Dreiser′s Pessimism Conveyed in Sister Carrie

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1、从嘉莉妹妹看德莱塞的悲观主义Dreisers Pessimism Conveyed in Sister CarrieContentsAbstract.1Key words.1 Cultural and Historical Contexts for Sister Carrie.2 Experiences of Dreiser and His Families.3 The Development of Pessimism of the Character-Carrie in the Novel .4 Another Hero-Hurstwoods Tragedy.6 Concrete Expla

2、nation of Pessimism7 The Commentary of Dreisers Pessimism Conveyed in Sister Carrie.8Conclusion .11Reference.12Dreisers Pessimism Conveyed in Sister Carrie摘 要：美国小说家德莱塞以悲剧为题材，记录了20世纪初叶美国在社会变革中,上层社会的荒淫无耻和下层社会平民的痛苦呻吟,以其独特的悲剧氛围,体现出作家的悲剧审美价值观，在这种可怕的悲剧氛围中,读者从张力和“距离”的接受心理出发,使人们的心灵得到净化,社会责任感得到提高。德莱塞笔下所塑造的嘉莉

3、妹妹从一个快乐，纯真的农村姑娘变成一个名声显赫的演员，在名利双收后，却遭到从未有过的空虚。而赫而吾德见到嘉莉以后，强烈的愿望使他深陷而不能自控，他不仅仅失去妻子和儿女，还有家庭，最终不得不以结束自己不幸的生命的悲剧而收场。关键词：德莱塞;小说; 悲剧性;嘉莉妹妹Abstract：Thedore Dreiser，by means of tragedy, records the dark side of the upper class and the miseries of the ordinary citizens in a changing society at the beginning o

4、f the 20th century showing the novelists aesthetic value in tragedy. Distance, the receiving psychology, play an important part in appreciating Dreisers novels, by which the readers can get their soul purified and their social responsibility enhanced. Thedore Dreiser dramatizes the image of Sister C

5、arrie-she is famous actress from a childlike and happy village girl. Sister Carrie falls into emptiness after her accomplishment. Hurstwood-we can only say that his tragical fate is an inevitable outcome of the capitalist systerm. After he met Carrie, being stung with desire, he was deep in lust and

6、 couldnt control himself any more. He had lost not only his wife and children, but also his home, while he had to suicide to end his unfortunate life.Key words：Thedore Dreiser；Novel; Pessimism; Sister CarrieDreisers Pessimism Conveyed in Sister CarrieCultural and Historical Contexts for Sister Carri

7、e The period between the end of the civil war and the beginning of World War I was a time of steel and steam, electricity and oil. Such as alternating electrical current was introduced. Lanterns filled with Rerosene made from crude oil replaced the tallow candles and whaleoil lamps of rural America.

8、 The American petroleum industry began, and with it came the f the automobile。From 1870 to 1890 the total population of the United States had a highly increased times, and by the mid-1890s the United Stated, could boast 4000 millionaires. Realism and naturalism were products of the nineteenth centur

9、y. Yet the greatest of Americas realists Henry James and Mark Twain, moved well beyond a superficial portrayal of nineteenth-century America. But at the end of the century, generation of writers arose whose ideas of the workings of the universe and whose perception of societys disorders led them to

10、naturalism, a new and harsher realism, the naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral, the men and women had no free will, that their lives were controlled by heredity and the environment, that religious truths were illusory, that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion in deat

11、h. In the end of the 19th century, with the development of the American industrialization the American economy came into state monopoly capitalism. On one hand, the top-class lived a luxurious and dissipating lives, while the poor had to do strenuous manual labor, even lost their jobs. However, outw

12、ardly, it showed a picture of prosperity in lots of new American cities, which gives hope to many country folks. With the dream of having a better life, many country folks prepared their luggage and rushed into big cities. Carrie Meeber is one of them. In 1889, Chicago had the peculiar qualification

13、 of growth. Its many and growing commercial opportunities gave it widespread fame, which made it a giant magnet, drawing to itself, from all quarters, the hopeful and the hopeless-those who had their fortune yet to make and those fortune and affairs had reached a disastrous climax elsewhere. In fact

14、, the action itself means a kind of ideal, or desire, maybe getting rid of poor and ignorant life, or making a fortune. Although this kind of ideal is with great aimless optimism, the big cities life is so attracted to those people who are quite confidence to pass the difficulties and hardships and

15、realize their dream of making a fortune. Under the effect of the environment of that society, Carrie Meeber said goodbye to her hometown and left for Chicago to find her dream. Experiences of Dreiser and His Families Theodore Dreiser is one of Americans greatest writers, and the greatest naturalist

16、writers, with the publication of Sister Carrie in 1900, Dreiser committed his force to opening the new ground of American naturalism. Sister Carrie is about Carrie and her relationship with Charlie H. Drouet and G.W.Hurstwood.Carrie is a young and pretty but poor girl. She longs for the rich life in

17、 big cities, and dreams of joining upper-class, so she leaves her hometown for Chicago. Because of hardship of factory work, she is willing to be the mistress of Drouet, whom she met on a train. The mans friend, G.W.Hurstwood woos her and she accepts him. Hustwood steals money from Fitzgerald and Mo

18、ys place, kidnaps her and takes her to New York. There Hurstwood becomes poorer and poorer and at last he suicides by gassing himself with methane, while Carrie becomes famous and earns a lot of money. Still she cannot be happy. By the very result, Dreiser emphasizes his desperation in the capitalis

19、m. He realizes that in a society money is the norm of success and failure. The traditional morality is challenged and suspected. Dreiser has to reconsider the place of the morality in the human society. Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1871 of German-Catholic parentage .His brother, becom

20、e famous songs writer the composer of on the Banks of the Wabash. The family was poor , and Dreisers childhood was blighted by misery and humiliation: His father was a derout German Cathdu and his mother was an amateur mystic. The father was intermittently unemployed during Theodores first seven yea

21、rs; the children picked up coal along the rail along the railroad tracks and spent long hours delivering laundry the mother took in to earn a few dollars for food .Dreisers own harsh experience of poverty as a youth and his early yearning for wealth and success would become dominant themes in his no

22、vels and the misadventures of his brothers and sisters in early adult life give him additional material on which to base his characters. Dreiser attended a Catholic school in Terre Haute, and later went on to the public schools, where he begins to show a precocious creativity. A high school teacher,

23、 Mildred Fielding, encouraged him and later she made it possible for him and to spend a year at Indiana University. He now began a period of unsettled wandering which lasted until he found his vocation with the writing of sister Carrie in1889-1890. The Development of Pessimism of the Character-Carri

24、e in the Novel In the novel, Dreiser tells his reader that when a young girl leaves her home, one of two things can happen, either the girl will be saved by someone and become better, or the girl will fall into the cosmopolitan virtues and become worse. This remark is almost immediately followed by

25、Carries first test, i. e, her encounter with Drouet. Drouet approaches her from behind and talks into her ear. This is analogous to the devil, whispering from behind, but seducing nonetheless. Thus, Dreiser, no sooner gets down describing what two paths a women in Carries position can take than he i

26、mmediately pushes her down the path of vices, or cosmopolitan virtues In having Carrie trade address with Drouet, Dreiser takes advantage of the fallen women genre of literature. However, even in this first chapter we can see him transform the traditional fallen women into a much more powerful figur

27、e. Carries decision to trade addresses is not brought about because she likes Drouet, but rather because his clothes impress her. Indeed, Sister Carrie is largely a novel about materialism and taking advantage of what is offered. In many ways the novel can be understood as an attack on the materiali

28、sm in society that causes a young girl to choose Drouet instead of hard work as a means of advancement. It should not be forgotten that Dreiser later became a communist, and Sister Carrie shows some of the ideological doubts that Dreiser had about American society at the turn of the century. The men

29、 in the factory present an interesting class group when compared to Drouet. Carrie has really only met three types of men. Thus for: the smooth, carefully Drouet, the hardworking but suspicious Sven. Hanson, and the crass workingmen in the shoe factory. What is the most interesting is that both cras

30、s men and Drouet both hit on her, but in entirely different ways. She is clearly seduced by the manner in which Drouet approached her even as her co-workers terrify her. In her choice of men, Carrie can be seen choosing one lifestyle over another, the upscale, mobile lifestyle represented by Drouet

31、over the seemingly solid, but boring lifestyle of the working classes. The true meaning of money yet remains to be popularly explainand and comprehended” 3 Dreiser then proceeds to give a very good explanation of money. Central to his observation is that if a character has money, it must be spent. B

32、oth Carrie and Drouet fall into this category. Futher, those that do not have money need to steal it or beg for it. Thus everyone in the novel depends on money to define who he or she is and what he or she can do.Social status is contingent on money, but is also presented in the novel through two se

33、ries. For example, Carrie initially rides in a train, then a streetcar, and finally she is forced to walk. This chain marks the gradual cowering of Carries status within the society until she reaches the nadir a point where she not only has no job but is also forced to walk around the city. Carrie i

34、s cognizant of this decline, especially while in the restaurant with Drouet . She not only observes that he can afford to ride in trains, but when he mentions that she will have to return home if she dedines his offer, she only notices a wealthy stagecoach passing by on the street. This serves as a

35、visual reminder that only in Chicago can she hope to live that well, and is key to making her accept Drouets proposal. The introduction of Hurstwood is eloquent yet parallels the introduction of Drouet. Hustwood is described as being like Drouet only much better. This parallel persists throughout th

36、e evening, with Hurstwood first sitting behind Carrie to help her win at cards, and then suggesting that he take them to the theater. Drouet is too shallow to see that Hurstwood is mimicking. His exact pattern of seduction, albeit in a much more gentile manner. Carries use of the role Mrs.Drouetis i

37、mportant because it is acting. Indeed, this scene is full of acting, where they even act at playing cards while allowing Carrie to win the entire time. Indeed all of the male female interactions will involve acting of some sort, especially later when Hurstwood fakes a marriage to Carrie.As mentioned

38、 earlier, Carrie drives her desires to make a comparison to other women, most notably Mrs. Hale. She is thus introduced to the fine mansions and the buggies, the source of the dissatisfaction that she acknowledges to Hurstwood. The theme of social place as defined by form of nobility is also revisit

39、ed in the contrast between the buggy and the carriage. Carrie realizes that in order to move to a higher social position, the finer carriage must replace the buggy. Dreiser is liberal in his commentary, indicating that Hurstwood is convinced that he has conquered Carrie. In reality, given their diff

40、erent social positions, it is Carrie who has conquered him. It is noteworthy that Carries thoughts during her second seduction never hint at material lust. In stead, she appears almost innocent and kind, falling for Hustwood because he invokes her pity. This is an unexpected approach to winning Carr

41、ie. At the end of the play, a beggar approaches the trio and asks for money, Only Drouet feels enough compassion to help the man. This is a moment of redemption for him because for the first time Drouet is shown being a kinder man than Hurstwood. This hearkens back to the first seduction of Carrie w

42、here Drouet is compared to a man giving her clothes and money the way he would to a beggar. Hurstwood, by contrast, has yet to give her anything of substance. It is worth nothing Carriers opinions towards the working people. She pities them, and feels sorrow for all the hard work they do. The reason

43、s for her pity are unclear, although her previous experience working in the factory would make her more sym pathetic. This is also a case of Carrie being able to imitate the best qualities of others. Dronet is the only man who gives money to a beggar. And there it appears as if Carrie has emulated h

44、is feelings towards the poor. She also will pick up traits from Hurstwood and improve on them as the novel progresses.At last, Hurstwood, even though he is losing money, is able to still blame the loss on external factors (the cards) rather than take the blame himself. As the money disappears, he re

45、alizes that Carrie will have to do something very soon. The fact that Hurstwood becomes a scab,and he faces his reality and goes to work against the desires of thousands of other men. This, while we watch Carrie progress we are being forewarned that his will likely be similar to that of Hustwood in

46、the end; his life is the latter stage of her own. In many peoples opinion, it is a good ending for Sister Carrie. She owned all the things she had dreamed of, reaching the upper-crust society. However, if we think about the intricate of the writer in the end of the novel, we may realize that it is s

47、till a tragedy. Carrie does not realize her dream really. She is only a victim of the money is all mighty society. 7 At the end of the novel, the author remarked: And it must be remembered that reason had little part in this. Chicago dawning, she saw the city offering more of loveliness than she had

48、 ever known, and instinctively, by force of her moods alone, clung to it. In fine raiment and elegant surroundings, men seemed to be contented. Hence, she drew near to these things. Chicago, New York; Drouet, Hurstwood; the world of fashion and the world of stage-these were but incidents. Not them,

49、but that which they represented, she longed for. Time proved the representation false. 7 Although Dreiser does not show his opinion about Sister Carrie very clearly, we can see it is a tragedy. Another Hero-Hurstwoods TragedyLets see Hurstwoods family, including his seventeen -year -old daughter Jes

50、sica, his twenty-year -old son George, Jr. and his wife Julia. The firmly lives in a ten-room house but is clearly not a part of the upper classes. Mrs. Hurstwood, we are told is relying on her children to become part of the elite upper classes and provide her with great social status. Hurstwood fal

51、ls into the traditional suitor mode in that he feels compelled to write to Carrie every day. Hurstwoods family situation is deterioratating rather quickly. Mrs. Hurstwood is also becoming very upset with him and the lack of affection he shows her. At last later that evening Hurstwood returns home in

52、 good spirits having just met with Carrie. His wife is furious with him and determined to gain the upper hand after that he has lost not only his wife and children, but also his home, especially his life. As a result we know this is why his ex-wife and daughter went to have a travel in Rome, where C

53、arrie lived comfortably and luxuriously in her house, while Hustwood had to suicide to end his unfortunate life. Concrete Explanation of PessimismDreisers novel originates in the early years of that century; it is the key stage of stepping into monopoly capitalism of U.S.A.s capitalism. In this stag

54、e, domestic production and capital highly centralized and monopolize in a few capitalist financial group of organizational form which control national lifeblood of economy, it is a handful of luxurious life and the poor masses, social labor struggling at the verge of starvation. Meanwhile, since the

55、 19th century, Dreiser who had just stepped into the literary world broke through U.S.A. romantic literature, he showed the U.S.A. realistic society and performed humans tragedy. It is based on his own experience, the result of what is seen and heard, and social investigation. Among eight novels of

56、Dreiser, Sister Carrie seems to be run in the opposite direction to pessimism. But this is only the surface. Carrie begins from one daughter of rural worker, relaying on angstrom, climbed to the upper class step by step successively, becoming a popular staring hot finally, it seems that her dream co

57、me true, and she will be satisfied. Just like all Americans, Dreiser had a high hope. But when he saw slum,indulgein excessive drinking,sex,plunder He realized life has no value, no meaning and no purpose, revealed strong falism and narrated a lot of tragic love. As a result, the pessimism of Dreise

58、r cannot separate from his own experience, pessimist philosophy and the breaking of American Dream.The difference between Sister Carrie and the traditional tragedy is that Carrie became the stage star and realized her dream of gaining fame and fortune at last, but a fundamental analyzing reveals tha

59、t she remains a successful tragic personage. She realized the boss of the theater gives her so much money, only for that she was the boss cash cow; while she had no happiness of her own in mental. From this aspect, Sister Carrie is also a tragedy. Sister Carrie is becoming famous, and the experiment

60、al plot of his pessimism love too. After we have read Sister Carrie, we cant help asking: Who loves Carrie and Carrie loves whom? Drouet loves her beauty instead of her. Hurstwood considers to be one infatuation to Carrie, but his love come from physiological need in fact, it is a kind of function a

61、nd result of chemical compositions 7. What about Carrie? She is just like a light grass in wind ,7 unable to decide her own love -it is compelled by life that Emomali lives together with Drouet, and then elope with Hurstwood, just to purse luxurious yearning. At the end of the novel she sit in the r

62、ocking chair, she is thinking of that who give her good impression? Not be certain. Dreiser does not criticize Carries morals for degeneration but the pessimism love view. The Commentary of Dreisers Pessimism Conveyed in Sister CarrieThe winding comment that the critical circles of literature create

63、 to Dreisers novel is flying in profusions, gossip, already last one centuryBut we must acknowledge a reality finally: As the novelist, Dreiser is a great writer who holds a generation of new trend; Its keys to success lie in he is good at creating tragic pictures in the novel, attracting readers by

64、 the tragedy of its literary creation, opening a new chapter for U.S.A.s literature history. Tragedy as one form of drama spread out before the audience tragic phenomenon of social life in the form of theatrical art, and Dreisers novel is created, drawing lessons from this kind of drama form , writi

65、ng the tragic phenomenon in social life into the book. The tragic conflict displays the suffering, death of its novel protagonist or declines, so as to demonstrate his dream and aesthetics to the realistic society of U.S.A. So, Dreisers tragedy in novel is not a drama form on the narrow sense, but means that has straight character , definite social forces or