’ said Rebecca, gasping. ‘Oh yes!’ She thought a chili was something cool, as its name imported, and was served with some. ‘How fresh and green they look,’ she said, and put one into her mouth. It was hotter than the curry; flesh and blood could bear it no longer. She laid down her fork. ‘Water, for Heaven’s sake, water!’ she cried.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21
Quotes
‘I ain’t going to have any of this dam sentimental nonsense and humbug here, sir,’ the father cried out. ‘There shall be no beggar-marriages in my family. If you choose to fling away eight thousand a year, which you may have for the asking, you may do it: but by Jove you take your pack and walk out of this house, sir. Will you do as I tell you, once for all, sir, or will you not?’
Chapter 28
Quotes
That period of Jos’s life which now ensued was so full of incident, that it served him for conversation for many years after, and even the tiger-hunt story was put aside for more stirring narratives which he had to tell about the great campaign of Waterloo.
Chapter 67
Quotes
Ah! Vanitas Vanitatum! which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?—come, children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out.
Get the entire Vanity Fair LitChart as a printable PDF.
Jos Quotes in Vanity Fair
The Vanity Fair quotes below are all either spoken by Jos or refer to Jos. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
‘Try a chili with it, Miss Sharp,’ said Joseph, really interested.
‘A chili,’ said Rebecca, gasping. ‘Oh yes!’ She thought a chili was something cool, as its name imported, and was served with some. ‘How fresh and green they look,’ she said, and put one into her mouth. It was hotter than the curry; flesh and blood could bear it no longer. She laid down her fork. ‘Water, for Heaven’s sake, water!’ she cried.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21
Quotes
‘I ain’t going to have any of this dam sentimental nonsense and humbug here, sir,’ the father cried out. ‘There shall be no beggar-marriages in my family. If you choose to fling away eight thousand a year, which you may have for the asking, you may do it: but by Jove you take your pack and walk out of this house, sir. Will you do as I tell you, once for all, sir, or will you not?’
Chapter 28
Quotes
That period of Jos’s life which now ensued was so full of incident, that it served him for conversation for many years after, and even the tiger-hunt story was put aside for more stirring narratives which he had to tell about the great campaign of Waterloo.
Chapter 67
Quotes
Ah! Vanitas Vanitatum! which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? or, having it, is satisfied?—come, children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out.
