Theodore Dreiser의 Sister Carrie에 나타난 자연주의 연구

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This thesis aims at studying Sister Carrie which is representative of Theodore Dreiser's novels to find out the life of human beings Theodore Dreiser observed and described.
Stephen Crane and Frank Norris who pioneered naturalism in America made considerable contributions to American literature. They reflected a deterministic naturalism that human beings are helpless animals and behave in accordance with instinct. They made efforts to describe human life in terms of naturalistic viewpoint and to express a naturalistic view of life artistically. But their naturalism was so limited that they could not continue to be consistent with their naturalistic theory and fulfill it against the thick wall of the traditional American literature.
It can be said that Theodore Dreiser succeeded to them developed and established naturalism in American literature. In the Dreiserian world, all human creatures are trapped in the same nets of chance and circumstance which they neither control nor understand. They are helplessly swept this way and that by the winds of untoward, malicious, and reckless powers. They are neither masters of their destinies, nor can they escape from the forces and so it is useless and meaningless to consider, worry, and complain of that. In Dreiser's terms, all of them are more or less pawns. They're moved about by circumstance over which they have no control, as if they were chessmen played by chess players. They are blown hither and thither for what purpose they cannot even suspect, as if they were grains of dust or sand blown by a gust of wind.
In Sister Carrie, Carrie's life was instinctive rather than willful, due to external forces in the course of obtaining material success and security. Carrie aimlessly pursues the illusion of wealth and pleasure, but she eventually experiences an unsatisfactory state of heart. Dreiser also depicts Hurstwood as a victim of chance and circumstances. Hurstwood ended in ruin in this height of his life and a tragic death because he could not resist the external forces. Dreiser found that the tragic factors of man's life are not in the violences and vices, but in the desires, circumstance and chances, which he reveals through this work.
Through Carrie, Dreiser tried to portray life in his period from a naturalistic viewpoint, and as a heroine of a novel of naturalism, Carrie, equipped with most of these conditions, led an amoral life and kept living in luxury, as her instinct led her. Finally, Carrie succeeded in fulfilling her desire, but she could not e satisfied with it all and felt only disillusionment.
After leaving Chicago which was the original living environment, Hurstwood who eloped with Carrie to New York was greatly influenced by the new one and at last he became fallen under the control of it.
Ames had an effect on Carrie as a spokesman of Dreiser, but Carrie still remained unsatisfied.
It can be said that in Sister Carrie Dreiser dealt with human problems on the universal dimension by presenting a human being as a weak existence and interpreting him by means of determinism.
Thus, by Dreiser, true life in the American society was expressed in American literature for the first time.
In conclusion, in his novels, Dreiser shows us living in the modern-day society and the real meaning of mental poverty. It is pitiable thing that life becomes more harsh and impersonal in an affluent society. This is caused by man's infinite desires which never fulfill his quest for satisfaction. Pursuing an aimless illusion of wealth and pleasure eventually leads to an unsatisfactory state of heart and existence. Dreiser shows us that if a man accomplishes his desires and pleasures based on morality and ethics, he can contribute to his society and will be a genuinely happy person.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 목차 = ⅲ
• Ⅰ. 서론 = 1
• Ⅱ. Theodore Dreiser의 자연주의 = 5
• Ⅲ. Carrie의 신분상승 욕망 = 16
• Ⅳ. 자연주의적 관점에서 본 Carrie와 Hurstwood의 적자생존 = 30
• Ⅴ. 결론 = 67
• BIBLIOGRAPHY = 70
• ABSTRACT = 74