Jean Girl

Author: Cai Lei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Sister Carrie is one of the main works of the renowned American writer Theodore Dreiser. The impoverished Carrie is forced to live with Senator Bigumby due to financial hardship. They remain together until his death without ever formally marrying. Carrie moves with their child to another place. She meets the wealthy young man Charles Drouet and lives with him, but is not accepted by his relatives. Later, to ensure he can inherit the estate, she decisively breaks off the relationship. Unlike the protagonist of Sister Carrie, the author portrays a near-saintly figure in this novel. A poignant and heart-wrenching love story, it is a lament for the suffering of humanity. The German-American poor girl Gerhardt's eldest daughter, Carrie, works as a maid and falls in love with Senator Bigumby. Soon after, Bigumby unexpectedly dies, leaving behind an unborn child. Later, the wealthy young man Charles Drouet falls in love with Carrie and lives with her, but he never makes up his mind to marry her. After learning about Carrie's background, he is unable to cross this hurdle, and under family pressure, he breaks up with Carrie and returns to high society. Their deep love ends in separation, and the kind-hearted Carrie is unable to be accepted by high society, leading to a life of depression.
Theodore Dreiser (1871–1945) was an American novelist. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, his father was a poor German immigrant. He received his early education in public schools and later attended Indiana University. For most of his life, he worked as a journalist. He traveled extensively through cities like Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York, observing and understanding society in depth, which provided rich material for his future literary creations. His novel Sister Carrie (1900) tells the story of a rural girl, Carrie, who moves to Chicago and becomes a famous actress, exposing the survival struggles hidden beneath the facade of capitalist society and offering a profound portrayal of the social divide between the rich and poor in America. This novel was long banned for being accused of being "destructive," but some copies that were circulated attracted the attention of many important writers.