Art Union Review: Vanity Fair
This review of Vanity Fair also appeared in October 1847 (in the Art Union). How does it differ from the review of Jane Eyre, particularly in the questions that it asks and the readership that it assumes? What does it mean to review a novel that is only partially completed? What does the reviewer emphasize and/or leave out? Do you agree with the review? Do you think that the same type of person (of course not the exact same person) could have written this and the review of Jane Eyre?
This review of Vanity Fair also appeared in October 1847 (in the Art Union). How does it differ from the review of Jane Eyre, particularly in the questions that it asks and the readership that it assumes? What does it mean to review a novel that is only partially completed? What does the reviewer emphasize and/or leave out? Do you agree with the review? Do you think that the same type of person (of course not the exact same person) could have written this and the review of Jane Eyre?
The review of Vanity Fair is far different from the review of Jane Eyre (although I must admit I could not read the entire Jane Eyre review) in that the author of the V.F. article praises the caricatures that Thackeray depicts. He/she argues that “typifying a class by an individual is dangerous” but in the case of Becky Sharp, it’s okay. This is the second time a review has praised Thackeray for his satirical approach to reality. The author also places emphasis on the issues depiction of Joseph Sedley bumbling about in his cowardly escape. It seems to me that the reader who can praise Thackeray for his light-hearted yet harsh criticism of English society would not be able to appreciate Jane Eyre’s ambiguous approach to reality. A satirist makes obvious what is being criticized, but with Jane Eyre plenty is left ambiguous (just like this sentence). The author of the V.F. review appreciates Thackeray’s forthrightness. Jane Eyre on the other hand wants us to read between the lines and form our own conclusions.
ReplyDeleteThe Vanity Fair review differs from the Jane Eyre one in that its primary focus is on Thackeray's clever satire than on the plot. It seems to assume that the reader is reading Vanity Fair for the social commentary instead of the story, saying "one phase of English society has been placed under the reader's inspection," referring to the middle class. Either the reviewer is channeling Thackeray or he believes his audience is not one that identifies with the middle class, since he refers to it as "that class" and talks of its "human weaknesses or artificial impulses."
ReplyDeleteThe focus on the characters and Thackeray's motives could be attributed to the fact that the review is being written at the release of the eighth serial. The reviewer is constrained by the timeframe of this section and cannot really go into much detail about the plot, especially since he does not know what's going to happen next. He goes into much detail about the characters because the character development is more pronounced in this section than plot development.
I liked this review and found myself agreeing with it because it understands and explains the seriousness and complexity of Thackeray's satire while also acknowledging and giving credit to his humor. The satire is very sharp and unforgiving in pointing out the vices of the middle class, but it is also a very funny read.
I think the same type of person could have written both reviews because both are very concerned with dissecting what the authors' purposes are in writing their respective novels. The Vanity Fair reviewer is very tuned into the satire of Thackeray while the Jane Eyre reviewer seems to be convinced that realism is the author's goal and points out the "truth" of the characters and setting, even insisting that "we, ourselves, know of a large mansion-house in a distant county where, for many years, a miscreant was kept in close confinement." Its one complaint is when "the heroine is too outrageously tried, and too romantically assisted in her difficulties."