Mid-Victorian literature was still somewhat orientated towards "young ladies literature" where the readership was morally sensitive.
Thackeray took a degree of risk in presenting a character such as Sharp, says Michael Schmidt, but he remained within boundaries, and whilst he was satirical, he broke no taboos.
Sharp, then, was a new phenomenon in Victorian fiction, which until Vanity Fair knew only of insipid heroines bound by convention or Smollett-esque grotesques.
Amelia herself was one of the former, but Sharp was an original creation.
Sharp has been called a "love to hate her and hate to love her" character, and this was radically different from previous representations of young women in literature.
Thackeray has been described as "radical" in making his heroine(s) not only female, but also one of them conventionally wicked in character yet sympathetic to the audience.

Sharp's way of intruding her life into that of others has led to comparisons by one scholar to other Victorian literary characters.
Both Joseph Conrad's Mr Vladmir in The Secret Agent, and in a comic rather than serious setting, Trollope's Mr Slope in Barchester Towers, play similar roles.
In a modern sense what made her dangerous to contemporary eyes was her ambition; women did not, in nineteenth-century England, climb the social ladder—at least, not in an obvious manner.

That Sharp survives, and at times, thrives, despite her moral ambiguity indicates that Thackeray believed society was no longer able to cure wrongdoing.
Sharp was, according to Hughes, "a measure of how debased society had come".
Sharp's machinations can only work within the world of Vanity Fair — and Victorian society more broadly — because vanity and artificiality make it susceptible to her.
Another plot device favoured by Victorian writers was that of children playing adult roles in society, and vice versa, and Sharp's comment that she had not been a girl since she was eight years' old has led to her being identified as one such "child-woman".

Vanity Fair was the first major novel to have a governess, whether a heroine or an anti-heroine, as its main character.
They had always been in the background, but Sharp was the first time a governess' ambitions to break out of her limited society were placed centre stage.
Sharp's orphan status reflected a common theme in writers of the period; as Kathryn Hughes notes, for Emily Morton from Amy Herbert, Charlotte Brontë's eponymous character from Jane Eyre, and Jane Fairfax from Emma, their positions as orphans are central to the books' subsequent plots.
Similarly central are their roles as governesses, but whereas for Emily and the two Janes it symbolised class distinctions and the gap between the governess and her employers, for Sharp it was a means of role reversal.

Unlike Jane Eyre, Sharp is aware of the ways of the world from a very young age.
Henkle suggests that Sharp, with her carefree and radical approach to social barriers, is symbolic of the change that Victorian society was undergoing in the mid-19th century.
There was greater fluidity than ever before as a result of the massively increased wealth among the middle class as  a result of the Industrial Revolution, and this fluidity allowed the courtesan to flourish in the Regency era.

The events portrayed in Vanity Fair are described by narration, but the narrator is uninterested in Sharp's thoughts, only her actions.
For example, when she goes to bed wondering whether Jos will call on her the next morning, the very next sentence informs us that he did.
What Sharp thought, in the meantime, is deemed irrelevant to the reader's enjoyment and understanding of the novel.
However, although the Narrator repeatedly draws attention to Sharp's immoralities, he does recognise that her behaviour reflects the hypocrisy of the world — "that has, perhaps, no particular objection to vice, but an insuperable repugnance to hearing vice called by its proper name".
Writes Montz, "Becky Sharp is artificial because she chooses to be so: the reader never sees any sign that there is a real Becky beneat
Mid-Victorian literature was still somewhat orientated towards "young ladies literature" where the readership was morally sensitive. Thackeray took a degree of risk in presenting a character such as Sharp, says Michael Schmidt, but he remained within boundaries, and whilst he was satirical, he broke no taboos. Sharp, then, was a new phenomenon in Victorian fiction, which until Vanity Fair knew only of insipid heroines bound by convention or Smollett-esque grotesques. Amelia herself was one of the former, but Sharp was an original creation. Sharp has been called a "love to hate her and hate to love her" character, and this was radically different from previous representations of young women in literature. Thackeray has been described as "radical" in making his heroine(s) not only female, but also one of them conventionally wicked in character yet sympathetic to the audience.
Sharp's way of intruding her life into that of others has led to comparisons by one scholar to other Victorian literary characters. Both Joseph Conrad's Mr Vladmir in The Secret Agent, and in a comic rather than serious setting, Trollope's Mr Slope in Barchester Towers, play similar roles. In a modern sense what made her dangerous to contemporary eyes was her ambition; women did not, in nineteenth-century England, climb the social ladder—at least, not in an obvious manner. 
That Sharp survives, and at times, thrives, despite her moral ambiguity indicates that Thackeray believed society was no longer able to cure wrongdoing. Sharp was, according to Hughes, "a measure of how debased society had come". Sharp's machinations can only work within the world of Vanity Fair — and Victorian society more broadly — because vanity and artificiality make it susceptible to her. Another plot device favoured by Victorian writers was that of children playing adult roles in society, and vice versa, and Sharp's comment that she had not been a girl since she was eight years' old has led to her being identified as one such "child-woman".
Vanity Fair was the first major novel to have a governess, whether a heroine or an anti-heroine, as its main character. They had always been in the background, but Sharp was the first time a governess' ambitions to break out of her limited society were placed centre stage. Sharp's orphan status reflected a common theme in writers of the period; as Kathryn Hughes notes, for Emily Morton from Amy Herbert, Charlotte Brontë's eponymous character from Jane Eyre, and Jane Fairfax from Emma, their positions as orphans are central to the books' subsequent plots. Similarly central are their roles as governesses, but whereas for Emily and the two Janes it symbolised class distinctions and the gap between the governess and her employers, for Sharp it was a means of role reversal.
Unlike Jane Eyre, Sharp is aware of the ways of the world from a very young age. Henkle suggests that Sharp, with her carefree and radical approach to social barriers, is symbolic of the change that Victorian society was undergoing in the mid-19th century. There was greater fluidity than ever before as a result of the massively increased wealth among the middle class as  a result of the Industrial Revolution, and this fluidity allowed the courtesan to flourish in the Regency era.
The events portrayed in Vanity Fair are described by narration, but the narrator is uninterested in Sharp's thoughts, only her actions. For example, when she goes to bed wondering whether Jos will call on her the next morning, the very next sentence informs us that he did. What Sharp thought, in the meantime, is deemed irrelevant to the reader's enjoyment and understanding of the novel. However, although the Narrator repeatedly draws attention to Sharp's immoralities, he does recognise that her behaviour reflects the hypocrisy of the world — "that has, perhaps, no particular objection to vice, but an insuperable repugnance to hearing vice called by its proper name". Writes Montz, "Becky Sharp is artificial because she chooses to be so: the reader never sees any sign that there is a real Becky beneat
Becky Sharp