The Dynamic Balance Between Family Affection and Market Rationality: The Viewpoint on Marriage and Family in Vanity Fair

Abstract

Vanity Fair is a classic work that portrays the life of the 19th-century British middle class and capitalist society. In contrast to contemporary writers who juxtapose the “affection”of the family against the “coldness” of the market, positioning the former as a moral bedrock and spiritual refuge, Thackeray adopts an equally critical stance toward family affection and market 
rationality, pointing out their intrinsic connection within the patriarchal society. On this basis, he proposes a viewpoint on marriage and family where market rationality compensates for the deficiencies of illusory emotions, and family affection repairs the destructed collective values. Most former studies have focused on the conflict between capitalism and the traditional ethics of marriage and family, neglecting their internal connections and mutual interactions. This article centers on the coordination, conflict, and complementation between marriage-family ethics and capitalist values in Vanity Fair, examining how Thackeray balances family affection with market rationality to formulate a middle-class viewpoint on marriage and family that is both realistic and forward-thinking.