Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero 名利场
《名利场》小说的标题出自英国17世纪作家班扬（John Bunyan，1628—1688）的讽寓体小说《天路历程》（The Pilgrim 's Progress，1678）。
《名利场》（Vanity Fair）是十九世纪英国批判现实主义作家威廉·梅克比斯·萨克雷（William Makepeace Thackeray）创作的长篇小说。作者以圆熟泼辣的手笔，淋漓尽致地描绘了一幅十九世纪英国贵族资产阶级上层骄奢淫逸、勾心斗角的生活图景，无情地揭露了封建贵族荒淫无耻、腐朽堕落的本质和资产阶级追名逐利、尔虞我诈的虚伪面目。
《名利场》的故事以两条线索展开，从同一个起点出发，相互交织，最后到达同一个终点。其中一条线索讲述善良、笨拙、生活在富有家庭中的女子Amelia Sedley (爱米丽亚·赛特笠)；另一条线索讲述机灵、自私、放荡不羁的孤女Becky Sharp(蓓基·夏泼)。
为了掌握自己的命运，出身贫寒的Becky不择手段，谄媚奉承，走小道钻后门，飞上高枝。而富商的女儿Amelia 温柔善良，驯顺地随命运拨弄，面对纯洁的爱情，却视而不见。两人的命运，几经坎坷，几经风雨。小说结尾写道：“啊，人类欲望如此虚荣与荒唐！尘世之中，我们谁是真正快乐的？我们谁能称心如意？又或，在遂了心愿......
Contents:
Vanity Fair is a very vain, wicked, foolish place, full of all sorts of falseness and pretence. it is a place where you gamble and get into debt, and wait for your rich aunt to die. A place where you swear undying love to your sweetheart, and write a love letter to someone else the next day. It is a place where cunning and lies bring rewards. It is a place where men go to war, and women fall in love, a place of laughter, tears, danger, and excitement… It is 1815 in London and Brighton, Brussels and Paris.
Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley are starting out on the great adventure of Vanity Fair. Each will find a husband, but how long will it last? Who will wear diamonds, who will go hungry? Will they be faithful, foolish, neglected, devoted? who will sew banknotes into her dress and follow a victorious army to Paris? who will go home to her mother and weep in misery? And their friends and relations… Will Joseph Sedley be a fool all his life? Will Rawdon Crawley leran the truth? Will William Dobbin get his heart’s desire? (about 30,000 headwords)
