Vanity Fair · Chapter
How to Live Well on Nothing a Year explained
Rebecca and Rawdon Crawley establish a fashionable life in Paris, living extravagantly on credit and Rawdon's gambling winnings.
What happens
Rebecca and Rawdon Crawley establish a fashionable life in Paris, living extravagantly on credit and Rawdon's gambling winnings. Rebecca grows tired of frivolous pleasures and schemes to secure a more substantial fortune. When news arrives that Miss Crawley is dying, Rawdon rushes to her bedside, while Rebecca prepares to join him in Brussels, leaving their young son behind with a nurse.
Themes in this chapter
Wealth and Poverty
The Crawleys maintain a luxurious lifestyle on credit and gambling winnings, illustrating the precariousness of living 'on nothing a year.'
Vanity and Hypocrisy
Rebecca publicly laments Rawdon's gambling while secretly benefiting from it, and she mocks General Tufto while having previously used him.
Marriage as Transaction
Rebecca views her marriage as a means to social and financial advancement, pushing Rawdon to secure a position or inheritance.
Appearance vs. Reality
The Crawleys appear as fashionable, wealthy socialites, but their finances are built on debt, gambling, and deception.
Characters to notice
- Becky Sharp
Grows weary of Parisian social life and schemes for more substantial gains; leaves her son behind to join Rawdon in Brussels.
- Rawdon Crawley
Becomes a consummate gambler, winning consistently at cards and billiards; rushes to England upon news of Miss Crawley's illness.
- Rawdon Minor
Left in the care of a French nurse near Paris; his mother shows little affection for him.
- General Tufto
Rebecca's former admirer; she now mocks him publicly, and he transfers his attentions to Mrs. Brent.
- Miss Crawley
Reported to be dying, prompting Rawdon to hasten to her bedside in hopes of inheritance.
- Major O'Dowd
Warns Lieutenant Spooney about the Crawleys' gambling; quarrels publicly with the Crawleys.
- Mrs. O'Dowd
Engages in a loud fracas with Mrs. Crawley at the Café de Paris, calling Rawdon a 'blackleg.'
Key passages
“The truth is, when we say of a gentleman that he lives elegantly on nothing a year, we use the word 'nothing' to signify something unknown; meaning, simply, that we don't know how the gentleman in question defrays the expenses of his establishment.”
When we say someone lives well on no income, we really mean we have no idea how they pay for it.
The narrator exposes the hidden economy of credit and gambling that sustains the Crawleys.
“She felt the frivolity of pleasure and longed for more substantial benefits.”
Rebecca grew tired of shallow amusements and wanted real wealth and security.
Rebecca's ambition shifts from social pleasure to material gain.
“The parting between Rebecca and the little Rawdon did not cause either party much pain.”
Neither mother nor son was upset by their separation.
Highlights Rebecca's lack of maternal affection.