First comes Bunyan, then comes Thackeray...
"Though the name Vanity Fair comes from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Thackeray uses the concept in a very different way from Bunyan. For Bunyan, Vanity Fair comprises all the worldly activities which distract the Christian from salvation and lead to damnation; they are vanities for this reason. At risk is the Christian's immortal soul.
The phrase "vanity fair" came to mean "a place where all is frivolity and empty show; the world or a section of it as a scene of idle amusement and unsubstantial display" (the Oxford English Dictionary or OED ). For Thackeray, everyone lives in Vanity Fair or society; vanity has become the desire for society's approval and rewards; the individual seeks, not spiritual salvation, but the rewards of this world–success, status, and wealth. "
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/novel_19c/thackeray/index.html#discuss
If the shoe fits...but still the same thing is at risk, even if people try to pretend it away...
If Becky Thatcher were around today, she'd be right up there with Perky Katie Couric.
Interesting...