西奥多德莱塞

Dreiser’s Writing Features-- Themes
1. Naturalism and Darwinism He regards man as merely an animal driven by greed and lust in a struggle existence in which only the “fittest”, the most ruthless survive 2. American Dream The concept wildly held in the USA that through hard work, courage, and determination one can prosperity. 3. Exposing polarization between rich and poor and immorality. 4. America social darkness, corroded and infected by American life style(money talks) in that period.
Characters
Caroline Meeber a.k.a Carrie, a young woman from rural Wisconsin; the protagonist Minnie Hanson Carrie’s dour elder sister who lives in c Chicago and puts her up on arrival Sven Hanson Minnie’s husband , of Swedish extraction and taciturn temperament George W .Hurstwood a well-to-do, sophisticated man who manages Fitzgerald and Moy’s resort Julia Hurstwood George’s strong-willed, social-climbing wife Jessica Hurstwood George and Julia’s daughter, who shares her mother’s aspirations to social status George Hurstwood Jr.George and Julia’s son The Vances A wealthy wenku.baidu.comerchant and his wife, who live in the same building as Hurstwood and Carrie in New York City Robert Ames Mrs.Vance’s cousin from Indiana , a handsome young scholar whom Carrie regards as a male ideal Lola Osborne a chorus girl Carrie meets during a theatre production in New York, who encourge Carrie to become her roommate
After only a few years, Carrie turns to New York’s theatres for employment and becomes a chorus girl. Once again, her aptitude for theatre serves her well, and, as the rapidly aging Hurstwood declines into obscurity, Carrie begins to rise from chorus girl to small speaking roles. Carrie achieves stardom, but finds that money and fame do not satisfy her longings or bring her happiness and that nothing will.
One of the very greatest novels of this century It can be seen partly as an attack on a tradition of self-conscious, self-satisfied moralism that was meant to define core American mainstream values during the 1920s. The story was so intriguing that keeps the reader turning pages to see what happens next. Dreiser is strong in plotting and character development.
The ambitious but immature Clyde Griffiths, raised by poor and devoutly religious parents who force him to participate in their street missionary work, is anxious to achieve better things. Following a sensational trial before an unsympathetic audience, and despite a vigorous defense mounted by two lawyers hired by his uncle, Clyde is convicted, sentenced to death, and executed. The jailhouse scenes and the correspondence between Clyde and his mother stand out as exemplars of pathos in modern literature
An American Tragedy
Inspiration
The book was based on a notorious criminal case. On July 11, 1906,the charterer found an overturned boat and body of 20-year-old race Brown at Big Moose Lake in upstate New York. Chester Gillette was put on trial and convicted of killing Brown, though he claimed that her death was an accident. Gillette was executed by electric chair in 1908.
（Aug.27,1871-Dec.28,1945）
Lecturer: Tang Ran Producer: Wan Wenfang
Born in Indiana, in1871 to a German-speaking family. The tenth of ten surviving children in the family (three others died as infants) Attended Indiana University (1889-1890) with the help from a teacher. Involved in several campaigns against social injustice. He was left – oriented and became a member of CP in 1945. Died in 1945 in Hollywood California.
Short story collections Play
Collections of poems
Moods A Traveler at Forty, A Hoosier Holiday, A Book About Myself(Newspaper Days), Dawn, An Amateur Laborer
Works by Theodore Dreiser
Novels
Sister Carrie, Jennie Gerhardt , The Financier, The Titan, The Genius , An American Tragedy , The Bulwark , The Stoic Free and Other Stories, Twelve Men, Chains: Lesser Novels and Stories, A Gallery of Women Plays of the Natural and Supernatural , The Hand of the Potter
Autobiography
Collections of essays
Sister Carrie (1900) , one
earliest novel by Theodore Dreiser about a young country girl who moves to the big city where she starts realizing her own American Dream by first becoming a mistress to men that she perceives as superior and later as a famous actress, It has been called the “greatest of all American urban novels.”
Relations
Lived together, mistress
Mistress: eloping
Plot summary
Dissatisfied with life in her rural Wisconsin home, 18year-old Caroline ” Sister Carrie” Meeber takes the train to Chicago. On the train, Carrie meets Charles Drouet, a traveling salesman.
Hey Rub-a-Dub-Dub : A book of the Mystery and Wonder and Terror of Life, The Color of a Great City, Dreiser Looks at Russia, Tragic America, America Is Worth Saving, Notes on Life