美国文学10 American Naturalism, Theodore Dreiser.ppt

6.7.10 General comments on the novel Sister Carrie represents a naturalistic type of novel. The characters and their actions are determined, and they do not have much free will. Many actions take place by accident, by chance which is not of course “spiritual fate” but still forms different kinds of determinism. Carrie’s fate is determined by her gender, by her environment - cities where she lives - and people, who she is surrounded by. 6.7.11 About Chapter 26 Carrie, having watched Drouet walk out, soon checks her money supply and realizes that she needs to find work. She actually heads into the business part of town on Saturday, but soon loses heart and leaves. On Monday Carrie attempts to go to several playhouses in the hopes of getting an acting position, but loses heart and leaves without applying. Tuesday arrives and she manages to meet with the manager of the company at the Grand Opera House. He, however, only becomes interested in taking her out to lunch, an invitation Carrie refuses. She also reads the letter that Hurstwood sent her and replies with a strongly worded reproof [blame], upset that he lied to her about being married. She applies at several other places and is told that she needs to be in New York in order to get her start as an actress. Carrie then applies at department stores but is similarly turned away. She returns home to find that Drouet has been there and left, taking some of his things. It turns out that he was hoping to patch things up with her, and that he had waited, watching for her out of the window. After a while he was forced to leave due to an appointment, but he plans to return the next day. 6.7.12 Analysis of the chapter This chapter repeats the search for a job scenes presented earlier, but now differs strongly in both the way Carrie applies and where she applies. Whereas before she looked at department stores and then factories, she now looks at theaters and then department stores. This really marks the transition away from