The American Dream

Dreiser: Sister Carrie

In this course, Professor Cara Erdheim Kilgallen (Sacred Heart University) explores Theodore Dreiser’s 1900 novel, Sister Carrie. In the first lecture, we provide a brief introduction to the novel before thinking the portrayal of the American Dream. In the second lecture, we think about ‘conspicuous consumption’ in the novel, before turning in the third lecture to think about how the novel explores the concept of class. In the fourth lecture we think about the depiction of the workers’ strike in chapter 41, before turning to Hurstwood’s decision to become a motorman later in the novel. In the fifth and sixth lectures we think about the power of the environment to determine how characters act and the decisions they make, before turning in the seventh and eighth lectures to think about the depiction of women in the novel, including the concept of the ‘new woman’

The American Dream

In this lecture we provide a brief introduction to the novel, before thinking about how the novel engages with the American Dream, focusing in particular on: (i) the literary movement of naturalism, pioneered in Europe by writers such as Émile Zola (1840-1902), before being picked by in the United States by writers such as Frank Norris (1870-1902), Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945), Upton Sinclair (1878-1968), and Jack London (1876-1916) (ii) the period of American history known as the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s); (iii) the concept of the American Dream; (iv) Caroline’s journey throughout the course on the novel, and the extent to which she achieves the American Dream; (v) her sense of wonder when she first arrives in Chicago; and (vi) her sense of dissatisfaction at the end of the novel.