A Feminist Reading of Sister Carrie

Wang Jiatong

【Abstract】In the history of American literature，Sister Carrie is the first novel of Theodore Dreiser，it impresses people deeply.Carrie，a poor country girl，becomes a famous star in a big city.She has totally changed from her hard experiences，and she becomes financially independent as a new woman when she goes through hesitation.In he whole novel，the author has planted some strong points of Carries character.At the end of this paper，it analyzes womans status in modern time from two aspects of the improvement of females social status and the comparison between men and women.

【Keywords】feminist； character； influence； status

1.The Different characters of Carrie in Three Stage

1.1 A Rough Time.At first ，Carrie believes that Chicago is paved with more fortune and chance .There is no doubt that Carrie wants to make a better life by her hand，and it is her right.But when she arrives and meets her sister，Minnie who will stay with her.Her dream of a better of life collapses.After all，she lives in Chicago not her hometown，she struggles to adapt to the tough life.What is worse，she is not ability to pay money for her sister as accommodation expenses.Personally，she has a right to choose a better life.

1.2 A Better Time.Droue，a salesman is receptive to a beautiful and attracted woman.He wants to conquer and charm her.So he gives a hand when she is in trouble，he gives her a pretty life and shows her the sights of Chicago.It is so strong that she overlook his beliefs in what is right and wrong.She only wants to make a better life.

1.3 A Lonely Time.Carrie finds Hurstwood is far more clever and elegant than Drouet.Then she gets in touch with him when Drouet is out of home.They loved each other，but all the wealth of Hurstwood belongs to her wife，he choose to leave for New York with Carrie.Because of lacking money.At the end，Carrie pursues her career and successfully established he status，but he becomes poor.Although she becomes a success，her life is alone.As a woman，Carrie is more brave and confident even independent.

2.Feminist Reflected in Carrie

2.1 The Definition of Feminist.Feminism is a relatively recent term for the politics of equal rights for women.The terms“feminism”or“feminist”firstly appeared in France and Netherlands in 1872，Great Britain in the 1890s，and THE United States in 1910，and many languages do not have this noun at all.It is also a system of critique and has as its focus on the concept of patriarchy，which can be described as a system of male authority，which oppresses women through its social，political，and economic institutions.

2.2 Womens Status Reflected by Carrie.In the late 19th century ，“New Women”have emerged in large numbers in society.It generally refers to two kinds of women，one is young workers and the other is women who want to change their fate.They firmly believe in fighting for their rights.Women had been influenced on the thought of“New Women”in the United States when Sister Carrie was published.They have begun to challenge the ethics of tradition ，women not only were mothers at home，but they were also able to work and contribute to society.

3.Carries Character Influenced by Feminist.Female selecting and female starting to work are both chief divisions of the fight for parity for women in America.This is the symbol of womens independence.Female right and the origin of feminism change the way of looking at female in the Middle Class in society and change the Middle Class values.Female are setting about to have a more individualist vision on life，they are recognizing that they do not have to count on a man to survive.Carrie id from an innocent girl to be a successful actress by her own.Carrie not only rebelling against Hustwood but more importantly against the role those women is traditionally expected to obey.

4.Womens Status in Modern Time.In modern time，political and economic areas of the country entail not only the raise of womens role in society.In addition，they are accompanied by breaking of stereotypes to treat human beings by sex that had been forming through decades.The status of the women has improving in the modern time，of course，most of women like beautiful thing，and also want to be a beautiful women.The survey has found that the majority of the female respondents opposed the traditional idea that family and husband are center of a womans life.and they said they will keep their jobs even if their families become rich enough to spare them from having to work.

5.Conclusion.From the above analysis，we may see that Carrie，a rural and innocent girl，she gradually becomes an independent and successful woman.From Carries experience，the fat is obvious that it is hard for a woman to make a better life on her own.This paper aims to read Sister Carrie from the feminism.In that society，the tradition women always rely on men.All most of them stay at home doing the basic housework for their family but they dont have their own careers.It makes them have no space to improve their family but they dont have their own careers.It makes them have no space to improve their values they own.

References：

[1]Theodore Dreiser.Sister Carrie[M].Bantam Classics，1982.

[2]Theodore Dreiser：Political Writings，edited by Jude Davies.University of Illinois Press，2011.

[3]Howe，Irving.Dreiser and Tragedy：the Stature of Theodore Dreiser Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism[M].New York：Gale Research，Inc1989.