正文.docx

正文.docx

《正文.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《正文.docx（9页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

正文

ChapterⅠIntroduction

1.1AboutDreiser’sLife

TheodoreDreiseroccupiesanimportantpositioninmodernAmericanliterature.AlanTraitregardedDreiser,HemingwayandFaulknerasthemostimportantnovelistinAmericanrealismliterature.BecauseofthepublicationofSisterCarriein1900,DreisercommittedhisliteraryforcetoopeningthenewgroundofAmericanrealism.Withtheuseofsimpleanddirectlanguage,Dreiserisapioneerintellingaseriesofstoriesabout“themechanisticbrutalityofAmericansociety.”（ChangYaoxin,2001:

298）TheodoreDreiser’sworkhasitsdistinctcharacteristics.AfamousAmericanliterarycriticsaid,“ManyAmericanwritershaveacommoncharacteristicforatime,thatis,theirworksarereadlikenaturalandsmoothwritingwithouttenderness,butTheodoreDreiser’sworksarereadlike‘Unbearablepain’.”（AlfredKazin,1955:

3）“HeisthefirstnovelisttocapturethemodernAmerican,”asMarcusCunliffestated.（MarcusCunliffe,1975:

205）

TheodoreDreiserwasborninIndianaonAugust27,1871,intoaGermanimmigrantfamily.Livinginapoorandintenselyreligiousfamily,hisfatherdemandedthekidsbehaveinconformitywithCatholic.Atthelate19thcenturytoearly20thcentury,NewYork,Philadelphia,BostonandChicagohadbecomeaninternationalmetropolisinAmerica.Thousandsofpeoplecameinflocksinordertofindajob.AtfifteenDreiserfledfromhomeandwenttoChicago,Dreiserdreamedofwealthandsocialsuccessinthegreatmetropolis.Whenhewaseighteen,asympatheticteacherhelpedhimentertheUniversityofIndiana,buthequittedafterayearandreturnedtoChicago.Later,hebecameajournalistontheChicagoGlobeandworkedinSt.LouisandPittsburgbeforearrivinginNewYorkin1894.

Apartfromschooleducation,Dreiserreadvoraciouslybyhimself.HeimmersedhimselfinDickensandThackeray,readwidelyShakespeare,andtastedBunyan,Fielding,Pope,Thoreau,Emerson,andMarkTwain,buthistrueliteraryinfluenceswerefromBalzac,CharlesDarwinandHerbertSpencertheideasfromthosebooks.HeembracedsocialDarwinism.Dreiserlearnedtoregardmanasmerely“ananimaldrivenbygreedandlustinstruggleforexistenceinwhichonlythe‘fittest’,themostruthless,survive.”（EverettCarter,1963:

402）RobertE.Spilleroncenotedinhisbook,TheCycleofAmericanLiterature:

“ToDreiser,manisonlya‘mechanism’reactingto‘chemiccompulsions,’andhumantragedycomesasaresultofthecollisionbetweenman’sbiologicalneedsandsociety’sruthlessmanipulation.Lifeispredatory,a“game”ofthelecherousandheatless,ajunglestruggleinwhichman,being“awaifandaninterloperinnature,”“awispinthewindofsocialforces,”isamerepawninthegeneralschemeofthings,withnopowerwhatevertoasserthiswill.Nooneisethicallyfree;everythingisdeterminedbyacomplexofinternalchemismsandbytheforcesofsocialpressure.”（RobertE.Spiller,1951:

175）

1.2HisLiteraryAchievements

Intheearlyperiod,DreiserbegantopublishhisfirstnovelSisterCarriein1900,oneofthemostfamousworksinAmericanliteraryhistory,followedbyJennieGerhardt（1911）andtwovolumesofhis“TrilogyofDesire,”TheFinancier（1912）andTheTitan（1914）.Dreiser’sotherworksincludeTheGenius（1915）whichtoldusastoryaboutamisunderstoodartistwhocanbeconsideredasDreiserhimself.Itwascondemnedfor“obscenityandblasphemy.”（LiuShusen，2006:

264）

Inthemiddleperiod,Dreiser’sgreatestworkAnAmericanTragedy（1925）waspublished.In1927,DreiserandtheAmericandelegationwereinvitedtoRussiaandthenhewroteDreiserLooksatRussia（1928）andTragicAmerica（1931）toexpresshisnewfaith.

Inlaterstage,DreiserpublishedTheBulwarkin1945.TheStoic,oneofhis“TrilogyofDesire”publishedin1947posthumously.

InthebookSisterCarrie,CarolineMeeber,knownasCarrie,leavesherhomeattheageofeighteenandtakesthetraintoChicago.CarriemeetsamannamedDrouetandsheisattractedbythewayhetreatsher.Sosheagreestoallowhimtorentanapartmentforher.DrouetthenintroducesCarrietohisfriendHurstwood,amanagerofoneofthetopbarsinthecity.HurstwoodisfarmorerefinedandelegantthanDrouet.Hefallsinlovewithherandstartstothinkofgettinghertorunawaywithhim.OneeveningHurstwoodstealstenthousanddollarsfromtheunlockedsafeofhisworkplace.WithoutthinkinghetakesthecashandrushestoCarrie’sapartmentandtheyleaveforNewYorkCity.AsHurstwoodloseshisworkandsocialstatus,Carrielosesinterestinhimandstartsconsideringherotheralternatives.FinallyCarrieisluckytobeafamousactressinBroadway.AtlastthenoveltracesCarrie’sriseandHurstwood’sfall.Hurstwoodbecomesahomelessbeggar,whereasCarriebecomesanovernightstar.AlthoughCarriehasbeensuccess,shebecomesunhappywithherstateintheworld.

Inthisbook,Dreisermadenomoraljudgmentsonhischaracters’behavior.Theauthorwroteaboutinfidelityandprostitutionasnaturaloccurrencesinthecourseofhumanrelationships.Hewroteabouthischaracterswithpity,compassion,andasenseofself-esteem.

HeembracedsocialDarwinism.Dreiserlearnedtoregardthosebooksmanasmerely“ananimaldrivenbygreedandlustinstruggleforexistenceinwhichonlythe‘fittest’,themostruthless,survive.”（EverettCarter,1963:

402）RobertE.Spilleroncenotedinhisbook,TheCycleofAmericanLiterature:

“ToDreiser,manisonlya‘mechanism’reactingto‘chemiccompulsions,’andhumantragedycomesasaresultofthecollisionbetweenman’sbiologicalneedsandsociety’sruthlessmanipulation.Lifeispredatory,a“game”ofthelecherousandheatless,ajunglestruggleinwhichman,being“awaifandaninterloperinnature,”“awispinthewindofsocialforces,”isamerepawninthegeneralschemeofthings,withnopowerwhatevertoasserthiswill.Nooneisethicallyfree;everythingisdeterminedbyacomplexofinternalchemismsandbytheforcesofsocialpressure.”（RobertE.Spiller,1951:

175）

1.2HisLiteraryAchievements

Intheearlyperiod,DreiserbegantopublishhisfirstnovelSisterCarriein1900,oneofthemostfamousworksinAmericanliteraryhistory,followedbyJennieGerhardt（1911）andtwovolumesofhis“TrilogyofDesire,”TheFinancier（1912）andTheTitan（1914）.Dreiser’sotherworksincludeTheGenius（1915）whichtoldusastoryaboutamisunderstoodartistwhocanbeconsideredasDreiserhimself.Itwascondemnedfor“obscenityandblasphemy.”（LiuShusen，2006:

264）

Inthemiddleperiod,Dreiser’sgreatestworkAnAmericanTragedy（1925）waspublished.In1927,DreiserandtheAmericandelegationwereinvitedtoRussiaandthenhewroteDreiserLooksatRussia（1928）andTragicAmerica（1931）toexpresshisnewfaith.

Inlaterstage,DreiserpublishedTheBulwarkin1945.TheStoic,oneofhis“TrilogyofDesire”publishedin1947posthumously.

InthebookSisterCarrie,CarolineMeeber,knownasCarrie,anaiveyounggirl,gotothebigcityChicagofromColumbiaallbyherselfattheageofeighteen.CarriemeetsamannamedDrouetandsheisattractedbythewayhetreatsher.Sosheagreestoallowhimtorentanapartmentforher.DrouetthenintroducesCarrietohisfriendHurstwood,amanagerofoneofthetopbarsinthecity.HurstwoodisfarmorerefinedandelegantthanDrouet.Hefallsinlovewithherandstartstothinkofgettinghertorunawaywithhim.OneeveningHurstwoodstealstenthousanddollarsfromtheunlockedsafeofhisworkplace.WithoutthinkinghetakesthecashandrushestoCarrie’sapartmentandtheyleaveforNewYorkCity.AsHurstwoodloseshisworkandsocialstatus,Carrielosesinterestinhimandstartsconsideringherotheralternatives.FinallyCarrieisluckytobeafamousactressinBroadway.AtlastthenoveltracesCarrie’sriseandHurstwood’sfall.Hurstwoodbecomesahomelessbeggar,whereasCarriebecomesanovernightstar.AlthoughCarriehasbeensuccess,shebecomesunhappywithherstateintheworld.

Accordingtothetraditionalviewofthecritics,Dreisercomesstraighttothepointofthemoraltendencyofthenovelinthebeginning,“Whenagirlleavesherhomeateighteen,shedoesoneoftwothings.Eithershefallsintosavinghandsandbecomesbetter,orsherapidlyassumesthecosmopolitanstandardofvirtueandbecomesworse.Ofanintermediatebalance,underthecircumstances,thereisnopossibility.”Minnie’sdreamrepresentscommonpeople’smoraljudgmenttowardthosewomenwhocannotresistthelureoftheflashyworld.Inthedream,Carriefirstfallsinto“adeeppit”inspiteofMinnie’sprotest,andthenstandsattheendof“someboardorgroundorsomethingthatreachedfarout”andreachedfurtherout.However,thefactprovesthatinfaceofCarrie’s“fall”,Dreiser’smoralstandpointswaysbetweenthetwopolesfrombeginningtoend.Inthisbook,Dreisermadenomoraljudgmentsonhischaracters’behavior.Hewroteabouthischaracterswithpity,compassion,andasenseofself-esteem.

Inthisbook,DreiserportrayedabraveandambitiousgirlinordertoshowthatwomenlikeCarriecouldseeksuccess.Ontheonehand,itwasluckytoCarriethatshecouldmeettwopersonsfromupperclassandwontheirloveandshebroughtbenefitsforherself.Ontheotherhand,shecherishedwhatsheownedandmadegooduseofthem.Itisdestinedthatshewouldmakeadifference.

InDreiser’sworkheemphasizedheredityandenvironmentasanimportantdeterministicforcetoshapeindividualizedcharactersthatwerepresentedinspecialanddetailedcircumstances.Forthepoor,lifewasshowntobeironicandtragic.Hedescribeditas“awelterofinscrutableforce”inwhicheachindividual