Abstract:Theodore Dreiser is an outstanding naturalistic novelist in America literature in the early 20th century. Sister Carrie is the first novel of Theodore Dreiser, it is also a epoch-making work in American literary history, which created a new era of American literature. In the book, Dreiser shows us an innocent country girl who comes to Chicago to pursue the happiness that she thinks it should be and at last becomes a famous star in New York City. Though living a comfortable life, she lost herself in material life. Reading this novel, we can make it clear that Carrie’s pursuit goes further when she meets one need. She also betray the traditional moral standard on the way of pursuing happiness. Nowadays many people still hold the opinion that Carrie is a tragedy, in which she is described as an immoral woman and she had an empty life though she succeed in climbing into the upper class at the end of the book. This paper mainly discusses the process of Carrie’s pursuing of happiness and what she got at last. By studying the process of her pursuit, we can get valuable experience: the youth should be self-respected, self-confident and self-dependent and try to overcome the difficulty on our way of pursuing happiness and to be the master of our own fate. Everyone has the right to pursue happiness, but we cannot swim with the tide, just like Sister Carrie who pursues her ideal life at any cost, or we will just be like her imagining the beautiful life on the rocking chair.

Key words: Carrie  pursuit  happiness

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Introduction-1

ChapterⅠCarrie’s Pursuit of Material Things-3

1.1 Carrie’s Pursuit of Basic Standard of Life-4

1.2 Carrie’s Pursuit of elegance clothes and comfortable life-5

1.3 Carrie’s Pursuit of Higher Social Position-6

Chapter II Carrie’s Pursuit of  Love-8

2.1 Carrie’s Love for Drouet-8

2.2 Carrie’s Love for Hurstwood-9

Chapter III Carrie’s Pursuit of Spiritual Life-11

3.1 Carrie’s Confusion of Spiritual pursuit-11

3.2 looking for support of spiritual beliefs -12

Conclusion-13

Bibliography-15

Acknowledgment-16