Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair is an awe-inspiring historical drama series first aired by BBC in 1999. Adapted from the seminal William Makepeace Thackeray novel of the same name, the show boasts a brilliantly versatile cast including Natasha Little in a tour de force performance as the protagonist, Becky Sharp, and Frances Grey adorning the role of her best friend Amelia Sedley. The series display a grand nineteen-century backdrop, unfolding a coming of age story, and splashing a vivid tableau of socio-economic underpinnings of Victorian era England.

Primarily set against a backdrop of Regency England, in the midst of the Napoleonic wars, Vanity Fair paints a compelling picture of a society held captive by its own class divisions and pretensions. Thackeray's novel offered a sharp satire of this society, weaving a complex social tableau, and the series captures this with deft precision and impressive attention to detail. Scaled across 6 one-hour long episodes, the series unravels the captivating journey of a young, intelligent, and fiercely ambitious woman navigating spaces dominated predominantly by opulence, power play, and deception.

Central to the drama's narrative is the character of Becky Sharp, played with exceptional charm and complexity by Natasha Little. She is an impoverished orphan whose resilience, ambition, wit, and guile steer the course of her life against considerable odds. Becky is a socially ambitious English rose, striving to ascend the social rungs of her society, determined to succeed despite her low-born status. Her journey toward the glimmering heights of Victorian high society is beautifully captured, shedding light on the complexities and contradictions of her character, a compelling blend of ambition, charm, cunning, and occasional vulnerability.

Frances Grey, on the other hand, dons the role of Amelia Sedley, Becky’s close acquaintance from school who originates from an affluent, respectable family. A direct contrast to Becky, Amelia is simple, innocent, embracing traditional virtues, depicting a one-sided love for the dashing army officer George Osborne. Amelia's character, with its sincerity and warmth, offers a counterpoint to Becky's relentless social climbing, proving equally pivotal to the unfolding narrative.

Vanity Fair masterfully dissects the upper strata of society, their opulence, their virtues, vices, and their insulating vanity. The narrative's core lies in its depiction of these two women's lives as they navigate their way through London Society, threading a dense web of memorable supporting characters, replete with the rich, the poor, the kind, the cruel, the honourable, and the corrupt.

Profoundly, the show candidly reflects on the ritualised social mobility of the time, moral pretense, and the ultimate vanity of high society. It laces together elements of romance, betrayal, war, and high society politics, all the while shedding light on Becky's unapologetic will to end the chains of poverty, a feat that creates ripples in the traditionally stagnant waters of aristocracy.

The series hugely benefits from quality production design, successfully capturing the visual flamboyance of the early nineteenth century. It utilises beautiful period costumes, extravagant settings, and lush locations, all adding a significant layer of engagement and historical authenticity to the narrative. Each scene's aesthetic elegance is finely tuned, wrapped with meticulous settings and delightful cinematography, successfully drawing viewers into the period setting.

The experienced direction ensures that, alongside its visual opulence, the need for an emotional core and thematic depth is never undermined. The drama does not merely tell a tale of two women in a society fraught with social normative, but also communicates broader societal issues and the roles individuals play within it. The thoughtfully crafted episodes are laced with tonal shifts between drama and humor, underpinned by the underlying commentary on the societal hypocrisies of the time.

Aesthetically charming, dramaturgically rich, and profoundly impactful, Vanity Fair is more than just a historical remake. Its social examination wrapped in twenty-first-century sensibilities makes it universal and timelessly relevant, manifesting a richly deserved spot in the pantheon of BBC’s successful period dramas.

Natasha Little and Frances Grey, through their brilliant performances, breathe life into this classic narrative, ensuring that the world of Vanity Fair remains an engaging experience for viewers, a finely wrought tapestry of love, ambition, vanity, and survival in a society tightly bound by class and appearances. Providing sparkling entertainment while proportioning a slice of life from a critical historical period, Vanity Fair conveys an accepting message about the binds of society and one's strive towards freedom and fulfillment.