《嘉莉妹妹》中嘉莉的人物性格分析.doc

嘉莉妹妹中嘉莉的人物性格分析An Analysis of Carrie's Character in Sister CarrieAbstract: This thesis will make a brief interpretation to social criticism of Theodore Dreiser's first masterpiece Sister Carrie. It tells a story of a girl, Carrie, who was reduced from an innocent city immigrant to a commodity, and finally to an actress by the city environment which was permeated with an atmosphere of ceaseless commercialization. Until now, Sister Carrie is still controversial book. And the thesis will mainly analyse Carrie's character, external and internal factors affecting her and the growth of her independent consciousness. According to those analyses, we know this book is still a wake-up call and its significance of social criticism doesn't detract at all with time gone. It is worthwhile to read again.Key words: Carrie; analysis of character; social criticism摘 要：这篇论文将对西奥多·德莱塞的第一部代表作嘉莉妹妹的社会批判 意义做一简要阐述。它讲述的是一个由农村到城市的女孩由生活所迫变 为一件待价而沽的商品，最后成为一名演员的故事。至今，这仍然是一 部很有争议的书。本文将主要分析嘉莉的性格、影响她的内外因素和她 独立意识的成长。通过这些分析，我们清楚地知道这本书仍具有警示作 用，并且其社会批判意义并没有随着时间的流逝而有所减损。它值得我 们仔细研读并进行反思。关键词：嘉莉；性格分析；社会批判 ContentsI. Introduction. 1 A. An introduction to American Naturalism. 1 B. An introduction to Theodore Dreiser 1 C. An introduction to Sister Carrie. 2II. Literature Review. 2III. Causes for the Shaping of Carrie's Destiny 4 A. External causes. 4 1. The social reality . 4 2. The influence of Drouet and Hurstwood.6 B. Internal causes. 7 1. Her understanding of life. 7 2. Her growing independent consciousness . 9V. Conclusion. .10Works Cited.11I. Introduction A. An Introduction to American Naturalism When it comes to American Naturalism, we have to start with American Realism, which is a movement or a trend that dominated American literature from the 1860s to 1910s. It is the result of social, political, economic and cultural changes, often concerned with social and psychological problems, revealing the frustration of character in an environment of sordidness and depravity. Gradually, authors' tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more pessimistic, which generates American Naturalism. So American Naturalism is a more deliberate kind of realism, usually involves a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forces and social environment. As a literary movement, naturalism was initiated in France and it came to be led by Emile Zola. Like the realists, the naturalists in American strove for objectivity and were interested in the commonplace in contemporary life, with a passion for scientific accuracy and an overwhelming accumulation of factual detail (To 164). At the same time, they were more conscious of their philosophical foundations, which draw upon scientific or socioeconomic determinisms (such as Darwinism) for its view of humanity. Here is a desire to assert one's human identity, to define oneself against the social and natural forces one confronts. Horton's comment on American literary naturalism was “Through gloomy, pessimistic, and often bitter, American naturalists could not accept the deterministic attitude of the complete helplessness of man and the view of an amoral and predatory universe and adopt a thoroughgoing scientific attitude in the portrayal of the American scene”(Chang 142). It was applied to express the belief that humans react to things they cannot control, such as the biological need for sex and self-preservation, internal stresses, and environmental forces (To 164). Moreover, American Naturalism prepares the way for the writing of the 1920s' “lost generation” and T. S. Eliot.B. An Introduction to Theodore Dreiser Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945), known as one of American greatest writers and the leader of American Naturalism, is remembered for his stinging criticism of the genteel tradition and of what Howells described as the “smiling aspects of life” typifying America. In his fictions, Dreiser is apt to deal with the new social problems that have come into being in a rapidly industrializing America and with his characters driven by selfish motives and influenced by the privileges and limitations of social class(Song 1). As he was influenced by Emile Zola, he depicted the life as it was and discovered the dark side and harsher realities of the social life, bravely attacking the traditional moral standard of America, which impresses the reader very much and that is why his Sister Carrie could be chosen as the basis of the thesis. And the thesis will mainly focus on the analysis of Carrie's character and the shaping of Carrie's destiny. As we all know, Sister Carrie's publication was not a hit; on the contrary, it was rejected because of violating genteel tradition and refuted of his vague attitude towards Carrie. As a result, plus his left-oriented views, he has been a controversial figure in American literary history. Besides Sister Carrie, his major works include Jennie Gerhardt, Trilogy of Desire, The Genius, An American Tragedy and The Bulwark. C. An Introduction to Sister Carrie Sister Carrie tells a story of a young woman's “Cinderella” life in Chicago in the late 19th century. Carrie, unwilling to live in a narrow, poor and boring country, left for Chicago. She is eager to enjoy various pleasures in the life. Especially, she is ambitious to gain material wealth. However, the job she finds at first is too hard for her, and the wages are so low that she has to walk to work and has no warm clothes to protect herself against the cold winter. To make matters worse, after her sickness, she loses her job. The difficulty in finding a job, the cruel reality and the temptation of material life make her lost. She ends up a mistress of a salesman, Drouet. Meanwhile, a hotel manager, Hurstwood, is fascinated with her. Having accidentally stolen the hotel's money, he tricks Carrie into getting on the escaping train with him. Initially, their life is quite steady, but they have a hard life after Hurstwood experiences many setbacks in doing business. Owing to Hurstwood's unemployment, Carrie has to search for a job. She makes it and leaves him before long. She luckily rises to stardom while Hurstwood is still jobless and turns into a beggar, then commiting suicide in the end. Carrie succeeds in becoming a member of the upper-class, yet she discovers that she is very lonely and empty. II. Literature Review Sister Carrie is the first novel of Theodore Dreiser who realistically describes how an innocent girl became a cold, ambitious money-driven person. She is first a mistress and then achieves her American Dream by being an actress. Dreiser held high expectation of his first novel but Sister Carrie experienced the severest critical attack after it was published. It is criticized for its jumbled structure, for its awkward expressions, and mostly for its bad content, namely, its focus on the characters' beastliness rather than humanity, on the poor rather than on the rich, and on its heroes' and heroins endless desire(Song 5). So, at that time, the public didn't like this book mainly for two reasons. On the one hand, it described a sexual impropriety which resulted in the final success of the heroin instead of failure. On the other hand, the public was unwilling to accept the side of life that Dreiser described graphically. What's more, it was also widely condemned for the author's refusal to present a moral judgment on his fallen and immoral heroin-Carrie, even writing it with pity, passion and respect to some extent (Liu 10). Fortunately, there were some critics who argued that Sister Carrie was an excellent book. The first American Noble Prize winner, Sinclair Lewis, spoke in his acceptance speech like this “Dresiser more than any other man, marching alone, usually unappreciated, often hated, has cleared the trail from Victorian. timidity and gentility in American fiction to honesty and boldness and passion of life. Dreiser's great first novel, Sister Carrie, gives us the first fresh air since Mark Twain and Whitman”(Rebinstein 86). American famous critic, Alfred Kazin, argued that “It is a challenge to the illegal and immoral society and it accomplishes its task in literary history, gives a down-to-earth expression to the new moral in 1890s and unconsciously liberates this moral outlook”(Long 54). American novelist James T Farrel once said:“With his first novel, Dreiser shows that he is much superior to his contemporaries. No other Americans have had such a strong moral influence on his fellow men and no other novelists have done so much liberate American literature as him since this century. His Sister Carrie is a social prophecy. It is “a prophecy of a certain type of character in literature” (Song 5). Meanwhile, Sherwood Anderson wrote in The Feet of Dreiser that he “making a path for us”, which meant Dreiser was a trailblazer in challenging the conventional beliefs and genteel codes of American life, thus opening a way for later writers (Liu 9). In England, Sister Carrie was also received favorably by critics. Whatever its shortcomings, it is a touchstone in American literature; it is the beginning of Dreiser's long and difficult fight for freedom of artistic expression; it is a major and unprecedented novel, certainly a landmark in the literature of the United States and a significant factor in the change of the moral attitude (P. Michel 11).In China, there are also diverse opinions about Sister Carrie. Some maintain that Sister Carrie is a controversial book, at the same time, they shore up that the moral tendency of Carrie is influenced greatly by the social environment and they hold the view that Sister Carrie is meaningful and naturalistic in reflecting the social problems of that very period. Although there are still many different opinions about Sister Carrie, but now most people at home and abroad begin turning to new aspects to study the book, for example, ecological ethics, city immigrant, feministic criticism, and so on. And with the development of the society, Sister Carrie draws more and more attention from critics. They begin to realize its profound connotations in thought and society and start to analyze the novel from different perspectives, such as structuralism, psychoanalysis and so on. With the second surge of women liberation movement in the 60s of the 20th century, many feminists further expand their territory in literary field. They regarded Sister Carrie as a valuable book. They think Carrie is a new female figure (Liu 9).III. Causes for the Shaping of Carrie's DestinyAs we all know, one's destiny is bound to be decided by one's character, apart from the social reality. Even we can say that one's destiny depends to a large extent on one's character. The thesis will analyze causes for the shaping of Carrie's destiny by external causes, mainly involving the social reality, and internal causes with respect to Carrie's character. And the train of thought of analysis is as follows.A. External causes 1. The social reality In the late of 19th century, cities and industrial city civilization dominated by men. The social reality was mixed with deterioration of natural environment, worship of money and commodity and oppression of women. And the city environment was permeated with an atmosphere of ceaseless commercialization, spiritual vacuum and belief crisis.So from the background, on the whole, American women were still subordinate to men at that time, which was evidenced by Carrie older sister, Minnie. “She is now a thin, though rugged, woman of twenty-seven, with ideas of life colored by her husband's, and fast hardening into narrower conceptions of pleasure and duty than had ever been hers in a thoroughly circumscribed youth”(Dreiser 23). She is busy doing chores and looking after child so that family constitutes her whole life. And on the one hand, subordinating to what kind of man decides woman's economic and social status. The situation of middle-class women without worrying the clothing and food is in a state of anxiety, let alone Carrie, an isolated, single and helpless young woman far away from hometown and family. On the other hand, the unfair educated opportunity, the inferiority of family status and the control of social order and individual by higher stratum make Carrie can't get a foothold and survive in the city. What's more, metropolises, with their glittering theaters, imposing hotel and sumptuous restaurants, together with the wealthy in their fashionable apparel, represent the walled and gilded city to which Carrie seeks entrance. Living in the entrancing city, a materialist in the core, she cannot escape the consistent seduction from the superhuman tempter. As a result, the strong desire for social identity and the safety feeling only satisfied by possessing material make Carrie get into two illegal relationships with two men. Thus, she absolutely becomes the victim of the cruel society. There is one point can graphically reflect women's status the trend of women seeking jobs. When we are going to talk about the trend of women seeking jobs, we must also take the social reality into consideration. Because of the subordination to man and under such a limited circumstance, the opportunity of finding an opportune job for woman is slim, especially like Carrie. In fact, we can imagine the scene easily. And there is a clear description from the book. 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. Of an intermediate balance, under the circumstances, there is no possibility. The city has its cunning wiles, no less than the infinitely smaller and more human tempter.Unrecognized for what they are, their beauty, like music, too often relaxes, then weakens, then perverts the simpler human perceptions. (Dreiser 8) Obviously, Carrie belongs to the latter. From the whole book, we know that Carrie makes struggles, but they are all in vain. The strong power of the cruelty and many temptations make Carrie subject to the social reality. Carrie maybe have another kind of life, but fact is fact. So it is safe to say that the current situation is conducive to Carrie's character shaping. She longs for money and well-being life.2. The influence of Drouet and HurstwoodMeeting Drouet on the train is a turning point for Carrie. She is awar