Although Rebecca is a merciless social climber, has abandoned her child, whom she hates, has destroyed Rawdon and will destroy Joseph, yet it is she who brings Amelia to her senses, and who realizes that the one true gentleman in the whole of Vanity Fair is Dobbin. After eavesdropping on William's talk with Amelia, Becky says to herself, "What a noble heart that man has, and how shamefully that woman plays with it . . . if I could have had such a husband as that — a man with a heart and brains too! I would not have minded his large feet . . ." Rebecca determines to help William's cause with Amelia. For once she acts unselfishly. When she has destroyed the memory of George for Amelia, she soothes and kisses her, a "rare mark of sympathy with Mrs. Becky." Rebecca also protects Amelia from the two ruffian friends who follow Rebecca and are intent on exploiting Amelia.
Thackeray explains why Becky does what she does: "She was of a wild, roving nature, inherited from father and mother, who were both Bohemians, by taste and circumstance . . . " Becky succeeds in establishing herself in Vanity Fair, at the cost of the lives of two men and the alienation of all her friends and family. She serves as a direct contrast to Amelia.
