A Comparative Study On Human Desire Between Sister Carrie And Vanity Fair From The Perspective Of Mythological Archetypal Criticism

The archetypes in ancient Greek mythology and the Bible are eternal.They have been widely spread for thousands of years and have always exerted a profound influence on human life and artistic creation.Mythological archetypes exist widely in the creation and criticism of literary works,which can break through the limitations of time and space.This paper selects Vanity Fair written by the British writer Thackeray and Sister Carrie by the American writer Dreiser as the research texts.Although the heroines in the two novels live in different countries,they share many similar characteristics.They can be regarded as quoting classical mythological archetypes in ancient Greek mythology and the Bible: Pandora,Sirens,Eve and Wanderer.The two heroines all share the salient characteristics of these classical mythological archetypes.This paper made a comparative analysis of Vanity Fair and Sister Carrie from the perspective of mythological archetypal criticism,and studies the common characteristics of the two heroines by digging out the common mythological archetypes of the two heroines,so as to study the human desire throughout the whole human society.They all have the beauty and evil of Pandora,the temptation and cruelty of Sirens,the depravity and rebellious spirit of Eve,the wandering experience of the wanderer and the traits of perseverance,tenacity and optimism.They are the products of an unfair society that pursues material comforts,and they all satisfy their greedy desires at all costs,even sacrifice their bodies and morals.In the end they gained wealth but lost happiness.Therefore,it is shown that desire is the driving force of struggle,but uncontrolled greed will only be the fuse of unfortunate life,will bring misfortune to themselves and others.This paper made a comparative study on human desire between Sister Carrie and Vanity Fair from the perspective of mythological archetypal criticism,which provides a new perspective for the study of these two novels.Meanwhile it is put forward that human beings must control their greedy desires and not lose themselves in the process of pursuing material enjoyment.Therefore,this paper has certain academic and social significance.