ABSTRACT: An American Tragedy is Theodore Dreiser’s most successful novel. It mainly portrays the protagonist, Clyde, who uses any kind of means with the purpose of rich and a high social status to enjoy himself and eventually be punished by sitting in the electric chair for the sake of murdering her pregnant girlfriend. Freud’s personality structure is applied in this thesis to illustrate the tragedy of the protagonist. From the passage, it is obvious that Clyde is in conflict with all kinds of instinctive desire, reality and conscience and ethical standards. However, the conflicts and imbalances among the id, ego and superego bring about the tragic life of Clyde.

Keywords: Clyde; id; ego; superego; tragedy 

摘要:《美国的悲剧》是西奥多·德莱赛最成功的长篇小说。小说的主人公克莱德·格里菲斯为了金钱和社会地位不择手段。最终，为进入上层社会谋杀了自己已怀孕的女友而被送上电椅。本文通过运用弗洛伊德人格结构理论分析了克莱德的悲剧命运。从西奥多·德莱赛对克莱德的描写可看出，克莱德处在本能欲望、现实、良心和道德标准的矛盾冲突之中。也正是因为克莱德的本我、自我、超我三者的冲突和不平衡导致了他的悲剧命运。

关键字: 克莱德；本我；自我；超我；悲剧