西奥多·德莱塞论文：德莱塞自然主义文学的叙事艺术

自然主义在《嘉莉妹妹》中的体现作者：邓丹来源：《中国新技术新产品》2009年第06期摘要：长篇小说《嘉莉妹妹》是美国自然主义的代表西奥多。

德莱塞的第一部作品，更是开创了自然主义的先河。

本文将从、环境及欲望三个方面来分析自然主义在《嘉莉妹妹》中的体现。

关键词：自然主义；遗传；环境；欲望自然主义最初是古典哲学中的一个概念,用以指一切形式的物质主义、享乐主义和世俗主义。

十九世纪初期,随着自然科学的迅猛发展及自然主义与它的联系,自然主义失去了一些贬义色彩而获得一种新的尊重。

在哲学和科学上的运用之外,自然主义还被应用到美术学上,进而被引入文学领域。

文学自然主义首先在十九世纪六十年代的法国产生并得到蓬勃发展。

十九世纪九十年代这股自然主义的风潮波及到了美国文坛。

较之欧洲国家,自然主义在美国的发展与其社会和经济的变革有着更加密切的联系,自然主义运动在美国引起了更加广泛的关注。

西奥多·德莱塞是美国自然主义的代表之一，他的第一部长篇小说《嘉莉妹妹》更是开创了自然主义的先河。

自然主义作家认为人的特质是由遗传决定的,而他们的行为又受到社会和经济环境的支配。

德莱塞的自然主义主要表现为他的主人公完全受环境、遗传、生理，特别是化学作用的支配，即在本能欲望的推动下会身不由己地陷入罪恶的深渊，因此，人不能为自己的错误或失败负责。

对竞争中的失败者寄予同情是德莱塞的自然主义的一大特点。

本文将从遗传、环境及欲望三个方面来分析《嘉莉妹妹》中的自然主义体现的。

1 遗传嘉莉的母亲是一个普通家庭妇女,父亲是面粉厂工人,在芝加哥还有一个为生活所迫,面无生气,与实际年龄不相符的姐姐和冷淡的姐夫。

而自己十八岁少女的相貌如作者所述:“热情奔放,充满着青春的幻想,呈现发育期淡淡的美丽, 拥有长成婀娜多姿身材的潜力,眼睛里闪亮着天生的灵性,读书不是她兴趣之内的事情。

所有这一切就是她投入国际大都市——芝加哥的天然条件。

嘉莉的出生环境及她较优越的外貌对于她的生活和价值取向产生了重大的影响和选择的机会。

自然主义批评视野下的《嘉莉妹妹》一、德莱塞与《嘉莉妹妹》美国杰出的自然主义小说家西奥多·赫曼·阿尔伯特·德莱塞于1871年出生在印第安纳州特雷霍特镇的一个德裔美国家庭。

其父亲原为德国的纺织工人，母亲是摩拉维亚的农民女儿，二人在移居至美国后创办了一家纺织工厂，但在德莱塞出生的前一年，工厂失火，致使德莱塞一家自此陷入贫困。

作为贫困家庭中的第9个孩子，德莱塞童年的物质生活及教育情况可想而知，他未满20岁时便独身一人赴芝加哥谋生，曲折的经历使德莱塞切身洞悉美国社会的阴暗面，为其日后在文学创作中真实而有力地揭示当时美国社会中残酷的竞争以及人和人之间冷酷的金钱关系打下了强有力的现实基础。

1888年，德莱塞获得进入印第安纳大学布卢明顿分校学习的机会，毕业后他先后从事过房地产公司的推销员，洗衣店的送货员，芝加哥《环球报》、圣路易斯《环球一民主报》和《共和报》的记者，纽约《每月》杂志主编。

1899年，德莱塞创作长篇小说《嘉莉妹妹》并于次年发表，销量不佳的同时使德莱塞遭遇德国10年的被迫封笔期，该书于1907年在美国再版，获得评论界很高的评价。

《嘉莉妹妹》讲述了一位农村姑娘嘉莉到芝加哥谋生的故事，嘉莉在经历奋斗、受阻、堕落后终于跻身于上流社会，成为一名演员。

该书在真实再现美国贫富对立的社会的同时，揭露了资本主义社会繁荣表层现象下的失业、贫困和饥饿等阴暗面，可以说采用自然主义写作手法创作而成的《嘉莉妹妹》为美国文学开创了一个新的天地。

在《嘉莉妹妹》再版后的第二年，德莱塞创作了具有《嘉莉妹妹》姐妹篇之称的《珍妮姑娘》，与《嘉莉妹妹》共同成为对美国贫富对立现象的控诉书。

此后德莱塞连续创作了《金融家》《巨人》，与其死后发表的《斯多葛》共称为“欲望三部曲”，描写了垄断资本家柯柏乌豺狼般的一生。

1925年，德莱塞发表了使其享誉世界文坛的《美国的悲剧》，随后他延续其自然主义创作手法发表了多部优秀的长短篇小说，如1927年的《锁链》、1928年的《德莱塞访苏印象记》、1929年的《妇女群像》、1931年的《悲剧的美国》、1941年的《美国是值得拯救的》等。

《嘉莉妹妹》中的自然主义观西奥多·德莱塞，美国著名的自然主义小说家，被文学批评家推崇为与海明威、福克纳并列的美国现代小说的三大文学巨匠之一。

《嘉莉妹妹》是西奥多·德莱塞的处女作。

小说讲述了乡村女孩嘉莉从闭塞落后的农村到繁华的大都市来寻求新生活，最后成为一名著名的喜剧演员的经历。

嘉莉先委身于查尔斯·德鲁埃，继而又依附赫期特伍德，并非因为她是个机会主义者，而实在是环境使然。

她就像风中的一根羽毛，无力掌握自己的方向。

幸运地是她所走的路正好碰对了追寻美国梦的方向。

环境以及她向往美好生活的愿望指引着她朝成功的目标迈进。

最后她凭借着自己与生俱来的美貌和表演天赋成为了一颗冉冉升起的音乐喜剧明星，而小说中的男主人公赫斯特伍德却从一位风度翩翩、气质非凡的酒店经理沦落为街头乞丐，最后在乞丐收容所里结束了自己年轻的生命。

嘉莉虽然最后拥有了金钱和社会地位，但仍然孤独、寂寞、空虚，坐在摇椅里，“梦想着永远不会感得的幸福”。

一.自然主义流派的形成达尔文的进化论以及十九世纪法国文学对美国文学家的影响使美国产生了另一个现实主义的文学流派：美国自然主义。

达尔文在《物种起源》（1859年）和《人类的由来》（1871年）两书中提出了这样的假说：人类是从一种低级动物进化而来的。

人类的特殊性不在于上帝按自己的形象创造出来，而在于他成功地适应了不断变化的环境，在基因上完成生存适应。

美国自然主义作家接受了这一理论负面含义，并用之来解释文学作品里的人物行为，认为他们的特质是由遗传决定的，而他们的行为又是受社会和经济支配的。

美国自然主义作家有意无意地受到了法国小说家左拉的影响，认为就像物理学家、化学家研究惰性物体，心理学家研究活的机体一样，文学家研究人物、情感、人和社会各因素。

他们选取下层社会的人们作为表现他们文学创作的主题，反映这些下层人的痛苦和贫困，他们是社会和自然的受害者。

由于缺乏理性，人只是环境中的一部分，所以人类无法完全理解，更无法控制他所生活的世界，因此人类并没有选择的自由。

自然主义面纱--德莱塞思想实用主义和物质主义本质THE VEIL OF NATURALISMPRAGMATIC AND MATERIALISTIC ESSENCEOF DREISERS VALUESByHuang ZefuUnder the supervision ofAssociate Prof Qi TaoA thesisSubmitted in partial fulfillmentof the requirements for the degree ofMaster of Arts to the School of Foreign StudiesAnhui UniversityApril 2008AcknowledgementsI hereby express my heartfelt thanks to my thesis supervisor AssociateProfessor Qi Tao for his consistent patience guidance and encouragementWithout his wisdom and enlightenment I cannot have todays humble achievementHis wide-ranging knowledge and critical acumen have led to many improvementsin the substance and phrasing of the present thesisMy gratitude also goes out to Professor Hua Quankun Professor Hong ZengliuProfessor Chen Zhengfa Professor Chen Bing Professor Zhu Yue Professor ZhouFangzhu and Professor Hu Jian for their illuminating lectures and earnestinstructionsI would also like to thank all those people who have spared their time andefforts to offer me very valuable advice on improving the thesis Finally I want to extend my gratitude to my classmates for theirkind help notonly in my studies but also in my everyday life Their friendship and encouragement will always be cherished in my heartiAbstractTheodore Dreiser was an outstanding American writer in the early20th-centuryAmerican literature as well as one of the pioneers in the history of Americanmodern novel writing for which he and another two great writers William Faulknerand Earnest Hemingway are honored with the title ―the BigThree‖ of Americanmodern novels For more than 100 years critics have all been agreeing that Dreiseris a naturalist writer since in his works there are a lot of naturalistic elementsCritics have already done some research on these naturalistic elements in Dreiser sworks However it is quite regrettable that barely anyone has paid attention to thecomplexity of Dreiser s values in his works By comparing the differences andsimilarities between his early work Sister Carrie and his mature worksTrilogy ofDesire the present thesis intends to illustrate that for Dreiser naturalism was only aresult of the specific conditions while what he really believed in was pragmatismand materialismThe major difference between Sister Carrie and Trilogy of Desirelies inDreiser s different interpretation of naturalism In Sister Carrie naturalism takesthe form of pessimistic determinism while in Trilogy of Desire it is shifted toanother extremethe Philosophy of Superman In the former driven by blindbiological and social forces the protagonists are miserable creatures who have nocontrol of the destiny However in Trilogy of Desire the hero Cowperwood isdepicted as a superman who not only can control his own destiny but also canachieve what he wants in this ruthless and cold-blooded social jungle Thesimilarity between Sister Carrie and Trilogy of Desire is that both of them reflectstrongly Dreiser s pragmatic and materialistic values which at different time areveiled by different forms ofnaturalismpessimistic determinism and thePhilosophy of Superman Although at the end of Sister Carrie and Trilogy of DesireDreiser apparently tends to return to the tradition Carrie feels spiritually lonely andhollow in spite of her material satisfaction Cowperwood dies of Brights diseaseiiwith his properties nibbled up and from this time on Berenice begins to believeHinduism and to do many good deeds all these do not mean that there is a realchange in Dreisers value Instead they are only Dreiser s complementaryimaginations for his pursuit of materialismTherefore at different time in Dreiser s novels his interpretation of naturalismchanges a lot but he never changes his beliefs in pragmatism and materialism Toexpound this the present author tries to seek the reasons behind the complexity ofDreiser s values by analyzing the social background his familybackground and hislife experiences Firstly the social background is analyzed Generally speakingDreiser s era was an era of Americanindustrialization which stimulated people spragmatic and materialistic values Meanwhile the advent of Darwins theory hadexerted a great influence both on naturalism and on pragmatism Secondly thepresent author analyzes Dreiser s formative years In his childhood family hismother was an absolute pragmatist who influenced her children especially Dreiser alot Besides most of Dreiser s bothers and sisters were pragmatists and materialistsand some even got big material success through venturing Lastly the presentauthor compares Dreiser s early adulthood life with his later years Poverty andfailure besieged him in his early adulthood while in his later years richness andsuccess took the upper hand This is the very reason why at different time of his lifeDreiser had different interpretations of naturalismhe turned from pessimisticdeterminism to the Philosophy of Superman Therefore the present thesis advocatesthat for Dreiser naturalism is only a veil to explain away his failure or to interprethis success at different time while the essence of his values is pragmatism andmaterialismKey Words Dreiser naturalism veil pragmatism materialismiii摘要西奥多?德莱塞是 20 世纪美国文学史上涌现出来的一位杰出的作家也是美国现代小说的先驱者之一他与福克纳海明威二位作家齐名被称作是美国现代小说的三巨头一百多年来小说评论界一致认为德莱塞是一位自然主义作家因为在他的作品中存在着自然主义因素很多评论家也对德莱塞的一些具体作品中的自然主义现象作了具体的分析但是颇为遗憾的是几乎没有人注意到德莱塞在其作品中所表现出来的思想的复杂性本论文旨在通过比较德莱塞的早期作品《嘉莉妹妹》和他成熟时期作品《欲望三部曲》的异同点来论证自然主义只是德莱塞在特定历史时期的产物而他真正崇尚的是实用主义和物质主义《嘉莉妹妹》和《欲望三部曲》的主要不同点在于德莱塞对自然主义的诠释不同在《嘉莉妹妹》中自然主义表现为悲观决定论而在《欲望三部曲》中自然主义转向了另外一个极端超人哲学在《嘉莉妹妹》中主人公的命运都不是他们自己能够左右的他们受到生物本能欲望和环境的驱使最终的命运都很悲惨而在《欲望三部曲》中考珀伍德被塑造成了一个超人他不但能掌握自己的命运而且还在能在物欲横流竞争残酷的丛林社会中处于不败之地位为所欲为然而《嘉莉妹妹》和《欲望三部曲》的相同点在于它们都反映了德莱塞的实用主义和物质主义的价值观只不过在不同的时期他们在自然主义不同形式悲观决定论和超人哲学的庇护之下尽管在《嘉莉妹妹》以及《欲望三部曲》的结尾部分德莱塞都似乎有回归传统的倾向比如嘉莉虽然最后在物质上得到了满足但是却感到了精神上的空虚和寂寞而考珀伍德在《欲望三部曲》的结尾却得了白莱特氏病死了他的财产被蚕食死后也没给社会造成什么影响而贝瑞妮丝从此开始信仰印度教积善行德但这些都不能说明德莱塞在思想上有真正的变化它们只是一种补偿式的想象而已因此在不同时期德莱塞的小说中他对自然主义的诠释大相径庭而对实用主义和物质主义的坚持却几乎没有改变接下来本文通过分析社会背景以及他的家庭背景和生活经历来考究他思想背后的原因就社会环境来看iv当时美国正处于工业化的进程中物质财富剧增社会正处于转型时期很大程度造就了人们的实用主义和物质主义价值观同时达尔文进化论的诞生对人们的思想冲击也很大自然主义和实用主义正是在它的影响下产生的其次本文分析了他童年时代的家庭背景童年时代他母亲一直就是个实用主义者这对她的孩子们尤其德莱塞影响很大同时几乎大多数德莱塞的兄弟姐妹都是物质主义和实用主义的崇尚者而且有的通过冒险取得了物质上的巨大成功这对童年德莱塞的刺激也很大最后本论文比较了德莱塞的早年和中晚年的变化贫穷和失败左右他的早年而他的中晚年却很飞黄腾达这正是他不同的时期对自然主义诠释从悲观决定论转向超人哲学的原因因此自然主义对于德莱塞来说只是一顶面纱以此为自身的胜败沉浮作掩护而他思想的本质是实用主义和物质主义关键词德莱塞自然主义面纱实用主义物质主义vContentsAcknowledgements iAbstract English Version iiAbstract Chinese Version ivContents viChapter One Introduction 1Chapter Two American Naturalism Pragmatism and Materialism 521 American naturalism 522 American pragmatism and materialism 7Chapter Three Comparative Analysis of the Values in Sister Carrie andTrilogy of Desire 1031 Pessimistic determinism vs the Philosophy of Superman 10com Sister Carrie 10com Trilogy of Desire 1232 Pragmatism 15com Sister Carrie 15com1 Pragmatism vs Puritanism 15com2 Pragmatic morality behind naturalism 17com Trilogy of Desire 2033 Materialism 24com Sister Carrie 24com Trilogy of Desire 28Chapter Four Reasons for the Complexity of Dreisers Values 3241 Social background 32vicom American industrialization 32com Darwinism 34com1 Influence on naturalism 35com2 Influence on pragmatism 3642 Formative years 3743 Early adulthood 4144 Later years 43Chapter Five Conclusion 45Bibliography 49Publications 51viiChapter OneIntroductionChapter OneIntroductionTheodore Dreiser was one of the greatest modern novelists in the history ofAmerican literature Sinclair Lewis the first American writer who won the NobelLiterature Prize said that Theodore Dreiser was a better candidate to win this prizeAs a transitional figure between the genteel era dominated by William DeanHowells Mark Twain and Henry James and the rebels of the twenties Dreiser wasa messenger picking his way through a minefield of censorship prejudice andsnobbery clearing a path for the generation that went over the top after him andtook the literary high ground Lingeman 1993 xv His heroes and heroines hissettings his frank discussion celebration and the humanization of sex his cleardissection of the mechanistic brutality of American society all were new andshocking to a reading public reared on genteel romances and adventure narrativesHu 1995 298 However his first novel Sister Carrie was rejected just because ofits relentless honesty in presenting the true nature of Americanlife FollowingSister Carrie the other seven novels came out They are Jennie Gerhardt 1911The Financier 1912 The Titan 1914 The Genius 1915 An American Tragedy1925 The Bulwark 1946 and The Stoic 1947 Sister Carrie and Trilogy ofDesire including three volumes almost cover the whole literary career of DreiserSister Carrie traces the material rise of Carrie Meeber and the tragic decline of G WHurstwood The Financier and The Titan the first two volumes of Trilogy ofDesire are important examples of the business novel and represent probably themost meticulously researched and documented studies of high finance in first-ratefiction The protagonist Cowperwood is depicted as a superman in the businessworld who wins one success after another The third volume in the trilogy TheStoic 1947 was finished many years after the first two volumes It mainly dealswith the late part of Cowperwood s life The end of this volume was written by1The Veil of Naturalism Pragmatic and Materialistic Essence of Dreiser s ValuesDreisers wife Helen after his death All of Dreisers works are powerful in theirportrayal of the changing American life for which Dreiser gets the permanent statusas one of the Americas foremost novelistsDreisers works arouse the interests of critics both home and abroad ManyAmerican critics treat him as a realistic writer due to his seemingly faithfulrepresentation of life For example Emory Elliot the chief editor of ColumbiaLiterary History of the United States maintains that Dreiser is a typical writer whocreates the new literary style in American literature The famous Dreiser criticRichard Lingeman also believes in his Theodore Dreiser An American Journey thatDreiser is famous for his faithful description about real life in his novels In thisbook Lingeman 1993 xv describes Sister Carrie like this ―In hisfirst novelSister Carrie he sought to provide a true picture of social conditions of the way theworld works of the game as it is played‖ HL Mencken Dreisersnew friendand a powerful critic sees Dreiser as being the latest and the greatest representativeof realistic tradition Nevertheless Dreiser is also attacked by some other criticsThe typical critic is Stuart P Sherman He attacks Dreiser s adherence tonaturalistic theory and thinks that to write such kind of viewpoint on life is toreduce human existence to the level of animal lifeIn China Theodore Dreiser is also very popular among readers and criticsEarly in the 1930s Dreiser was introduced to China by Qu Qiubai who praised thathis talent is shining like the Venus Jiang 200377 Now nearly all Dreisersimportant works have been translated into Chinese His novels especially 8 longnovels are widely read by the Chinese readers Compared with the translation ofDreisers works into China criticism on him and his works was alittle bit later andweaker However study of his works flourished in the late 20th century with moreand more Chinese critics beginning to take interest in his works and most of themtreat Dreiser as either a realist or a naturalist Some point out the realistic elementsin Sister Carrie and others apply naturalism to interpret his works for exampleLuo Guanghans Realism in Sister Carrie Foreign Literature Study Vol2 19822Chapter One IntroductionLi Qians MA thesis Naturalism in Sister Carrie Sichuan Normal University2006All these critical heritages certainly provide a strong basis for the present studyUnfortunately the complexity of Dreiser s works and outlook towards life arelargely overlooked because most of them focus on only one of Dreisers works orone aspect of the specific work Through a comparatively comprehensive andsystematic study of Dreisers life and his early and mature novels the present studyintends to reveal the essence of Dreisers values and their complicated economythat is the dynamic relationships among naturalism materialism and pragmatism inhis novels In Dreiser s novels almost all the main characters are materialists Inorder to achieve their material satisfaction they adopt pragmatic tools And in thesenovels Dreiser finds naturalism as an excuse to veil the characters as well as hisown pragmatism And naturalism in his novels is changingfrom pessimisticdeterminism to the Philosophy of SupermanPessimistic determinism can be easily perceived in his early novels forexample Sister Carrie The reason is that for Dreiser his early adulthood was tosome degree a failure He had a low family background So far as he himself wasconcerned he had low social status constantly tormented by poverty and despairDuring this period Dreiser applied pessimistic determinism in his novels trying toconvince readers that his humble life was not his own fault because according tonaturalism human destiny is determined by two forcesenvironment and heredityand he thereby had no ability to choose anything However in Dreisers later yearswhen his status went higher and higher the pessimistic determinism in his earlynovels became weaker and weaker until shifted to the Philosophy of Superman Forexample in the novel series Trilogy of Desire written in his mature period theprotagonist Cowperwood is depicted as a superman Cowperwoods destiny is notdetermined by anyone else besides he can achieve any goal that he aims at in hislife Although the element of pessimistic determinism gradually becomes weak untilshifted to the Philosophy of Superman in his novels the factors that do not change3The Veil of Naturalism Pragmatic and Materialistic Essence of Dreiser s Valuesare pragmatism and materialism which are clearly reflected in both Sister Carrieand Trilogy of Desire In Sister Carrie Carrie Meeber Drouet and Husterwood areall pragmatists and materialists In order to achieve their own purposes they throwaway the existing social norms Carrie treats these two men as stepladders toachieve her materialistic purpose at the cost of her own virginity The two mainlysatisfy their own sex desires despite that their relationships with Carrie which willbe rejected by the society In Trilogy of Desire Cowperwood is a more unscrupulous person never regarding social norms The main goals of his life aremoney women and power In order to get them he can take any action The factthat Dreiser never punishes his heroes or heroines for their behaviors in these novelsproves that he himself is a pragmatist And throughout the novels he speaks out alot of his materialistic avocationsThere are all together five chapters in this thesisChapter one is an introductionwhich covers a brief introduction to the author in question adetailed review ofDreiser criticism related to the field of this thesis both home and abroad whichreveals an inviting ―gap‖ for the presentthesis to fill in The complexity ofDreiser s values that makes the present study feasible is also discussed Chapter twogives an account of some values related to Dreisers values Three important valuesAmerican naturalism pragmatism and materialism are discussed Chapter Threeand Chapter Four are the body part of this thesis Chapter Three compares SisterCarrie with Trilogy of Desire to find the differences andsimilarities between themThe difference lies in the change of naturalism while the similarity is theconsistence of pragmatism and materialism InSister Carrie Dreiser favorsdeterminism while in Trilogy of Desire he prefers the Philosophy of SupermanThe similarity is that both of them strongly reflect Dreiser s pragmatic andmaterialistic values Chapter four studies the reasons for the complexity of Dreiser svalues The analysis is focused on the social background and Dreiser s personalbackground Chapter five is conclusion It gives a summary of the present study andpoints out its significances4Chapter Two American Naturalism Pragmatism andMaterialismChapter TwoAmerican Naturalism Pragmatismand MaterialismIn order to get a better understanding of the essence of Dreiser s values somerelated values in his works need to be identified and analyzed first They arenaturalism pragmatism and materialism21 American naturalismIn literature the term naturalism refers to the theory that literary compositionshould aim at a detached scientific objectivity in the treatment of natural man Themovement is an outgrowth of 19th –century scientific thoughtfollowing in generalthe biological determinism of Darwins theory or the economic determinism ofKarl MarxIn the last decade of the 19th century because of the development of industryand modern science intelligent minds began to see that man was no longer a freeethical being in a cold indifferent and essentially godless universe In this chanceworld he was both helpless and hopeless European writers like Emile Zola hadalready developed this acute social consciousness They saw mans life as governedby two forces of heredity and environment which were absolutely beyond manscontrol In the 1890s the naturalist movement in America arose with a literatureof despair continuing well into the twentieth century It had been shaped by the warby the social upheavals that undermined the comforting faith of an earlier age andby the disturbing teachings of Darwinism During this period French naturalismwith its new techniques and new ways of writing appealed to the imagination ofAmerican younger generation The Darwinian conceptslike ―the survival of thefittest‖ and ―the human beast‖ became popular catchwords andstandards of moral5The Veil of Naturalism Pragmatic and Materialistic Essence of Dreiser s Valuesreference in an amoral world Darwins ideas of evolution and especially those ofHerbert Spencer and his vogue in America helped to change the outlook of manyrising authors and intellectuals and produced an attitude of gloom and despairwhich characterized American literature of this periodWriters began to dismiss the validity of comforting moraltruths They tore themask of gentility to pieces and wrote about the helplessness of man hisinsignificance in a cold world and his lack of dignity in face of the crushing forcesof environment and heredity They reported truthfully and objectively with apassion for scientific accuracy and an overwhelming accumulation of factual detailsThey painted life as it was lived in the slums and were accused of telling just thehideous side of itIn naturalistic literary works man is always subject to the law of nature whichis unforeseeable indifferent and even hostile Writers attempted to achieve extremeobjectivity and frankness presenting characters of low social and economic statusIn presenting the extremes of life the naturalists sometimes displayed an affinity tothe sensationalism of early romanticism but unlike their romantic predecessors thenaturalists emphasized that the world was amoral that men and women had no freewill that lives were controlled by heredity and environment that the destiny ofhumanity was misery in life and oblivion in death Therefore gloom and despaircharacterized American literature of this periodThe pessimistic and deterministic ideas of naturalism pervaded the works ofsuch American writers as Stephen Crane Frank Norris and Jack London and alsoin some of Theodore Dreisers early novels under discussion Cranes Maggie AGirl of the Street is the first American naturalistic work Norriss Mc Teague is themanifesto of American naturalism These writers detailed description of the livesof the downtrodden and the abnormal their frank treatment of human passion andsexuality and their portrayal of men and women over-whelmed by blind forces ofnature still exerted a powerful influence on modern writers6Chapter Two American Naturalism Pragmatism and MaterialismCritics generally believe although naturalist literature described the world withsometimes brutal realism it sometimes also aimed at bettering the world throughsocial reform This combination of grim reality and desire for improvement wastypical of American naturalism as it moved into the 20th century22 American pragmatism and materialismCompared with literary naturalism pragmatism was in fact more popular andvigorous in America at that time Philosophy in the second half of the 19th centurywas based more on biology and history than on mathematics and physicsRevolutionary thought drifted away from metaphysics and epistemology and wasshifted more towards ideologies in science politics and sociology Pragmatismbecame the most vigorous school of thought in American philosophy during thattime and it continued the empiricist tradition of grounding knowledge onexperience and stressing the inductive procedures of experimental science The termof ―pragmatism‖ comes from the Greekmeaning ―action‖ and ―behavior‖Pragmatists believe that action behavior and practice play a dominant role inphilosophy They think that philosophy should be based on reality and advocatethat definite information be the starting point taking action be the main meansexploiting and creating be the life attitude and achieving effect be the final goal oflife Tu 20063 The three most important pragmatists of this period were theAmerican philosophers Charles Peirce 1839-1914 considered to be the first of theAmerican pragmatists William James 1842-1910the first great Americanpsychologist and John Dewey 1859-1952 who further developed the pragmaticprinciples of Peirce and James into a comprehensive system of thought that hecalled ―experimental naturalism‖ or ―instrumentalism‖Pragmatism was generally critical of traditional western philosophy especiallythe notion that there were absolute truths and absolute values In contrast JosiahRoyce 1855-1916 was a leading American exponent of idealism at that time whobelieved in absolute truths and held that human thought and the external world were7The Veil of Naturalism Pragmatic and Materialistic Essence of Dreiser s Valuesunified Pragmatism called for ideas and theories to be tested in practice assessingwhether they produced desirable or undesirable results Although pragmatism waspopular for a time in Europe most critics agree that it epitomized the Americanfaith in know-how and practicality and the equally American distrust of abstracttheories and ideologies Pragmatism is best understood in its historical and culturalcontext It arose during a period of rapid scientific advancement industrializationand material progressa time when the theory of evolution suggested to manythinkers that humanity and society were in a perpetual state of progress This periodalso saw a decline in traditional religious beliefs and values As a result it becamenecessary to rethink fundamental ideas about values religion science communityand individuality Pragmatists regarded all theories and institutions as tentativehypotheses and solutions According to their critics the pragmatists refusal toaffirm any absolutes carried negative implications for society challenging thefoundations of societys institutionsPragmatism can be regarded as a philosophic school However commonpeople in Dreiser s era may be the pragmatists Pragmatism was the social mainvalue at that time It was even abused People were eager for quick success andinstant benefit They cheated or outwitted the other frequentlyDetached to pragmatism American materialism also helped to build Americansocial value system and cultural system With the development of the science andtechnology in the wake of American industrialization in the late19th centuryAmerica became economically prosperous People began to enjoy thoroughly thematerial satisfaction brought by the industrialized society in which materialismbecame the main value stream People were eager to earn more money to drivemore luxurious cars to reside larger houses to wear more luxurious clothes and toeat more delicious food In this materialistic world there was no word of spiritualityThe world was one of excess folly and pleasure a world where people were sobusy living for the moment that they had lost touch with any sort of morality andended up breaking laws cheating and even killing In this society the materialists8Chapter Two American Naturalism Pragmatism and Materialismbelieved that the sole goal of life was to pursue material satisfaction The desire formaterial comfort had become an unchangeable subject of their life All in all Dreisers era was characterized by naturalism pragmatism andmaterialism Although they were related to each other with common basis onreality for example pragmatism and materialism were more popular at that time9The Veil of Naturalism Pragmatic and Materialistic Essence ofDreiser s ValuesChapter ThreeComparative Analysis of the Values inSister Carrie and Trilogy of Desire31 Pessimistic determinism vs the Philosophy of SupermanThe main difference between Sister Carrie and Trilogy of Desire is thatpessimistic determinism prevails throughout Sister Carrie while in Trilogy ofDesire readers are presented with a superman who can almost control the wholebusiness world in Philadelphia and Chicago Although they both can be explainedby naturalism which accepts Darwins theorysurvival of the fittest Dreisersvalue change from pessimistic determinism to the Philosophy of Supermancom Sister CarrieIn Dreisers first novel Sister Carrie he adopts mechanical determinismregarding human behavior as controlled by instinct emotion or social andeconomic conditions Confronted with these forces human beings free will doesnot function any more Man is helpless and hopeless Since mansdestiny ismechanically determined the tone throughout the novel is pessimistic First Dreiser dramatizes biological determinism throughout the plot Determinism evoked Dreisers famous comparisons of human beings to insects andanimals all subject to ineluctable drives that characters experience as desire Pizer2000179 Even on the train to Chicago Carries desires have been aroused byDrouets telling of the city ―so much to seetheatrescrowds fine houses‖―Chicago is a wonder Youll find lots to see here‖ Dreiser 1992 1417 As soonas she arrives in Chicago poor desirous CarrieMeeber begins to dream She is10Chapter Three Comparative Analysis of the Values in Sister Carrie and Trilogy of Desirewondering what other women have but she never possesses Wandering in the cityshe is curious about the interiors through plate-glass windows Everything in thestreet such as the glittering of the light or the fashionable clothes in the showcaseattracts Carrie greatly However what attracts the male character Hurstwood mostis women Obviously Carries beauty tempts him badly at the beginning of the。

摘要摘要西奥多·德莱塞是20世纪美国文学史上一位杰出的自然主义作家，他的第一部小说作品《嘉莉妹妹》自1900年出版后就受到很多争议。

德莱塞生活在美国从生产主导型社会向消费主导型社会转型的时期。

在这个过程中，以生产为主的意识形态让位于消费意识形态，人们的行为和心理越来越受到消费的影响和控制，从而生活方式和价值观念也发生了变化。

德莱塞亲身感受到变革带来的深刻影响。

在他犀利的笔下，一种在消费浪潮中沉浮的新型人物形象——―消费英雄‖得以形成，消费主义笼罩下的社会特征和人际关系也得以呈现。

虽然德莱塞塑造的人物大多都违背了传统的伦理道德标准，但在他看来，他们都是当时消费主义文化的产物。

本文分五部分。

第一章介绍作者和小说概况，前人的研究评论并阐述了本研究的意义，介绍了消费文化理论。

第二章主要从消费文化角度分析小说中的几位主角。

第三章论述了小说中的人物——―消费英雄‖的主要特征。

第四章讲述了德莱塞的人物塑造，他对―消费英雄‖这一新型人物的态度以及该类人物在文学史上的影响。

最后为论文的结论部分。

本文立足于德莱塞的成名作《嘉莉妹妹》，从19世纪末20世纪初美国新兴的―消费文化‖这一特定社会历史背景出发，分析这部作品中出现的新型的人物形象——―消费英雄‖，努力挖掘这类新型人物形象在文学史中的地位和影响。

关键字：西奥多·德莱塞；《嘉莉妹妹》；消费文化；消费英雄AbstractAbstractTheodore Dreiser is an outstanding naturalism writer in the 20th century American literary history. Since his first novel Sister Carrie was published, it had been involved in much controversy. Dreiser lived in an age transforming from production to consumption leading society. During this process, the production predominated ideology had been replaced by the consumption one. Besides, people’s behavior s and mentality were getting more and more influenced by consumption, so were their life styles and concepts of value. Dreiser himself realized the profound effects of the change. Therefore, in his meticulous writing, a kind of new character type ―Consumer Hero‖formed in the consumption wave. New social characteristics and people’s relationships also appeared. Although Dreiser’s characters are mostly contrary to the traditional ethical standards, in his view, they are all products of consumer culture at that time. This paper is divided into five parts. The 1st part will introduce the writer’s life, his works, and previous studies on it and illustrate the significance of this study and the theory of consumer culture. The 2nd part will mainly analyze the characters from the perspective of consumer culture. The 3rd part will clarify main characteristics of characters. The 4th part will describe Dreiser’s characterization, his attitude to ―Consumer Hero‖ and its influence. At last, it will give a conclusion. The paper focuses on a particular historical background, and tries to analyze the new emerging character type ―Consumer Hero‖ in Dreiser’s masterpiece Sister Carrie, and aims to explore the influences of such a character type on the literary history.Key words: Theodore Dreiser; Sister Carrie; consumer culture; consumer heroContentsChapter 1 Introduction (1)1.1 A Brief Introduction to Dreiser and Sister Carrie (1)1.2 Previous Studies and Comments on Sister Carrie (2)1.3 The Significance of This Research (3)1.4 Theory of Consumer Culture (4)Chapter 2 Analysis of Characters from the Perspective of Consumer Culture (7)2.1 Sister Carrie—A “New Woman” Image (7)2.2 Drouet—A Messenger of Material (8)2.3 Hurstwood—A Tragic Character in the Materialized World (10)Chapter 3 Main Characteristics of Characters—“Consumer Heroes” (13)3.1 Greed—Everlasting Desire (13)3.1.1 Miss Desire—Sister Carrie (13)3.1.2 Mr. Desire—Drouet and Hurstwood (15)3.2 Vanity—Attempting to Construct Self-Identity with MaterialConsumption (16)3.3 Pursuit—Self-Realization in the System of Object (18)Chapter 4 Dreiser’s Characterization, His Attitude to Consumer Heroes and Its Influence (19)Chapter 5 Conclusion (23)References (25)Acknowledgements (25)The Consumer Heroes in Dreiser’s Sister CarrieChapter 1 Introduction1.1 A Brief Introduction to Dreiser and Sister CarrieTheodore Dreiser was an American naturalism writer in the 20th century, and he took an important role in the world literary history. Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1871. His father was a German textile worker, who became an American immigrant in order to avoid serving in the army, while, his mother was a peasant’s daughter. Dreiser was born in a large but poor family, so he lived a hard life and did not receive a good education. At the age of 15, he went out to earn his living. When he was 18, a female high school teacher sponsored him to go to the university for one year. In 1892, he worked as a journalist in Chicago Global Newspaper. In 1894, he moved to New York. His first novel Sister Carrie came out in 1900. In 1911, he finished Jennie Gerhardt. Since then, his creation came into a strong period, and he began to write the famous work Trilogy of Desire, The Genius and American Tragedy, and so on. At the year of 1941, he was elected to be the chairman of American Writer Association. He then joined Communist Party USA at 1945 and passed away at the same year. Lawson, the American progressive writer praised him as ―Our own Gorky, and Romain Rolland of American version.‖[1]Dreiser is quite different from any other American novelists. He has his own particular writing style. Indeed, his writing style is simple and easy. He can describe different characters with the use of plain language. He always uses stron g contrast to set off characters’ life and fate. Besides, he is good at creating huge social life scene. The stories he creates are not quite complicated, but they can deeply reveal social problems. He always pays attention to the whole structure to make the story complete. His stories often involve a seeker or quester – sometimes driven by desire, sometimes by other motives –who finds at the end of the novel that he has returned to where he started. It is possible to visualize Dreiser’s novels as a graphic irony – the characters believe they are pushing forward but they are really moving in a circle. [2] So, in this way, his works can give readers some unexpected effectivenesses.In a word, Dreiser is a great naturalist writer—the one who dares to fight against American tradition, while, Sister Carrie becomes a morning star in his writing career.Sister Carrie – a famous work knocking at the door of the 20th century in 1900 is a realism masterpiece. The story mainly focused on three characters –Carrie, Hurstwood, and Drouet. Carrie was born in a country of West America. Though she lived in a poor family, she still had a strong vanity, and always looked forward to rich city life. Then she decided to go to Chicago forher dream. In Chicago, she lived in her s ister Minnie’s home. The life was not as good as she ever thought, so Carrie had to look for a job to make a living. But she was often left out in the cold when living in such an inanimate family. What’s worse, once Carrie lost her job, she was forced to go back to the country. However, she didn’t want to do so, and went to Drouet for help—a salesman whom she came across in the train. Then, she became Drouet’s mistress, and lived with him together. After Drouet introduced Hurstwood –a hotel manager to Carrie, Hurstwood soon fell in love with Carrie and tried to seduce her with all kinds of methods. They finally eloped to New York together. However, experiencing a series of failure, Hurstwood used up money and collapsed finally. At last, he committed suicide when getting on the beach. As a result of chance, Carrie became a famous star and got the upper reaches of society. But she still felt empty and couldn’t find the true meaning of life. With loneliness and desolation, the only thing Carrie could do was just sitting in the rocking chair, dreaming happiness that she would never have.1.2 Previous Studies and Comments on Sister CarrieDreiser was the 1st outstanding writer in American literature of the 20th century, and he was the pioneer of modern American fiction. Many critics thought that Dreiser dared to make innovations and had broken those traditional thoughts in American literary. Elliot, the chief editor of Columbia Literary History of the United States, thought that Dreiser had created a new style. His works were for ―another readers, another group focusing on the consumer culture, rather than aristocratic culture.‖[3]Actually, Dreiser advocated a new ideology. Sister Carrie obviously showed the influences of consumerism on Dreiser himself, and it just indicated his dissatisfaction with the Puritan moral ethics that had suppressed people’s desire, which precisely the new consumer ideology advocated. From this point of view, Dreiser was in favor of those consumers’ behavior with the effects of consumer ideology. He could not completely break with the old ideology which represented the relations of production. Therefore, he also gave criticism and suppression on the unethical behavior of those kinds of characters like Carrie. So, we can find that Dreiser held a complex and contradictory attitude to the new ideology. [4] Dreiser’s fictions like mirrors reflected the evils and conflicts of the social life at that age. However, it seemed that no other writers like Dreiser revealed the darkness of bourgeois society, but also shaped some characters that always swam with stream and did things with strong desire, just as characters in Sister Carrie. Just because Dreiser could expose the hypocritical veil of the upper class and criticized the weakness of capitalism through the description of the working class, much dispute aroused among some critics. The early evaluation of Dreiser could be divided into two categories. A critic who was most in recognition of Dreiser was H. L. Mencken,The Consumer Heroes in Dreiser’s Sister Carriepointing out that Dreiser was not the follower of Norris or Zola, and he could ―take profound sense of wonder into literature.‖[5]The other group was represented by Stewart Sherman. He accused Dreiser of not describing the real American society and people, but viewing them as animals. Some early critics mostly belonged to the biographical criticism of the traditional history. Later, some new ways of comments on it turned up, such as Freud’s psychoanalysis, the criticism of feminism and post-structuralism. In recent years, many scholars have tried to analyze Sister Carrie from more different perspectives. Professor Zhang Fangde and Zhang Xiangting both made comments on the transition from goods consumption to symbolic consumption. Professor Yu Guofei, Zhang Ailing, Tianjing and Chen Zhenhua have done some studies and comments from the perspective of consumer culture. Besides, there has been a new critical perspective in Professor Wang Rong’s study—focusing on the aspect of ―New Woman‖. The domestic and foreign research situation not only lies in its achievement increasing rapidly, but the expansion of its depth and width. So, we can better understand the profound significance of this work.During these years, many researchers viewed Dreiser as a master of naturalism or realism. In their opinions, Dreiser was the revelator of the darkness of American capitalism. However, they overlooked the interdependent relationship between Dreiser and the mainstream society at that time. In addition, researchers viewed Dreiser’s works in the same way, which was not quite accurate. Because society, politics and culture were changing all the time, Dreiser’s writing ideas were basically in a dynamic state. Novels in the early time mainly showed his hedonism, while, in his middle age, especially in his later years, his pursuit transformed from material to spirit. Therefore, Dreiser’s works are full of varieties. With all these mentioned above, when we do research on this work, we should put it more into the cultural environment of the 20th century of the United States. At the same time, we should dig out its writing ideas and methods, so that we can excavate the interrelationship between the main ideology and Dreiser himself in the cultural environment at that moment.1.3 The Significance of This ResearchThe creation of Sister Carrie came out at the occasion of the reform of the United States. The production primarily ideology was gradually being replaced by consumer ideology. As the economy developed rapidly, industrialization and urbanization had reached an unexpected level. At the end of 19th century, there were varieties of commodity in the US Department Store, which attracted many writers’and consumers’attentions. Ideologically, Darwin’s theory of evolution and the survival of the fittest were in vogue, and people’s thoughts were changing obviously. Their desires for material became stronger and stronger, and the thrift of Puritan ethics was castoff. Besides, the bohemian consumption trend became a mainstream. People’s opinions were gradually influenced by consumer culture, so was Dreiser himself. He always showed his ideas through his works, and with his pen, he described people’s different fates in the materialistic society when consumer culture rose.The characters in Sister Carrie are mainly consumers. They are keen to find their own way in the city, and always long for gorgeous clothes to show off their status. Besides, they look forward to live in luxurious accommodations. All in all, they are all addicted into endless lust, which is the great influence of consumer culture. Therefore, characters in this novel are all products of consumer culture. So it is feasible to study these characters from the perspective of consumer culture. These characters’ behaviors are the real reflections of American society at that moment. Their different consequences can make people think a lot—should consumerism be promoted or suppressed in the world? So, it’s necessary to study Dreiser’s novel to reveal the writer’s creative ideas and shape new images from the perspective of consumer culture. Moreover, it has certain academic values.Dreiser’s Sister Carrie not only reflects American social conditions at that moment, but also shows us some universal phenomena and problems at the period of the development of human society. In such a rapid development of commodity economy today, China is in the transition period to the consumer society. There are many people like characters in this novel, full of endless desire and pursuit of money, living for the satisfaction of material, status and wealth. This is just the embodiment of the consumption of ideology acting on human beings. Besides, there have been many characters like ―Consumer Hero‖ appearing in today’s literature work. So this work has great influences on the literature writing.1.4 Theory of Consumer CultureThis section will mainly describe Jean Baudrillard’s theory of sign consumption(符号消费理论). In Baudrillard’s opinion, in capitalist society, material is organized basically on the following four principles: first, the functional logic of the use value; second, the economic logic of exchange value; third, the logic of symbolic exchange; fourth, the logic of symbolic value. Then, he proposes his concept of symbolic value. ―Material‖accordingly becomes the tools, goods, symbols and signs in these four logics. Sign is a mark of material, a mark of social status and identity during people’s consumption. It is also an expression of the potential desires. The so-called symbolic value of goods is that goods, as symbols, are able to provide prestige and perform consumers’personality, characteristics, social status and power.The logic of consumption, as we have seen, can be defined as a manipulation of signs. The object loses its objective finality and its function; it becomes a term in a much greater combinatory, in sets ofThe Consumer Heroes in Dreiser’s Sister Carrieobjects in which it has a merely relational value. [6]In American society, affected greatly by the consumer culture, some people live in a life which has been under the control of ―consumption‖. ―Material‖ is no longer consumed for its use, but it’s consumed for its differences with other ―materials‖. Therefore, in the consume relations, it is not just any old goods which are produced or consumed: they must have some meaning with regard to a system of values. [7]From Baudrillard’s point of view, ―you never consume the object in itself (in its use-value); you are always manipulating objects (in the broadest sense) as signs which distinguish you either by affiliating you to your own group taken as an ideal reference or by marking you off from your group by reference to a group of higher status.‖[8] That is to say, what people consume is not materials, but the symbolic significance which they represent. In such a prosperous and rich society, due to the constant production and manufacture of desires and needs, consumption has become endless. It becomes the master of human activity, and forms an object system to satisfy all kinds of desires, where people can get material and spiritual satisfaction. Besides, it is even the happiness and meaning of life and it becomes the whole process of self-realization.Chapter 2 Analysis of Characters from the Perspective of ConsumerCulture2.1 Sister Carrie—A New Woman ImageIn the late 19th and early 20th century, the consumer ideology gradually took the place of production ideology. The consumer ideology mainly ―emphasized the possession of cost and material, and it weakened the thrift, savings, self-control and other traditional moral standards.‖[9] So, such a kind of consumer culture promoted the rise of ―New Women‖. With the influence of consumer culture, women didn’t consume for daily need but their vanity. Their appetite and lust for material even became a fashion. ―New Women‖ most had their own self-consciousness and always had dependent characteristics. Their opinions on sex were very open. They were not bounded by their family and usually appeared in public areas that belonged to men. What’s more, ―New Women‖ dared to challenge traditional moral standards. In their opinions, women should dress themselves well and enjoy life happily. While, Carrie—a character shaped by Dreiser, was the prominent representative of ―New Women‖.At the beginning of the story, the writer wrote, ―Self-interest with her was high, but not strong. It was, nevertheless, her guiding characteristic… And yet she was interested in her charm, quick to understand the keener pleasures of life, ambitious to gain in material things.‖[20]P2~3 In Carrie’s heart, something called desire was coming around the corner. In the train for Chicago, she came across Drouet—a canvasser with bright dress, whose attracting appearance left deep impressions on Carrie: ―The fat purse, the shiny tan shoes, the smart new suit, and the air with which he did things, built up for her a dim world of fortune, of which he was the center. It disposed her pleasantly toward all he might do. ‖[20] P8In Chicago, Carrie lived in his sister Minnie’s. However, Mr. and Mrs. Hanson’s house was just a flat, most inhabited by families of laborers and clerks. ―The walls of the rooms were discordantly papered. The floors were covered with matting and the hall laid with a thin rag carpet,‖[20] P13 which made Carrie feel the drag of a lean and narrow life. So she had to look for a job to make a living. On the way of looking for a job, she was much affected by the remarkable displays of dress goods and jewelry. ―She could not help feeling the claim of each trinket and valuable upon her personally, and yet she did not stop. There was nothing there which she could not have used—nothing which she did not long to own. The dainty slippers and stockings, the delicately frilled skirts and petticoats, the laces, ribbons, haircombs, purses, all touched her with individual desire, and she felt keenly the fact that not any of these things were in the range of her purchase.‖[20]P26 When Carrie saw thingsthat could make her pretty, her desire soon surged on. Once she saw the shopgirl s’ nature and appearance, a flame of envy lighted in her heart. ―She realized in a dim way how much the city held—wealth, fashion, ease—every adornment for women.‖[20]P26In Carrie’s heart, at this moment, she just longed for dress and beauty. In such a prosperous and lively city, Carrie was gradually touched by those beautiful things. In contrary to Minnie, whose thoughts were staid and solemnly adapted to a condition, Carrie had her own consciousness. She didn’t want to save money, but she would like to buy dress and jewelry, or go to the theatre to enjoy life.While, life was not always as perfect, the job in the shoe factory was not as easy as Carrie thought. She thought that people there were quite dirty and vulgar. Every week, she should pay her board—four dollars, so that she had no money to buy clothes. Then she lost her job due to her illness. Fortunately, she met Drouet again, which became her turning point. Then he even gave twenty dollars to Carrie. Though Carrie contradicted whether she should accept it or not, there was no wonder that the feeling with taking the money was so fantastic: ―Her need was so dire. Now she would buy a nice pair of pretty button shoes. She would get stockings, too, and a skirt, and, and…She had got beyond, in her desires, twice the purchasing power of her bills.‖[20]P75Afterwards, seduced by Drouet, Carrie became his mistress and lived together with him in a rent room. Drouet often took Carrie out to see many new people and things, so Carrie’s vision gradually opened up. She had seen many elegant mansions. When time grew, she began to be dissatisfied with the current situation. After she knew Hurstwood—a bar manager, she threw herself at his feet for his handsome appearance. And then they developed into lovers. In fact, Carrie chose Hurstwood just because she took a fancy to a more prosperous and decent life that he represented. She believed that marrying him would be happy forever, which made Carrie elope with Hurstwood to New York together after she knew his true features. In essence, it was her strong desire for material that made Carrie so easily ―love‖one man from another. Later, Hurstwood came down in the world, and Carrie abandoned him. After she became a famous Broadway star, her life became more and more creditable, and her consumption capacity grew stronger and stronger. However, she seemed not to be quite satisfactory with her possessions, and she still dreamed of happiness that she would never get. From this, it could be seen that Carrie became a new woman image in such a materialistic society. She was a consumer, even a product of consumer culture. She precisely represented people’s consciousness or concept in that era. [10]2.2 Drouet—A Messenger of MaterialWith the help of consumption, people can show their taste through different luxuries. The essence of modern consumption is to make differences. People consume for their own targets,that is to say, people want to make differences with others through consumption to obtain a kind of identity. [6] At the beginning of the story, Drouet’s appearance showed that men deliberately dressed themselves well and always behaved elegantly to attract women’s attentions in that era with consumer culture rampant. To Carrie, Drouet played such an indispensable role that he helped her open the door to the colorful world.When Carrie and Drouet came across on the train for the 1st time, Drouet left a deep impression on Carrie. His charm was completely appealing to inexperienced Carrie: ―His suit was of a striped and crossed pattern of brown wool, new at that time…The low crotch of the vest revealed a stiff shirt bosom of white and pink stripes. From his coat sleeves protruded a pair of linen cuffs of the same pattern, fastened with large, gold-plate buttons…The whole suit was rather tight-fitting, and was finished off with heavy-soled tan shoes, highly-polished, and the gray fedora hat.‖[20]P4Just as the writer wrote, Drouet got such an attractive dress through consumption. In this way, he could make himself more impressed, and have more opportunities to get women’s hearts. The manner of his behavior built up a world of fortune in Carrie’s mind. In Carrie’s heart, he was the messenger of material, who could take her to live a rich life. Although Carrie’s clothes were shabby, she had slim figure and pretty face, which made Drouet strike up a conversation with her at the first sight. When meeting her again and knowing her plight, Drouet felt sorry for her and gave 20 dollars to Carrie generously. Besides, he took her to go shopping and buy many beautiful clothes. In fact, imperceptibly, in such a society with the flood of consumption, men’s perspectives of women had greatly changed. They no longer thought that gentleness and virtuousness were the nature of women. If one had an absorbing woman by side, he could show his identity when they both appeared in public places. So men could make differences with others, while, the envy and jealousy from others’ eyes could meet their own vanity and satisfaction. Just because of getting such a fantastic beauty, Drouet couldn’t wait to introduce her to Hurstwood. From another level to see, it was men’s such kind of view that made women more keen on consumption. So did Carrie. With Drouet’s leading, she had got many gorgeous clothes, and known more upper-class people. Besides, her experience increased much more with her open horizon.Actually, Drouet’s attitudes to Carrie had no difference with Hurstwood’s. When he knew the relationship between Carrie and Hurstwood, he felt indignant and upset. He thought, ―You oughtn’t to have had anything to do with him after all I’ve done for you.‖[20]P260The reason was that he provided Carrie with comfortable living environment, and often took her out to enjoy. So he had the right to possess Carrie. However, she betrayed him. ―His feelings were a mixture of anger at deception, sorrow at losing Carrie, misery at being defeated.‖[20]P265 He tried to get his rights back, including making Carrie stay. But at last, he failed. He lost Carrie and lost her forever. At the same time, he lost his vanity and the proud self-esteem.At the end of the story, Drouet found Carrie again, who had become a star. He tried hard to invite her for dinner and dreamed of getting her back. ―Ah, what a prize! How beautiful, how elegant, how famous! In her theatrical and Waldorf setting, Carrie was to him the all-desirable.‖[20]P553 It could be seen that Drouet tried to get Carrie back to show off his own identity. If he could possess her, he would be much brighter than before. However, today’s Carrie was too rich and noble for him, and he finally could only end up with disappointment.The higher value of a commodity, the more can reveal its owner and user’s social status and prestige. [6] While, to men, women are a kind of senior commodity. The prettier women are, the more honorable men can be. Therefore, Drouet’s fantasy and desire on Carrie was exactly the true portrayal of men to women at that age, and it was also the great influences that consume culture brought to human.2.3 Hurstwood—A Tragic Character in the Materialized WorldHurstwood was a bar manager in Chicago, where he had been a well-known and successful man. He did well in his job and had a considerable income. ―Hurstwood looked the part, for, besides being slightly under forty, he had a good, stout constitution, an active manner, and a solid, substantial air, which was composed in part of his fine clothes, his clean linen, his jewels, and ,above all, his own sense of his important.‖[20]P51 In people’s eyes, he had a successful career, and always enjoyed his life. However, he did not own a happy family. Among his family members, two things were lack—tolerance and respect. His wife was a selfish and indifferent person, who always liked to show herself off. His daughter acted on her own way all the time, and his son was full of vanity. What’s more important was that Hurstwood felt that his status in this family was gradually getting down, and he had no rights any more. What’s worse, he made a mistake of putting his property all under his wife’s name, which made him not be cared by his wife and respected by his children. He used to be respected outside, while, at home, the only thing he could feel was the depressing atmosphere. So, he could only rely on the beautiful clothes and diamond ornaments to comfort his heart. In his opinion, these things could keep his social status and his self-esteem. In that society, only having certain consumption level could make him realize his target. That is to say, he could try to compensate for his spirit with material consumption. Therefore, after he met Carrie, he couldn’t wait to obtain her heart. Compared with those jewelries, Carrie seemed to be a more sophisticated commodity. If Hurstwood could be together with her, not only would he take back his status, but also meet his satisfactions. In Hurstwood’s eyes, Carrie had her own youth and beauty. ―In the mild light of Carrie’s eye was nothing of the calculation of the mistress. In the diffident manner was nothing of the art of the courtesan.‖[20]P144The most charming thing was Carrie’s obedience to him. Her manner didn’t。

解读《嘉莉妹妹》的自然主义【摘要】德莱塞的成名作《嘉莉妹妹》具有鲜明的自然主义风格，真实地反映了当时美国底层劳动者们的生活，真实地揭露和批判了资本主义社会的腐朽和道德沦丧。

文章着重从三个方面：环境影响、遗传因素、本能欲望全面解读了女主人公嘉琳妹妹的自然主义思想。

此为一部划时代的作品。

《嘉莉妹妹》为美国文坛带来了新的气象。

【关键词】自然主义；嘉莉妹妹；环境；欲望一、前言自然主义特色是一种创作思潮，兴起于19世纪90年代，并在20世纪盛行于欧洲和美国。

所谓的“自然”主义就是：“自然中存在的都是真实的。

物体构成自然、行动和受某种原因支配的力量及其可进行客观的科学考察的特性。

”西奥多·德莱塞，自然主义的典范代表作家之一，与海明威、福克纳并列被称为美国现代小说的三巨头之一，其成名作《嘉莉妹妹》则是自然主义思潮的是美国现代小说的先驱和代表作。

小说《嘉莉妹妹》小说人物活动的环境位于芝加哥，一个繁华的大都市繁华的大都市，嘉莉起伏的命运得到了真实地描摹.在那个工业扩张的黄金年代里纸醉金迷的腐朽生活和由于金钱所带来的道德沦丧也得到了真实展现。

具体来说，小说详细描写了来自社会底层的天真、美丽姑娘嘉莉，为了自己梦寐以求富裕的上层社会生活，只身一人来到美国大都市芝加哥的艰辛经历，为能在大城市有立足之地，她先后委身与推销员杜洛埃和酒店经理赫斯特伍德的庇护之下，最后凭借自己的努力和机遇成为百老汇舞蹈明星的故事。

然而在她拥有了金钱和地位后，仍然精神极度空虚，却感觉不到成功和金钱所带给他的任何幸福，俨然成了物质上的“土豪”，精神上的“贫困户”。

在小说中运用自然主义创作手法的德莱塞强烈地抨击了当时美国社会的道德沦丧，因此也成就了这部作品在美国小说史上的里程碑地位。

二、诠释自然主义法国小说家左拉提出自然主义的概念，美国的文学界在达尔文进化论的影响下，盛行于各国文学领域。

主要观点是真正意义上的自由没有被人类获得，相反，在社会、经济、心理等因素的影响下人类的生活、观点和道德都会发生改变。

詹姆斯·费伦叙事伦理视角下《欲望三部曲》的研究西奥多·德莱塞(Theodore Dreiser,1871—1945)是美国二十世纪一位杰出的自然主义文学巨匠,他既是美国文坛的开拓者又是创新者,他的作品以写实而著称,并以大胆而诚实的笔触还原了美国社会的本来面目。

纵观德莱塞的整个文学创作,我们不难发现伦理问题一直是其作品关注的焦点,同时也深化了其作品的主题,因而将德莱塞的作品视为文学试验场来探讨其中的伦理问题有着不可忽视的文学价值。

《欲望三部曲》以十九世纪末芝加哥铁路大亨查尔斯·基耶斯的生平为原型创作而成,是德莱塞的代表作之一,全篇共包括三卷,以其主人公法兰克·阿吉龙·柯帕乌传奇般的发家史以及几乎与之并行的情爱史为主线大胆地揭露了十九世纪末二十世纪初处于转型期的美国社会的方方面面,其中也散布了德莱塞关于社会转型期所浮现的伦理道德问题的思考。

诚然,对于《欲望三部曲》中的伦理问题国内外已有学者做出过研究,然而本文是立足于一个新的角度,以詹姆斯·费伦的叙事伦理为理论基础,从《欲望三部曲》中节选三个与主题相关的问题进行伦理探讨,即探索叙事文本中各方的伦理是如何在叙事过程中建构起来的,以此来为德莱塞作品的研究提供一个新的视角,并借此揭示德莱塞作为一个传统叙事小说家是如何在作品中将其伦理思想蕴含其中,并潜移默化的影响其读者。

本文共分五个章。

第一章节主要概述德莱塞的生平,文学创作及其文学地位,同时也介绍了本文即将研究的作品《欲望三部曲》的国内外研究现状、本文的理论视角、研究意义及论文的框架。

基于费伦的叙事伦理,第二章、第三章和第四章分别以从作品中选择与主题相关的三个问题进行伦理探讨,即,探索被讲述者的伦理、讲述者的伦理以及读者的伦理是如何在叙事文本中建构起来的。

第二章针对主人公柯帕乌与财政局长合谋盗用五百万公款而引发牢狱之灾进行伦理探索,旨在揭示处于社会转型期中的人们是如何追寻新的生存哲学,以及讲述者和读者对此又是怎样的伦理态度。