The young Pitt Crawley finds a sweet wife who manages to earn the approval of Aunt Matilda, who never thought much of the older of Sir Pitt's sons. Sir Pitt, in the wake of his second wife's death, takes up with his butler's daughter, causing scandal at the household. Unfortunately, George dies in the Battle of Waterloo. Amelia worries about George, and Rawdon mourns having to leave Becky, but Becky seems unconcerned about her soon-to-be husband and instead appears to be developing a flirtation with George. When the husbands go off to fight, the general's wife takes care of the women who are left behind. The Duke of Wellington has declared war on Napoleon's army since all the men are in the military, everyone goes to Belgium to prepare for the war. George's father disowns him in response to Dobbin's efforts to get him to accept the marriage. George eventually agrees to marry Amelia, but just as his father predicted, the Sedleys come to financial ruin because of Mr. Dobbin, who is George's closest friend and who is also secretly in love with Amelia, begs him to treat her kindly. Meanwhile, Amelia pines over George, who disrespects and disregards her while he is in the military.

She admits begrudgingly to Sir Pitt that she agreed to marry Rawdon in secret, and everyone in the family is outraged when they hear this news. Becky once again ingratiates herself with the family and earns the particular affections of Sir Pitt and Rawdon, who both ask for her hand in marriage. They are all scheming for the inheritance of Aunt Matilda, who is ill. The Crawleys are a rather despicable bunch and nothing like what Becky suspected. Jos, humiliated, abandons home and Becky, furious with George, moves on to her job.

Becky nearly succeeds in arranging the marriage, until George, Amelia's love interest, steps in and convinces Jos he has behaved like a fool. She spends her time ingratiating herself with the Sedleys and wooing Amelia's brother Jos, an overweight, shy and vain tax collector on break from his job in India. Miss Pinkerton, utterly disgusted with Becky's behavior, sets her up in a governess position at the Crawley estate.īefore she takes her position, Becky spends a little over a week at Amelia's home. Becky Sharp, on the other hand, is sharp and scheming and emerges from an impoverished situation. Amelia is kind and innocent and comes from a family with money. Amelia and Becky are friends, but they are nothing alike. The novel opens at Miss Pinkerton's Academy for young women, where readers are introduced to Amelia and Becky, the novel's female protagonists.

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