The Fall of the American Dream: In Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy

The American Dream, as one of the best known myths of American society had and still has a major impact on literature. The ideal itself as well as the portrayal of its fall has inspired a great number of authors. The present book proposes to describe and analyze the history and the formation of this myth, as well as Theodore Dreiser's vision on the Fall of the American Dream. Its main goal is to compare a male and a female version of chasing the American Dream. Dreiser's Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy are perhaps the best studies of the mythology of the American Dream including both stories of success and stories of failure. The book reflects on different critical interpretations attempting to show how dreiserian heroes embody the essence of the American career model and illustrate the effects of this mesmerizing myth. Accordingly the analysis addresses mostly graduate and undergraduate students but also anyone else who is interested in American literature and in the concept of American Dream.