# Vanity Fair — Character guide

> Key figures in Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.

- [Amelia Sedley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/amelia_sedley.md): Sweet-natured daughter of a wealthy merchant, devoted to George Osborne and later her son.
- [Becky Sharp](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/becky_sharp.md): Ambitious, clever orphan who schemes her way into high society through marriage and wit.
- [George Osborne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/george_osborne.md): Handsome, vain son of a wealthy merchant who marries Amelia despite his father's opposition.
- [William Dobbin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/william_dobbin.md): Loyal, kind-hearted army officer secretly in love with Amelia, her steadfast friend through life.
- [Joseph Sedley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/joseph_sedley.md): Pompous, wealthy civil servant from India, Amelia's brother, easily manipulated by Becky.
- [Rawdon Crawley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/rawdon_crawley.md): Brave but foolish army officer who marries Becky, later becomes a colonial governor.
- [Sir Pitt Crawley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/sir_pitt_crawley.md): Rough, miserly baronet of Queen's Crawley who proposes to Becky after his wife dies.
- [Miss Crawley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/miss_crawley.md): Wealthy, eccentric spinster aunt whose fortune is courted by all the Crawley relatives.
- [Mr. Osborne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_osborne_senior.md): Proud, vengeful merchant who disowns George for marrying Amelia and later regrets it.
- [Lady Jane Crawley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lady_jane_crawley.md): Kind, gentle wife of Pitt Crawley who becomes a mother figure to young Rawdon.
- [Pitt Crawley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/pitt_crawley.md): Elder son of Sir Pitt, a pious, ambitious politician who inherits the baronetcy.
- [Lord Steyne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lord_steyne.md): Powerful, cynical marquis who becomes Becky's patron and protector in high society.
- [Mrs. Sedley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_sedley.md): Amelia's warm-hearted mother who dotes on her children and suffers financial ruin.
- [John Sedley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/john_sedley.md): Amelia's father, a once-prosperous merchant who loses his fortune and becomes embittered.
- [Bute Crawley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/bute_crawley.md): Sir Pitt's brother, a clergyman whose wife schemes to inherit Miss Crawley's fortune.
- [Mrs. Bute Crawley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_bute_crawley.md): Ambitious wife of Bute Crawley who schemes to control Miss Crawley and her money.
- [Miss Briggs](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/miss_briggs.md): Miss Crawley's devoted companion, easily dominated by stronger personalities like Becky.
- [Georgy Osborne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/georgy_osborne.md): Amelia and George's son, a spoiled but charming boy doted on by his mother and grandfather.
- [James Crawley](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/james_crawley.md): Younger son of Bute Crawley, a good-natured but reckless young man who disappoints his family.
- [Lady Southdown](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lady_southdown.md): Pious, domineering mother of Lady Jane who meddles in the Crawley household.
- [Major O'Dowd](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/major_odowd.md): Brave Irish army officer who commands the regiment, loyal friend to Dobbin and Amelia.
- [Mrs. O'Dowd](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_odowd.md): Major O'Dowd's formidable, talkative Irish wife who mothers the young officers.
- [Miss Swartz](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/miss_swartz.md): Wealthy, kind-hearted heiress of mixed race, courted by George Osborne for her money.
- [Miss Osborne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/miss_osborne.md): George's spinster sister who lives with their father and later befriends Amelia.
- [Maria Osborne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/miss_maria_osborne.md): George's younger sister who marries Frederick Bullock against her father's wishes.
- [Frederick Bullock](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/frederick_bullock.md): Wealthy merchant who marries Maria Osborne for her dowry, later regrets the match.
- [Miss Pinkerton](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/miss_pinkerton.md): Headmistress of Chiswick Mall academy where Amelia and Becky were educated.
- [Miss Jemima Pinkerton](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/miss_jemima_pinkerton.md): Miss Pinkerton's kind but timid younger sister who helps run the school.
- [Mr. Cuff](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_cuff.md): School bully at Dr. Swishtail's academy who torments Dobbin and later becomes a soldier.
- [Glorvina O'Dowd](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/glorvina_odowd.md): Major O'Dowd's sister, a flirtatious Irish beauty who sets her cap at Dobbin.
- [Rawdon Minor](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/rawdon_minor.md): Becky and Rawdon's son, neglected by his mother but loved by his father and Lady Jane.
- [Lady Bareacres](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lady_bareacres.md): Proud, cold-hearted aristocrat who snubs Becky but later needs her help in Brussels.
- [Lord Bareacres](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lord_bareacres.md): Aristocratic husband of Lady Bareacres, a gambler and debtor in high society.
- [Peggy O'Dowd](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_odowd_of_odowdstown.md): Major O'Dowd's formidable mother who disapproves of his marriage and military life.
- [Wenham](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/wenham.md): Lord Steyne's sly, manipulative secretary who helps manage the marquis's affairs.
- [Firkin](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/firkin.md): Miss Crawley's loyal, gossipy maid who reports on household intrigues.
- [Bowls](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/bowls.md): Miss Crawley's butler, a dignified servant who witnesses the family's scheming.
- [Sambo](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/sambo.md): The Sedley family's loyal black servant who serves them through prosperity and ruin.
- [Betsy Horrocks](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/miss_horrocks.md): Sir Pitt's maid who becomes his second wife after Lady Crawley's death.
- [Raggles](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/raggles.md): Former butler to Miss Crawley who rents his house to Becky and Rawdon.
- [Captain Macmurdo](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/captain_macmurdo.md): Rawdon's friend and second in his duel with Lord Steyne, a bluff army officer.
- [Lady Steyne](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lady_steyne.md): Lord Steyne's pious, long-suffering wife who endures his infidelities in silence.
- [Lord Gaunt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lord_gaunt.md): Lord Steyne's eldest son, a dissolute nobleman who dies young.
- [Lady Gaunt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lady_gaunt.md): Lord Gaunt's wife, a cold, proud aristocrat who snubs Becky in society.
- [Mr. Wagg](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_wagg.md): A fashionable novelist and wit who appears in high society circles.
- [Mrs. Clapp](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_clapp.md): The Clapps' mother, a humble woman who rents rooms to the Sedley family in poverty.
- [Mary Clapp](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mary_clapp.md): The Clapps' daughter, a kind friend to Amelia during her years of poverty.
- [Mr. Clapp](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_clapp.md): The Clapp family patriarch who rents his house to the Sedleys.
- [General Tufto](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/general_tufto.md): A vain, elderly general who commands the regiment and flirts with Becky.
- [Ensign Stubble](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/ensign_stubble.md): A young, enthusiastic ensign in the regiment who dies at Waterloo.
- [Ensign Spooney](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/ensign_spooney.md): A young, foolish ensign in the regiment, friend of Stubble.
- [Isidor](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/isidor.md): Joseph Sedley's French valet who helps him flee Brussels during the Waterloo panic.
- [Kirsch](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/kirsch.md): Joseph Sedley's German valet who serves him in later years.
- [Mrs. Tinker](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_tinker.md): Sir Pitt Crawley's housekeeper at Queen's Crawley.
- [Mr. Horrocks](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_horrock.md): Sir Pitt's butler at Queen's Crawley, father of Betsy Horrocks.
- [Mr. Moss](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_moss.md): A Jewish moneylender and sheriff's officer who arrests Rawdon for debt.
- [Mr. Chopper](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_chopper.md): Mr. Osborne's clerk and confidant who advises him on family matters.
- [Mr. Hammerdown](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_hammerdown.md): An auctioneer who sells the Sedley family's possessions after their bankruptcy.
- [Dr. Squills](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/dr_squills.md): A doctor who attends the Sedley and Osborne families, a practical man.
- [Mr. Veal](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_veal.md): A clergyman who appears in the Crawley family circle.
- [Mrs. Veal](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_veal.md): Wife of the Reverend Veal, a minor figure in the Crawley social world.
- [Lady Emily Hornblower](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lady_emily_hornblower.md): A minor aristocratic figure mentioned in the Crawley family's social circle.
- [Lord Southdown](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lord_southdown.md): Lady Southdown's son, a young nobleman in the Crawley orbit.
- [Mademoiselle Fifine](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mademoiselle_fifine.md): A French maid in the Crawley household, involved in minor intrigues.
- [Mr. Fiche](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_fiche.md): Lord Steyne's confidential agent who handles delicate financial matters.
- [Lady Blanche Thistlewood](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/lady_blanche_thistlewood.md): A fashionable society lady who appears in the charade scene at Gaunt House.
- [Mr. Trotter](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_trotter.md): A minor character in the novel's social scenes.
- [Captain Bragg](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/captain_bragg.md): An army officer mentioned in the social circles of the regiment.
- [Mr. Binny](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_binny.md): A clergyman who marries Amelia and Dobbin in the novel's later chapters.
- [Mr. Pestler](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_pestler.md): An apothecary who attends the Sedley family during their illnesses.
- [Mrs. Blenkinsop](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_blenkinsop.md): The Sedley family's housekeeper, a loyal servant through their changing fortunes.
- [Mr. Smee](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_smee.md): A portrait painter who paints the Crawley family.
- [Mr. Eaves](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_eaves.md): A gossipy old man who knows everyone's secrets in London society.
- [Tom Eaves](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/tom_eaves.md): A minor character in the novel's social scenes, possibly related to Mr. Eaves.
- [Mrs. Winkworth](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_winkworth.md): A minor figure in the Sedley family's social circle.
- [Miss Wirt](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/miss_wirt.md): A governess in the Crawley household, a minor character.
- [Mr. Hodson](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_hodson.md): A minor character mentioned in the novel's social scenes.
- [Mr. Creamer](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_creamer.md): A minor character in the novel's social scenes.
- [Mr. Lewis](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_lewis.md): A minor character mentioned in the novel's social scenes.
- [Mr. Brown](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mr_brown.md): A generic name used for minor unnamed characters in the novel.
- [Mrs. Brown](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters/mrs_brown.md): A generic name used for minor unnamed female characters.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/vanity_fair_se/characters