Abstract Sister Carrie is the representative work of Theodore Dreiser。 It has profound historic and realistic meanings and also takes up an important position in the American literature。 It is a great fiction which sharply breaks away from the traditional writing style at the beginning of the 20th      century so that Sister Carrie becomes a milestone in American literature。 This essay aims to analyze Carrie’s main character and the causes leading to her complicated character。 Carrie is simple and naive, but longs for upper society。 She worships money, has vanity and is cold to others。 The causes leading to Carrie’s complicated character include both external causes and internal causes。 External causes include social reality, influence of Drouet and Hurstwood, and her family。 Internal causes include her understanding of life, her desire for better life, and her growing independent conscious。 75088

Keywords: Sister Carrie; Character; Causes

摘要《嘉莉妹妹》是美国著名作家西奥多·德莱塞的代表作。它有着深刻的历史和现实意义,所以在美国文坛上占有具足轻重的地位。它是一部明显背离二十世纪初写作风格的伟大小说，这也使他成为了美国文学的一块里程碑。本文章旨在分析嘉莉的主要性格特征及其成因。嘉莉简单，天真，却立志跻身上流社会。她崇拜金钱，有强烈的虚荣心，对待他人自私冷漠。导致嘉莉复杂性格的原因既包括外部原因，也包括内部原因。外部原因包括当时的社会现实，杜洛埃和赫斯特伍德的影响和嘉莉的家庭因素。内部原因包括嘉莉对生活的理解，她对更好生活的渴望和她日益增长的独立意识。

毕业论文关键词：《嘉莉妹妹》；性格；原因

Contents

1。 Introduction 1

2。 Literature Review 2

3。 The Character of Carrie 4

3。1 Simplicity and naiveness 4

3。2 Ambitiousness 5

3。3 Money worship and vanity 5

3。4 Selfishness and coldness 6

4。The Causes of Carrie’s Character 7

4。1External causes 7

4。2 Internal causes 10

5。 Conclusion 12

Works Cited 14

1。 Introduction 

Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) is among the greatest American writers。 He is the leader of American Naturalism and is remembered for his sharp criticism of the exaggeratedly refined tradition。 He writes a lot of famous works in his life including his masterpiece Sister Carrie, Jennie Gerhardt, The Financier, The Titan , The Genius , and so on。

In his novels, Dreiser is inclined to deal with the new social problems that show up in a rapidly industrializing America, and the main character in his writings often have selfish motives and are often affected by the privileges and limitations of different social class。 Influenced by Emile Zola, he depicts life the way it is and seeks for the dark side of the social life by criticizing the traditional American moral standard。 As is known to us, Sister Carrie was not a hit when it was first published。 It was even rejected due to breaking away from genteel tradition and lashed for Dreiser’s indefinite attitude towards Carrie。 Also because of his left-oriented views, he consequently became a controversial figure in American literary history。 The main roles in his novels usually succeed and gain what they desire in spite of lacking a firm moral code。 In 1930 he was nominated to the Nobel Prize in Literature。论文网