名利场被认为是萨克雷最著名的小说，它一经出版就引起了人们的关注，尤其是两位女主人公的命运。通过刻画两位女主人公的性格特点，名利场探索了妇女的生存状态和地位。这篇论文通过阅读文本以及探究维多利亚时代的妇女的教育和文化状况，旨在研究作为维多利亚妇女的爱米丽亚作为家庭偶像而蓓基夏普作为海妖的女性角色的命运。她们的鲜明性格特点代表了她们追寻的不同类型的生存方式。她们的理念和行为也反映了作者对女性的矛盾心态。论文有三部分组成，第一章主要是通过她们对待不同的人和事的态度以及她们的内心世界，分析探索她们不同的价值观，对爱米丽亚和蓓基夏普的独立性这一性格特点作一分析对比。第二章在维多利亚理念的背景下探讨通这两位女主角的对爱的不同态度，进一步阐述维多利亚时期理想女性的特点和妇女的美德。第三章主要分析了作者创作两位女主人公的缘由。通过研究萨克雷在小说中的评论和描述，这项研究旨在揭示他对两种女性的矛盾心态。论文指出，两位女主角的经历表现出作者的不同的态度, 也反映了维多利亚时期的妇女观。艾米利亚的被动和顺从吸引了男人，而她的依赖性却不为他们喜爱。蓓基夏普的独立和聪慧也使不少人为之倾倒，她的没心没肺却让男士望而却步。正是通过爱米利亚和蓓基夏普的经历揭示了女性对待社会的态度。萨克雷没有解决女性问题的良药。通过对两类不同类型女性的性格特点的刻画，萨克雷使两位女主角引起了公众的关注并把他对女性的矛盾心理展现在读者面前，赋予了小说深刻的社会和现实意义。

Vanity Fair was regarded as Thackeray’s the most famous novel. When it was published it arouses many people’s attention especially to the two prominent heroines’ fate. Through the delineation of the two heroines’ characteristics, the novel explores the living situation and the position of women. This thesis is an attempt to study its female characters of Amelia Sedley as Domestic Angel and Becky Sharp as siren by means of close reading of the novel and careful examination of the economic and cultural context in the Victorian times. Their distinguish characteristics represent different ways of life they search for and their ideas and performances reflect the novelist’s ambivalent attitudes towards women.First, this thesis compares and contrasts the two heroines’ independence in the terms of their way of life, attitude and treatment of people and psychological factors. Second, their attitudes to love are discussed in the context of Victorian ideal, including the concept of the ideal women and women’s virtue in Victorian times. Third, the reason why Thackeray created the two heroines is investigated. Through studying his comments and descriptions in the novel, this study is to reveal his ambivalent view on the two kinds of women.The thesis concludes that the two heroines’ experiences display different attitudes of the author and show the Victorian value of women. Amelia’s passiveness and submissiveness attract men but her dependence bores people. Becky’s independence and cleverness is greatly appealing to men but her hardheartedness horrifies men. It is through Amelia and Becky’s experiences that the author discloses the fate of the women dealing with the society. Although Thackeray is unable to solve the women problems of his time, through his characterization of Amelia and Becky, he succeeds in arousing public attention to the two heroines and expresses his contradictory opinions on women. This endows the novel with a deep social and realistic importance.