One of the general effects of hero-worship is its tendency to marshal resentment in those who claim themselves no party to the admiration. A good example of this offers itself at the opening of Vanity Fair - 'A Novel without a Hero' - when the single-minded Becky Sharp, high in a coach bound for Russell Square, flings a copy of Johnson's Dictionary out of the window to land on the grass at the feet of her former teacher, a sworn disciple of the Great Lexicographer. 'So much for the Dictionary,' says Becky Sharp as the carriage pulls away, 'and, thank God, I'm out of Chiswick.'

LRB 5 October 2000 | PDF Download