The Motivations of Becky Sharp's Social Mobility in Vanity Fair

摘要

Vanity Fair reveals a degenerating era when different social groups are only interested in wealth, prestige and power. Giv-en this background, social mobility increases among the aristocracy, the rising bourgeoisie and the proletariat. In this novel, it is ob-vious that the most impressive character Becky Sharp is from the lower class and experiences the social mobility in her life. This pa-per explores the motivations of Becky Sharp's social mobility corresponding with Max Weber's three-component theory of stratifi-cation. The research methods are based on analyzing congenital factors, acquired factors and psychological factors.