u/Amanda39

Welcome to our penultimate discussion of Vanity Fair!

Chapter 57: Eothen

Amelia's mother dies, and Amelia focuses on caring for her father.

Jos and Dobbin have returned from India. Jos is as pompous and oblivious as ever, while Dobbin is still madly in love with Amelia. Incidentally, I've decided to drink whenever I see the word "mustachios," so this recap's gonna get real incoherent real quick. Dobbin was sick on the way over, but as soon as he found out that Amelia wasn't getting married he got better, so I guess that was psychosomatic or something.

Chapter 58: Our Friend the Major

Now that they're in England, Dobbin wants to rush to Amelia as soon as possible, but Jos wants to take his time and eat and sleep, so the two of them part ways. Amelia and her father are out when Dobbin arrives, but the Clapps fill him in on everything that's happened, and then Polly Clapp takes him out to find Amelia. Amelia bursts into tears when she sees Dobbin, invites him to tea, and then spends the entire visit telling him about Georgy.

Chapter 59: The Old Piano

The news of Jos's return really affects Mr. Sedley. He tries to get all his business paperwork in order, thinking Jos will care, and loses sleep over the grief that his wife isn't there to see him. Of course, Jos is an ass, and a letter arrives stating that he's too tired from the journey to visit them. In Jos's defense, he doesn't know that Mrs. Sedley is dead. Also in Jos's defense, when he does visit them, he offers to let Amelia and Mr. Sedley live with him.

Amelia takes the piano with her when she moves. Dobbin is delighted, until he realizes that she thinks George was the one who bought it for her. He doesn't say anything, but his reaction causes her to realize that he was the one who bought it. This initially causes the piano to lose all value to her, but then she feels guilty, so she apologizes to Dobbin, making it clear that she values his friendship, although it can never be more than friendship.

Chapter 60: Returns to the Genteel World

Amelia moves into Jos's new house, and therefore moves up in the world. Miss Osborne starts visiting her, although George Sr. still refuses to speak to her. Georgy bonds with Dobbin.

Chapter 61: In Which Two Lights are Put Out

The chapter opens with Mr. Sedley passing away, but he's quickly forgotten about and we move on to Osborne, who has gotten to know Dobbin and is becoming more forgiving about his son as a result. The chapter closes, bookended by Osborne's death. He's left half his property to Georgy.

Chapter 62: Am Rhein

Alright, everyone, we're going to Germany for some reason! I'm so sorry, I know I should be taking this more seriously, but this is around the point where my brain stopped working. I'm going to blame seasonal allergies, Thackeray for being boring, and Jos Sedley's mustachios for getting me drunk. We get some prime examples of Thackeray's wit, as he calls German nobles "Transparencies" (a literal translation of the German for "Your Highness," according to my book's notes) and claims that there are places in Germany called "Pumpernickel" and "Humbourg-Schlippenschloppen."

Oh, either I've had one too many mustachio sightings, or Thackeray himself shows up in this chapter and just kind of chills with Dobbin. So that's... kind of weird.

Chapter 63: In Which We Meet an Old Acquaintance

At a festival, Georgy sees a masked blonde woman playing roulette. In case you didn't immediately figure out her identity, Thackeray of course describes her as "little." I swear, every time Thackeray calls Becky "little," my mental image of her gets tinier. By now, she's basically one of those "chibi" anime characters. (Meanwhile, Jos continually gets bigger and more mustachio'd.)

Jos meets the masked gambler, who asks him if he gambles. (I'll admit that I laughed when Jos replied "I put down a nap or two" and Becky asked if he meant a nap after dinner.) Jos then realizes who he's talking to, and that's the cliffhanger that we'll end this week on.