黄冈师范学院本科毕业论文
setting”(ibid: 14). Even Edith Wharton is increasingly viewed as a naturalist, with her central theme of “the entrapment of women within social codes and taboos” (ibid: 14). Indeed, according to Pizer, “the most perceptive and important critic of American naturalism since Walcutt at least”(Giles, 1995: 7), has emphasized that in the United States this literary genre has been constantly evolving, rather than static and fixed.
Ⅱ.The Typical Characteristics of Naturalism in Sister Carrie
In Sister Carrie I find out that some of its themes differ from those of other naturalistic works. 2.1 Naturalistic Environmental Factors in Sister Carrie
One outstanding feature of naturalism is its stress on the influence of environment upon man?s fate．According to naturalism，man is a helpless pawn，at the mercy of the surrounding. As Dreiser has declared in his novel, “all of us are more or less pawns．We?re moved about like chessman by circumstance over which we have no control”. This famous pronouncement is often regarded as the philosophical center of Naturalism，describing the deterministic effect of environmental factors. Most naturalistic novels depict in detail the crushing effect of environment upon individuals．However, insister Carrie, the environment, instead of crushing Carrie down even contributes to her rise．Chapter one focuses on discussing how environmental factors，such as the live environmental factors，the social environmental factors，as well as the mysterious manipulation of chances cause the inevitable rise of Carrie． 2.1.1 The Living Environmental Factors
Naturalism attaches great emphasis on one?s living environment，believing that one?s living environment influences one?s fate enormously．Therefore，the chapter starts with discussing the crucial role played by metropolis in Carrie?s rising journey．
Metropolises，with their glittering theaters，imposing hotels and sumptuous restaurants，together with the wealthy in their fashionable apparel，represent the walled and gilded city to which Carrie seeks entrance．Described as the “Elf-Land'?, “Dream Land”，or “the Kingdom of Greatness” in the novel，they have been luring a huge number of dream-makers to pour in by promising to satisfy those dreamers? every desire for wealth，for status，for influence．Carrie is just one of them．Living in the entrancing city , a materialist in the core，she cannot escape the consistent seduction from the superhuman tempter , and is led in
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黄冈师范学院本科毕业论文
consistent pursuit of her unquenchable desire for perfect happiness．On the other hand，metropolises are indeed the natural and idealized habitats for Carrie，for only in those amusing and magnetizing cities can she satisfy at least temporarily her insatiable desire for pleasure and display her special theatrical talent．To be sure，big cities，such as Chicago and New York，offer the needed environment for Carrie?s rise．
Chicago is the first city that forms a suitable living environment, necessary for Carrie?s rise．At the time when the novel was written，it was the vibrant center of business，where the promise of fortunes to be made hung in the air．To Dreiser, Chicago was the wonder of his life，the only great city in the world to which all its citizens had come with the unanimous，avowed object of making money．To these green-hands and the rustic，the big city is a shimmering mirage of hope，promising not only economic opportunities but also a exciting，and comfortable social life．However, this is just one side of the city．The other side of it is a rather harsh and indifferent place，a merciless jungle—like industrial society．In the novel，Dreiser first presents readers with a picture of the sordid side of the city．Among the picture，the imagery of the open，lonely prairie is one of these important symbols which remind readers frequently of the jungle．The open，lonely prairie is just like an innocent young girl who stands by the side of the seemingly prosperous but essentially corrupted city．While the maiden·like prairie is intruded step by step by human society during industrialization，the innocence of a beautiful young girl，like Carrie in the novel，is also gradually invaded by the hypnotic power of the corrupted city．As a result，the once naive young girl is changedintoa11experienced young lady, which is an indispensable step for her rising journey in the metropolis．
Facing the compelling allures in the mysterious city , at the same time，with no one to guide and counsel her , Carrie is ignorant of traps and disasters that lie in wait for her in the big city, thus it's certain that she will be seduced by the superhuman tempter and have her desire for material goods greatly stirred up．Dreiser has endowed Carrie with the wonder and excitement of an impressionable temperament as it encounters for the first time the material prosperity and splendor of urban life．At the very beginning，her limited experience in the city focuses her desire on fine clothes，rich foods and comfortable residences．Her obsessive interests about those items sufficiently illustrate the city?s hypnotic effect on her．Since those are not
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黄冈师范学院本科毕业论文
available at the moment，she unconsciously seeks away to make them available and her every action is motivated by her unquenchable desire for those items．
By the way , the city?s hypnotic power not only stirs up her desires for material goods，but also contributes to her moral fall．Her short but poignant shop-girl working experience in Chicago makes her realize that it is impossible to be a success by working hard and honestly．A poor innocent country side girl，like Carrie，either works to death under great pressure of overwork and exploitation，or sells herself flesh and soul to be successful but later suffers the fatal accusation of moral degradation．Entrapped in the dilemma , Carrie is doomed to choose the latter and becomes one of so many victims of the city?s hypnotic influence．The conspicuous result is that having met with the hardship of finding a job and tempted by the dazzling material world in Chicago，she becomes the mistress of Drouet，a dandy salesman．The comfortable existence as a fallen woman kept by men is preferable to the hard life of a poor but honest working girl，although she is under severe moral accusation． 2.1.2 The Social Environmental Factors
Environmental factors also contain influence from one?s social association．Zola has pointed out that man is not an isolated creature；he lives in a society, thus the social environment，like the living environment，also plays decisive role in one?s fate．In other words，the omnipresent social environment definitely influences one?s value system and stimulates one to pursue a certain kind of success. For example，Carrie?s association with a group of materialists helps her to adapt to the cosmopolitan environment quickly and has her unquenchable desire for wealth，for fame further stirred up．
First, instructions on clothes and manners acquired from the masher salesman--Drouet help Carrie to adapt to the metropolitan standards．Drouet plays the role of an eloquent seducer in the appropriate form of a traveling salesman，arousing Carrie?s desire by whispering besides her ear like the evil serpent in the Garden of Eden．He describes the big city as a vast department store with numerous fascinating goods，and his own appearance affects Carrie as a kind of advertisement：the swollen purse，the shiny tan shoes，the smart suit，and the air with which he does things，build up for her a dim world of wealth，of which he is the center．On the train to Chicago，Carrie is immediately attracted by the drummer's dashing attire and elegant appearance，which causes her to study her own and is acutely conscious of the deficiency of
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黄冈师范学院本科毕业论文
her own clothes：the shabbiness of the dress and the worn state of her shoes．Bear in mind，Carrie?s keen interest in attractive clothes and the deficiency of her own is an integral and indispensable part of the future outcome of the novel．Much of her story is presented in terms of the clothes she acquires. Clothes，usually considered as all index of taste and social position，for Carrie，have turned into a naive but urging desire for that which is elegant and pleasing in life．They also constitute a well—understood language of society , which indicates clearly one's status and wealth．To learn this language well，she becomes a willing student of her lover Drouet．As a dandy salesman alert to any distinctions in dress，Drouet regards good clothes as the first essential thing，things without which he is nothing．Living together with the masher, Carrie is doomed to be greatly influenced by Drouet?s philosophy about clothes. In the metropolis，clothes and manners are signs of wealth，power, and status，and gradually Carrie grows more and more fluent in the city?s language．To put it short，her association with the dandy salesman improves her taste and instructs her to adapt o the metropolitan environment．Carrie?s mentors are not confined exclusively to the men who keep her asmi stress，but other women--the succession of neighbors and friends who instruct
her in the longings for clothes，wealth，and in all the emblems of taste and fashion．It is these things that arouse her passion for material goods and urge her to act．One of her self-initiated mentors is her neighbor in Chicago—Mrs. Hale，who stimulates her craving for wealth and elegance and awakens the siren voice of the restless by whispering desires for material goods in Carrie’S ear．The gossip of Mrs. Hale forms the special medium through which Carrie sees the outside world：her incessant and trivial praises of wealth sift through the mind of this worshipper of wealth，fall upon Carrie and serve as a force of constant drag to propel her to pursue something better．They awaken her longings for those things which she does not have and cause her to cling closer to things she has already possessed．Mrs. Hale?s harangue upon the subject of wealth and position，at its starkest force，is to teach Carrie to distinguish between degrees of wealth，whose excellent illustration finds in one?s dwells，the symbolic imagery of the power of money．
To sum up，Carrie?s lover and neighbor in the metropolis who work as the representatives for the seductive social environment change her from all innocent country girl into a smart and experienced city beauty．The association forms a needed social environment which not
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黄冈师范学院本科毕业论文
only stimulates consistently her insatiable desire for a higher material enjoyment，but also consciously and unconsciously helps her to adapt to the metropolis—her ideal habitat． 2.2 Naturalistic Hereditary Factors for Carrie
Besides its emphasis on environment, naturalism is also characterized by its stress on heredity．As the pioneer of naturalism，Zola remarks in The Experimental Novel--all the motivations of one?s actions can be traced back to one?s heredity．To put it in another way, one?s inherent character urges one to act in a certain way．For instance，in his masterpiece，LaFortune DesRougon(1868-lS93)，a massive works comprised of 20 long novels，Zola records the brutalizing and crushing effect of hereditary factors，such as alcoholism，atavism，strong sexual desire，instinctive desire for pleasure，etc．upon the tragic fates of individuals．Since traits of characters determine fate，the evil disposition definitely leads one to destruction，and the proper temperament will propel one to succeed．In Carrie?s
case，her hereditary dispositions--the endowed gift for theatrical performance and the insatiable desire for pleasure prove her to be the fit one in the natural selection，and contribute to her success in the metropolis．
2.2.1Inborn Beauty Helps Her Success on the Stage
Like some people say, “the stage provides almost the only ideal outlet for the artistic temperament of a talented and beautiful woman”，Carrie chooses to be an actress not only because it is the most ideal career for a beautiful woman to rise to fame and fortune rapidly, but also due to the reason that the stage presents the best place to display her essential natures．Here her essential natures contain several points，such as her outstanding beauty, emotional greatness and the special gift to represent the world?s longing，all of which are resulted from heredity and contribute to her splendid theatrical career．
First of all，her inherited outstanding beauty contributes to her rise in the metropolis．This guarantees her later success in the metropolis which appreciates good-looking appearance．The effect of her hereditary beauty is even more conspicuous in the theatrical world．For instance，although she has no special training in acting，her outstanding beauty attracts the attention of the theater manager who immediately promotes her to a prominent position to leas the chorus line，which serves as a starting point for her splendid theatrical career
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