An Analysis of Naturalism in Sister Carrie

Abstract Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) is one of the representatives of America’s naturalist writers。 He has created many literary works, especially Sister Carrie, that frankly depict the moral corruption and degeneration of American society。 Sister Carrie, which is an important landmark in the development of literary modernism, contributes a lot to the maturity of Naturalism。 In this book, Dreiser adopts the theories of Darwinism and Determinism as the scientific basis to illustrate the story。 Naturalists believe that man’s fate is controlled by environment and heredity and he has no free will。 This thesis attempts to discuss the naturalistic features in Sister Carrie mainly from two aspects: environmental factors and hereditary factors。 The purpose of this paper was to acquire a deeper idea of naturalism。 90264

Key words: Theodore Dreiser; naturalism; environment; heredity, limitation

浅析嘉莉妹妹中的自然主义

摘要西奥多·德莱塞(1871-1945)是美国最伟大的自然主义作家之一。他创造了许多文学作品，特别是嘉莉姐妹，坦率地描绘了美国社会道德的腐败和退化。嘉莉妹妹极大地推动了自然主义理论的成熟，是文学现代主义发展的重要里程碑。在这本书中，德莱塞采用达尔文主义和决定论的理论作为故事叙述的科学依据。自然主义者认为人类和其他动物一样，面对环境的力量，只能任其摆布。事实上，人的命运是受环境和遗传的控制，而不是人本身的意志。本文主要从环境因素和遗传因素两个方面探讨嘉莉姐妹的自然主义特征。本文的目的是更深入的了解自然主义思想源Q于W优E尔A论S文R网wwW.yOueRw.com 原文+QQ75201,8766 。

毕业论文关键词： 西奥多·德莱塞 自然主义 环境 遗传 局限性

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1。1 Brief Introduction of Sister Carrie 1

1。2 Naturalism 2

1。2。1 The Definition of Naturalism 2

1。2。2 The Influence of Darwinism 2

1。3 Reviewing the Researches on Sister Carrie 3

2 The Environmental Factors on Carrie's Fate 5

2。1 The Living Environment 5

2。2 The Social Environment 6

3 The Hereditary Factors on Carrie' Fate 9

3。1 Beauty—The Key to Success 9

3。2 Carrie’s Endowed Talent 9

3。3 Carrie’s Insatiable Desire for Pleasure 10

4 The Limitation of Naturalism-- Pessimistic Determinism 11

5 Conclusion 11

References 13

1 Introduction

Theodore Dreiser, born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on August 27, 1871, is one of the representatives of America’s naturalist writers。 Dreiser is highly praised for his contribution to American literature。 ”The revival of naturalism in the 1930s enthroned Dreiser as the guide and pioneer for the latter-day naturalists such as James T。 Farrell, John O’Hara, and John Dos Passes, for it is in Dreiser’s works that American naturalism is said to have come to age” (常耀信,2003:148)。 In fact, Dreiser’s childhood was indisputably unhappy。 The large family moved from house to house in Indiana dogged by poverty, insecurity, and internal pision。 Dreiser as a youth was as ungainly, confused, shy, and full of vague yearnings。 At the age of fifteen, he was forced to leave home in search of work。 So his personal experiences play an important role in leading him to a pessimistic view of human helplessness in the face of outer forces and instinct。 However, it was in some ways fortunate that a solid foundation had been laid for his writing。 The unstable and impecunious life helped him closely experience the real life of the underclass in a material world。 His novels often featured main characters that succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations, which is the reflection of reality。 He starts the liberation of American novels, brings the United States revolution。 With great contribution, he becomes a leading writer of American literary history。 For his contribution, he is firstly ranked with Faulkner, Hemingway as the three novelists after the World War in the United States。 Moreover, in 1930 he was nominated to the Nobel Prize in Literature。 In reality, Dreiser is a productive writer who wrote many masterpieces, such as An American Tragedy, Jennie Gerhardt, The Genius, and Trilogy of Desire, while his most popular work is Sister Carrie。