Vanity Fair · Chapter
How Captain Dobbin Bought a Piano explained
The chapter opens with a meditation on the melancholy and moral spectacle of an auction in Vanity Fair, using the sale of Mr.
What happens
The chapter opens with a meditation on the melancholy and moral spectacle of an auction in Vanity Fair, using the sale of Mr. Sedley's possessions as a case in point. Rawdon and Becky Crawley attend the sale, where Becky is amused by the vulture-like bidders and regrets that they could not afford the piano she had once chosen for Amelia. Meanwhile, Rawdon is denied access to his wealthy aunt Miss Crawley, who remains under the influence of Mrs. Bute. Despite this setback, Becky devotes herself to making Rawdon a happy and submissive husband, managing their small household with charm and cunning, while their marriage remains unannounced to the world.
Themes in this chapter
Vanity and Hypocrisy
The auction scene exposes the vanity of former friends and the hypocrisy of social pretenses, as mourners at Dives's sale covet his possessions while gossiping about his heir.
Wealth and Poverty
The Sedley family's fall from wealth to bankruptcy is contrasted with the Crawleys' life on credit, highlighting the precariousness of fortune in Vanity Fair.
Marriage as Transaction
Becky's marriage to Rawdon is portrayed as a strategic arrangement; she manages him with calculated attentions, and the marriage is kept secret to avoid creditors.
Appearance vs. Reality
Becky presents herself as a devoted wife while secretly regarding Rawdon as lacking brains; the chapter discusses how women hide their true thoughts behind smiles and domestic duties.
Characters to notice
- Becky Sharp
Attends the Sedley auction with Rawdon, gleefully comparing the bidders to vultures; reflects on the piano she once chose for Amelia; manages her household with artful complacency.
- Rawdon Crawley
Accompanies Becky to the auction; is denied entry to Miss Crawley's house; enjoys a happy domestic life with Becky, unaware of her true opinion of his intellect.
- Amelia Sedley
Mentioned as the original recipient of the piano Becky and Rawdon see at the auction; her family's financial ruin is discussed.
- George Osborne
Mentioned as the subject of a Gazette announcement of his promotion; Rawdon speculates he will break off his engagement with Amelia due to the Sedley bankruptcy.
- William Dobbin
Mentioned as having vanished from the auction before Rawdon and Becky could speak with him; the chapter title refers to his purchase of the piano.
- Miss Crawley
Remains unwell and secluded at Park Lane, attended by Mrs. Bute; Rawdon is denied access to her.
- Mrs. Bute Crawley
Stays constantly with Miss Crawley, preventing Rawdon from seeing his aunt; her continued presence alarms the Crawleys.
- John Sedley
His bankruptcy and the auction of his household goods form the backdrop of the chapter.
Key passages
“There are very few London people, as I fancy, who have not attended at these meetings, and all with a taste for moralizing must have thought, with a sensation and interest not a little startling and queer, of the day when their turn shall come too, and Mr. Hammerdown will sell by the orders of Diogenes’ assignees, or will be instructed by the executors, to offer to public competition, the library, furniture, plate, wardrobe, and choice cellar of wines of Epicurus deceased.”
Most Londoners have been to an auction, and anyone inclined to moralize cannot help but feel a strange unease, knowing that one day their own possessions will be sold off by an auctioneer after their death or bankruptcy.
The narrator reflects on the universal fate of being auctioned off, using the classical names Diogenes and Epicurus to symbolize poverty and wealth.
“The best of women (I have heard my grandmother say) are hypocrites. We don’t know how much they hide from us: how watchful they are when they seem most artless and confidential: how often those frank smiles which they wear so easily, are traps to cajole or elude or disarm.”
According to the narrator's grandmother, even the most virtuous women are hypocrites, concealing their true thoughts behind a facade of innocence and using smiles as tools of manipulation.
This passage directly comments on Becky's behavior, suggesting that her domestic devotion to Rawdon is a form of calculated deception.
