Abstract: Sister Carrie is a representative work of American naturalistic writer Theodore Dreiser. Sister Carrie tells the story of a country girl Carrie who comes to Chicago to realize her “American Dream” and eventually becomes a Broadway star in New York. On the one hand, she has the virtues of simplicity, self-improvement and persistence. On the other hand, she also has the social defects of vanity, corruption and self-indulgence. She represents the image of many girls who come to big cities to pursue their dreams and even the image of many rural migrant laborers in big cities. This paper aims to analyze the desire of Sister Carrie. The first part mainly discusses the material desire of Carrie, including her craving for money and fashion. The second part focuses on the spiritual desire of Carrie. After her material condition has been satisfied, she turns to spiritual pursuit. The third part mainly analyzes the causes of Carrie’s desire.

Key words: desire; Carrie; spiritual; material

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction1

2. Carrie's Material Desire..2

2.1 Her Craving for Money

2.2 Her Craving for Fashion

3. Carrie's Spiritual Desire.5

3.1 Her Craving for Love

3.2 Her Craving for Status

4. The Causes of Carrie's Desire6

  4.1 Her Vanity

  4.2 Social Environment

    4.2.1 The Development of Urbanization in America

    4.2.2 The Prevalence of Consumerism

5. Conclusion.8

Bibliography. 9

Acknowledgment.10