A 19th century schemer remade for the present

CLASSICS MAY BE CLASSIC FOR A reason, but that doesn’t mean they age perfectly. In the 21st century, it seems impossible that marriage could satisfy the intellectual appetites of a whipsmart Jane Austen heroine, or that The Merchant of Venice could have been intended as a positive representation of Jews. Even thornier are stories whose entire moral architecture contradicts current values—like Vanity Fair.

Set during