Analysis of Theme of Naturalism in Theodore Dreiser's 'Siste Carrie' and Edith Wharton's 'The House of Mirth' Through The Portrayal of The Protagonist.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Dalam Tugas Akhir ini saya menganalisis tema naturalisme dari buku Sister Carrie yang ditulis oleh Theodore Dreiser dan The House of Mirth yang ditulis oleh Edith Wharton melalui penokohan dari kedua buku tersebut. Tokoh utama dari Sister Carrie digambarkan berambisi tinggi (ambitious), tidak memiliki moralitas yang baik (immoral), tidak puas (discontented), dan selalu mementingkan diri sendiri (selfish) karena ia dipengaruhi oleh elemen-elemen naturalisme yang berupa passion dan social environment. Tokoh utama dari buku

The House of Mirth digambarkan sebagai seorang wanita yang pintar memanipulasi orang (manipulative), boros (extravagant), bertindak sesuai dengan nilai moral dirinya sendiri (moral), dan selalu bergantung kepada orang lain (dependent) karena ia dipengaruhi oleh elemen-elemen naturalisme yang berupa

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APPENDICES

Synopsis of Sister Carrie

In August 1889, Caroline “Carrie” Meeber boards a train to Chicago. On the train, she gets acquainted with Charles Drouet, a travelling salesman. In Chicago, Carrie lives with her sister’s family, the Hansons. They allow Carrie to stay with them but she has to pay a rent. Carrie gets a job in a shoe factory but in winter, she becomes ill and loses her job. One day when Carrie is looking for a new job, she meets Drouet. He persuades her to leave the Hansons. Soon Carrie and Drouet live together. As time passes, Carrie perceives that Drouet is not going to marry her. One evening, they are visited by G. W. Hurstwood, a friend of Drouet's who is the manager of a saloon. Carrie and Hurstwood are fascinated by each other and they meet frequently afterwards.

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detective and he returns most of the money. The couple are illegally married. They move to New York. As Hurstwood's business venture fails and he finds himself unable to find employment, their condition becomes so difficult that Carrie decides to look for work. She gets a part as a chorus girl in a Broadway opera. Her fortune rises steadily after that and she decides to leave Hurstwood. In a few years, Carrie gains fame and fortune as Hurstwood continues to decline and finally commits suicide.

Synopsis of The House of Mirth

Lily Bart is a beautiful socialite who wants to marry a wealthy man. She lives with her aunt, Mrs. Peniston, who gives her occasional allowance. One day, she meets Lawrence Selden, a friend whom she usually meets at house-party, at the Grand Central Station. After exchanging greetings, Lily and Selden take a walk and retire to Selden's apartment for tea. On leaving Selden’s apartment, Lily meets Simon Rosedale, the owner of the building and a bachelor who wants to have a higher position in society. Later, Lily attends a house-party at the Trenors, where she attempts to be engaged to Percy Gryce, a wealthy bachelor. However, when Selden arrives at the house-party, Lily turns her attention to him. Mrs. Dorset, another guest at the house-party who adores Selden immensely, is bitter with Lily’s attention to Selden and sabotages Lily’s plan to marry Gryce.

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Lily buys the letters although they are actually written by Mrs. Dorset. She buys the letters because she thinks Selden would like her to buy them and help him to destroy them. After various incidents with Rosedale, as well as with Mr. Trenor and Selden, Lily receives an invitation to join the Dorsets on a Mediterranean cruise. During the trip, when Mrs. Dorset is almost discovered to have an affair, she accuses Lily of flirting with her husband. The European stories regarding Lily's activities reach America and Mrs. Peniston. After hearing the stories, Mrs. Peniston changes her will and when she dies, she only leaves Lily $10,000, not all her wealth as Lily has expected.

Rejected by her friends for the perceived affair with Mr. Dorset, Lily works as a private secretary and later works at a millinery shop. Her mounting bills and increasing sleeplessness cause her to rely on chloral in order to rest. Lily resumes her contact with Rosedale, who offers to marry her if she uses Mrs. Dorset's letters to gain back her position in society. After some considerations, she begins to take the letters to Mrs. Dorset but on the way to Mrs. Dorset’s house, she visits Selden’s apartment and in Selden’s department, she is reminded of her love for Selden. Therefore, in the end, Lily does not use the letters because she loves Selden and does not want to hurt him. The following morning, she is found dead of chloral overdose in her boarding-house.

Biography of Theodore Dreiser

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destroyed the mill. Depressed over his family's poor social standing, at the age of sixteen he decided to seek work in Chicago. There he had a number of nondescript jobs until he was helped by his former teacher, Mildred Fielding, to have education in Indiana University, where he studied for a year (1889 – 1890). After that, he worked as a reporter, drama critic, special feature writer, editor, and freelance writer.

Dreiser married Sara Osborne White in 1898. With her encouragement, he began writing his first historic novel, Sister Carrie (1900). After five months of writing his second novel, Jennie Gerhardt (1911), he began to have a severe writer's block. His disability lasted almost three years and with the encouragement of his friend, H. L. Mencken, Dreiser completed Jennie Gerhardt. He made up for the lost time with the publication of fourteen books between 1911 and 1925. Shortly after he had taken his first trip to Europe in 1912, he separated from his wife. He is remembered primarily for his novels, but actually he has written various genres: novels [Sister Carrie (1900), The Financier (1912), The Titan

(1914)], volumes of poetry [Moods, Cadenced and Disclaimed (1928)], short stories [Free and Other Stories (1918)], plays, travel books, autobiographies [Newspaper Days (1922), Dawn (1931)], philosophical essays, social criticism, and character sketches.

In 1944, he married Helen Richardson and lived his final years in California. Dreiser died of heart failure on December 28th, 1945, before completing the last chapter of The Stoic (1947).

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Edith Wharton was born Edith Newbold Jones on January 24th, 1862 to George Frederic and Lucretia Jones. The family was wealthy from their shipping, banking, and real estate businesses. Edith lived in Europe for six years and returned to the United States when she was ten years old. She did not go to school like her brothers. Instead, she received lessons from her governess and educated herself by reading books from her father’s library.

In 1885, Edith married Edward Robbins Wharton, who was a banker from Boston and came from a similar social background, but he was not interested in artistic or intellectual issues like Edith. Consequently, their marriage lacked something that Edith needed from life. In 1907, she discovered that her husband had a mistress in Boston and had taken money from her to support his affair. This revelation and her desire to pursue writing led to their divorce in 1912.

In 1905, The House of Mirth, the book that made her famous, was published. The other popular books included Ethan Frome (1911), The Reef

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In August 1937, Edith suffered a stroke and died in France. She was buried in the American Cemetery at Versailles.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Naturalism had its origin in Europe and it became an important movement in American literature from the 1890s until the 1920s (“1890s-1920s NATURALISM”). The term naturalism was created by the French novelist, Emile Zola (High 87). In naturalism, one’s actions and behaviours were not the result of exercising free will for according to Emile Zola, human beings were “not really free” (88).

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Maranatha Christian University through the objective study of human beings” (Scheidenhelm). It means that one can discover and get the explanation why the main character in a naturalistic novel acts in a certain way.

In a naturalistic novel, there is a dominant theme, which is that people are “fated” (Rahn) in their lives and even their deaths are also “determined by fate” (High 89). It implies that in a naturalistic novel fate determines the character’s life and death; moreover, he or she cannot avoid and escape from it. Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution is “a basis” (Scheidenhelm) for the naturalist writers in writing their novels. The survival of the fittest shows “the struggle against nature as a hopeless fight” (Scheidenhelm). The character in a naturalistic novel surely cannot win against the power of nature.

In naturalism, if a writer wishes to depict life as it really is, he or she must be rigorously deterministic in the representation of the characters' thoughts and actions in order to show forth the causal factors that have made the characters inevitably who they are (Douglas). In addition, according to Scheidenhelm, naturalist writers use a version of the scientific method to write their novels: they studied human beings governed by their instincts and passions as well as the ways in which the characters' lives were governed by forces of heredity and environment. The next two paragraphs will deal with the four naturalistic forces in detail.

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Maranatha Christian University social dominance, etc. In “Animal Instincts in Human Interactions”, Zane says that human beings are not exempted from animal instinct, which is the standard behaviour of all animals in order to fulfil their own basic needs. Some of the basic animal instincts indentified in human beings include safety, food, sleep, and the emotions of love, pleasure, anger, and fear.

According to Campbell, passions are strong emotions, such as lust, greed or the desire for dominance or pleasure. The definition of heredity is “the process by which mental and physical characteristics are passed by parents to their children; these characteristics in a particular person” (“Heredity”). The environment refers to “the conditions that affect the behaviour and development of somebody or something; the physical conditions that somebody or something exists in (“Environment,” def. 1).

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Maranatha Christian University public” (113). Recognizing the excellence of the novel, William Wyler adapted it into “a 1952 film which starred Laurence Olivier and Jennifer Jones” (“Theodore Dreiser”).

Edith Wharton (1862 – 1937) was a significant naturalist writer of the early twentieth century. Although she was frequently grouped together with American realists, Edith Wharton wrote novels that just as rightly belong to the category of naturalism (Rahn). She was highly regarded as one of the major figures of American literature and “the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction” (Merriman). The House of Mirth (1905) was her first important novel and when it was published, it became that “year’s best-seller” (Merriman). It was also “an immensely important novel in her portfolio” (Davies). There was even a film version of the novel which was “written and directed by Terence Davies” (Null).

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Maranatha Christian University of the protagonist in the novel are affected by naturalistic forces and how the protagonist with those characteristics reveals the theme of naturalism.

Statement of the Problem

The problems I am going to discuss in this thesis are: 1. What is the theme of naturalism of each novel?

2. How does the protagonist help to reveal the theme of naturalism of each novel?

Purpose of the Study

Based on the problems above, the purposes of this study are: 1. To find out the theme of naturalism of each novel

2. To show how the protagonist in each novel reveals the theme of naturalism of each novel

Method of Research

The method of research that I use is library research. I begin my research by reading Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie and Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth. After that, I analyse the primary texts by using some theories from some references and materials from the Internet that can support the analysis. Finally, I draw some conclusions of what has been discussed.

Organization of the Thesis

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

Having analysed Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie and Edith Wharton’s

The House of Mirth, I would like to draw some conclusions. I want to point out that both novels deal with naturalism. In addition, the naturalism in both novels does not give positive effects to the protagonists because it makes them unable to gain their goal in life.

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Maranatha Christian University is one’s characteristics that are determined by social environment and instinct can hinder one to gain happiness.

I find the two novels share some similarities. Carrie and Lily are both female. They struggle to improve their condition in their society because they want to live in luxury and do not want to worry about money. They are also poor and it makes them regard wealth highly.

Both of them are controlled by naturalistic forces which are their social environment and inner force so that they behave in certain ways and have certain characteristics. They are both helpless against the naturalistic forces that govern their lives. They do not have the power to fight against them. They cannot escape from the naturalistic forces either and have to deal with them to the end. Furthermore, they both experience an unhappy ending.

Above all, both Sister Carrie and The House of Mirth share a similar theme of naturalism: one’s characteristics that are driven by inner forces (passion or instinct) and outer forces can lead to an unhappy life. The theme is in accordance with the background of the authors. Both Dreiser and Wharton are naturalists who believe that naturalistic forces are inevitable for the powerless.

Besides similarities, I also found some differences. The protagonists come from different classes of society. Carrie comes from the working-class society while Lilyis born in the upper-class society.

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Maranatha Christian University Carrie always dissatisfied with her condition so she is far from being happy and it makes Lily unable to marry the rich and to secure her position in the upper-class society.

What both struggle for is also different. Carriestruggles to gain material things while Lily struggles to stay in the upper-class society. Carrie is like a usual naturalistic character because she comes from the working-class society whereas Lily is unlike a usual naturalistic character for she comes from the upper-class society. Yet, Wharton’s portrayal of her character, who comes from the upper-class society, is with a reason. She wants “to show the unforgiving nature of life at the top of the class structure” (Rahn).

In my opinion, naturalism has a more negative influence on Lily, who is poor but has to maintain her high social status than on Carrie, who is poor and has no high social status. I agree that Lily seems to be trapped in the upper-class society because of her high social standing. Her being poor is a tragic thing because one must be rich if one has a high social status, or else one will find it really hard to survive in the rich society. Carrie is not burdened with her social status because her social standing does not demand and require her to be rich to be accepted as a member. She is controlled by her passion to gain wealth to be happy though as the story progresses, she is also driven by her social environment.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Texts:

Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie. New York: Signet Classic, 1961. Print. Wharton, Edith. TheHouse of Mirth. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions

Limited, 1997. Print.

References:

“1890s-1920s NATURALISM.” pbs.org. n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.

“Ambitious.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print. Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature. " Literary Movements.

Dept. of English, Washington State University. 07 May 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2013

Davies, Richard. “The Talented Mrs. Edith Wharton.” AbeBooks.com. AbeBooks Inc.. n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.

“Dependent.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print. “Discontented.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print. doCarmo, Stephen N. “Dr. doCarmo’s Notes on Realism & Naturalism.” dr.

Stephen n. docarmo. N.p. n.d. Web. 24 May. 2013.

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English Library. University of Toronto. 31 Mar. 1997. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.

“Environment.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.

“Extravagant.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print. “Heredity.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.

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

“Immoral.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.

Lombardi, Esther. “Edith Wharton.” About.com. About.com. n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.

“Manipulative.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.

Merriman, C. D.. “Edith Wharton.” The Literature Network. Jalic Inc.. 2007. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.

“Moral.” Def. 2. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print. Null, Christopher. “The House of Mirth.” AMC. AMC Network Entertainment

LLC. n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.

Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. 6th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1983. Print.

Rahn, Josh. “Naturalism.” The Literature Network. Jalic Inc. 2011. n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.

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Maranatha Christian University Scheidenhelm, Carol. “Naturalism.” American Literary History: Romanticism,

Realism and Naturalism. Loyola University Chicago. 14 Aug. 2007. Web.22 Apr. 2013.

“Selfish.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th ed. 2005. Print.

“Theodore Dreiser.” Illinois Center for the Book. N.p. 17 May 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2013.

Wade, Lisa. “Before Love: Puritan Beliefs about Sex and Marriage.” Sociological Images. Sociological Images. 15 Feb. 2013. Web. 19 Oct. 2013