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Chapters XXXIX–XLIII 

Summary: CHAPTER XXXIX: A Cynical Chapter 

Chapter XXXIX returns to Queen’s Crawley, where Sir Pitt has withdrawn from good society and spends time drinking with his butler, Horrocks. Pitt and Lady Jane visit after their marriage, and Sir Pitt leers at Lady Jane and gives her family jewelry. The estate is unkempt with trees cut down for lumber. Miss Horrocks, who runs the house, has dismissed most of the servants. The family worries that Sir Pitt will marry her.

One evening, the servants run to Mrs. Bute for help. She rushes over to find Miss Horrocks trying to open locked cabinets, seemingly looking for something to steal, and a doctor and Horrocks bleeding Sir Pitt in his room. Mrs. Bute sits with him all night. The next morning, he is still alive but can’t speak. Mrs. Bute kicks the Horrocks out of the house.

Summary: CHAPTER XL: In Which Becky Is Recognized by the Family

Sir Pitt never fully recovers, so Pitt moves his family into the house and takes on running the estate. Sir Pitt eventually dies, and the new Sir Pitt shares the news with Rawdon and invites his family down. His mother-in-law Lady Southdown protests inviting Becky and threatens to leave, but Sir Pitt overrules her. Becky welcomes the opportunity to become friends with Lady Jane. She hopes her in-laws will help her and Rawdon in society, maybe even get Rawdon a seat in Parliament. Rawdy will stay home with Briggs, Becky’s newly hired companion who has lent them money that she inherited from Miss Crawley.

Summary: CHAPTER XLI: In Which Becky Revisits the Halls of Her Ancestors

Upon arriving at Queen’s Crawley, Becky and Rawdon are suffused with memories of the past. Sir Pitt, Lady Jane, and Lady Southdown meet them. Lady Jane welcomes them with such genuine kindness that Becky tears up. Lady Jane shows them their rooms, and Becky asks to meet her two children. The two women soon are fast friends. Becky next charms Lady Southdown with talk of children and religion and by asking for medical advice. Sir Pitt likes Becky, noting that marriage has been good for Rawdon. Becky compliments him and emphasizes that Mrs. Bute worked to bring her and Rawdon together. Meanwhile, the late Sir Pitt lies in state, ignored, and after the funeral is quickly forgotten. Soon, Becky and Rawdon return to London. Rawdon is eager to see his son, while Becky ponders that if she had enough money, she could be a good woman.

Summary: CHAPTER XLII: Which Treats of the Osborne Family 

The narration returns to the Osbornes in London. Mr. Osborne grows lonelier and grumpier, making Jane, a spinster, take care of him. Maria has married Frederick Bullock. The Bullocks have higher social standing, and Maria tries to downplay her low birth by snubbing her sister and father. For a short time, Jane enjoys a romance with an art teacher, but her father breaks it off.

Dobbin’s sisters visit and tell Jane all about Georgy and Amelia—Dobbin still hopes for a reunion with Mr. Osborne. One day Georgy visits his aunts, leaving Amelia alone to write a letter to Dobbin congratulating him on his upcoming marriage. Georgy returns and says he met an old lady. Amelia, frightened, realizes he is describing Jane Osborne. That evening, Jane tells Mr. Osborne that she has met Georgy and he is just like his father.

Summary: CHAPTER XLIII: In Which the Reader Has to Double the Cape

The narration switches to India, where Dobbin is stationed under Colonel O’Dowd. Lady Peggy O’Dowd is determined that her sister-in-law, Glorvina, should marry Dobbin. Glorvina agrees, and she flirts with Dobbin ceaselessly. Rumor even reaches England that they are to marry. For his part, Dobbin laughs off these attentions until he gets a letter from Amelia congratulating him on his engagement. He can’t understand that Amelia doesn’t realize he only has feelings for her. Soon more letters arrive, including one from his sister telling him that Amelia is getting married. He goes to O’Dowd and says he needs to go to England immediately.

Analysis: Chapters XXXIX–XLIII

Becky has been waiting for her chance to get in the good graces of Pitt and Lady Jane, and with the death of Sir Pitt, she seizes it. Becky performs exceedingly well, convincing everyone of her sincerity, and even starts to win her way back into the family. “Performs” is a key word when describing Becky’s behavior. She shows up at Queen’s Crawley knowing that each member of the family will require a different approach. For example, Becky wins over Lady Southdown by appealing to her religious fervor, but she compliments Pitt’s conversational skill. For Becky, life is a performance with every act meant to trigger a certain response and bring her closer to her ambitions of more money and more social power. That she feels successful in capturing the heirs of the Pitt Crawleys is made apparent with the title of Chapter XLI. Queen’s Crawley is not the house of her ancestors, but with her triumph, Becky feels as if she finally has earned her rightful spot among her husband’s family. She arrived as a governess and leaves as an equal.

The chapters that take place at Queen’s Crawley present several different images of womanhood. Lady Jane is a true lady. She looks for and finds the good in every person. In the world of Vanity Fair in which so many people are posturing or social climbing, Lady Jane’s genuineness makes her a rarity. Even Becky can recognize this quality in Lady Jane and lets herself give in to true emotions, even tears, in Lady Jane’s welcoming embrace. On the opposite end from Lady Jane is Miss Horrocks, the butler’s daughter, who is a wannabe upstart much like Becky but who lacks Becky’s cleverness, skill, and subtlety. Miss Horrocks is far too transparent in her desire for Sir Pitt’s money, unlike Becky, who excels at hiding her true ambitions and instead works first to win hearts and massage egos.

The Osbornes also make a reappearance in Chapter XLII. Just as money led Mr. Osborne to disown George when his son married the penniless Amelia, he still runs his family as if it were a business. Mr. Osborne has grown more dour and more desperate for status and money, as evidenced by his proposal to Miss Swartz, the wealthy young woman he once wanted George to marry. Maria Osborne almost loses her marriage over money. Her fiancé wants more money from her father, but her father refuses to alter the agreement. Both men see Maria only for her monetary worth to them: for Frederick, what she can bring, and for Osborne, what she costs him. Maria and Frederick eventually marry, but Maria worries because her husband has a higher social status. To make up for her low birth, she transforms into a snob who won’t associate with her own family, replicating the actions her father took when he cut off George for marrying Amelia. Jane is the only Osborne who isn’t motivated wholly by money, but she is ruled by her tyrannical father, as Mr. Osborne threatens to leave her without a shilling if she attempts to have a relationship of her own.

The novel takes a side trip to India, where Dobbin is stationed. He is sought after as a groom for Glorvina O’Dowd, but Dobbin, who never thinks of any woman but Amelia as a possible partner, doesn’t take her flirty behavior seriously until he learns that his sisters in England do. While the overzealous and obvious Glorvina may not be to Dobbin’s taste, Dobbin remains true to his idealized image of Amelia all these years. When Amelia gives Dobbin her blessing to marry Glorvina, he must finally confront the fact that she has never even regarded him as a person in his own right, let alone a potential husband. His love has only been a delusion since it was never possible. To Amelia, Dobbin’s only role is to serve her, and when Dobbin finally realizes this truth, it sends him into agonies. The whole underpinning of his adult life—his love of Amelia—threatens to crumble beneath him. Yet Dobbin is unable to forsake Amelia.

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