“Becky Said” – “Cried Amelia”: a Metaphonological Analysis of Speeches in "Vanity Fair"

The paper wishes to analyse the representation of women from a quite unexplored point of view: that of metaphonology, namely how direct speech is introduced, or described, by the narrator, as it is actually interesting to see how women’s speech was rendered in an era when their silence was most cherished. Thackeray’s Vanity Fair offers good material to work on as it presents two different kinds of woman: the submissive ‘womanly woman,’ Amelia, and the outgoing ‘new woman,’ Rebecca. I aim at discussing how the way in which female characters speak helps in outlining their role in the novel and their attitude towards society.