In this penultimate episode of the "Vanity Fair" series, a very different image of Miss Rebecca Sharp emerges. In all six of the previous episodes, she has been an aggressive social climber but has remained a genuinely caring wife to Rawdon. That changes in this program.
The crucial new relationship in Becky's life is her association with Marquis Steyne, a wealthy aristocrat moving in the inner circle of the King of England as Master of the Powder Closet. Lord Steyne gives Becky diamonds and an enormous wad of cash, and it becomes clear during this episode precisely what he demands in return.
Becky is so determined to be in the presence of the King that she sacrifices her honor for the potential of social advancement. She boasts that she "can live well on nothing a year," but she is hording the money she received from Lord Steyne in a locked box. The highlight of her life would appear to be the moment when she attends a social gathering the presence of the King. But what is the price she has paid for that occasion?
Rawdon badly misjudges his wife when, en route to the royal palace, he remarks, "What a fine country we are where a little governess may meet a king." Rawdon has completely missed the reality that Becky has slept her way into this opportunity.
In the secondary plot of this episode, the Sedleys have become so impoverished that Emmy is forced to send her beloved Georgy to live with Osborne. The little boy himself seems mercenary, as he hopes to have a pony and casually says good-bye to his mother, hoping that the occasion may present itself for her to visit him. Jos has been loyal in sending checks to his father, who has squandered the money on foolish enterprises like wine selling. The Sedley family is essentially destitute, and, while Emmy had an opportunity to marry the respectable pastor Binney, she refuses because she wants to remain true to the memory of her beloved George.
The episode closes with the ugliest scene in the series. Rawdon is apprehended and held in detention for debt. When he desperately writes to Becky to pay his bail, she declines, spending the time instead with Lord Steyne. Finally, the kindly Briggs pays the bail, and Rawdon returns home to find Becky in an intimate setting with Lord Steyne. She is confronted by Rawdon, who asserts that she is incapable even of loving their child. He also discovers the enormous stash of money that Becky has been hording. He cuffs Lord Steyne around, who issues a dramatic line in parting that Rawdon and Becky will never forget.
Earlier in the episode, Becky had claimed that nothing could stand in her way of her meteoric rise up the social ladder. But it now is clear that she has damaged her own potential due to the human emotion of vanity.
The crucial new relationship in Becky's life is her association with Marquis Steyne, a wealthy aristocrat moving in the inner circle of the King of England as Master of the Powder Closet. Lord Steyne gives Becky diamonds and an enormous wad of cash, and it becomes clear during this episode precisely what he demands in return.
Becky is so determined to be in the presence of the King that she sacrifices her honor for the potential of social advancement. She boasts that she "can live well on nothing a year," but she is hording the money she received from Lord Steyne in a locked box. The highlight of her life would appear to be the moment when she attends a social gathering the presence of the King. But what is the price she has paid for that occasion?
Rawdon badly misjudges his wife when, en route to the royal palace, he remarks, "What a fine country we are where a little governess may meet a king." Rawdon has completely missed the reality that Becky has slept her way into this opportunity.
In the secondary plot of this episode, the Sedleys have become so impoverished that Emmy is forced to send her beloved Georgy to live with Osborne. The little boy himself seems mercenary, as he hopes to have a pony and casually says good-bye to his mother, hoping that the occasion may present itself for her to visit him. Jos has been loyal in sending checks to his father, who has squandered the money on foolish enterprises like wine selling. The Sedley family is essentially destitute, and, while Emmy had an opportunity to marry the respectable pastor Binney, she refuses because she wants to remain true to the memory of her beloved George.
The episode closes with the ugliest scene in the series. Rawdon is apprehended and held in detention for debt. When he desperately writes to Becky to pay his bail, she declines, spending the time instead with Lord Steyne. Finally, the kindly Briggs pays the bail, and Rawdon returns home to find Becky in an intimate setting with Lord Steyne. She is confronted by Rawdon, who asserts that she is incapable even of loving their child. He also discovers the enormous stash of money that Becky has been hording. He cuffs Lord Steyne around, who issues a dramatic line in parting that Rawdon and Becky will never forget.
Earlier in the episode, Becky had claimed that nothing could stand in her way of her meteoric rise up the social ladder. But it now is clear that she has damaged her own potential due to the human emotion of vanity.
