《嘉莉妹妹》和《推销员之死》中美国梦的对比分析

菜单

A Comparative Analysis of American Dream in Sister Carrie and Death of a Salesman Abstract Sister Carrie is Theodore Dreiser’s masterpiece who is recognized as one of greatest realistic writers and the pioneers of American modern fictions in 20 century. Death of a Salesman is also one of the greatest works of Arthur Miller who is one of the most famous and successful dramatist in America after the World War II. Both of these two works have a great impact on American literature. And they both share the same topic, that is, American Dream. The two characters in the novel, Carrie and Willy both have their all American dream, but unfortunately, their dreams broke up finally. The paper aims to analyze the connotation and social background of Carrie’s American dream and Willy’s American dream as well as to analyze the social, environmental and personal factors that lead to the disillusionment of their dreams. In addition, my thesis is going to seek the similarities and differences between them and reveal the correlation and necessity of their disillusionment. Analysis can help me better understand the essence of American dream as well as deepen the understanding of the topic of the works. 58280

Keywords: American Dream; sister Carrie; Willy Loman; disillusionment;

摘要《嘉莉妹妹》是西奥多德莱赛的巨著。德莱塞被公认为20世纪美国现代小说的先驱和最伟大的现实主义作家之一。《推销员之死》也是阿瑟米勒的主要作品之一。阿瑟米勒美国二战后最成功和有名的剧作家之一。这两部作品对美国文学都产生了较大的影响并且共享了一个主题，那就是美国梦。小说中的两位主人公,嘉莉和威利都拥有着自己的美国梦，但是最后他们的美国梦都破灭了。本篇论文目的在于分析嘉莉的美国梦和威利的美国梦的内涵以及他们所处的社会背景等，同时也分析造成他们梦想破灭的社会原因，家庭原因和个人原因等，并找出他们之间存在的异同点，揭示他们的美国梦破灭的相关性和必然性。通过这样的对比分析，能够更好地了解美国梦的实质，使作品的主题得到深化。

毕业论文关键词：美国梦；嘉莉妹妹；威利罗曼；幻灭

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 About the authors and the two books. 1

1.2 Literature review 1

2. The American Dream in Sister Carrie and Death of a Salesman. 3

2.1 The basic characteristics and development of American Dream 3

2.2 The general social background 3

2.3 The connotation of their American dream 4

2.4 The way to realize their dreams. 4

2.5 The disillusionment of their American dream 5

3. Reasons leading to the disillusionment of their dreams 6

3.1 The promoting role of society 6

3.2 The environment influence 6

3.2.1 Willy’s two sons, wife Linda and his neighbor 6

3.2.2. Carrie’s neighbors and lover Hurstwood 7

3.3 Personal factors 8

4. Conclusion 9

References 10

1. Introduction

1.1 About the authors and the two books.

Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) is recognized as one of greatest realistic writers and the pioneers of American modern fictions in 20 century. He is also known as one of the founders of America naturalism. Sister Carrie is Dreiser’s first long novel, being published at 1910, and it is also the beginning of modern fiction. But some voices complain that the work only depicts the real society and lacks content of the preaching role of idealism. Despite of a lot of criticism, the work receives high praise from American literary world. Arthur Miller (1915-2005), one of the most famous and successful dramatist in America after the World War II, and his representative work Death of a Salesman was considered as the most celebrated play during the post-war era in America. For its special ideas and writing skills, it has a profound impact on the American drama. Miller himself become illustrious and win the Pulitzer Prize for drama Awards by virtue of the play.