社会转型期的“美国梦”——试论嘉莉妹妹的道德倾向

On ″American Dream″ in the Transitional Society: Sister Carrie’s Moral Tendency

“美国梦”一直是举世瞩目的理想精神之一。它源于欧洲清教徒的宗教理想信念,后来又演变成在美国只要聪明和刻苦,人人都可以成功达到“从一文不名到亿万富豪,从社会底层到上流阶级”的目标这样一种信条。但是,当美国发展到由农村向城市转型的历史阶段,“美国梦”的实现途径就偏离了较为正常的轨道,出现了“只有牺牲个人的优良道德才能达到目的”这样一种现象。本文以文学伦理学批评为指针,通过对《嘉莉妹妹》中女主人公主要思想和行为情节描写的分析,指出嘉莉的道德倾向主要是受当时的社会环境影响而形成的,最终揭示出该作品在反映社会现实方面所表现出的批判意义。

＂American Dream＂ has been one inated from the Puritan belief in ＂building a of the most ideal dreams throughout the world. It origcity upon the hill. ＂ Later on, it developed into a kind of secular idea： everyone can succeed ＂from-rags-to-riches＂ with his/her own intelligence and hard work. In American history, it has attracted millions of people to seek their dreams from all over the world, and really a lot of dreams have come true. However, when American history entered the transitional period, which was around the year 1900, the means of realizing ＂American Dream＂ deviated from its original track, so there appeared an abnormal phenomenon that ＂to make your ideal dream come true, you have to do something immoral. ＂ The paper, based on ethical literary criticism, analyzes some main details concerning the heroine＇ s （Sister Carrie＇s） crucial behavior reflecting the social problems of that very period.