Sister Carrie - General Reception

General Reception

Theodore Dreiser is considered one of America’s greatest naturalists, notable because he was part of the early stages of the naturalist movement. Sister Carrie was a movement away from the emphasis on morals of the Victorian era and focused more on realism and the base instincts of humans.

Sister Carrie went against social norms of the time with its supposed immorality, as Dreiser presented his characters without judging them. Dreiser fought against censorship of Sister Carrie, a main issue being that the titular character engaged in affairs and other “illicit sexual relationships” without suffering any consequences. This flouted the norm of the time that should a character practice such sinful behavior, they must be punished in some way throughout the course of the plot in order to teach a lesson.

Dreiser has often been critiqued for his writing style. In 1930 Arnold Bennett said, “Dreiser simply does not know how to write, never did know, never wanted to know.” Other critics called his style “vulgar,” “uneven,” “clumsy,” “awkward,” and “careless.” His plotlines were also decried as unimaginative, critics citing his lack of education and claiming that he lacked intellectualism.

However, Alfred Kazin—though criticizing Dreiser’s style—pointed out that Dreiser’s novels had survived through the ages and remained influential works (Lydon). Michael Lydon, in defense of Dreiser, claims that his patience and powers of observation created accurate depictions of the urban world and the desires and ambitions of the people of the time. Lydon said that Dreiser’s intent was to focus on the message of Sister Carrie, not on its writing style.

Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie was not widely accepted after it was published, although it was not completely withdrawn by its publishers, as some sources say it was. Neither was it received with the harshness that Dreiser reported. For example, the Toledo Blade reported that the book “is a faithful portraiture of the conditions it represents, showing how the tangle of human life is knotted thread by thread” but that it was “too realistic, too somber to be altogether pleasing”. This review shows an example of an average review of Sister Carrie at the time it was released, and even though there were some completely negative harsh reviews, they were not many in number. This shows us that Dreiser was his own worst critic, exaggerating the negative report about his book to one of complete rejection. There is also the receipt of sale that was sent to Dreiser that shows that Sister Carrie was not withdrawn off of the shelves. This report from DoubleDay, the publishing company, reports that 456 copies of the 1,008 copies printed were sold. This evidence dispels the rumors that all copies of Sister Carrie were pulled off the shelf right after their release.

Sister Carrie evoked many different responses from the critics, and although the book did not sell well among the general public, it often received positive reviews. Part of the reason for its lack of sales came from a conflict between Dreiser and his publishers, who did little to promote the book. Despite this lack of promotion, many critics did praise the book, and a large number of them seemed most affected by the character of Hurstwood, such as the New Haven Journal Courier, which proclaimed, “One of the most affecting passages is where Hurstwood falls, ruined, disgraced”. Edna Kenton in the Chicago Daily News said in 1900 that Sister Carrie is “well worth reading simply for this account of Hurstwood”.

Another common praise among reviews was for the novel’s realistic depiction of the human condition. A 1901 review in the Academy said that Sister Carrie was “absolutely free from the slightest trace of sentimentality or pettiness, and dominated everywhere by a serious and strenuous desire for truth”. The London Express claimed that this realism is what makes the book appealing: “It is a cruel, merciless story, intensely clever in its realism, and one that will remain impressed in the memory of the reader for many a long day”. The novel has also been praised for its accurate depiction of the protests in New York and the city life in Chicago.

There was a fair amount of negative response to the novel as well, arising largely from the book’s sexual content, which made Sister Carrie, in the words of the Omaha Daily Bee in 1900, “not a book to be put into the hands of every reader indiscriminately”. Another review in Life criticized Carrie’s success, and warned “Such girls, however, as imagine that they can follow in her footsteps will probably end their days on the Island or in the gutter”. The book was also criticized for never mentioning the name of God .

There was also a large amount of criticism for the title of the novel, which, several critics complained, makes the book sound as if the main character is a nun. The title of the book is considered by the Newark Sunday News to be the “weakest thing about the book” because it “does not bear the faintest relation to the story” Similarly, Frederic Taber Cooper in the Bookman declared it to be a “colourless and misleading title” (26). Other common complaints were over the length of the book and the fact that it is so depressing that it makes it unpleasant to read. Overall, Sister Carrie was not well received when it was first released due to its scandalous content and its bleak outlook on life and human efforts to change their condition.

Theodore Dreiser encountered both criticism and praise of his unique literary style. While some viewed his work as grammatically and syntactically inaccurate, others found his detailed storytelling intriguing. An avid supporter and friend, H.L. Mencken referred to Dreiser as “a man of large originality, of profound feeling, and of unshakable courage”. Mencken believed that Dreiser’s raw, honest portrayal of Carrie’s life should be seen as a courageous attempt to give the reader a realistic view of the life of women in the nineteenth century.

In opposition, one critic, Karl F. Zender, argued that Dreiser’s stress on circumstance over character was “adequate neither to the artistic power nor to the culture implications of Sister Carrie”. Many found Dreiser’s work attractive due to his lenient “moralistic judgments” and the “spacious compassion” in which he viewed his character’s actions. This toleration of immorality was an entirely new idea for the readers of Dreiser’s era. In fact, the novel and its modern ideas on morality helped to produce an untitled movement in which the literary generation of its time was found “detaching itself from its predecessor”. Yet there still remained some who disapproved of Dreiser’s immoral, atypical story line. David E. E. Sloan argued that Dreiser’s novel undermines the general consensus that hard work and virtue bring about success in life.

Though Dreiser has been criticized for his writing style and lack of formal education, Sister Carrie survived over a century and remains to this day an influential example of naturalism and realism. While it initially did not sell well at all (under 500 copies) and battled censorship after being deemed amoral, it is now considered one of the greatest American urban novels, and explores the gritty details of human nature, as well as how the process of industrialization affected the American people.

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