# A Vagabond Chapter explained — Vanity Fair

> Chapter companion for Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.

## What happens

After her scandalous fall from society, Becky Sharp is forced to flee England and live as a vagabond in French coastal towns. She attempts to rebuild her reputation through piety and charity, but is repeatedly shunned by respectable English expatriates. Her husband Rawdon offers her a meager allowance in exchange for her silence, and she loses contact with her son, who is raised by Sir Pitt and Lady Jane. Despite her efforts, Becky remains isolated and scorned.

## Themes in this chapter

### Appearance vs. Reality

Becky puts on a facade of piety and respectability—attending church, singing loudly, and doing charity—while secretly drinking cognac and manipulating those around her.

### Social Class and Ambition

Becky's relentless efforts to climb back into polite society are thwarted at every turn, illustrating the unforgiving nature of class boundaries.

### Gender and Power

Becky's powerlessness as a woman is starkly shown: she is dependent on her husband's allowance, denied access to her son, and subject to the whims of male figures like Wenham and Rawdon.

## Character check-ins

### Becky Sharp

Living in exile in Boulogne and other French towns, trying to maintain respectability but facing constant social rejection.

### Rawdon Crawley

Now Governor of Coventry Island, he sets aside a small allowance for Becky and demands she never trouble him again.

### Sir Pitt Crawley

Poisoned against Becky by Wenham, he insists on legal correspondence only and supports Lady Jane in keeping Becky away.

### Lady Jane Crawley

Takes charge of little Rawdon, invites Rawdon to stay, and firmly opposes any contact with Becky.

### Rawdon Minor

Consigned to the guardianship of his aunt and uncle; he grows to love Lady Jane as his true mother and writes a kind but distant letter to Becky.

### Wenham

Spreads damaging stories about Becky to Sir Pitt and later to Mrs. Alderney, undermining her attempts at rehabilitation.

## Key lines

> She felt she was alone, quite alone, and the far-off shining cliffs of England were impassable to her.

Becky realized she was completely isolated, and the distant, gleaming shores of England were now unreachable for her.

_Highlights Becky's emotional desolation and her permanent exile from English society._

> If he'd been here, she said, those cowards would never have dared to insult me.

She thought that if Rawdon were present, the men who insulted her would not have dared to do so.

_Shows Becky's lingering reliance on her husband's protection despite their estrangement._

> Oh, Aunt Jane, you are my mother! he said; and not—and not that one.

Little Rawdon declared that Lady Jane was his true mother, not Becky.

_Illustrates the complete emotional transfer of the son's affection from Becky to Lady Jane._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters/lxiv-a-vagabond-chapter
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/chapters