sister carrie was written by theodore dreiser

Being full of talents, she decides to leave her parents’ home to join her sister in Chicago and make her dream of success and wealth come true. It narrates the story of a beautiful, smart and ambitious girl, who lives in poverty in her parent’s home in the countryside. The plot deals with the dreams of a young woman in the turn of the twentieth century.

The author wrote his novel under the literary current of Naturalism and presented the main character as being determined by the environment in which she is put. In his Sister Carrie, Dreiser reflects on the female experience of the American Dream through the Character of Carrie Meeber that is caught in the same trap of Materialism and Social Darwinism. As such, they found themselves determined by the philosophies of Social Darwinism and Pragmatism, forgetting about the moral codes of their ancestors. Within this environment, they followed the vague of materialism that accompanied the industrial life of the city. Authors, such as Theodore Dreiser, presented in their works an American Dream based in the city and pursued by young characters seeking success within the urban environment characterized by industry, business and modernity. In the turn of the twentieth century, the period known as the Progressive Era, the concept is represented within the movement of urbanization that characterized the epoch. The American Dream, the major myth of the American society, has a great impact on American literature in different periods. Thus, the American Dream that Carrie experienced ends with a moral fall and disillusionment at the end of the novel. Religion and morality have not their place in this period of urbanization. In fact, her behavior, like that of all the other characters of the novel, is directed by the materialistic atmosphere as well as the philosophy of Social Darwinism that distinguished the urban lifestyle at that time. The American Dream that Carrie experienced is guided by the philosophy of Determinism that characterized the era. The latter determined her faith and actions, and detached her from her morals and traditions in favor of money and fame.

Dreiser, known as the author of woman, explores in this novel the issue of woman within the urban environment, by presenting Carrie as being modern, with materialistic dreams. The present article deals with American woman’s experience of the American Dream in the turn of the twentieth century through the analysis of the dreams of the main character in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (1900). :To download the pdf version of the research papers, please visit the following link

Sister carrie was written by theodore dreiser