Vanity Fair Study Guide

The novel opens with the Sedley's coach pulling up to Miss Pinkerton's academy for young girls to collect Amelia Sedley, daughter of the wealthy merchant John Sedley, and Becky Sharp, a boarder at the school. The headmistress, Barbara Pinkerton, writes a personal reference to the Sedleys, speaking highly of Amelia, who is a delightful person well deserving of Miss Pinkerton's praise. The entire staff and student body of the school are sad to see her go. The narrator states that Amelia Sedley is not the heroine of this novel, though she will appear a great deal later. (read more)