Date of Award
4-22-1974
Degree Type
Master's Essay - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
Abstract
Theoretically a naturalist's world is amoral, and so is the one presented by Dreiser in Sister Carrie; but because or its "continuous ethical questioning of tradition, dogma, received morality, and social 'justice,'" this novel's world raises a question as to Dreiser's exact naturalistic stance: is he optimistic or pessimistic? According to Charles Walcutt, this question has been a point of controversy ever since the publication of Sister Carrie; and it has been bantered back and forth among many competent critics. Roughly speaking, there are two conflicting points of views in the novel's criticism: one is that Dreiser is pessimistically deterministic and thus his world is amoral; the other is that he is seriously, if not didactically, moralistic and thus is optimistic, for the "demonstration of human misery under environmental forces came as an explanation of exactly what was the matter with society and what had to be done to correct it." To Richard Lehan, Sherman Stuart, and the others, because of his family background which is a major factor contributing to his despair of the world, Dreiser creates in Sister Carrie "an amoral world where there was no relationship between the virtuous life and earthly reward." To Charles Walcutt, Gerald Willen, and the rest, Dreiser shows in the novel an amoral world but one which implicitly requires an enlightened and liberal exercise of conventional ethical codes.
Recommended Citation
Shing, Gary K., "Dreiser's Optimism in Sister Carrie: A Simple Fable and Its Window Imagery" (1974). Master's Essays (1922 - ). 2096.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/essays/2096
Comments
An Essay submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin