Abstract: In the late 19th century and early 20th century，American society began slowly towards consumption-based society, Dreiser's Sister Carrie is the early work which reflects this cultural phenomenon. This paper attempts to analyze Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie, so as to disclose how consumer culture is reflected in the novel. This paper consists of five parts. Chapter one is about a brief introduction of Theodore Dreiser’s life and his work Sister Carrie. Chapter two was deals with the theory of consumer culture and its influences. Chapter three relates in detail the consumer culture embodied in the context of Sister Carrie: such as the desires of people, the relationship between family members, men and women. Chapter four is mainly concerned with the causes of Carrie’s spiritual degeneration: her insatiable consumption desires and social environment. The last chapter reaches a conclusion that through the analysis of characters’ consuming behavior and consumptive attitude, we can get to know that desires under social environment caused spiritual degeneration. 

Key words: Sister Carrie; consumer culture; material desire; spiritual degeneration; conspicuous consumption

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1.Introduction-1

1.1 A Brief Introduction to Theodore Dreiser -1

1.2-A Brief Introduction to Sister Carrie-2

2.Consumer Culture-3

2.1 Previous Studies on Consumer Culture-4

2.2-Previous Studies on Sister Carrie-5

3. Material Desire and Spiritual Degeneration of Sister Carrie-5

3.1 The Characters’ Desire for Material Enjoyment-6

3.2 Family Alienation-8

3.3 Men and Women-10

4. Causes of Carrie’s Spiritual Degeneration-12

4.1 Carrie’s Insatiable Consumption Desires-13

4.2 Social Environment-15

5. Conclusion-17

References-19