1、1The Study of Sister Carrie Based on Horaces Decorum Principle英语语言文学（翻译理论与实践）马薇 2010110424AbstractTheodore Dreiser is a famous naturalistic writer. His Sister Carrie is well known because of his “survival of the fittest“ theory. In this thesis ,we will focus on the whole beauty of Sister Carrie and
2、the ducorum principle in the characterization of Carrie .Based on Horaces ducorum principle.Chapter one mainly introduces Theodore Dreiser, the main plot of Sister Carrie, and Horaces ducorum principle. Chapter two analyse the wholeness of the plot, shows a kind of united beauty.In addition, we also
3、 imply the decorum principle in the characterization of Carrie，through the change of her language, the process of her from a little girl to a maturity woman is vividly presented. Key words: whole beauty ; decorum principle; characterization ；Sister Carrie1.Introduction1.1 Introduction about the Auth
4、orTheodore Dreiser is generally acknowledged as one of Americas literary naturalists. He was greatly influenced by Darwinists “survival of the fittest“. It is no surprising to find in his fictional world a jungle, where “killed or to be killed“ was the law. He possessed none of the usual aids to a w
5、riters career: no money ,no friend in power ,no formal education worthy of any mention, no family tradition in letters. With every disadvantage piled up on him, Dreiser ,by his strong will and his dogged persistence, eventually burst out and became one of the important American writers. He is a prol
6、ific writer and many of his works are familiar to Chinese readers. His works include Sister Carrie,，Nigger Jeff， Old Rogaum and his theresa and so on. His greast Work is An American Tragedy. His first novel, Sister Carrie, published in 1900, tells the story of a woman who flees her country life for
7、the city (Chicago) and there lives a life far from a Victorian ideal. It sold poorly and was not widely promoted largely because of moral objections to the depiction of a country girl who pursues her dreams of fame and fortune through relationships to men. The book has since acquired a considerable
8、reputation. It has been called the “greatest of all American urban novels.“21.2 Introduction About the StoryDissatisfied with life in her rural Wisconsin home, 18-year-old Caroline “Sister Carrie“ Meeber takes the train to Chicago, where her older sister Minnie, and her husband Sven Hanson, have agr
9、eed to take her in. On the train, Carrie meets Charles Drouet, a traveling salesman, who is attracted to her because of her simple beauty and unspoiled manner. Carrie soon embarks on a quest for work to pay rent to her sister and her husband, and takes a job running a machine in a shoe factory.but s
10、oon she is s disappointed by the miserable life, in order to have a better life ,she moves to live with Drouet, after a short period of happy life ,she is introduced to George Hurstwood. Hurstwood, unhappy with and distant from his social-climbing wife and children, instantly becomes infatuated with
11、 Carries youth and beauty, and before long they start an affair. Later they moves to New York City. Unfortunately ,Hurstwood become bankrupt and they lived a hard life. Then Carrie turns to New Yorks theatres for employment and becomes a chorus girl. Once again, her aptitude for theatre serves her w
12、ell, and, as the rapidly aging Hurstwood declines into obscurity, Carrie begins to rise from chorus girl to small speaking roles, gradually she become famous and abandons Hurstwood. In the end,Hurstwood.is unbearable of the beggar life, he commits suicide in a flophouse.1.3 Introduction About Horace
13、s Decorum PrincipleOne of the main thoughts in his artistic ideas is decorum. The so called decorum means the parts and the whole should be united harmoniously. He thinks that the creative arts must be a harmonious united whole in itself. So , he sets several principles. First, the artistic works sh
14、ould have a whole beauty, which means every parts ,every details of the work should be united harmoniously. Just like a sculpture of a face, may be the nose ,eyes ,ears and mouth are very beautifully carved, but when they are put together, they may not look as good as all the parts.why? Because ther
15、e is no whole beauty. The artist failed to carve the five senses organs “decorumly“. Writing articles should also be the same. This is also true on the characterization of figures in writing novels. People of different ages, different identities, different nations and different professions ,regions
16、should have different characters and customs, and the languages they should use should fit their identities. Above all, is the decorum of Horace.1.3.1 The Wholeness in Decorum PrincipleHorace thinks that wholeness is very important ,not only for painting but also for literature.he said, if a painter
17、 chose to set a human head on the neck and shoulders of a horse, to gather limbs from every animal and clothe them with feathers from every kind of bird,and make what at the top was a beautiful woman have ugly ending in a black fishs tail- when you were admitted to view this picture , should you ref
18、rain from laughing, my good friends? A book will be the very likeness of such a picture in which, like a sick mans dreams, the images shall be impossible ,in the sense that no two parts corresponds to any one whole. In a word, let your work be what you will, provided only it be uniform and a whole.1
19、.3.2 The Speakers Language Should Fit the CircumstanceHorace said, if the part put into your mouth be ill suited I shall yawn or I shall laugh.With a 3gloomy face go sad words, with an angry one words of bluster, jests with a playful face,saws of wisdom with a grave one: for nature first makes us ta
20、ke in our souls the impress of external circumstance,makes us glad, or gives an impulse to anger, or bows us to the ground and tortures us under a load of grief; then,with the tongue for her interpreter ,she makes known the emotions of the heart. If the speakers language rings false to his circumsta
21、nce, all Rome, front seats and back seats, will join the laugh against him. From this we can see that Horace thinks that the speakers language must suit the external circumstance, if not ,it will be a bad work and will be laughed at.1.3.3 The Character Should Fit His Age Horace said,If you wish an a
22、pplauding audience that will stay for the curtain and sit on till the flute-player gives the signal for applause, you must note the manners of several age, and their fitting hue must be given to the tempers which change with the years.that you may never give a youth the part that belongs to the old
23、nor a boy that of manhood, remember that our attention will always be kept by traits that are attached and fitted to the age.2. The Wholeness and Decorum in Sister CarrieIn this part, the writer will first show the whole beauty in the structure of Sister carrie through Carrie different stages. Then
24、we will come to the decorum in Carries characterization.2.1 The Wholeness in Carries Life As mentioned above, Dreiser is a naturalist, he is deeply influenced by Darwins evolution theory. There is also no exception in Sister Carrie, in the novel, Carrie, a naive young country girl , goes to Chicago
25、city alone expecting to live a luxurious life. On her arrival ,she sees the miserable situation in her sisters life. In order to live, she find a job ,which pays very little,in a shoe factory. This is her first struggle for a better life. But ,that does not last long. Later ,because of illness,she l
26、ost her meanly paid job. Then,she meet Drout,who has deeply attracted by her beauty and innocence on the train to Chicago , and moves to live with Drout. With him, she enjoys a comfortable life and she is very happy. Later,she is introduced to Hurstwood, who is more rich and has a higher status than
27、 Drout. ,becoming greatly influenced by his good manner ,Carrie begins to have close connect with him. And finally ,she abandons Drout . She elopes with Hurstwood to New York expecting to have a more luxuriou life. But that dream turn into bubbles after Hurstwood s bankruptcy. She has to work outsid
28、e and get a job in a theatre . With her hard work and talents, she later becomes famous and she left Hurstwood without any mercy. From the four stages of her life,we can say she is an independent girl who fits herself well into the society. Her whole life is a struggle with her poor fate. The four s
29、tages united together to represent her fit into the society. This is what Horace called whole beauty.2.2 The Wholeness in Hurstwoods lifeAt the beginning , Hurstwood is a very rich person, he has lots of money, but he can non fit into his family, because all his wife concerns is money, she never car
30、es him, so he is very unhappy and cannot feel the love from his family. To some extent , he cannot fit himself into the society, because people of that time cares nothing except money ,but he cannot agree to that value. His family is a small society, he cannot fit himself well and is abandoned by hi
31、s family.After leaving Chicago , he expects to live a king of life which is full of love and happiness. But after a short period of his bankruptcy, they lived a miserable life. Though he goes out to find a 4job diligently, he fails in the end .because his doesnt know with plenty of money, he is Mr.
32、Hurstwood and all people show their respect to him; without money, he is nobody and no one will look upon him. All he can get is very low salary and tiring work. He doesnt know the societys life value. For he cannot bear the mean salary and peoples scornful eyes, he choose to stay at home, which fin
33、ally leads to Carries leaving him. Even after that, he doesnt recognize that he needs to find a job which may not so decent to make a living. Whats worse, he becomes a bagger and ends his life in a little hotel miserably. All the tortures he bear results from his cannot fit into the society and peop
34、les life value. Not only when he is so poor that he lives on the street and has nothing to eat, but when he is rich, he cannot get love from his nearest family member or his lover. The unfitness into society runs through the whole story.2.3 The Decorum in Carries Characterization.In this section, we
35、 will analyze the decorum principle in Carries language and characterization.just as Horace said, the characters languange should fit the external circumstance as well as his age ,identity , nation.We will see them in detail.2.3.1 The Language Fits the Circumstance As Horace said, a persons language
36、 should fit his external circumstance, which means a persons language should fit his expression, and they both should reflect the persons emotional feelings. Here we will see some examples.Example 1.She walked by this institution several times hesitating, but, finding herself unobserved, faltered pa
37、st the screen door and stood humble waiting. “I am, that is, do you-I mean, do you need any help?“ she stammered. This is a part taken from Carries finding a job. Being an innocent country girl, she is afraid of talking with strange people, especially those who works in the factory as a leader, such
38、 as mangers. From her stammer, we can see her hesitation and fear, but she is forced to say something in order to find a job. Her language fits well her inner emotion and fearful appearance. Example 2.“Well, if I were you,“ he said, looking at her rather genially, “I would try the department stores.
39、 They often need young women as clerks.“ “Thank you,“ she said, her whole nature relieved by this spark of friendly interest. 5This is also taken from her job hunting experience, now after several conversation with different mangers ,she gradually become more bold and more relaxed. After this manger
40、s friendly suggestion, she appreciates his ideas very much. This simple“ thank you “, we can see her relief from the tense atmosphere, and as if we can see the happy smile on her face. Through the language, we can actually know her emotions, that is a successful description.2.3.2 The Character Fits
41、Her AgeAs Horace says, decorum is also true on the characterization of figures in writing novels. People of different ages, different identities, different nations and different professions ,regions should have different characters and customs, and the languages they should use should fit their iden
42、tities. Here ,we will analyse her language .Carrie is an innocent young country, her language should suit her age, identity. Here are some examples.example1. “Why do you ask?“ she said. “Well, Im going to be there several weeks. Im going to study stock at our place and get new samples. I might show
43、you round.“ “I dont know whether you can or not. I mean I dont know whether I can. I shall be living with my sister, and-“Well, if she minds, well fix that.“ “Carrie Meeber,“ she said slowly. “Three hundred and fifty-four West Van Buren Street, care S. C. Hanson.“ Their conversation happened on the
44、train to Chicago,Carrie and Drout meet for the first time, but she has no alert on Drout ,she told him her purpose to Chicago and even told him her address. This shows her naive and lack of experience in communicating with strangers. Example2.She walked by this institution several times hesitating,
45、but, finding herself unobserved, faltered past the screen door and stood humble waiting. “Well, young lady,“ observed the old gentleman, looking at her somewhat kindly, “what is it you wish?“ “I am, that is, do you-I mean, do you need any help?“ she stammered. This is the first time she goes out to
46、find a job,she is very timid and shy, from the above description of her action and her stammered words we can see that learly. After all,she is a little girl and hasnt any communication with stranger ,especially those in the big city. Example3.“Well, youre mighty pretty,“ he went on, slipping his ar
47、m around her. “Put on that navy-blue dress of yours and Ill take you to the show.“ “Oh, Ive promised Mrs. Hale to go with her to the Exposition to-night,“ she returned, apologetically. 6“You did, eh?“ he said, studying the situation abstractedly. “I wouldnt care to go to that myself.“ “Well, I dont
48、know,“ answered Carrie, puzzling, but not offering to break her promise in his favour. This is a conversation after Carrie live with Drout for a long period of time, she is accustomed to the luxurious life and she loses her innocence and gains kind of maturity.she isnt that little girl anymore. She
49、learns how to look into other peoples heart and how to control the situation . She is a girl who has her own ideas in her mind and to some extent independent.Example4:“isnt it bad“ she observed to Lola.“terrible “said the little lady, joining her. “I hope it snows enough to go sleigh riding“oh ,dear,“ said Carrie, with whom the sufferings of Father Goriot were still keen. “thats all you think of .Arent you sorry for the people who havent anything tonight?“This conversation happens on a snowy evening, Hurstwood goes to Carrie for
