Vanity Fair

This book was very long, and I felt that it dragged along. I am sure I missed multiple nuances as I plowed through the 700+ pages. But one point was clear: Becky is manipulative, devious, and extremely two-faced. She is charming and sweet only when it meets her needs. She cares nothing for Amelia, and thinks nothing of flirting with George, her husband. Pushing Amelia together with Dobbin is not so much a good deed as an act of utter frustration.

The movie generally followed the storyline of the book. Reece Witherspoon did a wonderful job as Becky. The plot was somewhat simplified, and a bit easier to follow. But not once does it reveal Becky as a conniving plotter. Yes, she is a flirt, and knows how to charm. She does ignore her only son, but that is not made as obvious. The book implies she has loose morals with multiple men. But the movie shows her as taken aback when Count Steyne expects sexual favors in return for raising her up in society (not to mention paying her debts and giving her 1000 pounds) I expected a few low-down, knowing looks when she was hugging her husband, or some type of soliloquy to reveal the darkness inside her.

When she meets with Jos in the end, we never learn how horribly she uses him.

Although an entertaining film, it is not consistent with the intention of the author. Probably just as well that he is long dead.