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摘 要西奥多•德莱赛是美国杰出的现实主义作家,《美国的悲剧》是他文学创作的最高成就。小说的主人公克莱德出生于一个社会地位卑微的穷困家庭,在内外因的共同作用下,他不择手段地追求金钱和地位。最终,对金钱和地位强烈的欲望使他丧失理智,丧失道德底线,由一个涉世未深的青年堕落成一个残忍的杀人犯,走上自我毁灭的道路。本文从主人公自身的内部原因和社会原因分析克莱德的悲剧命运,以此揭露美国社会的黑暗、资本主义制度的邪恶和它们对人性的摧残。进而深化对克莱德悲剧命运的理解,唤起人们对不合理制度的抗争,并树立正确的价值观。25103
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毕业论文关键词：内部原因; 社会原因; 悲剧命运
Contents
摘 要 i
Abstract ii
I. Introduction 1
II. The Internal Causes of Clyde’s Tragic Fate 2
2.1 Clyde’s Character Flaw 2
2.2 Clyde’s Reckless Desire for Sex. 4
Ⅲ. The Social Causes 5
3.1 The Religious Cause 5
3.2 The Political Cause 7
3.3 The Economic Cause 8
3.3.1 The American Economy in the 1920s.8
3.3.2 The Consumption Ideology Prevailed 10
3.4 The Cultural Cause 11
3.4.1 The American Dream in the 1920s 11
3.4.2 The Influence of American Dream on Clyde 12
Ⅳ.Conclusion 14
Bibliography 15
Acknowledgements16
Abstract Theodore Dreiser is an excellent American realistic writer. An American Tragedy is the most high–profile success of his creative writing. Clyde, the protagonist of the novel, was born in a poor family with low social status, and was dying for money and high social status by hook or by crook. His crazy behavior was caused by both inner causes and external causes. Finally, the strong desire for money and status made him off his trolley and cross the moral baseline. He degenerated into a cruel murder from a sucker, stepping on the path of self–destruction. This paper analyses Clyde’s tragic fate from the aspects of inner causes and social causes, thus disclosing the darkness of American society and the veil of American capitalist system which destroyed people’s human nature greatly, deepening the understanding of Clyde’s tragedy, evoking people to fight against the unreasonable system and set up the correct value.
Key words: the inner causes; the social causes ; the tragic fate
On The Tragic Fate of Clyde in An American Tragedy
I. Introduction
Theodore Dreiser is universally regarded as not only one of the greatest American novelists after the First World War by American critics, but also the pioneer of modern American novel. He has also been referred to as “the chief spokesman for the realistic novel” and “a prescient critic of debased American values”.(Long 1989) He broke the traditional thought which played the leading role in the American literary area at that time, described every aspect of American society through the realistic way of writing, exposed ruthlessly the corruption of capitalist society, revealed all kinds of tragic consciousness to readers and diligently developed the new literary style and made remarkable contribution to the development of American literature. But his works had both supports and skeptics on early. Most critics considered his works as an advocate of moral corruption and degeneration. Dreiser was also criticized as a cruel exposer of social darkness, who wanted to stain his country.
An American Tragedy which is of great practical significance is the mast piece of Dreiser, and it was based on a real murder case . An American Tragedy portrayed a poor but ambitious young man named Clyde in pursuit of money and status murdered his pregnant girlfriend just because she was in the way of his more advantageous marriage to a very attractive girl with money and position. Dreiser described the process of Clyde’s degeneration from an innocent sucker to a contemptible and cruel murder. Clyde’s tragedy and his moral degeneration vividly represented the fate of the American younger generation at the turn of the 20th century who were severely contaminated by the society of that age. Dreiser is skilled at showing the characters’ social background through quantities of details, so that his novel is not only provided with living realism but also reproduces a historical era. In the 1920s, There were enormous changes in nearly all aspects of American life owing to the rapid economic growth: The religious beliefs couldn’t support the younger generation as they support the older generation; The American political and judicial system were actually manipulated by the corruptive politicians and the wealthy and powerful capitalists, and American politics were merely beneficial to the rich and the capitalism class; With the economic boom of America, the consumer culture prevailed and the gap between the rich and the poor widened; The long –existing American dream changed from longing for equality and freedom to strong desire for instant wealth, status, pleasure and possession. The social background helps us to understand the historical context of Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.