Dreiser's Reversal of Male/Female Roles in Sister Carrie
The novel Sister Carrie seems to be the platform from which Dreiser explores his unconventional views of the genders. In the world of Sister Carrie, it would seem that the role of women as trusting, caring creatures, and men as scheming victimizers is reversed; it is Carrie that uses the men around her to get what she wants, and it is those men who are victimized by her. Thus Dreiser uses this novel as a means of questioning the popular notions of gender and the role that it plays in modern society.
In Sister Carrie, it would seem that Carrie, while outwardly benign, and possibly even deserving of her portrayal as sweet and innocent at the beginning, soon emerges as a ruthless predator in the guise of a helpless woman. From her relationship with Drouet, she manages to gain the experience and social skills to pursue higher aspirations. She seems to stay with Drouet only long enough to see that better things are available, comforts more extravagant than Drouet can provide, and cultural experiences and social nuances whose existence Drouet seems unaware of. Drouet, then, acts as a stepping stone for her. When he no longer has anything he can offer her, she drops him in favor of Hurstwood. In Hurstwood, Carrie sees all that lacks in Drouet--a more acute sense of culture and worldliness, and the wealth to explore the new wonders of civilized Chicago life.
Hurstwood serves as yet another step in her ladder to success, and when he sinks into poverty and self-disgrace after his divorce, she sees him as a no longer being an asset, and leaves him in favor of striking out on her own, leaving him to turn into a beggar, while she makes it big. Too, after she makes it big, and Drouet comes to see her, she can no longer see him as a friend worthy of her company, and in fact avoids ever seeing him again. The fact that she owes her success to Drouet and Hurstwood seems inconsequential to her. It would seem also at the end of her road to fame, when she is receiving social invitations from millionaires and famous figures, that she sees herself as being to good for any of them; she sees herself as being too good for the company of any man.
An Ivy League girl who has no daddy issues and a rich family is no better than any other woman because she has never taken her clothes off for money. A girl is no better than a woman who allows people to caress her, or escorts on the side based on her boundaries. Different things work for different people. Free a woman to live the life in which she is more than the way she looks, what she buys or what she has to sell, and she will amount beyond what society could have even imagined for her. Compromise for the sake of being accepted is insolent. Once the boundaries set by society are broken, society does everything within its power to contain the beasts again. Daphne Du Maurier felt the restraints 1920s society placed on her with idealizing domestic women. By using Rebecca as the backbone within her novel and counteracting such a strong character with the weak narrator, Du Maurier displays that oppression can only be destroyed with rebellion. In Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier uses the contrast of female personas to emphasize the 1920s society’s malevolence towards women and justify their right to break out of patriarchal submission in order to be distinguished as an equal.
However, if Sister Carrie takes place live in such a world, where people are completely honest about their instinct for self-interest: clothes, money and social positions, where people move from one relationship to another without any attachment and sympathy and where people busy at updating themselves without any self-sacrifice, it will be a completely different story. Carrie might have never received Drouet’s help and met Hurstwood; she might have never got the opportunity to come to New York and realize her actress dream; she might have become another “Hurstwood”. Therefore, we could realize that a man’s fate is always unpredictable, regardless of the social system and circumstances, and nobody could predict what the future would bring to him or
In a society where the focus on equality amongst different races, religions and sexes continues to grow, it is no surprise that literature has begun to follow suit. Publishers have seen a rise in strong, capable female protagonists who overcome a variety of struggles to save themselves or others and both teens and adults alike rush to get their hands on this material. With such popular literary works to choose from, it seems strange that many schools continue to rely on somewhat archaic material that mistreats and degrades so many women. In John Steinbeck 's Of Mice and Men, for example, the only female character the reader interacts with is treated like a lower-class prostitute who is ultimately killed off due to her seductive behavior. Though Steinbeck 's treatment of women comes mainly from classic gender roles, his portrayal of female characters in Of Mice and Men is
Jekyll says, “With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two” (Stevenson 83). Jekyll believes he will get pleasure from both alters without any backlash; however, Hyde soon becomes more powerful than his ‘good’ alter and ultimately leads Dr. Jekyll to his doom (Singh). Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, to coexistent to make up a “normal” individual (Singh). Seeing things as Jekyll did, “Humans are half-good, half-evil” Stevenson separated the two, making one pure good (Jekyll) and one pure evil, as Jekyll says, “Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil” (Stevenson 88). After all, good and evil are independent objects, people; they possess distinctive psychological characteristics and consistently fight with each
...hetypes of these primary characters, both of these novels make a parallel statement on feminism. The expectations of both themselves and society greatly determine the way that these women function in their families and in other relationships. Looking at the time periods in which these novels were written and take place, it is clear that these gender roles greatly influence whether a female character displays independence or dependence. From a contemporary viewpoint, readers can see how these women either fit or push the boundaries of these expected gender roles.
She wrote this novel to inform readers that there are differences and similarities between the genders of male and female and how each of their minds work. She says, In other words, when we are not thinking of ourselves as “male” or “female” our judgements are the same. This quote directly shows us that she is trying to tell us what life is like with each gender.
Taylor, C. R., Lillis, C., LeMone, P., & Lynn, P., (2011). Fundamentals of nursing: The art and science of nursing care (7th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
... in life is her sexual being. It is presented in the novel that men were disrespecting woman and have tried to gain control over women by disrespecting them. In the novel it was the want of knowledge which caused both men and women in the Okanagan to be unaware of a woman’s self-respect. Not only did men disrespect women but women disrespected themselves and other women around them in this era. By comparing characters of the novel to the women of now days they are considered equal and are respected. There are a lot of female characters in the novel that show qualities of being poor and insecure. Women should be given the same respect they give men and they should not be abused or mistreated. Everyone in the world today should stand up for the women and protect them so they are not abused. This is a crime and should be stopped to let the women live comfortable lives.
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a major theme in the story is the duality of good versus evil. In the novel, a character by the name of Dr. Jekyll believes in the dual nature of human beings, for he states, “ With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not
...her room she will no longer be bound to her husband but rather free to do what she wants whenever she chooses to. Mrs. Mallard is at last apart from a person who was once somebody she loved but then started to dislike him because of his selfishness towards her. Then at last she comes to a point when she sees him and dies because she knows she will be jailed up again with his possession with her.
When Jekyll first turns into Hyde, he feels delighted at his newfound freedom. He states: "... And yet when I looked upon /that ugly idol in the glass, I was conscious of no repugnance, /rather of a leap of welcome..."(131). Now he could be respected as a scientist and explore his darker passions. Stevenson shows duality of human nature through society.
Carrie chooses to leave her sister – the only real family she has in the city – and goes off with a Drouet, a man she just recently
In order for us to deal with how a consideration of femininity can effect our understanding of a literary text, we must also be able to grasp the notion of `feminism' and `Feminist Literary Theory'. A dictionary definition of `feminism' is: `the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of the equality of the sexes.' Although this leans towards feminism in the historical sense of the word, it still provides the grounds, or foundations, from which feminist literary theories were created. Feminists argue against the stereotyping and social construction of female norms, seeing them as created by men in order to establish their own sense of power. It is thought that while males suggest that gender is sex and not actually a construct, the female role will become much more passive, stereotyped and controlled.
...at Dr. Jekyll had started drinking the potion so often that he couldn’t control his urges to keep turning into Hyde. Until one day he wasn’t able to turn back into Dr. Jekyll. This shows that to some extent, our evil thoughts and negative attitude overpowers our minds and leaves us to only think about ourselves and no one else, even if someone is good-natured and has great qualities.
On the train to Chicago, Carrie had met a traveling salesman, Charlie H. Drouet. She is impressed by the way he talks and dresses. When they meet again, Drouet is aware of her beauty and innocence and he hopes to charm and seduce her. He "lends" Carrie money to buy nice winter clothes, treats her to fine meals, takes her to the theater, and shows her the sights of Chicago. Because Carrie is young and inexperienced in the world of men, she is not wise enough to understand where all Drouet's attention is leading toward. Although she senses that the money should be given back, her desire and longing for the good things in life are so powerful that she ignores her beliefs in what is right and wrong.