A Scheming Heroine
William Makepeace Thackeray was known for his moralistic study of upper and 
middle class English life. His best known work, Vanity Fair, has as its 
central character Becky Sharp. She is a perfidious woman who has an insatiable
desire to get ahead in the world. She covets the wealth of one man, but when
marriage is not feasible she succeeds in a plan to ingratiate herself into
the heart of her employer's son. Their marriage is not a salubrious one and 
Becky, who lives ostentatiously, forms a surreptitious liaison with another
man. the affair culminates in a debacle. She is exposed, her husband leaves
her, and she must live in penury in Europe. This is the ignominious end for
a clever, but misguided woman.



in seventh heaven--the highest happiness or delight.
The oldest child was in seventh heaven when her mother let her rule the
roost for a day.