chapter1 of sister carrie
美国文学Sister-Carrie英文PPT课件
Chas.H.Drouet:
agood clothes; daring;
kindly familiarity
Caroline Meeber: bright; timid;
full of the illusions ; ignorance; youth
Sister Carrie
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Sister Carrie (1900) is a novel by Theodore Dreiser . ❖ It has been called the "greatest of all American urban novels." ❖ A masterwork of realism
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Words Characteristic
❖ using lots of words to discribe the environment and human inside that to form the characters.
❖ the Naturalism of Theodore Dreiser
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Carrie(a country girl)
Charles H. Drouet(traveling salesman)
live together; mistress(情妇)
George W. Hurstwood (resort manager)
mistress; Eloping（私奔）
famous actress 3
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Plot Summary
❖ Dissatisfied with life in her rural Wisconsin home, 18-year-old Caroline Meeber(sister carrie)（P139） takes the train to Chicago, where her older sister Minnie, and her husband Sven Hanson, have agreed to take her in. On the train, Carrie meets Charles Drouet(P146), a traveling salesman, who is attracted to her because of her simple beauty and unspoiled manner. They exchange contact information and both off the train.
sister carrie 嘉丽妹妹汇总
The last paragraph is a good summary to Carrie’s life.
It is when the feet weary and hope seems vain that the heartaches and the longings arise. Know, then, that for you is neither surfeit nor content. In your rocking-chair, by your window dreaming, shall you long, alone. In your rocking-chair, by your window, shall you dream such happiness as you may never feel. 只有等到走酸了双脚，仿佛没有了希望，才会产生心痛和 焦虑。那么要知道，你既不会嫌多，也不会知足的。坐在 你的摇椅里，靠在你的窗户边梦想，你将独自渴望着。坐 在你的摇椅里，靠在你的窗户边，你将梦想着你永远不会 感受到幸福。
03 Character Analysis
The last paragraph is a good summary to Carrie’s life.
Oh, Carrie, Carrie! Oh, blind strivings of the human heart! Onward, onward, it saith, and where beauty leads, there it follows. Whether it be the tinkle of a lone sheep bell o'er some quiet landscape, or the glimmer of beauty in sylvan places, or the show of soul in some passing eye, the heart knows and makes answer, following. 啊，嘉莉呀，嘉莉！啊，人心盲目的追求！向前，向前， 它催促着，美走到哪里，它就追到哪里。无论是静悄悄的 原野上寂寞的羊铃声，还是田园乡村中美的闪耀，还是过 路人眼中的灵光一现，人心都会明白，并且作出反应，追 上前去。
sister carrie 嘉莉妹妹
Plot Summary
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The analysis of main characters
Caroline Meeber
Charles H. Drouet
George W. Hurstwood
Caroline Meeber
-----“北漂” and “小三”
1. A young dream chaser 2. Immature: both in career and love 3. Symbolizes the people who wants to find a job in big cities nowadays
Mother: from a farming community; illiterate and
earnest; a Christian；even-tempered and good natured.
Brothers/Sisters: drift into drunkness, promiscuity
1947: The Stoic «斯多葛» , published after his death
(The protagonist: Frank Cowperwood, a businessman, his experience from success to failure)
• Dust jacket of early edition of An American Tragedy, published by Horace Liveright's Boni & Liveright, 1926
• Kyra Markham (1891–1967) was an actress, figurative painter and printmaker.
The Summary of Sister Carrie
Carrie, a pure girl from a little village, in order to seek for her dream, boarded the train for Chicago . On the train, he met a man, a salesman, who opened the door to the bi city life for her. Under the temptation of beautiful clothes, big houses and clear dishes, she surrendered. She became the salesman’s girl friend. However, when better temptation came, she surrendered again. She fleed with hotel manager, a manager of a bar who just got a large amount of money. They did have s short period of happy life in New York. But latter on, the hotel manager used up all the money and Carrie became a famous star. She didn’t want others to know her past, so the vain girl left the hotel manager. With no money, no affection from his former lover—Carrie, the hotel manager totally broke down. He finally committed a suicide.
Analysis of sister carri1行行哈哈哈
Analysis of sister carrie ’characteristicIntroduction：SISTER CARRIE is a novel by Theodore Dreiser. It was first printed in 1900 but publication was held up until 1912 because its realism and alleged immorality were judged likely to give offense. The book is talk about a young country girl who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream by first becoming a mistress to men that she perceives as superior and later as a famous actress. This novel deeply influenced later 20th-century writers, it has been called the "greatest of all American urban novels." Living in a poor and intensely religious family,Dreiser had a very unhappy childhood.A world of jungle where "kill or to be killed" was the law can be found in Dreiser's fictions.In Sister Carrie Dreiser expressed his naturalistic pursuit by expounding the purposelessness of life and attacking the conventional moral standards. Sister Carrie best embodies Dreiser's naturalistic belief that while men are controlled and conditioned by heredity, instinct and chance,a few extraodinary and unsophisticated human beings refuse to accept their fate wordlessly and instead strive,unsuccessfully,to find meaning and purpose for their existence.Carrie,as one of such,senses that she is merely a cipher in an uncaring world yet seeksgrasp the mysteries of life and thereby satisfies her desires for social status and material comfort.II outline: Main PlotThe novel begins with Carrie boarding a train for Chicago. She is going to live with her sister in the city and find a job there. Things do not work out well, so when Charles H. Drouet, a salesman, offers to look after her, She accepts his offer. Carrie finds her life with Charles quite pleasing, he buys her new clothes and Charles her to the theatre. But when Carrie meets Drouet‘s friend, George W. Hurstwood, she finds him more elegant and becomes engaged to Hurstwood too，is a wealthy man with a good reputation who makes a bad decision that forces him to leave Chicago in haste. By telling a lie he manages to take Carrie with him and together they go to New York.Carrie is a woman who wants a good home and money to buy the things she wants, so when George does not live up to her expectations, she leaves him. Carrie manages to establish a career and a name as an actress while George becomes unemployed and poor.At last,he was died.Backbrand：Sister Carrie first edition 1900. The publishers kept the cover intentionally bland in order not to promote what was seen as a controversial work In the history of American literary naturalism, Theodore Dreiser is one of the most outstanding novelists in the early twentieth century. Coming from the bottom of the society, Dreiser is the first one to describe the real American citizen life. He is called pioneer of American contemporary fiction and is thought to be the great master of American realism.In Dr eiser’s novels, he discards “the genteel tradition”, which was very popular at the time. On the contrary, he dares to depict the life as it is and discover the dark side of the social life, bravely attacking the traditional moral standard of America. The characters in his novels mostly come from the bottom of the society, and during their degeneration driven by their selfish interests and vanities. They are also deeply influenced by the privileges and limitations of the social class. That leads to their misfortunes at last.This thesis chooses Sister Carrie as an object of study. First it depicts the American literature background at that time and the author himself. Then it mainly analyzes the character of the heroine to depict a real American social life i n the late 1890’s, especially those of poor people’s lives from struggling, fighting to failing for their so-called “American Dreams”. At last, the article points out the most important resource resulting in the tragedies: the American social system，Dreiser often depicts the real life ,discovers the dark side of the social life,and attacks the traditional moral standard of America. The characters in his novels mostly come from the bottom of the society, and during their degeneration driven by their selfish interests and vanities He is good at employing the journalistic method of reiteration to burn a central impression into the reader’s mind.The Feature of Sister Carrie：hopeful , innocence，vainglorious,vain，immoral，ambitiousVainglorious, vainDuring her life in the city. she lives with two men as their mistress. They give her the material things she desires. Her judgement in selecting men is based on their appearance and not on their character. Finally, she is without support and forced to make it on her own. superficial, hypocritical：She measures men’s worth in direct proportion to their ability to provide her with the food, shelter, clothing, and pleasures. ambitious：The first day when she is working in the factory, “she felt, as she could hardly endure such a life. Her idea work had been entirely different. The above description about Carrie indicates that Carrie, unlike other ordinary new comers from countryside whose aim is only to find a job to earn bread, she also was wishful to get respected job which can offer her high salary andsocial position.The introduction character s:Caroline Meeber. Carrie, a young woman from rural Wisconsin; the protagonist (主演).Minnie Hanson, Carrie's dour elder sister who lives in Chicago and puts her up on arrival.a humbledisgraceful housewife . Sven Hanson, Minnie's husband, of Swedish extraction and taciturn temperament.Charles H. Drouet, an obliging traveling salesman. Carrie meets on the train to Chicago.George W. Hurstwood, a well-to-do, sophisticated man who manages Hannah and Hogg's resort. A promising , affectionately manJulia Hurstwood, George's strong-willed,social-climbing wife.The Them e; Materialism,Exploration of human desire & revelation of the dark side of humannature The theme is primarily personified through: I.Carrie, with her desire for a fine home, clothes and everything else money can buy. II.Hurstwood, a man with a respectable life and money, who still wants more and for that reason commits a crime.III.The city, also a place of materialism, is a place that offers all kinds of amusements, pleasures and things to buy, but to participate in what the city has to offer one has to have money. exploration of human desire & revelation of the dark side of human natureI.One of the desires is for money which was a motivating purpose of life in the United States in the late l9th century.II.Sex is another human desire that Dreiser explored to considerable lengths in his novels to reveal the dark side of human nature.III.Human desires in life are there like a powerful "magnetism" governing human existence and reducing human beings to nothing. Enlightenment of Sister Carrie:Nowadays` society is also a merchandise society , equally full of material temptations. Many young people view money as the sole pursuit .This phenomenon is very disturbing. It causes us to think about these questions :How should we live in the world ? What is your ideal life ? What should we pursue ?。
嘉莉妹妹(Sister Carrie)简介
嘉莉妹妹(Sister Carrie)简介：`When a girl leaves her home at eighteen, she does one of two things. Either she falls into saving hands and becomes better, or she rapidly assumes the cosmopolitan standard of virtue and becomes worse.'The tale of Carrie Meeber's rise to stardom in the theatre and George Hurstwood's slow decline captures the twin poles of exuberance and exhaustion in modern city life as never before. The premier example of American naturalism, Dreiser's remarkable first novel has deeply influenced such key writers as William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Saul Bellow, and Joyce Carol Oates. This edition uses the 1900 text, which is regarded as the author's final version.小说描写了农村姑娘嘉莉来到大城市芝加哥寻找幸福，为摆脱贫困，出卖自己的贞操，后又凭美貌与歌喉成为歌星的故事。
作家娴熟地运用自然主义的创作手法，使作品具有极强的社会表现力。
小说的故事真正情节是这样的：嘉莉是个俊俏的农村姑娘，她羡慕大都市的物质生活来到了芝加哥谋生。
Sister Carrie(英文原著)
Sister CarrieTheodore Dreiser is one of the most influential American writers of critical realism, but many of his works referred to the description of naturalism and weakened his critical spirit. When most novels deal only with the smiling and beautiful aspects of life, Dreiser advocates truthful reflection of life in his fiction. It is not an exaggeration to say that Dreiser's Sister Carrie clears the way for the development of American fiction. In Sister Carrie Dreiser details the relationship among reason, free will and instinct: When humans' instinct and reason are at war, the former prevails over the latter in most instances; humans' free will is mostly an illusion and submits to humans' instinct.Theodore Dreiser is regarded as an outstanding representative of American naturalism. In this thesis, Dreiser’s first novel Sister Carrie is taken as an example to analyze the features of Dreiser’s naturalism. The thesis referred to three great historical and cultural background of the novel which are Darwinism, Determinism. American Naturalism and Consumerism. Meanwhile the thesis analyzes three features of naturalism. At last, we can draw the conclusion that the leading character of the novel-Carrie’s destiny h as a great connection with Dreiser himself and the decline of Hurstwood is a result of Dreiser’s fear of failure, but Dreiser attributes Carrie and Hurstwood’s unhappiness to their insatiable desire for life or they are doomed to be unhappy etc, and from w hich we can see Dreiser’s naturalism easily.“Sitting in the rocking chair, Carrie dreams her future”---this is the deep impression the novel Sister Carrie gives me, sending me into a mournful and thoughtful state. Though Carrie, the heroine, a pure girl from a little village, was born in a working family of a flour mill. Far more different from other heroines, Carrie was not a plain pure angel like Snow-white, nor was she brave enough to be a heroine of revolutionist or even a reformer, nor was she so clever as to be a successful career woman who start from scratch. she yearns for the luxurious life in a big city. Ambitious as a girl like her, she goes to Chicago with a surge of being rich. What attracted her most, after her entering this huge metropolis was the incredible fineries, fashion shoes, smart handbags displaying in the shop windows, the jewellery shining brightly behind the glass. She dreamed that one day, she could wear all of these, jogging gracefully into the most luxurious hotel with focused sights of admiration.On the train, he met a man, Derouet, who opened the door to the gorgeous city lifefor her . Under the temptation of beautiful clothes, magnificent houses and rarefied dishes, she surrendered. She became Derouet’s girl friend. H owever ,when better temptation came, she surrendered again. She eloped with Hurstwood, a manager of a groggery who just got a large amount of money. They did have s short period of happy life in New York. But latter on , Hurstwood used up all the money and Carrie became a famous star. She did not want others to know her past,so the vain girl left Hurstwood. With no money, no affection from his former lover—Carrie, Hurstwood totally broke down. He finally committed a suicide.To some extend, she had loved Hurstwood. But when love met her ideal life, she had to discard it. Her love to Hurstwood was based on money and social status. Her experience of struggling for better life made her lose the ability to love. At last , Carrie succeeded. She owned what she dreamed of , money ,social status, luxurious houses and beautiful clothese. She was the focus. However , she owned all this at the cost of losing herself. This was all her life.I don't think it is all Carrie's fault ,because everyone love beautiful things and better life,especially girls..All girls have the same dream of becoming a shining princess with others' adoration.Carrie didn't do it on purpose.In the pursuit of money,social status and her dreams,she had give up something she had already pared with her dreaming life,she close to abandon her so called"love".We can't say that she was cold blooded or hardhearted,she was just an ordinary girl who lost herself under the temptation of gorgeous material things.Her love to Hurstwood was based on money and social status.Her experience of struggling for better life made her lost the ability to love and the true happiness...She long for happiness,but she realized that she never get it,just as it reads"In your rocking chair,by your window,shall you dream such happiness as you may never feel".Carrie is the embodiment of the typical Americans who are morally adrift in the brutal, unprincipled and materialistic world. Losing themselves in the world of benefit-first, market-directed economy, most Americans at that period run after fortune and fame all their lives, considering little about their moral ones. The current situation in China is the same. Students study for the sake of plump wallets, doctors work for the purpose of “red envelope” given by the help less patients, and more similar to Carrie, young ladies, in order to live a sumptuous life, dream of marrying handsome and rich men or even become the other women of wealthy men.Such a phenomenon reflects the prevalence of mammonism in our materialsociet y. Do their pursuits of fortune make sense? I don’t think so. Like Carrie, when these worldly people get what they want at last, most of them come to realize that their lives are empty. As far as I am concerned, what the author manages to tell us is the virtue of life. Chasing after high-quality and high-standard life is of no blame, but it should not be the ultimate goal of life. One ought to live a meaningful life, with a confidant or confidante, with a happy family and his or her responsibilities and obligation. Totally different from this spiritual-and-material life, the hotel manager Hurstwood only lives in the corporeal world. Neither has he had a family nor taken up his job. What he simply owns are a house and a woman and what he has done is only showing off his fortune.As time went by, she realized that it was bubble. She longed for happiness but she knew she could never get it. “In your rocking chair, by your window,shall you dream such happiness as you may never feel.” This was the author gave to Carrie.。
《嘉莉妹妹》中嘉莉的性格分析
An Analysis of the Personalities of Sister Carriein Sister Carrie《嘉莉妹妹》中嘉莉的性格分析摘要《嘉莉妹妹》是美国小说家西奥多·德莱塞的第一部长篇小说, 嘉莉妹妹是文中的主角，作品揭露出一位在现实社会生活中温柔，善良，美丽的社会乡村少女在资本主义社会环境中转变成为独立，自信，聪明，优雅，有内涵的新女性，刚开始嘉莉妹妹把自己的希望寄托在男性身上，结果自己遭受了两次欺骗，到后来她认识到只有通过自己的努力才能改变自己的命运。
最终她通过自己努力和才能登上百老汇红五星舞台，成为一名大都市独立的新型女性。
本文旨在通过对嘉莉妹妹的性格分析，使读者清楚地认识到成为一名新时代的独立的女性，不能把希望依赖于别人，只有通过自己的努力才可以实现自我的价值，并最终取得成功。
同时新时代的女性首先应该在经济上独立，从而获得人格上的独立，赢得别人的尊重，而嘉莉妹妹正是通过依靠自己才成为了一名经济独立，而又有自信和内涵的新女性。
关键词：嘉莉妹妹；性格分析；性格形成原因；作者写作目的AbstractSister Carrie is written by American Theodore Dreiser. Sister Carrie is leading role. In the works, Sister Carrie is described as a gentle, kind-hearted, beautiful, country girl, eventually; she turns into be a independent, confident, smart, elegant, new metropolis female. In the beginning, she puts her hope on male. Unfortunately she is deceived twice by men. In the end she appears on Broadway red throne through her hard efforts and becomes a new independent metropolis female.This article, aiming at the analysis of sister Carrie’s characters, introduces readers a new independent female who can’t rely hope on anybody only through her own efforts to achieve self-value and success. At first, a new female must obtain economical independence to gain personal independence, and win the respect of others. Owning to her efforts, Sister Carrie becomes a female with financial independence, confidence and inner beauty.Key Words: Sister Carrie; character analysis; cause of formation; the writer’s writing purposeContents摘要 (I)Abstract (II)1. Introduction (1)2. The Characters of Sister Carrie (1)2.1 Innocence and Simplicity (1)2.2 The Character of Sister Carrie after Her Coming into City (2)2.2.1 Her Diligence and Gumption (2)2.2.2 Her Romantism and Realism (3)2.2.3 Her Independence and Persistence (4)2.2.4 A Forceful Woman in Life (4)3. The Reasons of the Formation of Sister Carrie’s Later Personalities (5)3.1 Internal Causes (5)3.1.1 The Backgroud of Family (5)3.1.2 Rebellious Character (6)3.2 External Causes (6)3.2.1 The Background of Capitalism and Consumerism (6)3.2.2 The Influence of Individual Experience (7)4. Defects of Sister Carrie’s Personality (7)4.1 Her Vanity (7)4.2 The Lack of Rational Education (8)5. The Writer’s purpose (9)6. Conclusion (9)Bibliography (12)Acknowledgments (13)1. IntroductionSister Carrie is the first novel written by the American novelist Theodore Dreiser When the industrial and commercial cities have been rising, a large number of rural population have poured into the city. Carrie,eighteen years old, a smart and simple girl, in order to get rid of poverty, boards on a train to Chicago with only four U.S., hoping to have a better life. However, the harsh reality breaks her dream because of her unemployment and disease. In desperation, she becomes the mistress of the salesman Chas.H.Drouet, and then she comes across a hotel manager, G.W. Hurstwood who was attracted by her simple beauty. Hurstwood lures Carrie to New York, stealing the money of the hotel. In New York, because of Hurstwood’s deteriorating economy and unemployment, Carrie is forced to find job. Then she earns their living by hard work. Finally, owing to chance, she becomes a popular actress, squeezing into the high society and abandons poor Hurstwood. Carrie is famous for her persistence and effort. But she is not happy, even feels lonely.This paper is divided into six sections. The first chapter introduces the background of Sister Carrie. The second chapter reviews the characters of Sister Carrie. At first the personalities of Sister Carrie is analyzed in the rural areas, and then the characters of Sister Carrie is analyzed in the city. The third chapter analyses the reasons of Sister C arrie’s personality’s formation. The fourth chapter tells Sister C arrie’s defects of personality.The fifth chapter analyses the writer’s intention. In the last chapter the Sister C arrie’s characters are summarized.Duing to her complicated characteristic, a few questions need to be asked. What kind of person she is? What are the causing factors to the formation of her characters? What are defects in her personality and why does the author create such a character?2. The Characters of Sister Carrie2.1 Innocence and SimplicityIn the first place, she is a brave girl.“When Sister Carrie boarded the afternoontrain for Chicago, her total outfit consisted of a small trunk, a cheap imitation alligator-skin satchel, a small lunch in a paper box, and a yellow leather snap purse, containing her ticket, scrap of paper with her sister’ s address in Van Buren Street, and four dollars in money,”(Theodore Dreiser,1981:1-2)from the paragraph, we can see she is a courageous girl. When Sister Carrie goes out alone with little money, she is only eighteen years old. In the second place, she is easy to be moved by heterosexual complaisance and sweet words at the train for Chicago. She encounters Drouet on the train for Chicago and after getting off the train, Drouet asks for taking the package for Carrie, she says, “Very kind of you.” and feels that it is really lucky to get such a complaisant care in a strange land. Besides, at the train she gives a heterosexual stranger her address after they communicate with each other after a while without the vigilanceIn conclusion, it can be seen that Sister Carrie is brave, innocent and simple.2.2 The Character of Sister Carrie after Her Coming into city2.2.1 Her Diligence and GumptionCarrie’s diligences are found expression in the work. She goes out to find a job the next day she arrives in Chicago. For running all day, she finally finds a job in a shoes factory with a payment of five point four dollars every week. Though having to work long hours in a poor working condition with a low pay, long working hours, poor working conditions, she endures that. Later because she wears thin clothes, she gets a cold and loses her job. If she does not find a job, her sister wants to ask her to go home. But she does not give up living in Chicago; finally she becomes the mistress of Drouet. And at that time, the Masonic which Drouet belonged to is performing a “fund-raising Play”. At the meantime, the play lacks of heroine. Drouet asks Carrie to have a try, so Carrie replies to try. From that moment Carrie practices painstakingly at home every day and then it is a good choice to get rid of privation. So she knows that if she wants to succeed, she has to work hard and finally Carrie performs this role successfully. This experience lays a solid foundation for her to success in the Broadway. Hurstwood lures Carrie to New York and they lives together. Carrie is a housewife in her first time, before Hurstwood loses his job and stays at home. Theenvironment is getting increasingly embarrassment; Carrie has to go out to look for a job to do. Although she is only a humble chorus actor in a choir, then she does not give up hope and makes an effort, eventually she becomes more and more popular, enjoying a prosperous life. Without her hard work, Carrie could not have been successful at last. Her gumption is expressed in the way how she improves herself. In Chicago, Carrie learns the conversations and manners of the people in graded society.2.2.2 Her Romantism and RealismHer romance is reflected in her illusion. Her romantic fantasy is that she will eventually get back as long as she works hard. Only in this way her hard work will not be wasted. After she finds a even low-paid job, she imagines that she will be happy. Her fantasy is that she has a nice future than before—live a happy life waiting for her “For the next day Carrie indulge d in the most high-flows peculation. Her fancy plunged recklessly into privileges and amusements which would have been much more becoming had she been cradled a child of fortune. With ready will and quick mental selection she scattered her illusion four-fifty per week with a swift and graceful hand. Indeed, as she sat in her rocking-chair these several evenings before going to bed and looked out upon the pleasantly lighted street, this money cleared for its prospective possessor the way to every joy and every bauble which the heart of woman may desire. I will have a fine time, she thought”(Theodore Dreiser,1981:1-3). But her fantasy is soon shattered, and in this competitive metropolis, it is very difficult for one without any experience to find a work. Earning four point five dollars salary per week and working in poor condition are almost unbearable for her. Besides she also needs to pay her sister and brother-in-law for food. The rest of salary is not enough to offer her necessaries. Moreover her job is lost, because she is ill for three days. Her romance is also reflected in her emotional fantasies. Her first fantasy is that Chas.H.Drouet will marry her after she becomes his mistress. When she comes cross Mr.G.W.Hurstwood and lives together with him. Her second fancy is that she and Hurstwood will have an ideal combination. But the Drouet does not really want to marry her, and then the Hurstwood just avoids his wife’s outrage and rudeness to find a safe haven. Finally her emotional illusions have been shattered totally. Althoughachieving fame and fortune, she still is not happy, even Hurstwood has returned his original beauty and glory, he could not allure her. She knows that these material substances are not happiness in her own present state. Fame is not everything. She has twice been deceived by men, so that she no longer holds the magic about life and love. Her romance is because she does not understand that social competition is brutal, sinister. What’s more she does not get the people’s hearts. Her reality is because life hones church she no longer easily believes a man. Only by own efforts to live the life you want.2.2.3 Her Independence and PersistenceCarrie’s independence is not spontaneous, but is forced out. She comes to Chicago to stay with her sister and brother-in-law’s home and ha s to look for a job by herself, and then when she gets a job, she must pay the meals for her sister. After she is unemployed, she is not welcomed; they propose her to return home. At that time Carrie encounters Drouet when she is in distress, and she takes him as the last straw, which makes her abandon relations to go alone. And breaking up with Drouet, she has to find a job again. Later she is lured to New York by Hurstwood, Carrie cannot stand with poor life, and Hurstwood cannot find jobs. Their life has a problem, so she goes out again to look for a job, and tries several times. And finally she becomes a famous actress in the Broadway in a small chorus. Her persistence is embodied in searching jobs. In a prosperous city, she cannot find job after running all day. But she doesn't give up. At that time, she is only an eighteen years old. Although feeling shy and ashamed, she is full of courage to have a try. Finally, she obtains job through her efforts. In the end she becomes a famous actor and gets success through her persistence.2.2.4 A Forceful Woman in LifeCarrie dares to face the difficulties of life, and takes an optimistic attitude to face the difficulties. When she arrives in Chicago, in order to adapt to living in a flourishing city, she begins to change her mind. She does not only simply abandon the lifestyle of her mother’s generation, but also makes efforts to adapt to the new way of life in modern America. At first the initial stage of herself-fashioning, when Carrielives with her sister Minnie, she begins to focus on self-fashioning. She separates from her sister Minnie, because her sister is a traditional woman who is busy with household chores every day and seems to have lost herself, and the thought of tradition life is what Carrie wants to abandon, so Carrie would like to choose a new way of life. Carrie earns money to buy beautiful clothes for her and wants to go entertainment. She knows what kinds of life she wants. When living into the apartment with Drouet, Carrie starts to model herself in ideal. In addition to cultivate her, Carrie pays attention to the behavior and wants to be more elegant as well as more temperament. As a result, she becomes a quite charming girl. At the same time, she walks in graceful footsteps, not so heavy, she is beautiful and elegant. Eventually Mrs. Vance introduces her cousin Armstrong to Carrie; Armstrong’s thoughts have influence on Carrie about having a great degree, which makes her pursue the spiritual world from the initial simple material desires to the pursuit of art. That makes Carrie begin to realize that the pursuit of material comfort is not enough; the pursuit of spirit is the most important to her.3.The Reasons of t he Formation of Sister Carrie’s Later Personalities 3.1 Internal Causes3.1.1 The Backgroud of FamilyOrigin often leaves imprint in one’s personality or inner world. Carrie’s extreme thirst for material and her lack of rational are found a little clue in her early life in Colombia. She is afraid of returning home. Her sympathy for the poor and downtrodden people, as well as fear about the fate dating back to her father’s life mixed with complex feelings of pity and shame. Therefore, she has to be persistent in finding a job and offer fundamental life by herself. Walking in the streets of the city, she sees the clothes shabby girl and despair of those pale and shabbily dressed men; she will bit her lip with standing. Although the principle is often nagging around her ears, but it can’t save herself from her strong fear of being likely to suffer that fate. So she wants to make her every effort to achieve her goal. Carrie’s mind can’t defuse thetension of painful memories from the childhood which is most clearly seen in her relationship with men. Carrie measures their value directly whether they offer her food, shelter, clothing and pleasure within the capacity of the external factors, which is call of her nature. She continuously obtains material substances from men when she is missing something. Unfortunately she always suffers pain. Finally she reaches her dream by her efforts and independence.3.1.2 Rebellious CharacterLeaving a tearful mother, Carrie boards on train to a strange and complicated big city. We could feel tne courage of an 18 years old young girl and the heart of the rebel. With a taste prosperity of Chicago, she soon begins to resist common lifestyle of the brother-in-law. Then, just as leaving her hometown in Wisconsin, Carrie once again escapes from the residence of a brother-in-law, matting her relationship with a man’s privacy. This is the strongest hint of rebel, and also leaves a clue that she doesn’t only actualize herself, but also becomes new metropolis female.3.2 External Causes3.2.1 The Background of Capitalism and ConsumerismThe background of the novel is based on the economic condition in nineteenth century early USA dominated by agriculture. The transition from agricultural economy depending on family to capitalist economy relying on operating capitalism mainly is based on the development of industry in nineteenth century. Working out of the family is more and more prevalent. Meanwhile women at the nearest large cities search for work, which reflects an international trend. Women start to work out of the family and pursue themselves. By 1890, the national labor consists of 17% women. Thanks to capitalism and consumerism background, the traditional idea that women should pay totally attention to husband and children converts to working out of family. Sister Carrie is one of women working out of the family.Capitalist economic development relies on the rapid transfer of products from producers to consumers. The most important social changes described in the novel is from the production to consumption. On the one hand the mass retail has wider implications; on the other hand customers benefit from low prices and a wide range ofoptions. In this way the consumers are related with consumption. Particularly, Sister Carrie is a potential consumer who desires to control her fate and reach her goal. She realizes that she needs to get her dream through hard effort. So capitalism background is an indispensable element for Carrie to model a new metropolis female.3.2.2 The Influence of Individual ExperienceChicago is a city full of hope, luck and rise. At the beginning of the novel author wants to preach a concept “the city is full of cunning deception, rather than any man in Chicago attracted heroines”. Carrie looks forward to Chicago “a huge magnet, attracting people full of hope and despair from all sides”. But in fact she suffers failure at first. In Chicago, she meets a salesman Drouet and falls in love with him. She wants to be his wife and waits for a long time. In the end, she is conscious of her innocence. Drouet just regards her as a mistress, besides, Drouet is dissolute. He can’t give Sister Carrie a good future. When she is confused, she comes across Hurstwood and is attracted by him. She falls in love again; unfortunately she is deceived by Hurstwood. When she lives with Hurstwood in New York,she goes out for hunting a job. Finally she leaves Hurstwood. Fortunately, she realizes her dream by herself, and becomes a famous actress. Her independence and effort can be dated back to her experience. It helps Carrie accomplish her success.4. Defects of Sister Carrie’s Personality4.1 Her VanityCarrie is a woman with strong vanity and desire for material which leads her to become a victim of the two men-Drouet and Hurstwood, which also contributes to her success in the future. She is always yearning for clothes and Jewelry, so when she goes to the department store to look for a job, Carrie is attracted by each item whether it is cheap trinkets, or expensive jewelry. Each piece is attracted to her. She wants to wear all the jewelry and desires to have them all. That delicate slippers and stockings, trimmed with beautiful trim skirts and petticoats, all every color of the lace, ribbons, combs, and flower package, what a wonderful thing if she can have them all. Herheart is filled with the desire of possessing them. Later she lives in New York with Hurstwood in some time and once the next door neighbor－Mrs. Vance invites her to the theater. Her vanity is revealed totally by the comparisons with Mrs. Vance. Carrie thinks she is pretty enough, but when compared with Mrs. Vance, she is not pretty at all. How could Mrs. Vance have so many cute little things? Carrie feels more uncomfortable when she goes on the street with Mrs. Vance, because it is filled with strong rich and flaunted atmosphere in the street, she thinks she is incompatible in this atmosphere. The fact is that that she could never have the bright appearance like Mrs.Vance’s, which makes she feel very pain. Later she vows that she would dress more gorgeously and come here again. At the same time, she is eager to dress gorgeously to show off in public place. Carrie’s vanity is manifested in her desire for goods and the comparisons with others, and is displayed in her pursuit of fame and fortune, too. Because her vanity makes her not satisfy her present status, so that she goes out of the circle of her own life, and ultimately, she obtains success and feels that she has been looked forward to.To sum up, Carrie is to adored materials to control her desire for pursuing fame and status. Fortunately she gains success.4.2 Lack of Rational EducationCarrie is often fallen by external environment, which, especially, is reflected in her emotional affairs. She is always easily controlled by men, partly because she makes every decision depending on someone’s ideas. Partly because she is lack of education, then it is an essential factor for her to master her fate. Lacking of knowledge leads to her weakness. There is none of family education in her childhood. The only way to consult is to listen to instruction of her father who carefully explains everything. When Carrie is not able to find correct direction from her experience, her conscience is her honest and knowledgeable adviser. Carrie is not educated; she does not have chance to learn knowledge from books that is a closed garden to her. She comes to the city in order to look for the greatest happiness in life.5. The Writer’s PurposeFrom the above analysis, it is obvious to see that Carrie is an hard-working, romantic and persistent woman who is fond of pursuing fame and vanity. Certainly, what is the purpose of the author to shape such a character? There are two reasons. Firstly, in order to highlight the characteristics of naturalism, the author writes Sister Carrie that is embodied the character of Naturalistic literary. One of the purposes of shaping figure in this works is to reflect naturalistic features. The natural feature is that people need to grasp every opportunity to work hard in a competitive society in order to success. On the contrary, the author models a loser－Hurstwood. He is no longer young and capable. Eventually he makes a choice to commit suicide. This is the naturalistic Portrayal. Secondly, when Theodore Dreiser creates Sister Carrie, Darwin’s theory of evolution and survival of the fittest theory are prevailing. Consumption ideology emphasizes people on costing and occupying things. The idea of possession weakens the traditional thrift, savings, and automation ethic. When Dreiser writes Sister Carrie, American women have begun to be affected by consumerism. They begin to challenge traditional moral standards. On the one hand, they no longer believe that the responsibility of women is to help husband and teach children. On the other hand, women should stay at home to do housework. On the contrary, women think they should have their job and earn money by themselves to enjoy life.6. ConclusionThrough hard work, Carrie is turned into a successful actress from an innocent village girl. During this process Sister Carrie is shaped to a new female character. Carrie is no longer manipulated by any man. On the contrary, with an independent career, she is independent in economic, which finally helps her become an independent woman, and realizes the independence of personality. Carrie becomes brave and mature through searching for job. Her success is accompanied by performance talent and her efforts, however in this process; her consciousness hasbeen awakened at the bottom of her heart. It is reviewed by the Dreiser in his book, It is a feature for a woman to be protected, supported and loved. But the power of women is suppressed by the tradition concept. Carrie is conscious of her acting abilities by chance, but she has been accustomed to live comfortably under the male protection so as to refuse to face up to own strengths. She does not fully display her talent until she is frustrated with men. For example, when she learns that Hurstwood cheats on her and then Drouet leaves her, eventually she decides to go out looking for a job. She has needs, but she is not amenable to be tricked or to be bribed by any men. She is going to support herself. This concept helps Carrie develop women’s self-awakening. Furthermore, Carrie finds job in the cinema. It is compared with former jobs, even though it is still not easy, she adds a lot of courage. Besides when Hurstwood is out of job, Carrie attempts to look for a job. Finally she decides to go to a play regardless of her husband’s objection. This job is twice as hard as the former, but Carrie gets a position in the chorus by her tenacity and courage .Her talent is soon recognized. Carrie begins to realize own strength in the promoting process. A man a little word, will not make her mind again. She knows men every well, which eventually creates the Sister Carrie’s image. She walks out of the small world of her family. She, among the public field, gains economic independence, which is a prerequisite for women to seek to further pursuit based on financial independence. Carrie once has previously relied on Drouet and Hurstwood to get happiness before obtaining self-reliance. She wants to marry Drouet who refuses her. Immediately, she changes her hopes on Hurstwood who turns out to be impossible. And she’s like an object, from one man to another man. Because Carrie is not economically independent, it is pointless to talk about personal independence. Eventually, Carrie becomes a famous actress and achieves her worth. She no longer needs to rely on anyone and she also gets honor. Obviously, Carrie achieves real personality independence after being economical independence.Sister Carrie eventually becomes a new woman; of course there are also limitations in her personality. However, she dares to pursue individual liberation; meanwhile she also actively seizes the opportunity to adapt to the social progress. Onthe contrary, compared with her sister－Minnie Vance , Hurstwood’s wife and other female characters, she can be regarded as a representative of the females.Bibliography[1] Matthaei,J.A. An Economic History of Women in America. New York:Schocken.1982:10-12.[2] Theodore Dreiser. Sister Carrie. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching andStudying Press , 1981 : 136.[3] Theodore Dreiser, Sister Carrie.The Pennsylvania Edition. New York: Penguin.1981:1-3.[4] Woolfolk,A. Educational Psychology.The United States of America: A Division ofSimon&Schuster,Inc.1993:50-52.[5] 霍顿，罗德. 美国文学思想背景[M]. 人民文学出版社,1991:2-5.[6] 方华文. 嘉莉妹妹[M].译林出版社:2011:7-9.[7] 蒋道超. 德莱塞研究[M]. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2002 : 125.[8] 蒋道超. 德莱塞研究[M]. 上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2002 : 222.[9] 史志康. 美国文学背景概观[M]. 上海外语教育出版社, 1998:24-26.[10] 王钢华. 嘉莉妹妹的欲望和驱动力[J].外国文学研究,2002,12(3):8.AcknowledgmentsFirstly, I would like to express my gratitude to all the people who helped me during the writing of this paper. Without their help, this thesis would have been impossible.I am extremely grateful to my tutor XXX for her valuable direction and suggestion, for her constant encouragement and generosity in spending her precious time on my paper.Special thanks go to the Anyang normal college humanistic management university where gives me the opportunity to study my favorite major English teaching. Therefore I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the respectful teachers who have taught me during my undergraduate study.Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my dear parents, for their encouragement and always supporting me to finish this thesis.。
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Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945)
•American modern novelist
• “Three literary giants” with Hemingway and Faulkner
Works:
1900 Sister Carrie 《嘉莉妹妹》 1911 Jennie Gerhardt《珍妮姑娘》 1912 The Financier《金融家》 1914 The Titan《巨人》 1915 The Genius《天才》 1925 An American Tragedy《美国的悲剧》 1946 Bulwark《堡垒》 1947 The Stoic《斯多葛派》 ··········
•Drouet want to carry her grip but Carrie refused. While he still be looking till her sister find her.
•When Carrie see her sister, she realises the change of affectional atmosphere. She still looking at Drouet and when he left, she feels much alone.
• She meets Charles
Drouet, a traveling
salesman, who is
attracted to her
because of her
simple beauty and
unspoiled manner.
self-protection and coquetry
arise the interest
give her business card and ask for next meet in Chicago
Drouet: still kind and keep his manners
Carrie: smiled to him for his kindness and feels terrible when he left.
well prepared plot for the wholeissatisfied with life in her rural Wisconsin home, 18 year-old Caroline "Sister Carrie" Meeber takes the train to Chicago, where her older sister Minnie, and her husband Sven Hanson, have agreed to take her in.Then she leaves her rural home to seek work in Chicago
mingling
Drouet talks to her first
about people in her town clothier
afraid of not being employed
give him name and curious about the new world
ask her information nearing Chicago