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Abstract：As Theodore Dreiser’s first novel，Sister Carrie is one of the greatest naturalistic masterpieces in American literature.Carrie is tragic，though，she gains material success.In fact，she is a successful tragic heroine.
Key Words：naturalistic；tragic；material；successful
Sister Carrie，Dreiser’s first novel，published in 1900，is one of the best-known stories of American Dream，tracing the material success of Sister Carrie and the tragic decline of George Hurstwood，who are the victims of forces beyond their control.
Carrie is a meaningful word.It takes the pronunciation and meaning of its variation word “Carry”，only different in spelling.So Carrie is a pun.One represents the name of the heroine.The other symbolizes that everyone，like a rover，is carried by uncontrollable force in capitalistic society.So they cannot take the reins of their fate.
The heroine in Dreiser’s Sister Carrie，Sister Carrie，penniless and full of the illusion of ignorance，pursues a luxurious life in the big city，yearns for material enjoyment and then leaves her rural home to come to Chicago.On the train，she is familiar with Charles Drouet，a salesman.In Chicago，she first stays with her working-class sister and works for a time in a shoe factory，where the income and terrible working condition oppress her imaginative spirit.Winter is coming and she is seriously ill.After her recovery，she loses her job.After a period of unemployment and loneliness，she accepts Drouet and becomes his mistress.Sister Carrie’s beauty attracts Drouet’s friend Hurstwood，a middle aged，married，comparatively intelligent culture saloon manager.Then the respectable manager deserts his comfortable home and beguiles her into eloping with him.They run first to Canada and then settle down in New York.Carrie becomes matured in intellect and emotion，while Hurstwood steadily declines.For sometime，they experience dire poverty.Sister Carrie goes out to find a job on the stage，but Hurstwood proves himself to be utterly unfit to survive.He cannot find work and begs for and receives some occasional support from Carrie.At last，she thinks him too great a burden and leaves him.Hurstwood sinks lower and lower until he commits suicide in a cold winter night.While Sister Carrie becomes a star of musical comedy.Then Drouet comes back in order to begin with her intimate relationship，but rebuffed.So even if she is successful，she is confused to the future.So she represents a tragic heroine as a successful person.
Key Words：naturalistic；tragic；material；successful
Sister Carrie，Dreiser’s first novel，published in 1900，is one of the best-known stories of American Dream，tracing the material success of Sister Carrie and the tragic decline of George Hurstwood，who are the victims of forces beyond their control.
Carrie is a meaningful word.It takes the pronunciation and meaning of its variation word “Carry”，only different in spelling.So Carrie is a pun.One represents the name of the heroine.The other symbolizes that everyone，like a rover，is carried by uncontrollable force in capitalistic society.So they cannot take the reins of their fate.
The heroine in Dreiser’s Sister Carrie，Sister Carrie，penniless and full of the illusion of ignorance，pursues a luxurious life in the big city，yearns for material enjoyment and then leaves her rural home to come to Chicago.On the train，she is familiar with Charles Drouet，a salesman.In Chicago，she first stays with her working-class sister and works for a time in a shoe factory，where the income and terrible working condition oppress her imaginative spirit.Winter is coming and she is seriously ill.After her recovery，she loses her job.After a period of unemployment and loneliness，she accepts Drouet and becomes his mistress.Sister Carrie’s beauty attracts Drouet’s friend Hurstwood，a middle aged，married，comparatively intelligent culture saloon manager.Then the respectable manager deserts his comfortable home and beguiles her into eloping with him.They run first to Canada and then settle down in New York.Carrie becomes matured in intellect and emotion，while Hurstwood steadily declines.For sometime，they experience dire poverty.Sister Carrie goes out to find a job on the stage，but Hurstwood proves himself to be utterly unfit to survive.He cannot find work and begs for and receives some occasional support from Carrie.At last，she thinks him too great a burden and leaves him.Hurstwood sinks lower and lower until he commits suicide in a cold winter night.While Sister Carrie becomes a star of musical comedy.Then Drouet comes back in order to begin with her intimate relationship，but rebuffed.So even if she is successful，she is confused to the future.So she represents a tragic heroine as a successful person.