The Study Of Romance In Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie(1900) And Kate Chopin’s The Awakening(1899)

Résumé: This research paper is a comparative study of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (1900) and Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899). To achieve our work, we have widened the scope of our investigation within a theoretical frame. For this matter, we have relied on some concepts of Northrop Frye’s theory of Romance as exposed in his book Anatomy of Criticism (1957). In the first chapter, we have studied the two works in terms of characterization. In doing so, we have drawn both the similarities and the differences between the characters from Frye’s concepts; innocent youth, and the contemplative adventure. In our dissertation, we showed how the two heroines are portrayed as being innocent at the beginning of the novel and how progressively both lost their innocence in quest for their dreams. In the second chapter, we have considered the plot of both novels; we have studied the similarities of the two works in terms of plot, in the framework of quest, antagonism and tragic ending. Regarding quest, both antagonists seek ambition; Carrie lusts after money and fame, and Edna pursues individuality. The society being the antagonist in each work troubled their search for their quest. We have also shown how both authors paradoxically portrayed the tragic ending of both their protagonists. Edna committed suicide while Carrie ended in a miserable state, brooding on her own loneliness. At last, we have come to the conclusion that both Chopin’s and Dreiser’s novels are susceptible to fit the characteristics of romance, and followed the same plot according to Northrop Frye’s theory.

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