A Bird in an Unlocked Cage--Image of Sister Carrie

Authors

  • Ping Wang

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54691/zy57hg13

Keywords:

Sister Carrie,

Abstract

Sister Carrier, the protagonist of Theodore Dreiser's first novel Sister Carrie, is a controversial character in American literature. Some critics hold the view that Carrier is an "immoral woman" because of her insatiable desires. Others agree to consider Carrie as a "new woman" who struggles to achieve her self-realization. However, the author's opinion does not belong to either side. Based on the analysis of Carrie's rags-to-riches story, this paper examines how traditional values shape her and argues that she remains confined to the role society assigns to her.

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References

[1] Dreiser, Theodore: Sister Carrie, New York : Bantam Books, the United States 1982.

[2] Henry to Dreiser, July 19, 1900; in Sister Carrie, ed. Pizer, p. 437.

[3] Lemaster, Tracy: Feminist Thing Theory in Sister Carrie, Studies in American Naturalism Vol. 4, No. 1 (2009), 41-54.

[4] Huang, Kaihong: The 'American Dream' in a Period of Social Transformation: On the Moral Orientation of Sister Carrie, Foreign Literature Studies, No. 3 (2006): 143-148.

[5] Witemeyer, Hugh: Gaslight and Magic Lamp in Sister Carrie, Modern Language Association Vol. 86, No. 2 (1971), 236-240.

[6] Jin, Huaifang, and Zongfeng Hu: Behind the 'New Woman': A Feminist Perspective on Sister Carrie, Journal of Zhejiang Wanli University, No. 2 (2005): 86-89.

[7] Welt, Barbara: The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860, American Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 2, Part 1. (Summer, 1966), 151-174.

[8] Ye, Ying. American Culture: Collected Essays, Chengdu: Sichuan University Press, 2013.

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Published

2025-06-11

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Wang, Ping. 2025. “A Bird in an Unlocked Cage--Image of Sister Carrie”. Scientific Journal Of Humanities and Social Sciences 7 (6): 44-47. https://doi.org/10.54691/zy57hg13.