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1.Introduction

1.1Researchbackground

RepresentativeofAmericanmodernists,TheodoreDreiserisconsideredoneoftheBigThreeofAmericanmodernistnovelswithEarnestHemingwayandWilliamFaulkner.BornonAugust27in1871inTerreHaute,Indiana,Dreiserwasthetwelfthofthirteenchildren(theninthofthetensurviving).Hisfather-JohnPaulDreiserwasaGermanimmigrantfromMayenintheEifelregion.AsthesonofapoorGermanimmigrant,DreiserfeltabouthisfamilysmarginalizedpredicamentintheAmericansocietyasawhole,thusfullofenthusiasmaboutextensivelyobservingthesocialreality.HewalkedthroughoutthemetropolitancitiesoftheUnitedStatessuchasNewYork,Chicago,etc,whichaccumulatedtheabundantwritingmaterialsforhislaterliterarycreation.In1944,Dreiserwasawardedhonorbythenationalinstituteofartandliterature.Nextyear,hejoinedthecommunistpartyanddiedonDecember28inthesameyear.

Inthe1980s,withthedevelopmentofindustrializationandurbanization,Americansocietywastransformingfromthesocietyledbyproductiontooneledbyconsumption.Theprocessofurbanizationbroughtaboutalotofnegativeeffects,suchasmaterialism,mammonismandhedonism.Peoplebegantocomparetheirownliveswithothers,thushavingthedissatisfactionwiththereality.JennieGerhardtwascreatedunderthisbackground.ThedepictionofthelifeJennielivescanbestreflectDreisersintentionofwritingsocialproblems,withhisownsisterMaryDreiserastheprototype.MarylivedwithcolonelSilsbeeinTerreHaute,whichwasasexualscandalforthefamily;therefore,asaseriousfatherfromtheoldworld,Paulbrokeoffallrelationswithher.However,heenjoyedthelasttimeoflivingwithherinRochesterandhavingapeacefulfeelingunderhercare.Pauldiedattheageofseventy-nineatChristmasin1900.OnJanuary6,1901,DreisercomposedJennieGerhardtwithinlessthantwoweeksafterhisfather'sdeathandhaditpublisheduntil1911.

Consequently,adetailedstudyoftheheroineJenniecancontributetohelpingreaderscomprehendDreiserswritingintention,hisattitudestowardswomen,JennieGerhardtinparticular,andhisliteraryaccomplishmentasanaturalist.

1.2Needforthestudy

Practicallyspeaking,Dreiserdescribesagirlfrompureandinnocenttomoney-orientedandman-reliant.Thisstudywillassistreaders,especiallyfemalereadersinmoderntimes,inhavingadeeperthinkingabouttheiroutlookonlifeandvalues.Itwillguidethemtoseekself-developmentaswellasformapositiveoutlookonlifeandtheworld.

Theoreticallyspeaking,thisstudyofJennieGerhardtcanononehandenlightenscholarstopenetrateintotheroleswomenlivinginthatpatriarchalsocietyplayedfromsomedetailedperspectives.Ontheother,Dreiserisgoodatexploringtragedy,forhehasapessimisticattitudetowardslifeandsociety.ScholarsandreadersmayattachmoreimportancetotherelationbetweennaturalismandDreiserstragicconsciousnessthatisfullydisplayedinthisnovel.

2.Literaturereview

2.1PreviousstudiesonJennieGerhardt