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---Theodore Dreiser. Sister Carrie. Characters Plots Themes. Characters. Carrie Meeber Charlie Drouet George Hurstwood. Carrie Meeber.
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Sister Carrie • Characters • Plots • Themes
Characters • Carrie Meeber • Charlie Drouet • George Hurstwood
Carrie Meeber • Caroline (Carrie) Meeber, the protagonist of the novel, travels to Chicago to stay with her sister and her brother-in-law. The world of Chicago enthralls her, and she constantly wants to buy things. Her first job is a low-paid, arduous position in a factory. When she loses her job, her sister and brother-in-law cannot support her, so she becomes Charlie Drouet's mistress. Afterward, she becomes infatuated with another man, George Hurstwood. Carrie and Hurstwood run to New York, where they discover that married life is far less exciting than their affair. Carrie leaves Hurstwood because he fails to provide her with the lavish life she wants. She becomes a famous, high-paid actress in New York City.
Carrie • 18岁的嘉莉，漂亮而胆小，年轻无知，充满了对大都市繁华生活的幻想 • 一个只善于感受而不善于推理的人在追求美的过程中，误入岐途。 • 农村姑娘家莉到芝加哥谋生而成为名演员的故事，揭露了资本主义社会繁荣的表面底下的失业、贫困和饥饿，对美国贫富对立的社会作了深刻的描写。《嘉莉妹妹》用巴尔扎克式的现实主义写成，为美国文学开创了一个新的天地。
Charlie Drouet • Charlie Drouet is a charming, flashy salesman with a strong appetite for romance. Although he is warm-hearted, he never takes any of his romantic affairs seriously. He provides Carrie with a place to stayafter she is forced to stop living with her sister; he also promises to marry her, but he never really intends on following through. He loses Carrie to Hurstwood and then, years later, after she has become a famous actress, tries unsuccessfully to win her back.
杜洛埃 • 年轻的推销员 • 穿着时髦，油腔滑调的情场老手，老于世故、衣着得体，很能够吸引一些涉世未深和举止轻浮的女性
George Hurstwood • George Hurstwood is the manager of a saloon in Chicago. At the beginning of the novel, he is a wealthy, important man. He falls in love with Carrie after meeting her through Drouet. He tells Carrie that he loves her, but he fails to mention that he is married. After his wife discovers his affair with Carrie and files for divorce, he steals ten thousand dollars from the saloon and flees with Carrie to Montreal. There, he marries her before his divorce with Julia is complete. Although he keeps his theft a secret from Carrie, he is discovered by an investigator and required to return most of the money in order to protect his reputation. In New York, Hurstwood slowly descends into poverty. After Carrie leaves him, he becomes a homeless beggar and eventually commits suicide.
赫斯渥 十分富有，在生意上春风得意，颇有能耐，家庭生活虽然缺乏宽容体谅和关心爱护，但靠习惯的力量和传统观念维系着，也算是安稳，儿女们也都长大了，都有了自己的事业和活动圈子，赫斯渥和妻子之间虽无爱情可言，但也无大的不满，虽然偶尔也有些艳遇，但是名利、权势、地位使他只能是逢场作戏，他必须维系住家庭的稳定。另一方面，他温和、宁静、自信、处世圆滑，对女士殷勤周到，他对嘉莉表示的那份恭维，是每个女人都会赏识的。
Plots • Sister Carrie tells the story of two characters: Carrie Meeber, an ordinary girl who rises from a low-paid wage earner to a high-paid actress, and George Hurstwood, a member of the upper middle class who falls from his comfortable lifestyle to a life on the streets. Neither Carrie nor Hurstwood earn their fates through virtue or vice, but rather through random circumstance. Their successes and failures have no moral value; this stance marks Sister Carrie as a departure from the conventional literature of the period. • Dreiser touches upon a wide range of themes and experiences in Sister Carrie, from grinding poverty to upper-middle class comfort. The novel dwells on the moment as it is experienced; the characters’ identities are constantly subject to change, reflecting the modern American experience that at that time thousands of rural Americans rushed to the cities to find jobs and to build themselves new lives and identities. Sister Carrie captures the excitement of that experience.
小说描写了农村姑娘嘉莉来到大城市芝加哥寻找幸福，为摆脱贫困，出卖自己的贞操，先后与推销员和酒店经理同居，后又凭美貌与歌喉成为歌星的故事。作家娴熟地运用自然主义的创作手法，把人的行为物化为“化学反应”的经果，使作品具有极强的社会表现力。小说的故事真正情节是这样的：嘉莉是个俊俏的农村姑娘，她羡慕大都市的物质生活来到了芝加哥谋生。小说描写了农村姑娘嘉莉来到大城市芝加哥寻找幸福，为摆脱贫困，出卖自己的贞操，先后与推销员和酒店经理同居，后又凭美貌与歌喉成为歌星的故事。作家娴熟地运用自然主义的创作手法，把人的行为物化为“化学反应”的经果，使作品具有极强的社会表现力。小说的故事真正情节是这样的：嘉莉是个俊俏的农村姑娘，她羡慕大都市的物质生活来到了芝加哥谋生。
Themes • American Dream • Wealth and Poverty • Sex
American Dream • Each of Dreiser's characters in Sister Carrie search for their own "American Dreams" —Carrie, a poor country girl, arrives in Chicago, filled with the expectations of acquiring the finer things in life. She imagines the elegant clothes she will wear, the exciting places to which she will go, and the fashionable people with whom she will associate, thinking that everyone who lives beyond the boundaries of her Midwestern state has achieved that higher status. — Drouet seeks his own version of the American Dream. He has achieved a certain station in life and wears the clothes to prove it. He frequents the important establishments in town and has befriended many of the established people. Yet, he pursues the other appointments that represent his dream, such as a beautiful woman to adorn his arm and his own home. — Hurstwood has the woman, the established home and family, and a good position. He, though, wants more. He seeks love, appreciation, and more prestige.
Wealth and Poverty • Industrial growth brought the United States a period of prosperity during the late 1800s and early 1900s. With factories flourishing, job opportunities were abundant. People made good money in factory management positions and other white-collar jobs. Factory workers, however, not only earned low incomes, but they also worked long hours. Consequently, a wide division existed between the wealthy and the poor.
Carrie comes from a lower-middle-class background and determines that she will rise above it. Carrie wants more for herself. • Throughout Sister Carrie, the distinction between social classes is obvious. The clothes people wear, the homes in which they live, and the activities in which they are involved distinguish the rich from the poor. The wealthy wear stylish clothes and attend elaborate performances of the arts. In the final chapter, the description of Hurst-wood's last days offers a vivid picture of the ultimate plight of the poorest.
Sex • In the early 1900s, the morals and virtues of the Victorian era still guided people's actions. People with proper upbringing did not speak of sex. The public was shocked that Dreiser's characters so openly participated in explicit relationships and that Dreiser seemed to take it granted. • Carrie uses sex to gain status for herself. She sees nothing wrong in living with Drouet to get the clothes she wants and to have opportunities to move in Chicago's affluent circles. Later, Carrie sees that Hurstwood can offer her an even higher standard of living. She ignores the fact that he is already married and the two of them will be committing adultery. With no regard for Drouet's emotions, she breaks off their relationship and pursues one with Hurstwood. After living with Hurstwood for some time, she realizes she can no longer benefit from the arrangement and leaves him, too.
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