Two Melancholy Souls

Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie and Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth are two well-known novels filled with naturalistic color, which similarly portray two melancholy heroines in the fast-developing capitalist society and disclose its evil nature. Through analyzing the two heroines—Carrie Meeber and Lily Bart in Sister Carrie and The House of Mirth, this thesis explores the main causes for their unhappiness, and demonstrates that apart from the uncontrollable external factors, the weaknesses and limitations of the heroines themselves are also main factors which lead to their unhappy fate. In order to prove their abilities and values, and eventually attain happiness, women should not only realize the importance of independence, but also develop all-round personality. In addition, this thesis points out that the two heroines' spiritual emptiness resulting from excessively pursuing material wealth, which is revealed by the two novels, still has important practical significance and sounds the alert for today's people in our society.