《德伯家的苔絲》與《嘉莉妹妹》中女主角命運不同的比較.doc

畢 業(yè) 論 文The Comparison Between the Different Fates of Heroines of Tess of the DUrbervilles and Sister Carrie德伯家的苔絲與嘉莉妹妹中女主角命運不同的比較教務(wù)處 制Abstract: Tess of the DUrbervilles and Sister Carrie are two major masterpieces written by Thomas Hardy and Theodore Dreiser respectively. In these two novels, the heroines are girls from rural areas. The authors describe the hard lives of the heroines in the society which is dominated by men. They have similar origin but very different fates. Firstly, this thesis introduces Thomas Hardy and his work Tess of the DUrbervilles and Theodore Dreiser and his work Sister Carrie separately. Furthermore, I will make a comparison about their fates of the two leading ladies of these two works, mainly from their personality traits, social background, views of love. Why do they share a similar fate at the beginning but have different ending. Key words: Tess; Carrie; comparison; different fatesContentsIntroduction11 Two Works and the Authors11.1 Thomas Hardy and Tess of the DUrbervilles11.1.1 Thomas Hardy11.1.2 Tess of the DUrbervilles21.2 Theodore Dreiser and Sister Carrie21.2.1 Theodore Dreiser21.2.2 Sister Carrie32 Comparison42.1 Character42.1.1 The Characteristics of Tess The Simpleness and Kindness but Softness The Self-esteem and Spirit of Resistance52.1.2 The Characteristics of Carrie The Innocence of Carrie The Vanity and Independence of Carrie62.2 Harsh Reality72.2.1 Capitalist Society72.2.2 Men Are the Rulers of Society82.2.3 Religion and Ethics92.3 Views of Love102.3.1 The Purity and Sincerity of Love102.3.2 Matter Above All of Love of Carrie113 Conclusion11Bibliography13Acknowledgement14IntroductionIn the late 19th century, Thomas Hardy published Tess of the DUrbervilles. Today, many scholars comment on the character of Tess and her love-life only through the religion, social background, and the authors fatalism, etc. There are some certain limitations to analyze in such a way. Therefore, this thesis attempts to have a comparative analysis of the heroines of Tess of the DUrbervilles and Sister Carrie which written by Theodore Dreiser and published in the early 20th century.Both Tess of the DUrbervilles and Sister Carrie were written in the period of capitalism. Coincidentally, the two writers choose the beautiful pure girls as their heroines. They give us an unforgettable impression at first sight with beautiful appearances and a local flavor of innocence when they appear. They all come from the poor peasantry, which send them to the bottom of the capitalist society. Nevertheless, they are eager to live a better life. The two innocent heroines take the first step toward community bravely. Even though they make a great effort to live well and even at the cost of the life, the harsh social reality does not give them a good result they desired. On the contrary, they fall to be the sacrificial lambs of the capitalism. Faced with the harsh social reality, the two heroines make different choices. Tess sticks to her principles - pure love, kindness but eventually she is engulfed by the devil of the community; while Carrie chooses to follow the American consumer society, in order to live a better life, she gives up the cherished virtues and principles of the traditional society. Why do they have a similar start but different destinies?1 Two Works and the Authors1.1 Thomas Hardy and Tess of the DUrbervilles1.1.1 Thomas HardyThomas Hardy is a British writer of the late Victorian era. He was born on June 2, 1840, in a rural region of southwestern England and educated in local schools(Kramer,2002:2). He entered a firm specializing in ecclesiastical architecture, winning the Architectural Association prize for design in 1863. He began writing verse and essays in 1861. His first short story was published in 1865. Many of his first novels were published in 1871. In 1874 his novel Far From the Madding Crowd was a commercial success, allowing him to take up writing as the full-time job. On one hand, he lived at a time when Britain transferred from capitalism to imperialism. Although it created a prosperous economy in the British capitalism, the lower class ran into life difficulties. Therefore, in his works, he sharply exposes hypocrisy and cruelty and sympathizes with the poor facing the tragic fate.On the other hand, Hardy spent his teenage years in the town of Wessex, so his work has a clear demonstration of rural life. One of his greatest achievements lies in the portrayal of nature, which involves the power and vastness of nature and demonstrates the subtle and exquisite details. Another great achievement is that those dramatic and sometimes tragic events happened in a small social circle. As is well known to all, he has a high moral sensitivity and is good at expressing rural young women pure but often controversial. His most prominent representative is Tess of the DUrbervilles, which is enveloped in the whole pessimism and highlights his Criticism. Therefore, his works reflect his social pessimism and a sense of tragedy in human life1.1.2 Tess of the DUrbervilles Written by Thomas Hardy in 1891, Tess of the DUrbervilles is a tragic work, which is about the tragic fate of heroine Tess, a sixteen years old and beautiful peasant girl. The novel begins with a late evening in May; John DUrbervilles (Tesss father) is told that he is the descendant of the ancient and knightly family of the DUrbervilles. This sudden news makes this poor rural pedlar happy, and then he goes to a public house and spends all his money drinking to celebrate his noble blood. In fact he is a vain, short-sighted man. When his horse is killed by a mail mart, he drives his 16-year-old daughter, Tess DUrbervilles to Trantridge to claim kinship with rich but spurious DUrbervilles to receive financial assistance. In fact, the old wealthy woman has no relations with DUrbervilles. Her home starts by practicing usury and moves here from the north. In order to improve their identity and status, she gets the family name from the museum. Because of the poverty of family and insistence of his parents, Tess thinks that she is the eldest daughter at home and bears family responsibility, so she has to work in the manor farm.Unfortunately, she is seduced by the young master of the house, Alec DUrbervilles. But Tess disgusts Alec and then she returns home. The matter does not help her to win the sympathy of the community, whats worse; she is subjected to ridicule and accusations. Soon after she gives birth to a baby, the baby dies in infancy. With the pain and poverty, she goes to the south as a milk factory worker. There, Tess meets her lifetime lover, Angel Clare. He is a gentle, knowledgeable, and anti-feudal man, who falls in love with Tess. And at this time, Tesss ideas are full of contradictory. On one hand, she gets a good sense from Angel; on the other hand she is sad that she loses virginity and is not worthy to be his wife. But in the end, a strong love defeats the remorse of past, they get married. On the wedding night, Tess confesses herself sin and hopes that the open-minded Angel will forgive her, but he abandons Tess ruthlessly and leaves for Brazil, even though he himself has an experience with a bad woman. Tesss heart is broken for being abandoned but she hopes that her husband will change his mind and come back. To support her family, she has to slave away on a distant farm. One day, she is told that Alec becomes a priest, who preaches to crowds on principle. Alec entangles Tess and shameless attempts to cohabitate with her. Tess is very angry and frightened, and then she writes a long letter to beg Angel to return quickly but in vain. On the one hand, because of the death of Tesss father and sickness of her mother, her family descends on the streets; Tess has to agree with Alec cohabitation. While beyond the sea, Angel is in the state of poverty and ill health in Brazil, so he regrets abandoning Tess and decides to return to England with Tess reconciled. Angels back, like a razor awakes Tess from the state of numbness. In desperation, she kills Alec and catches up with Angel. In the wilderness desert, they spend five happy days together. In the end, she hangs in the gallows. 1.2 Theodore Dreiser and Sister Carrie1.2.1 Theodore DreiserTheodore Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, the ninth of ten children. His parents are poor. In the 1860s his father, a devout Catholic German immigrant, had attempted to establish his own woolen mill, but after it was destroyed in a fire, the family lived in poverty. Dreisers schooling was erratic, as the family moved from town to town. Although he was very poor at that time, he was a voracious reader and the impact of such writers as Hawthorne, Poe, Balzac, Freud and so on. Therefore, He is a prominent writer and pioneer of modern American fiction and describes accurately the new American city life.In 1945, he applied to join the American Communist Party, therefore, he is known as the socialist tendencies of American realist. He has many loyal followers, including even his contemporaries famous writers such as Sherwood Anderson.Dreiser is the first impoverished writer from the underworld in American Literature. He has struggled in the bottom of society. When he was young, he was a newspaper reporter and editor, he often traveled some major cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, Toledo and so on, so he accessed to the reality of life at various levels and witnessed slums, alcoholism, pornography, murder, robbery, etc. Thus, in his works, he wants to expose the disparity of wealth in American society, moral bankruptcy of the novel Sister Carrie (1900), Jennie Gerhardt (1911). He describes life as we can see- real and never pretending. In the field of American fiction, he turns timid and gentle style in the Victorian era to the styles of loyal, bold and passionate. Therefore, the United States critics think that Dreiser is loyal to life and his writing style is innovative which brings about a revolution in American literature.1.2.2 Sister CarrieThe background of Sister Carrie is two major U.S. cities - Chicago and New York between the 1880s and early the 1990s. It describes a simple, naive girl from the countryside moving to the city. She gets to see the final success but emptiness in her heart after suffering the trials. The story begins with a rural girl Carrie, carrying a small suitcase with a piece of paper with her sisters address written. Come to Chicago passionately, she hopes that she can be a rich woman in the commercialized social life. However, she lives with elder sister poorly instead of having a fashionable and comfortable life she had imaged. Even worse, she has no choice but to find work to support herself. She goes to a shoe factory to do a low-paid work, but soon she is fired due to illness. Heavy labor, poor working conditions, unemployment and illness, all these problems are undoubted challenge for her. Her sister suggests that she returns to countryside, but she refuses this advice. Carrie does not want to give up living in the city; her mind is still full of hope to continue to live in such a big city. At this time, she encounters with Drouet, a salesman, who she meets on the train. She accepts his offer and cohabitates with him. Then she gets to know Drouets friend Hurstwood, although he has high salary, enjoying a high social status, he does not have perfect family life lacking communication with his wife and children. Therefore, after meeting Carrie, he feels that her youth and vitality as if in the scorching summer sun there suddenly sweeps a burst of spring breeze(裘柱常譯,2001:8). He has repeatedly dated Carrie in private. Lately, he steels his employers safe ten thousand dollars and takes Carrie flee with him. They change the name and get married. In order to avoid prosecution, he returns back the most of his stolen money back and leaves for New York. Hurstwood opens a pub with some men but fail, hence, Carrie has to work to support her family. She takes a good chance to play in the theater and achieve success. She becomes a famous star and squeezes into the upper class. She decides to break up with Hurstwood. Hurstwood becomes a beggar and finally commits suicide in despair. Drouet heard that Carrie is in a fortune and begs for reconciliation but is rejected. The final outcome is that Carrie sits in the rocking chair in a luxury hotel like smug but regretful, in fact, Carrie finds her original dream life is not so attractive, instead, she feels herself very empty and boring in her heart.2 Comparison2.1 CharacterSchopenhauer believes that personality works constantly in every moment of our lives. It works when we need to make the choice in our lives and personality determines our fates to a large extent(石沖白譯,1997). Therefore, the personal characteristic plays a decisive role in the novel. What kind of a persons character will determine what kind of fate. So, first of all, I will first analyze two heroines common points and uncommon points in characteristic.2.1.1 The Characteristics of Tess The Simpleness and Kindness but Softness Firstly, Tess is a simple and honesty girl, who is the epitome of Wessex. She is in harmonious with nature, so we all call her Natures daughter. It is a dancing party in the village community parade on May Day, at this time; the beautiful Tess first appears in front of us. She wears a red string is particularly clear in that green and bright field on the Wessex. Her piercing eyes reveal her innocence and her dance shows us the features of childhood. She disseminates a kind of the characters of pure and kindness. In the novel, the author says, Tess could not bear to hurt a fly or an insect, even a bird in a cage calls her to tears(孫法理譯,1993:9). The character of Tess determines her lack of sufficient knowledge of the darkness of human beings. She is not able to protect herself.How does this simple girl escape from Alec, this crafty people? Alec is a young master of a rich family. The amorous manner, the black diamond ring and mustache are all belongs to the image of Satan. In the novel, he is often filled with smoke. At night, the fire of his cigarette implies he appears. When he first meets Tess, he exposes his dissipated and unashamed face. But youth and ignorance of Tess, she is in the absence of experience. For Alecs close, she surprises and confuses. The night she comes back from Chesebrough, it is a fateful night, Tess is made fun by her companions. Alec proposes her to take her a ride. Because of darkness and sleepiness, she falls into the trap of Alec, resulting in irreversible consequences.Tess is influenced by conventional morality of the period of Victorian, developing a softness of characteristic. Therefore, her another fatal defect of characteristic of Tess is being kind but soft(郭琳,2009). It is informed of family background by chance, Tesss parents in order to show off their so-called elite status and meet the humble vanity, they want to improve their status by marriage. But Tess disdains these things. She thinks that she is the daughter of farmers, earning a living by her labor, and Tess also says, I was raised by father and mother, my beauty is given by my mom, and she is mere a milking woman(孫法理譯,1993:32). However, since the horse is killed by a mail mart, the source of family income has disappeared. Guilt and shame in her heart, she is willing to help families out of their hardships. Tess has to follow the arrangement to go to Trantridge where she claims kinship with a rich old lady. So Tess is an extremely kind but soft and compromised girl. For parents and siblings, she goes against her own will and takes the responsibility bravely. This is her fatal defect in the Tess characteristic - kind but too soft and compromised. The Self-esteem and Spirit of Resistance Tess has a strong sense of self-esteem, with the spirit of resistance. Firstly, violated the chastity by Alec, Tess would not be his mistress from her inner self-esteem; she decides to leave Alec and returns home. When many girls at that time lose their virginity, they will make compromises and force to marry the rapers. But Tess does not do so. if she did, she would not be happy. She believes that she can find her true love; she would not be driven by secular ideas, she has her own way to go and wants to live a life she enjoys. Therefore, even if she lost virginity, she holds inviolable attitude to Alec. Tess encounters with Alec again when she is in the most difficult times of her life. Faced the temptations, she is unmoved. Tess is a self-respecting, high self-respecting girl. Secondly, she has courage to do the rebel of the time. She is brave to kill Alec to pursue her true love. But the cost of being brave casts aside by society, she can not escape the so-called legal sanctions, and lays down her young and precious live. As a rebellious woman, at the beginning, Tess shows the contempt to God and denial of religion. After Tess suffers all kinds of misfortune, she draws the conclusion from her own experience that she does not believe the religion and doubts the religious. She violates the canons of the then religion. On behalf of the pastor gives a baptism to her own illegitimate child, which arouses the intense revolt of the religion. Moreover, in the late 19th century, It said that the law and the British church forbid the man marry with the sister of the mans dead wife(羅峰,2010). Tess despises it, regardless of the items of the church and the law. She asks for her husband to get married with her sister after she dies. Doing this