Rich, famous & fictional

Now a shorthand for ‘stinginess’, the character of Scrooge famously puts the pursuit of profit before people – and in the process, loses his sense of humanity in this enduring holiday classic.

Through some ghostly encounters, he undergoes a Yuletide transformation. As he sees the consequences of his greed, he reluctantly embraces the value of compassion and generosity. In the end, he chooses to use his money to help those in need.

In the ‘greed is good’ 1980s, Park Avenue yuppie Sherman McCoy makes a killing in bonds and other financial instruments as a Wall Street trader.

The author’s satirical critique of the financial culture of this gaudy and materialistic decade sees his protagonist blindly caught up in what he terms ‘money fever’.

However, Sherman’s life unravels when he and his mistress crash their car in the Bronx - and he recognises the stark divide between the wealthy elite and the lower socioeconomic classes in New York.
 

In 19th-century East Coast US society, Old Money clashes with the nouveau riche, as embodied by the ‘scandalous’ Ellen Olenska, who is separated from her husband. Unconventional, striving for independence, she disrupts the social morals of the time.

Ellen challenges the rigid values and expectations of the tight-knit milieu of established wealth – only to find her money supply cut off by disapproving relatives. Privilege, she finds, doesn’t only allow – or deny - access to inheritance but also to social networks
 

Although Elizabeth Bennet is the true heroine of this enduring favourite, the domineering, canny Lady de Bourgh plays a significant role, as she uses her wealth to exert influence on others in the story.

The daughter of an earl, she made a strategic marriage to a wealthy estate owner. During the Regency period, women couldn’t accept an inheritance from their fathers; they had to ‘marry rich’ to keep their aristocratic class and wealth.

Gatsby, the enigmatic bootlegger and romantic hero of Fitzgerald’s Prohibition-era America, is at the centre of this timeless novel.

This character lives obsessively for an imagined ‘tomorrow’, fixated on his vision of a future with the fickle and wealthy Daisy Buchanan. With his grand mansion, extravagant parties, stylish wardrobe and iconic yellow Rolls Royce, Gatsby spares no expense to capture and hold her attention.

Soon his financial situation is dire and he finds himself in serious debt. At the end, his stubborn refusal to acknowledge reality ultimately seals his fate and leads to his tragic demise.