Vanity Fair takes William Makepeace Thackeray's immortal, immoral heroine Becky Sharp and transplants her from London in the Napoleonic era to New York City during the years surrounding the Vietnam War. As the years pass from 1965 to 1985, Becky sees her fortunes rise and fall with the hemlines as she searches for wealth and social position. Becky’s cunning and guile are contrasted with the helpless innocence of her wealthy school chum, Amelia Sedley, who also sees her fortunes shift as she makes her way through the turbulent social upheaval of the times. In the end, both women manage to triumph and take their places among the rich, famous, and elite of New York’s high society: Vanity Fair.