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Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair

Chapter XXI · Chapter 21

Chapter 21 of Vanity Fair is here in full — 224 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

By William Makepeace Thackeray • Curated US English Learning Edition

Chapter 21 of Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray holds 224 sentences, grouped into 45 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.

What does chapter 21 of Vanity Fair contain?

Chapter 21 holds 224 sentences of Vanity Fair, unabridged, divided into 45 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 21 of Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 224 sentences, grouped into 45 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.

How do I study chapter 21 of Vanity Fair?

Work through the 45 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 45 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.

Can chapter 21 be read aloud to me?

Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 21 can be played aloud in United States English.

Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.

Questions about reading Vanity Fair

Common questions about reading Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of Vanity Fair?

Yes. All 13374 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #599 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of Vanity Fair is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #599, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does Vanity Fair take to read?

About 600 minutes of reading across 2675 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read Vanity Fair section by section

How to work through Vanity Fair section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

  1. Open a chapter

    Choose one of the 40 chapters of Vanity Fair to begin.

  2. Read one section

    Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.

  3. Listen and tap

    Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in Vanity Fair

Words and structures a reader meets early in Vanity Fair, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Chiswick
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Vanity Fair; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
While
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Vanity Fair; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Present
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Vanity Fair; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Century
A word that appears in the opening chapter of Vanity Fair; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Cover illustration for Vanity Fair
Context Illustration Reading 1/45 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
Widow and Mother
The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.
The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.
Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.
Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!
0:00 / 0:00
Speed 0.75x
AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

Vanity Fair

Chapter XXI · Chapter 21

Chapter 21 of Vanity Fair is here in full — 224 sentences across 45 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/45 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
Widow and Mother
Line 2
The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.
Line 3
The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.
Line 4
Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.
Line 5
Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!

Learner Dictionary

These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.

Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.

Same adjective US /seɪm/

Identical; not different.

From this reading “The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.”

Velmora curated lexicon
All words in this reading · 49

Every word is available to listen to. Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.

after

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.

Pending verification
all

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
and

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Widow and Mother

Pending verification
announcement

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.

Pending verification
at

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
battles

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
Bras

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
came

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.

Pending verification
can

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!

Pending verification
catalogue

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!

Pending verification
dread

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!

Pending verification
England

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
fear

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
fights

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
first

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
followed

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.

Pending verification
Gazette

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
glorious

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
great

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
intelligence

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
list

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.

Pending verification
Mother

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Widow and Mother

Pending verification
news

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
of

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
opened

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!

Pending verification
Particulars

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.

Pending verification
published

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
Quatre

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
reached

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
read

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!

Pending verification
result

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
sameadjectiveUS /seɪm/

Identical; not different.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Velmora curated lexicon
slain

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.

Pending verification
tell

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!

Pending verification
that

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!

Pending verification
The

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
then

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.

Pending verification
thrilled

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
time

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
triumph

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
two

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
victories

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.

Pending verification
was

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!

Pending verification
Waterloo

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The news of the great fights of Quatre Bras and Waterloo reached England at the same time.

Pending verification
which

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
Who

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Who can tell the dread with which that catalogue was opened and read!

Pending verification
Widow

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Widow and Mother

Pending verification
with

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading The Gazette first published the result of the two battles; at which glorious intelligence all England thrilled with triumph and fear.

Pending verification
wounded

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Particulars then followed; and after the announcement of the victories came the list of the wounded and the slain.

Pending verification