Sister_Carrie's_Pursuit_of_Happiness_as_an_Actress

Sister Carrie’s Pursuit of Happiness as an Actress Abstract This paper makes an attempt to explore how Sister Carrie’s pursuit of happiness was associated with her career as an actress. The goal of it is to find out what a role did her occupation played in her mental state. It takes a close look at her rise from an innocent country girl to a professional performer. By analyzing her first stage experience in the play “Under the Gaslight”, this paper will reveal to the readers that it was her closest moment to happiness in her whole acting profession. By bringing up Carrie’s endless longing after she had acquired worldly success, this paper also tries to associate one’s spiritual condition with his education. Carrie was no doubt rich in feeling but dull in understanding, for she could not tell exactly what was on her mind and how to control it. As it turned out, Carrie’s discontent was largely due to her lack of education in her early life. Key Words: happiness; career; actress; education; Sister Carrie 1.Introduction: According to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, the end toward which all human acts are directed is happiness. And people have general agreement that he is right. The pursuit of happiness therefore was included in America’s Declaration of Independence as an indispensable right that every man is born with. With no exception, Carrie Meeber, the heroine of Theodore Dreiser’s novel Sister Carrie, began her pursuit of happiness ever since she left for Chicago. But due to her basic spiritual innocence, she never truly realized what was her closest moment to happiness, how she managed to achieve it through her career as an actress, and why, until the end of the book, she still felt not content. 2.Literature Review: There have been many studies about Theodore Dreiser’s masterpiece Sister Carrie and they are of varies topics. Some of them discussed Carrie’s decaying moral sense; some of them tried to take a look into the middle-upper class at the beginning of 20th century through the fall of Hurstwood; while others made much effort to analyze the tri-angle relationship of Carrie, Druoet and Hurstwood. In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Actress: The Rewards of Representation in Sister Carrie, Barbara Hochman examined Carrie’ career as an actress. She took a close look into the relationship between actors and audience within the novel as well as the relationship between Dreiser and his readers. Carrie, who had never thought of being on stage before, hoped to appeal to the audience surprisingly found herself favourable to the them. Similarly, in Hochman’s point of view, Dreiser himself might have hoped for equal recognition from the readers. By analyzing Carrie’s unconscious inner movement, and Dreiser’s own artistic movements, Hochman found that the career as an actress is crucial to Carrie’s character and Dreiser’s rendering of her. Hochman’s study, however, didn’t seem to focus much on Carrie’s happiness, which is an indispensable part of life, directly obtained from acting and why she didn’t really feel happy even though she succeeded as an actress. Since not many previous studies have addressed the issue of Carrie’s career, this essay also looks at Sister Carrie from this perspective, but from another angle. Instead of making a comparison of Carrie and Dreiser, this essay only examines Carrie’s role as an actress and her effort of getting happiness (voluntarily or not) through her career. This essay tries to analyze Carrie’s rise from a complete amateur to a well-received actress. It also takes a look at the reasons why Carrie couldn’t truly be happy, especially associating it with her education. Carrie’s pursuit of happiness began early, when she left home for Chicago. But as the reader can find out, most of her happiness didn’t come until she took up her career as an actress. Hopefully, by examining her spiritual movements along with her advancements in career, we will find out the underlying connection between the two. By bringing up the issue of education, the relationship between education and one’s spiritual condition (especially Carrie’s) will also be revealed. 3.Carrie’s Rise as an Actress Carrie first appeared on stage as an amateur in a play called “Under the Gaslight”. Although this acting was purely accidental, it brought Carrie a lot of passion and joy. After that, the idea of being an actress was forgot for a while as Carrie was engaged in her affair with Hurstwood. But after running away with Hurstwood to New York, Carrie picked up her career as an actress again both because Hurstwood was almost down and out and she yearned for her success in Chicago. She managed to get a place in the chorus and gained approve through her good look and natural manner. Along with her growing salary, Carrie’s longing for material enjoyment also increased. Hurstwood, on the other hand, got shaggier and shaggier, and in turn began to be discriminated against. Not surprisingly, when confronted with the problem that if paying the rent for their apartment, she would have no money to get clothes for her show, Carrie decided that her career was the more important and left Hurstwood. Finally Carrie made a hit on the stage and became one of the celebrities. 4.Carrie’s Closest Moment to Happiness—“Under the Gaslight” 4.1 How Carrie got her first experience on stage and her feelings. As is described, Carrie was successful as an actress and her rise in her career formed a sharp contrast with Hurstwood’s fall. However, it is also depicted repeatedly in the book that Carrie, rocking near her window, “longed and longed and longed”(93). “She was sad beyond measure…Finally, it seemed as if all her state was one of forsakenness…sitting in the shadow by the window, and was therein as happy, though she did not perceive it, as ever she would be”(94). It seems that Carrie was not truly satisfied with her current state. Then when was she happy' When was her closest moment to happiness' In fact, Carrie was happiest just when she took on stage for the first time. Carrie accidentally got a chance to perform in a play named “Under the Gaslight”. Though she had no such experience, she did everything she could as an amateur actress. With the genial support and encouragement of Drouet and the arrangement of Hurstwood, Carrie finally succeeded in the play and realized “what it was to be petted” and “for once she was the admired, the sought-for”(148). 4.2 Why Carrie felt most happy when she got on the stage for the first time. Throughout the whole narration of the book, Carrie’s rise and achievements was always accompanied with description of her doubtful, uncertain, or even negative mental state. However, this is not the case when Carrie acted in “Under the Gaslight”. She participated in the play whole-heartedly, nervous at the beginning but released in the end. As the readers can see, she was genuinely excited. “Carrie laughed luxuriantly”(147) when Drouet and Hurstwood praised her at the back of the stage after she shook off her timidity and did well in the show. 4.2.1 Carrie’s talent of acting played a role Noticeably, Carrie’s gift of representing, which was later spoken of by Robert Ames as “a face representative of all desire”(385), played an important part in her success in “Under the Gaslight”. Naturally sensitive to drama and music, Carrie grasped the accurate feelings of the play, especially that of the role of Laura she played. Her emotions went up and down with the flow of the drama. She forgot, “as she got deeper into the scene, all about Drouet, and letting herself rise to a fine state of feeling.” The ability of immersing herself completely in the world of acting made Carrie more attractive to the audience, especially Drouet and Hurstwood. 4.2.2 The audience, especially her lovers, corresponded favorably to her acting. Still more significantly, it was the satisfaction aroused by mutual good feeling rather than her talent of representation itself that made “Under the Gaslight” Carrie’s closest moment to happiness. The night when the drama was played was a rare moment of spontaneous outgoing of sentiments in the book. Neither Drouet nor Hurstwood first accepted the drama without self-interest. Drouet took it as “an easy way out” of an annoying obligation, while Hurstwood tried to “make it a dress-suit affair and give the little girl a chance” in order to win her affection. Nonetheless, both of them took surprisingly benign actions in Carrie’s preparation for the play and during the play. When Carrie was preparing for the show in their apartment, she acted out part of the play for Drouet, in which she “fainted” to the floor. Drouet was “really moved” by her performance. “Ain’t you afraid you’ll hurt yourself'” he asked. “Not a bit,” “Well, you’re a wonder. Say, I never knew you could do anything like that.” “I never did either,” said Carrie merrily, her face flushed with delight. “Well, you can bet that you’re all right,” said Drouet. “You can take my word for that. You won’t fail.” This is an amazing interaction. Usually, when Drouet talked to Carrie, he had some intention in his words, either to arouse her interest or to comfort her deliberately. But in this occasion, he was truly touched by Carrie’s performance and uttered every word with spontaneous goodwill. In turn, Carrie received the support correspondingly and her sense of fulfillment was enhanced. With the enthusiastic encouragement of Drouet and Hurstwood, the perfect audience, Carrie’s victory seemed inevitable. 4.2.3 Performing the role of Laura set Carrie away from the audience and the real world for a while. Another important factor that led to Carrie’s success at Avery Hall is that Laura, the heroine she performed, helped her set a distance between herself and the audience. After Drouet buoyed her up in the wing, Carrie was “wrapt in her own thoughts”(145) when she was about to go on the stage again. “She hardly anything more, save her own rumbling blood.”(145) The distance not only left her much space “She turned slowly toward the audience without seeing. There was so much simplicity in her movements that she seemed wholly alone.”(148) Laura, who was virtuous and upright, was just a person that Carrie was not. Carrie satisfied her desire of grasping the things she didn’t possess without taking the risk of exposing herself to the judgments of others. No matter what she did on the stage, the audience would simply accept it. Yet no matter how she merged in the figure of Laura, she herself was not in danger of losing herself beyond the limits of the play. It was rather the audience who couldn’t distinguish her from Laura, which was particularly true of Drouet and Hurstwood, since they were both fascinated by Carrie with “most exuberant”(146) feelings. 5.The role of acting in Carrie’s pursuing of happiness Having observed Carrie’s closest moment to happiness when she first appeared on stage in “Under the Gaslight”, we can make an approach to explore the role of Carrie’s career in her pursuit of happiness. 5.1 Acting was a way of satisfying Carrie’s vanity and daily needs. On the surface, acting served as a way to satisfy Carrie’s vanity, especially when she was in New York with Hurstwood. Life was difficult for her for a while, when Hurstwood lost his previous charm and social status. She was desperate for daily commodities as well as new clothes to accompany her physical beauty. Besides, when Carrie left Columbia City, she brought with her “terror, large inhibitions, a sense of her insignificance along with unconscious dreams of conquest, memories of unsatisfied needs, psychosomatic symptoms, sudden mood swings” (Riggio 29), which all cried for a move to improve her current situation. From this perspective, acting was a job that earned her money, bought her dresses and left her possibilities to long for something more luxurious and attractive. 5.2 More importantly, Carrie achieved independence to some extent through acting. But as has pointed out in the previous analysis of her performance in “Under the Gaslight”, Carrie’s happiest moment occurred in her first acting, yet she didn’t have to use her acting as a means of earning money and satisfying her needs. So the career as an actress cannot only be associated with Carrie’s vanity. Rather, it was through acting that Carrie achieved, for the first time, independence. While she was on stage, Carrie was no longer the same person soothed and doted on by her lovers. On the contrary, she became the one who cast her charm overwhelmingly on Drouet, Hurstwood and the other audience. She was a perfect actress bringing out the emotions of the figure she acted. But however emerged in the play, she could return to reality as soon as she stepped out of the stage. The audience, on the other hand, couldn’t distinguish Carrie the actress from the person she represented. They sat there on the other side of the stage, passively accepting whatever it was on the stage, and couldn’t drag themselves out of the story after the play was over. 5.3 The career of an actress allowed Carrie to experience other people’s life. Another crucial factor is that the career of an actress is allowed Carrie to integrate with others’ life that she could not live herself. Carrie’s capability of representing desire was her most precious and remarkable power. “The world is always struggling to express itself… Most people are not capable of voicing their feelings. They depend upon others. That is what genius is for. One man expresses their desires for them in music; another one in poetry; another one in a play. Sometimes nature does it in a face-it makes the face representative of all desire. That’s what has happened in your case.”(385) This is what Robert Ames told Carrie almost at the end of the book, concluding her destiny as an actress. Carrie precisely served as the longing of the world using her expressing gift. This gift “seems to expand the self by allowing it to represent and even merge with otherness, while simultaneously defending it against the vulnerability such a merger might imply.”(Hochman 54) Carrie was depicted as a sentimental girl in the first place. “Her spiritual side …was rich in feeling…for the weak and helpless”. She had so much feeling that she needed a way to let it out, and the career of an actress was exactly what she should be looking for. 6.Why Carrie kept longing Now it is clear that the career of an actress played a substantial role in Sister Carrie’s pursuit of happiness. It gratified both her need of actual possessions and of representation. Why, then, didn’t she feel content even till the end' 6.1 What Carrie lacked despite of her rich feelings. Robert Ames’ appearing might serve very well as a cue. Unlike any other characters (no matter of what social status) in this novel, Ames was a well-educated man with his own understanding of the society and the events taking place in it. Carrie, on the other hand, though rich in feelings, had a “weak sense of identity” and lacked a “strong inner censor”. (Riggio 31) Carrie’s story, after all, “is only partially one of material and artistic rise”(Wadlington 411-29). She was merely “a native, dreaming girl from the country, driven this way and that by the promptings of biology and economy, and pursued on her course by the passions of her rival lovers”(Moers 107). In other words, she was like a powerful witch who didn’t know how to use or control her magic. Perhaps a children’s book can be of some help here. Hogwarts, the magic school, was set up to teach the young wizards and witches not only how to use magic, but more importantly, how to control it. Here in Dreiser’s novel, Carrie might have been better if she had been taught in some way of her talent and inner feelings. 6.2 Education was the key to Carrie’s gloomy mental state. Ames was and was the only figure in the novel associated with education. He made it clear to Carrie that she was destined to be an actress and pointed out a path for Carrie at the end of the book. He also made Carrie, for the first time, feel the pain of not understanding. And since Ames was symbol of education, the author also, as it were, deliberately connected Carrie’s gloomy mental state with her lack of education. Education has always been attached with great importance in a person’s growing, particularly in his early years. It helps the person have an idea of who he is, how to have a conscious view of the world around him and what is his perspective of his own life. Carrie, however, hadn’t been through such a procedure. Her early home life didn’t provide her a “counselor… to whisper cautious interpretations”(2). Nor was she exposed to any formal education of any kind. 7.Conclusion Having discussed so far, the relation between Carrie’s career and her mental state is much clearer to the readers. The career of an actress helped her gain a sense of self-accomplishment and independence to some extent. It also gathered her wealth and social status. Carrie rose to her position as a celebrity in the end through her acting profession. However, Carrie was not truly happy even though she acquired worldly success. Sitting in her rocking chair, she still dreamed of the radiance and delight, or happiness in a word, that “tints the distant hill-tops of the world”(400), that she might never feel. Her closest moment of happiness was acquired by chance and extremely supportive audience (her lovers). The point that Carrie didn’t fully achieved happiness that she had initially intended to achieve is agreed upon by many previous studies. But beside the effort that this paper has made, more studied are called for inner relation between career and sense of happiness. Moreover, the issue of education should also be further discussed as an indispensable part of one’s mental satisfaction. References 1.Barbara, Hochman. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Actress: The Rewards of Representation in Sister Carrie. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2007 2.Moers, Ellen. Two Dreisers. New York: Viking, 1969 3.Theodore, Dreiser. Sister Carrie. New York: Bantam Books, 1982. 4.Thomas, P. Riggio. Carrie’s Blues. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2007. 5.Wadlington, Warwick. “Pathos and Dreiser” Southerm Review 7(Spring 1971): 411-29; reprinted in Pizer, Critical Essays.