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LEAVING CHISWICK MALL
from VANITY FAIR
William Makepeace Thackeray

Leaving Chiswick Mall is an extract taken from the first chapter of William Thackeray's Vanity Fair.

Vanity Fair (1848) is considered both a historical novel and a character story. It is centred on two chief characters: Rebecca (Becky) Sharp and her friend Amalia Sedley that in this extract are leaving Chiswick Mall.

As a matter of fact, for this reason, the story begins in medias res and its function is as to present situations and character using the technique of showing (the narrator doesn't describe the characters): he let them speak and act without intromissions to understand the characters through themselves. As a matter of fact we can find so many dialogues and few descriptions.
Moreover the narrator uses irony in his narration to make parody of Victorian celebrate roles: he make parody on Miss Pinkerton' behaviour , who can't speak French and for a while she is inferior than Becky. We can also find parody in the farewell of Miss Sedley and Miss Swarts. He is making parody on the hypocritical behaviours of Victorian age: there are melodramatic and pathetic in a gossip atmosphere.

MY DEAR AUNT
from VANITY FAIR
William Makepeace Thackeray

This extract is taken from the XXV Chapter where Becky is married with a man who doesn't belong to her social class and for this reason they aroused scandalous. It is clear she wants to climb the social class and this poor man is her means.
As a matter of fact, in this extract, she is dictating her husband (Rowdon) a letter because she want become her heir again: her aunt subtract it in spite of his marriage with Rebecca. The function of the extract is to delineate better Becky's personality.
In this extract the nature, convey by her surname (Sharp) comes into surface: she is intelligent, sharp and astute but above all she knows what she want and to get it she is ready to do everything, even deceive. As a matter of fact she is a very good actress and a determinate woman with his blissful husband.
She demonstrated to be a very smart and cultured women unlike her husband, who, although noble and rich, is not so bright and cultured (writing the letter he makes a lot of mistakes and he writes under Becky's dictation) and probably, so far different her, he is completely in love with Becky, who takes advantage of this situation and subdue him in order to satisfy her self-interests.
At the end of the extract appears another character: Miss Crawly (Rowdon's aunt) who she is not gaga like her nephew and immediately understand that he didn't wrote that letter.
Like Becky, Miss Crawly is perspicacious, smart and most of all indifferent towards her relatives (she understand their intentions).

CHARACTERS

Rebecca (Becky) Sharp
She is The most important one and she is the anti-heroine (like we can read in My Dear Aunt) with whom Thackeray sides. Her surname is not casual but it was chosen by the writer because it means astute and perspicacious. As a matter of fact she is an intelligent and beautiful young woman but nobody takes any notice of her because she is poor and she is at Chiswick Mall thanks to a philanthropic path. (As a matter of fact since she is orphan she teaches French in order to gain some money).
According to her humble origin, in Chiswick Mall she is not spontaneous and especially she can't stand life and people in Chiswick Mall. At last when she leave Chiswick Mall she can be her self, as a matter of fact she flings the book back into the garden (freedom).
In the second extract her real nature come completely in surface: she is brilliant and unscrupulous adventuress. She knows what she want and to get it she uses even people: she can't  attached to people and lies easily like intelligently and moreover she is able to manipulative people perfectly (even her husband that doesn't love).

Amelia Sedley
Even if the narrator doesn't dedicate many lines to Amelia, staring from her surname we can understand she is calm and quiet and she will symbolized the good nature and manners and the strict codes of Victorian Age: she is Becky's opposite.
From the narration we know she must be very rich because in Chiswick Mall is very considered: at the end she is kissing and crying with Miss Swarts.

Miss Pinkerton
She is the "headmistress" of Chiswick Mall and everything is an excuse to show her power (as a matter of fact everyone, included her sister Jemima, are afraid of her). The reader see her like an arrogant, presumptuous and haughty person who doesn't convey liking.
The narrator ridicules her with irony: he makes parody on her ruling position and the celebration of her role making by other people but above all the narrator makes her result inferior to Becky, a poor and insignificant girl because Miss Pinkerton isn't able to make Becky respect her but most of all she isn't able to face down the girl.

Miss Jemima
She is Miss Pinkerton's sister and a member of the staff. She is the only one who speaks with Becky and she is also sad for her departure. This element makes the reader think she is nocer than her sister but in the end she presents Becky the Johnson Dictionary, as if she were not good enough. 

Rawdon Crawley
Rawdon is the Sir Pitt Crawley' son (Becky worked to him as a governess). He married Becky and for this reason he was disinherited by his aunt Miss Crawley.
È tanto tonto!

Miss Crawly
She is Rawdon's aunt and, like Becky, she is perspicacious, smart and most of all indifferent towards her relatives (she understand their intentions).