Portrayal Of The Protagonist In Edith Wharton's The House Of Mirth And Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie.

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ABSTRACT

Dalam karya ilmiah ini, saya membahas dua buah novel berjudul The House of Mirth karya Edith Wharton dan Sister Carrie karya Theodore Dreiser. Topik yang saya angkat dalam Tugas Akhir ini adalah penggambaran tokoh pada Gilded Era, sebuah era yang terkenal dalam sejarah Amerika pada akhir abad

kesembilan belas. Kedua tokoh utama yang dibahas adalah Lily Bart dalam novel The House of Mirth dan Carrie Meeber dalam novel Sister Carrie.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

In the late 19th century, after the Reconstruction era, the United States of America experienced a new era of modernism. This era was thought as the

nation’s golden era; but since what was seen on the outside did not show the true

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2 Maranatha Christian University Edith Wharton and Theodore Dreiser lived in this period of time and they made it the setting of their novels, The House of Mirth and Sister Carrie. In The House of Mirth, the protagonist comes from an upper-middle class society, but when her family goes bankrupt, she faces a difficult economic condition. As she still wants to stay inside the rich circle, she intends to marry for money to cope with this serious matter. In Sister Carrie, the protagonist is a poor woman who dreams of a better life, so she goes to Chicago to look for a job. Both protagonists try to survive in big cities, which are influenced by wealth and social status.

Edith Wharton was a successful American writer and many of her works have become best-sellers. The major discussion of her fiction deals with manners, mores and social changes in the American life (Wharton VI). The House of Mirth is her first major work and it describes the life of New York’s upper class. Because Edith Wharton also grows up in this milieu, she gives exact descriptions about life in this class and boldly shows the bad side of it, which is often hidden behind fine appearances. This novel is considered as a novel of manners, which “often shows a conflict between individual aspirations or desires and the accepted

social codes of behaviour” (“Novel of Manners”).

Theodore Dreiser was once a reporter. This experience enabled him to tell his stories honestly with detailed explanations and descriptions; the details which make people understand and see the real life in America from both good and bad sides. His first novel, Sister Carrie, describes how lower-class people view the life of upper class and how they try to become a part of it. The story is inspired by Dreiser’s sister’s experience and by what he has heard and seen in his life (Dreiser

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3 Maranatha Christian University As the stories revolve around these protagonists, I think it is best to discuss characters in this thesis. According to Beaty, character is “a person (or personified or anthropomorphized animal, object, or deity) who acts, appears, or is referred to

in a work” (604). Thus, I analyze the portrayal of the protagonists in The House of

Mirth and Sister Carrie using formalism.

Statement of the Problem

The thesis discusses these questions:

1. How are the protagonists portrayed in the novels?

2. What are the authors’ purposes in creating such characters?

Purpose of the Study

The purposes of the thesis are:

1. to show how the protagonists are portrayed in the novels. 2. to show the authors’ purposes in creating such characters.

Method of Research

In writing my thesis, I use the method of library research. I begin the study by reading the primary texts, which are Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth and

Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie. Then I read some references from the Internet

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4 Maranatha Christian University Organization of the Thesis

I divide the thesis into four chapters, preceded by the Abstract, the Acknowledgement, and the Table of Content. In Chapter One, I present the Introduction, consisting of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Methods of Research and the Organization of the Thesis. In Chapter Two, I analyze the Portrayal of the Protagonist in Edith

Wharton’s The House of Mirth. In Chapter Three, I analyze the Portrayal of the

Protagonist in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie. Chapter Four is the Conclusion.

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

After analyzing the two protagonists in The House of Mirth and Sister Carrie, I would like to draw some conclusion. Both of the authors take the Gilded Era, an era in the late 19th century America where they lived, as the setting for their stories. Although Wharton and Dreiser expose different classes, high class and low class, the whole atmosphere of the this Era is affected by hedonism. All people fight to get rich or richer, because being rich is believed to be closely associated with one’s success and happiness. Since this era is closely related to hedonism, these two stories revolve around a person who makes big efforts to get pleasures in their lives.

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32 Maranatha Christian University Since they are hedonistic, they adore pleasures very much. Pleasures for them mean having much money and a lot of material things, as well as living in a luxurious place.

When they have to face their economic problem, each of them uses their other characteristics to cope with it. Lily uses her beauty to attract rich men, which makes her a manipulative woman. She does not mind marrying for money. Carrie does not differ much from Lily. With her strong ambition, she is willing to do anything to get wealth, material things, and be an artiste. She does not miss a chance when there are men with money who are attracted to her.

Although the two protagonists are similar, they do have some differences. Wharton creates Lily as a dynamic character, while Dreiser creates Carrie as a static character. In the middle of the story, Lily changes her characteristics and she becomes sincere and no longer hedonistic. She does not consider wealth and material things as the most important thing in life anymore and she no longer uses her beauty as an easy way to get what she wants. As a static character, Carrie does not experience any changes in characteristic. She still has the same personality at the end of the story as she does at the beginning. This significant difference leads each of them to the different fate. Lily fails to get what she really wants and dies of overdose at the end of the story. On the other hand, Carrie gets the pleasures and the better life she dreams of.

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33 Maranatha Christian University “The Evolution Theory of Charles Darwin provides the greatest influence to

naturalistic writers. That is why stories from naturalistic writers espoused the view

that one’s bloodline and environment determine a person’s character. Realism

presents the character exactly who he or she is.” (Cuizon)._{Moreover, realism} gives more emphasis on the events which happen based on the character’s choice, while naturalistic view considers that everything that happens have been

determined. “In realism … the moral or ethical choices facing the character

become the crux of the story. In a naturalistic novel, the writer will temper the realistic portrayal of events to show the effects and significance of a deterministic universe” (Pru). Therefore, Wharton really shows Lily’s true characteristics in the novel and the tragic ending that comes to Lily is the consequence of her choice. But, Dreiser creates Carrie with characteristics that are shaped by her surroundings. Thus, in the end, like any other successful people at that time who have hedonistic and ambitious characteristics, Carrie also becomes successful in the end.

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34 Maranatha Christian University From how the authors convey their purposes, I prefer Wharton’s way. In my personal opinion, it is more effective and the message is much better conveyed to the readers. They would be able to directly see and understand how life can really change if they do not live in accordance with the values that society holds. The readers are also given a clear example of one who becomes the victim of the society. In my opinion, this way of criticizing is more convincing than Dreiser’s. He seems to be using a safer way to criticize society by creating a character that is portrayed as following the values that everyone else holds with a happy outcome. Still, through their works, Wharton and Dreiser have proven Mark Twain’s expression for that era, that glittering appearance covers its own badness. “Mark Twain called the late nineteenth century the "Gilded Age." By this, he meant that the period was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath” (“Learn About Gilded Age”).

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Texts:

Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie. New York: Signet Classic, 1961.

Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Classics, 1997. References:

Beaty, Jerome. Fiction. Toronto: George J. McLeod Limited, 1973.

High, Peter B. An Outline of American Literature. New York: Longman Inc., 1986.

Hornby, AS. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Internet Websites:

Cuizon, Gwen. “What is Naturalism in Literature?.” Bukisa. 2009. 29 Jul. 2011. <http://www.bukisa.com/articles/32413_what-is-naturalism-in-literature>

“Edith Wharton.” The Literature Network. 2010. 19 Mar. 2010.

<http://www.online-literature.com/wharton/>

“Gilded Age.” American Experience. 2009. 14 May. 2010.

<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carnegie/gildedage.html>

“Learn About Gilded Age.” Digital History. 2011. 22 May.2011.

<http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/gilded_age/index.cfm>

“Novel of Manners.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2009. 19 Apr. 2010.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel_of_manners>

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36 Maranatha Christian University <http://www.ehow.com/info_8425576_differences-naturalism-realism-literature.html>

Riggio, Thomas P. “Biography of Theodore Dreiser.” Penn Libraries. 2006. 19 Apr. 2010.

<http://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/rbm/dreiser/tdbio.html>

“Theodore Dreiser.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2010. 19 Mar. 2010.