Chapter II

Chapter XXX

Storyline

School is ended. Miss Sharp, whose name is Rebecca, just get on her carriage threw her dictionary out of the window. Rebecca is satisfied by her act of insubordination but Miss Sedley is not. They begin a discussion.

Captain Crawley has to leave his house and his wife Rebecca to join the army. He is very worried about the war and about his wife. On the contrary Rebecca seems to be very calm, her only preoccupation is what her husband had left to her.

Setting

The story is set on the carriage outside the school.

The story is set in Captain and Rebecca’s house

Characters

The two main characters are Miss Sharp, Rebecca, and Miss Sedley, Amelia. The two girls have different personalities: Rebecca is open mind, she hates school and all her teachers, instead Amelia is the perfect middle class student: conformist and gentle.

Miss Pinkerton is the strong teacher of the girls.

The two main character of the extract are the Captain and his wife Rebecca. The Captain is a scrupulous person and wants to take care of her love. Rebecca is a calculated and selfish person.

Narrator

In the story there is a third person omniscient narrator

In the story there is a third person omniscient narrator

Message

Thackeray in this extract wants to criticize the authoritarian attitude of the Victorian’ schools. He tries to condemn the privileges that a middle class student can have. Also he hits the oppressive way of teaching.  

The writer wants to criticize the society’s hypocrisy where only money has a role in people’s dynamic.