# In Which Becky Revisits the Halls of Her Ancestors explained — Vanity Fair

> Chapter companion for Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.

## What happens

Becky and Rawdon return to Queen's Crawley for Sir Pitt's funeral. Becky revels in the recognition and status, while Rawdon is subdued by memories. They are received by Sir Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane, with Lady Southdown present. Becky ingratiates herself with the family, reflecting on the ease of being a 'good woman' with money. She revisits old haunts and manipulates perceptions, contrasting her past and present.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Class and Ambition

Becky's reflections on the ease of being a 'good woman' with money highlight the link between wealth and moral reputation.

### Appearance vs. Reality

Becky's performance of piety and domesticity contrasts with her true manipulative nature and financial desperation.

### Vanity and Hypocrisy

Becky's pleasure in recognition and her mockery of Lady Southdown's religiosity expose the hypocrisy of social pretensions.

## Character check-ins

### Becky Sharp

Returns to Queen's Crawley with Rawdon for the funeral, enjoying the recognition and reflecting on her rise in society.

### Rawdon Crawley

Accompanies Becky, feeling abashed and recalling his boyhood and lost innocence.

### Sir Pitt Crawley

Now the baronet, receives the couple with a handshake and is favorably impressed by Becky's deference.

### Lady Jane Crawley

Welcomes Becky and Rawdon, gives Becky a banknote for little Rawdon, and reports Becky's speeches to Sir Pitt.

### Lady Southdown

Remains at Queen's Crawley, maintaining a solemn and stony silence, later victimized by Becky's mockery.

## Key lines

> It isn't difficult to be a country gentleman's wife. I think I could be a good woman if I had five thousand a year.

Becky muses that with sufficient wealth, she could easily adopt the virtuous role of a country lady.

_Reflects Becky's cynical view that morality is a luxury of the rich._

> A comfortable career of prosperity, if it does not make people honest, at least keeps them so.

Prosperity may not create honesty, but it prevents the temptation to steal.

_Narrator's commentary on the relationship between wealth and virtue._

> I have passed beyond it, because I have brains, and almost all the rest of the world are fools.

Becky believes her intelligence has elevated her above her humble origins and most other people.

_Highlights Becky's pride and sense of superiority._

## Links

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