| " American Dream " is not only the unique cultural motif in the society of the United States, but also a motif in American literature. In the history of American literature, this motif had expressed profoundly in many excellent writers' works. Among the writers, Theodore Dreiser cannot be neglected.The significance of this topic selecting: " American Dream " as a cultural motif in the society of the United States and a literary motif in American literature is reviewed in this thesis. Dreiser's five novels is the research object. Three main types of "American Dream " in Dreiser's novels are sorted and described to discuss the embodiment of the " American Dream " . This thesis evaluates the position of Dreiser in the history of American literature, and points out Dreiser is the first writer among the contemporary writers to describe all kinds of the " American Dream " in width. The Broken " American Dream " in the Works of Dreiser is sublimated to the realization of aesthetic significance of tragicalness. It is explained that it is not only social tragedy, fatal tragedy and character tragedy, but also universal tragicalness in the thesis.The research methods: The description of "American Dream " and the causes of this tragedy are analysed deeply by the socio-historical criticism, closed reading and other thesis such as American study, sociology, motif study and post-modernism cultural theory .The thesis is divided into four parts to discuss the topic of the broken " American Dream " in the works of Dreiser.In chapter one, Sister Carrie, Jennie Gerhardt and An American Tragedy is the research object to analyze the broken " American Dream " of the lower class deeply which are constituted by the broken " American Dream " of the strivers, the passivist bearing fate, the lovers and the injured. The infinite desire for material and passion, passiveness to the destiny, the limitation of " American Dream " , and the alienation of capitalism are the causes to the characters' broken " American Dream " .In chapter two, " The Genius " is the research object to analyze the artist's broken " American Dream " . Eugene's broken " American Dream " includes the pursuit of ideal beauty and its wreckage, the wreckage of artistic career, and the pursuit of material and its failure. The causes of the character's failure are due to the hankering for the combination of the fame and art, and the contradiction between these two different pursuits.In chapter three, The Bulwark is the research object to analyze the puritan's tragical " American Dream " . The puritan's " American Dream " comes true on his marriage and his enterprise in early stage. The puritan's broken " American Dream " is the wreckage of conviction, and it is because of the failure of late enterprise and his children's betray. The root of "American Dream " has some relationship with Puritans that the Puritan's " American Dream " is the original " American Dream ". The unrealization of his " American Dream " is caused by the disappearance of the society which supports this dream.The last chapter analyzes the tragic aesthetic meaning in broken " American Dream " and points out it belongs to social tragedy, fatal tragedy and character tragedy. Social tragedy is the main type here. The human being's suffering originates from the limitation of human being's existence. The human being is limited but they pursue infinitude. This paradoxical situation is the universal tragicalness.In words, the theme of "American dream " in Dreiser's five novels is analysed by the broken " American dream " as the clue in the thesis. And the underlying causes of the broken " American Dream " about society, times, individual, human nature etc. In the history of American literary, the broken " American Dream " is expressed by many excellent writers such as Jack London, Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, Author Miller and Edward Albi and etc. Comparing with these writers, Dreiser is the first writer among the contemporary writers to describe all kinds of the " American Dream " in scope. Dreiser , who is influenced by Balzac, adopts realism in fiction writing to make all - sided description to the society and express the broken " American Dream " that is due to the society. " American Dream " is not only the motif of literature, but also the cultural motif. It belongs to human being's dream after all, it is the dream for freedom, the dream for home and the dream for paradise. The broken " American Dream " is universal, but it shows a unremitting pursuit of freedom, ideal, happiness and the resistible spirit, and it also shows a heavy failure and its lessons.
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