Life — July 27, 1905 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This is a portrait illustration titled "Becky Sharp" from "Life's Gallery of Heroines," a series featuring notable female characters. The figure is drawn in an elegant Edwardian style, seated and wearing a flowing white gown with ornate patterned sleeves, an elaborate upswept hairstyle with feathered decoration, and holding a small decorative bag. Becky Sharp is the central character from William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 novel *Vanity Fair*. She's portrayed as an ambitious, cunning social climber who uses charm and manipulation to advance herself. This series likely celebrated famous female literary characters for *Life* magazine readers. The illustration captures her as sophisticated yet calculating—fitting for a character whose name became synonymous with social ambition and moral flexibility in Victorian literature.