University of Stuttgart

In what respect can Theodore Dreiser’s character 
Caroline Meeber be called a typical picaresque heroine?

by

 Tobias Bumm

Table of Contents

Introduction Page 3

Category No. 1: Page 4
Narrative Perspective

Category No. 2: Page 6
Origins

Category No. 3: Page 8
Episodic Structure

Category No. 4: Page 9
Masters of a picaresque hero

Category No. 5: Page 13
Picaresque hero as an outsider

Category No. 6: Page 16
Satire of the world

Category No. 7: Page 19
Moral comment

Conclusion Page 20
Bibliography Page 21

Introduction:

Theodore Dreiser’s novel “Sister Carrie” is certainly an impressive piece of literature. It deals with the rise of a young Wisconsin girl, Caroline Meeber, that moves to Chicago at the end of the 19th century. The most important thing in her life is wealth and social status. She tries to get more and more of it by using powerful men to achieve her goal. In the end she has to realize that her search for success and popularity as an actress was just a deception and that social relations are not just there to be used to climb the ladder of success. My goal in this paper is to look at the character of Caroline Meeber closely to examine the way she is depicted by the author Dreiser and find out in what way she can be called a typical picaresque heroine according to literary theory. I will stick to the main categories of a picaresque hero given by several sources, among them Harry Sieber with his essay about “The Picaresque” from 1977¹ and Chris Baldick’s “The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms”.² This scrutiny of these several categories and comparison to spots in Dreiser’s text will show the similarities and differences in Caroline Meeber compared to other picaresque heroes and heroines in literature and also show in how far Dreiser’s depiction and underlying literary concept was designed to make the young Wisconsin-born actress a model of a picaresque heroine. It will, however, not lead to a definite solution of the question “Is Caroline Meeber a picaresque hero?” The terms picaresque hero, picaro, or picara are controversial in literary theory. A narrow definition of a picaresque hero can not be given. Questions like these are always open to various differing interpretations and opinions. It is similarities, moreover, that can show a protagonist’s proximity to a certain genre in literature. In this case it is the picaresque novel as a sub-genre that is the pattern, I will use to make clear in what way Dreiser’s conception of Caroline Meeber fits into the picture of a picara or in what way his protagonist does not fit into the concept of a picaresque heroine as it has been developing since the first novel of that kind was written.

Category No. 1: Narrative Perspective

Most definitions of a picaresque novel say that the hero recounts his adventures in a first-person narrative. A good example of that is Mark Twain’s novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in which the main character Huckleberry Finn addresses the reader directly and tells him everything about what is happening in certain situations. He furthermore tells the readers about his thoughts and feelings, allowing a deep insight into his psyche. Other examples of that are “The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes” or “Moll Flanders” by Daniel Defoe. These narrators are not reliable due to their involvement in the process of the story and their temporal proximity to what is happening. Even if they tell it from a perspective that is actually years after the happenings, the emotions are still there and the reliability of the narrator is doubtful. This is different in Theodore Dreiser’s novel “Sister Carrie”. What we have got here is a third-person narrative. The character of Caroline Meeber does not directly speak to the readers. This is made clear right at the beginning of the novel:

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1 Sieber Harry: The Picaresque. Methuen & Co. London 1977.

2 Baldick, Chris: The Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford. 1990.