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The piano represents Dobbin’s unselfish love for Amelia. When Mr. Sedley goes bankrupt and has to move his family to a smaller house, many of the Sedley family possessions go up for auction at an estate sale. Dobbin knows that Amelia always loved the piano, so he buys it for her so that she can still have it at her new house. Amelia, however, mistakenly believes that her fiancé, George, is the one who bought her the piano. Dobbin cares so much for Amelia and is so loyal to George that he decides it’s best to say nothing and let Amelia believe that George bought her the piano. This isn’t the first time that Dobbin has helped George in his relationship—when Mr. Osborne tried to convince George not to marry Amelia, Dobbin convinced George to go through with the marriage anyway. Another time, Dobbin lends George money to help him afford a present for Amelia, only for George to go and spend the money on a pin for himself.
When Amelia initially learns that it was Dobbin who bought the piano for her, she becomes angry and doesn’t want the piano—she doesn’t like this new information because it shatters her idea of George as the perfect husband. But when Becky provides Amelia with undeniable proof that George was planning to cheat on her, Amelia finally finds a way to let go of the past. She comes back to the piano and can finally appreciate it as the selfless gift it is, symbolizing how she is ready to acknowledge Dobbin’s unselfish love for her and accept him as her new husband.
Piano Quotes in Vanity Fair
The Vanity Fair quotes below all refer to the symbol of Piano. 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:
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Chapter 17
Quotes
‘Why, Rawdon, it’s Captain Dobbin.’
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Vanity Fair LitChart as a printable PDF.
Piano Symbol Timeline in Vanity Fair
The timeline below shows where the symbol Piano appears in Vanity Fair. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...Amelia starts to cry. George suggests going to the drawing-room so that Amelia can play piano, and the two of them leave. Jos tells Becky he’s pretty sure that once George...
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Chapter 17
...on an elephant. Soon the two of them get into a bidding war over a piano and have to give up. It turns out the man they’ve been bidding against is...
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Chapter 18
...says Mr. Sedley told her to return the gifts. She thanks George for buying her piano at the estate sale and sending it back to her (although in fact Dobbin did...
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Chapter 26
...to be more cheerful, and after tea, she plays songs for her family on the piano Dobbin bought back for her. After making everyone else happy, Amelia returns to her home...
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Chapter 43
...believes that Glorvina is just using him as practice for flirting, like someone practicing the piano, and figures she will get bored of him once she has other options available. Dobbin...
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Chapter 59
...see that among Amelia and Mr. Sedley’s possessions that they brought with them is the piano.
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When Dobbin asks Amelia about the piano, she says it has great sentimental value to her because George gave it to her....
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A few days later, Amelia apologizes to Dobbin for never thanking him about the piano. Dobbin admits that he bought the piano, and he goes even further, admitting that he...
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