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Chapter 52
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Vanity Fair, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Greed and Ambition
Vanity
Social Class and Character
Gender
Inheritance and Family Life
Summary
Analysis
This isn’t Rawdon’s first time in debtor’s prison. He has had debts in the past and is on good terms with the man who runs the place because he’s always a polite prisoner. In fact, the prison is more like a house where Rawdon is a guest. Rawdon considers writing to Becky immediately but figures maybe it would be better to get some sleep first. Furthermore, he figures that the debt he owes isn’t that large. In the morning, a maid brings Rawdon breakfast and the daily paper.
Despite the ominous tone at the end of the previous chapter, this new chapter reveals that debtor’s prison might not actually be so bad, particularly for a frequent prisoner like Rawdy. The joke seems to be that, for someone with a taste for luxury like Rawdon, just staying in a normal house without lavish food and entertainment is like prison.
Themes
Rawdon writes Becky a letter explaining that he’s in debtor’s prison and asking her to send over the money he owes as soon as possible because the beds at the prison aren’t very clean. He waits for a long time, expecting Becky to come any minute. When she finally does write, she gives excuses for not coming, claims to be ill. She promises to have the money the next morning. The letter angers Rawdon, reawakening some of his old suspicions about Becky.
Becky’s slow answer suggests that, regardless of whether she played a role in getting Rawdon arrested, she now plans to take full advantage of his absence, making up excuses to delay getting him out. Once again, it’s humorous that Rawdon’s biggest complaint about his current prison is that the beds could be cleaner, suggesting the pampered lifestyle he’s lived.
Themes
Rawdon gives up on Becky and instead writes to Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane. After that, he sends a messenger to bring him more wine. Not long after, Lady Jane shows up, pays his bills, and takes him home. When Rawdon lets himself into his house, he hears laughter from upstairs. No servants are around—the only voices he hears are Becky singing and Lord Steyne encouraging her to continue.
Lady Jane seems to feel an affinity for Rawdon because they are both victims of Becky’s attempts to flirt with Pitt Crawley. Becky uses her singing as a way of flirting, so when all Rawdon hears is Becky singing and Lord Steyne laughing, he assumes that means that the two of them are having an affair.
Themes
Lord Steyne is just about to kiss Becky’s hand when Rawdon walks in on them. Becky immediately protests that she is innocent and asks Lord Steyne to confirm this for Rawdon. Lord Steyne himself, however, gets angry, saying that Becky can’t be innocent, since she’s wearing thousands of pounds worth of jewelry that he personally bought for her.
While Rawdon has seemingly caught Becky and Lord Steyne in the act of infidelity, he has also caught them doing something relatively tame, with Lord Steyne not even kissing Becky’s hand yet. While many clues suggest that the two of them were having an affair—including the borrowed jewels and the empty house—somehow yet again Becky manages to avoid getting caught.
Themes
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Lord Steyne storms out, expecting Rawdon to let him pass, but instead Rawdon hits him in the face and leaves him on the ground bleeding. Becky admires her husband’s strength. Rawdon tells her to take off all the jewelry Lord Steyne gave her, so she does. Rawdon himself takes a diamond necklace and throws it at Lord Steyne, resulting in an injury that will leave a scar on his forehead for the rest of his life.
As much as Becky thinks she wants a submissive husband, in fact, the moment when she admires Rawdon most is when he stands up for himself—perhaps reminding Becky of the man Rawdon used to be. The diamond necklace scar on Lord Steyne’s head is a visible marker of Lord Steyne’s low moral character—it is a constant reminder of how he tried to use that diamond necklace to buy Becky’s loyalty.
Themes
Rawdon demands that Becky give him all her keys so that he can search her possessions for more gifts from Lord Steyne. He finds some money and vows to finally pay Miss Briggs as well as some of his other debts. When Rawdon leaves the house, Becky feels certain he’ll never return. She wonders if Rawdon will kill himself—or if perhaps, she herself should kill herself. The French maid suddenly walks in on Becky and asks what happened. The narrator claims not to know what really happened between Becky and Lord Steyne and whether Becky was truly innocent.
Becky tries to seem like she’s being honest with Rawdon, but he calls her bluff and ends up discovering her hidden money. Seeing Becky with Lord Steyne is a transformative moment for Rawdon, as he realizes at last that he isn’t as desperate for material things as Becky is and that by following Becky, he has neglected his conscience recently. The money he pays Miss Briggs seems to be a way to make amends for his past greed behavior.
Themes
