Abstract
This paper analyzes the American realist Theodore Dreiser’s work, Sister Carrie (1900) from the female perspective. As a female image who breaks traditional social ideas, Sister Carrie, the leading character of this work is a typical ideal woman who realizes the self and autonomy. This paper explores different stages of the character’s development of feminine consciousness, and analyzes her psychological changes caused by the deep social reasons. Seeing through the appearance to perceive the essence, the article helps us understand the related issues of feminine consciousness in American society.
Keywords   Sister Carrie   feminine consciousness   self and autonomy

本文从女性视角探析了美国现实主义小说家西奥多•德莱塞的著作《嘉莉妹妹》(1900)。作为一个打破传统社会观念的女性形象，这部作品中的主人公嘉莉妹妹,是个实现了自我与自治的理想女性的典型。由于其自我意识的产生与发展经历了一个过程，故文章着重探讨了主人公女性自我意识的形成及发展的各个阶段，并分析造成其此种心理变化的表面及深层社会原因。透过现象看本质，文章帮助我们了解了当时美国社会女性自我意识的相关问题。
关键词  嘉莉妹妹   女性自我意识   自我与自治  

In the history of American literary naturalism, Theodore Dreiser is considered as one of the most outstanding novelists in the early twentieth century. Coming from the bottom of the society, Dreiser is the first one to describe the real American citizen life. He is called pioneer of American contemporary fiction and is thought to be the great master of American realism. As one of the most influential personages in American literature world, his first full-length novel Sister Carrie (1995) received a lot of comments from all social circles, including some critical sounds.In Dreiser’s novels, he discards “the genteel tradition”, which was very popular at the time. On the contrary, he dares to depict the life as it is and discover the dark side of the social life, bravely attacking the traditional moral standard of America.