Title: The femme fatale motif in Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie"
Abstract: Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie (1900) is a story of a climbing femme fatale. It is a depiction of how the main character struggles to finally gain something. While she finds a way of doing it, the question that arises is the morality of her choice. The novel was written in the nineteenth century when women started demanding the change and pursuing their own dreams rather than just being at home raising children. Sister Carrie is a perfect example of a young woman starting her life and actually taking control over her own life as a femme fatale. Femme fatale is a woman who uses her charms and looks to get what she wants. She is fatal in a way that she uses her men for her own goals until something better comes along. In an era of harsh consumerism, Carrie decides that her only choice is to use her own image to sell herself in order to become part of the elite because poverty is something she is trying to avoid at any cost. Aware that in life not everything is fair, she hurts people, mostly her men, along her way to success as a real femme fatale. She abandons them while she goes further on her way to the top. In light of naturalist theory, the novel does not hide the true nature of human beings. On the contrary, it shows, and flaunts it. All of the main characters are shown with compassion. The author does not judge any of the characters because he realizes that all human beings make mistakes.
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-09-24
Language: en
Type: dissertation
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