Mirroring the Text and Illustrations in Vanity Fair
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In Vanity Fair, mirrors, which seem to be ubiquitous in the text and illustrations, collaborate to debunk the myth that women are obsessed with their mirror images. Amelia and Becky are not preoccupied with their reflection in the mirror. Despite her indifference to the mirror, Becky still makes the most of the myth of women’s obsession with mirrors and uses her beauty and versatility to display her ability to compete with men. Her prosperity in Vanity Fair is an indication that Thackeray’s harsh criticism of her immorality thinly veils his admiration for New Woman freed from the myth of mirror gazing vanity. George and Jos’s narcissistic absorption in the mirror is stimulated by their bourgeois aspiration for social climbing and imitation of aristocracy. They are deluded by the glittering surface image of the mirror which brings about their estrangement from women. Jos’s preference for male company has given rise to the speculation over his sexual orientation. Exposed to the effeminizing and homosexualizing potential of mirror-gazing male vanity, the snobbish nouveau riche dandies fail to transcend the surface of the mirror to the wider outer world. Disguised as a jester and holding a cracked mirror, Thackeray reflects the world of Vanity Fair and warns the reader of the delusive surface image of the mirror. He denounces the weakening and homosexualizing effect of dandies’ mirror gazing vanity and moralizes on self-reflective contemplation and heterosexuality. However, the jester’s cracked mirror ultimately shines light on the duplicity of Victorian ideology of angelic women and heterosexuality. The seemingly ubiquitous mirrors in the text and illustrations serve to reflect the rupture of the rigid Victorian ideology of race, gender, and sexuality that Thackeray tries to preserve.
Abstract
In Vanity Fair, mirrors, which seem to be ubiquitous in the text and illustrations, collaborate to debunk the myth that women are obsessed with their mirror images. Amelia and Becky are not preoccupied with their reflection in the mirror. Despite her indifference to the mirror, Becky still makes the most of the myth of women’s obsession with mirrors and uses her beauty and versatility to display her ability to compete with men. Her prosperity in Vanity Fair is an indication that Thackeray’s harsh criticism of her immorality thinly veils his admiration for New Woman freed from the myth of mirror gazing vanity. George and Jos’s narcissistic absorption in the mirror is stimulated by their bourgeois aspiration for social climbing and imitation of aristocracy. They are deluded by the glittering surface image of the mirror which brings about their estrangement from women. Jos’s preference for male company has given rise to the speculation over his sexual orientation. Exposed to the effeminizing and homosexualizing potential of mirror-gazing male vanity, the snobbish nouveau riche dandies fail to transcend the surface of the mirror to the wider outer world. Disguised as a jester and holding a cracked mirror, Thackeray reflects the world of Vanity Fair and warns the reader of the delusive surface image of the mirror. He denounces the weakening and homosexualizing effect of dandies’ mirror gazing vanity and moralizes on self-reflective contemplation and heterosexuality. However, the jester’s cracked mirror ultimately shines light on the duplicity of Victorian ideology of angelic women and heterosexuality. The seemingly ubiquitous mirrors in the text and illustrations serve to reflect the rupture of the rigid Victorian ideology of race, gender, and sexuality that Thackeray tries to preserve.
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