The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-06

.I the passing of the bitter years sore Iy regret her sons estrhngement from her, and the complete banishment from his circle? q Can anything be more terrible than a childish old age bereft of the sweet ties of friend ship and of blood.
 Poor, stupid Rawdon was pathetic; but let us recall that it was he who finished his wife's education in dupli- city by four years experience in lur- ing young men to his card tables in Paris. Thackery with artistic and in- sight, in time notes out Rawdon's reck oning. He helps Beckie to dupe others and was in time, duped him self. They find themselves again up- on English soil better influences pre- vail,. and Rawdon, the erstwhile blacixieg and rake, waxes, portly. pro- per and proud. He, however, continu- ed fieecing the young men who fre- ouented their house and Beckie did her share. and more. in keeping up the expenses of their establishment by levying upon her men friends. no- tably the great Lord Steyne. Thus her doings were greatly Of her nus bands teaching, and she was no more degraded than he. It was the same old story of different moral standards for the sexes. What men do with im- punity cannot even be considered by a woman if she values her safety. Dreadful things are so much more dreadful when women do them.
 Thackery takes care that no genu- finely sensible and good person comes near enough to Beckie to permanent ly influence her. Had she met with one wise, friend. she might not have been the heroine of Vanity Fair. But &&a nFtlU aaIdahnAlS stupidity and knavery in all her sur roundings. Meet. this with frankness and honesty? Ahf no: she knew a flick worth two of that and she pro- ceeded to light her battles with the weapons supplied her by birth and experience and gave back to the world what she saw in 1t.
 Character is destiny! Vanity Far breaches this from every pages per haps a little too insistently and con- sciously. Thackery does not allow his characters to speak for them selves, but breaks the thread Of his narrative to discourse about them. At times these digressions are interest ing; at others, tiresome, and are on the whole the gravest artistic fault of the work. Despite this, and his evident dislike of Beckie, she is con ceded to be the greatest creation in Enelish fiction. No other heroine good or bad. occupies her unequalled position. We thfpk of her as a real person--the cleverest, most artful per son we know. She shoots into the Armament as a meteor and dazzles us with her brilliancy. We deplore. but we do not despise though uncovered we are captivated; we applaud and al- most stoop to defend her. Beckie, as a creation is great in every sense. Persons unacquainted with letters, know what Beclxie Shafpe stands for. How many of these same persons could tell who Dora Copperfield. or Romola, or Amy Robsart were. They may not know Florence Dombey or Beatrix Osmond, but the chances are they have heard of Beckie, and thus she becomes more than a character in a book. She is Beckie Sharp and vanity Fair is the stage she treads. So entirely is she the dominant figure of it that the book could well have borne her name.
 Thackery meant to hold up social viper and preach sermon, instead he draws a masterpiece. He tolls to show up Beckie's bad character, and through her ridicules Eng1ishh socie- ty. He mercilessly whips the proud bigwigs and sham aristocracy over her shoulders and makes them her dupes. Thus the character in his hands becomes figurative and Is the cudge with which he belabors all pretentious society and holds up social fabric.
 "Ah! vanitas, vanitatuml Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire or having 1t, is sat- isfed?"
 Our willy Beckie played e losing hand from the beginning, and across her erring, wasted and brilliant ca- reer we read flashed in letters of light the words-Character is Destinyl
 Laura J. Stern.