Gilded Age: What It Creates?
The novel is set during the Gilded Age in the United States. A beautiful but vain young woman named Carrie from a small town in Columbia City travels alone by train to Chicago, a bustling city where the upper-class residents are often drunk and socialize. Meanwhile, the lower-class individuals struggle to make ends meet. The big city is home to both glamour and glitz amongst the wealthy, as well as poverty among those less fortunate. The lifestyle of Carrie's sister Minnie's family belongs to the latter, which destroys Carrie's illusions about big city life.
Due to Carrie's lost job opportunities, Carrie got kicked out of the house by her sister's husband and now wanders the streets. She meets Drouet, a kind-hearted man who takes her in out of sympathy and love. He generously uses his own finances to introduce her to the luxuries of the big city. As his fiancée, Drouet introduces her to his friend Hurstwood, a successful and attractive man over forty with a good family. Hurstwood's married life, like that of many middle-aged men, can be quite dull, though not unbearable. As Hurstwood meets with Carrie, things start to change. Hurstwood falls in love with Carrie and, unintentionally, embezzles company funds, deserts his family, betrays his friends, and persuades Carrie to elope with him to New York.
In New York, after spending all his savings in two or three years, Carrie had to start working to make ends meet. Due to her natural beauty, charm, and talent for acting, she became the most renowned theater actress in the city. In contrast, Hurstwood was unable to secure a job and spent his days wandering the streets until he tragically took his own life in a shelter.
From the small town Columbia City to Chicago, to New York; from Drouet to Hurstwood, and Ames whom she met in New York; we can see the ambition and desire of Carrie constantly expanding. Nonetheless, it would be unfair to condemn such an inexperienced and naive girl for exhibiting rationality and self-restraint during an impulsive and tumultuous era. She was a young woman without a hunger for knowledge, living in a time when religion was in decline and God was believed to be dead. It's difficult to imagine what kind of faith she could have had to withstand the impatience of the era.
Ultimately, Sister Carrie achieved everything she desired: a life of wealth and celebrity. But is she truly happy? Without the guidance of spirituality, achieving external success only leads to more confusion. After achieving success and fame, Carrie lounged in a rocking chair in the Waldorf presidential suite, lying blankly out the window at the bustling traffic. Her eyes, filled with bleakness and decadence, uttered just two words: "So what?" This epitomizes the Gilded Age, where everything appears to prosper on the surface, but in reality, even God cannot save them from the turmoil brewing within.
Due to Carrie's lost job opportunities, Carrie got kicked out of the house by her sister's husband and now wanders the streets. She meets Drouet, a kind-hearted man who takes her in out of sympathy and love. He generously uses his own finances to introduce her to the luxuries of the big city. As his fiancée, Drouet introduces her to his friend Hurstwood, a successful and attractive man over forty with a good family. Hurstwood's married life, like that of many middle-aged men, can be quite dull, though not unbearable. As Hurstwood meets with Carrie, things start to change. Hurstwood falls in love with Carrie and, unintentionally, embezzles company funds, deserts his family, betrays his friends, and persuades Carrie to elope with him to New York.
In New York, after spending all his savings in two or three years, Carrie had to start working to make ends meet. Due to her natural beauty, charm, and talent for acting, she became the most renowned theater actress in the city. In contrast, Hurstwood was unable to secure a job and spent his days wandering the streets until he tragically took his own life in a shelter.
From the small town Columbia City to Chicago, to New York; from Drouet to Hurstwood, and Ames whom she met in New York; we can see the ambition and desire of Carrie constantly expanding. Nonetheless, it would be unfair to condemn such an inexperienced and naive girl for exhibiting rationality and self-restraint during an impulsive and tumultuous era. She was a young woman without a hunger for knowledge, living in a time when religion was in decline and God was believed to be dead. It's difficult to imagine what kind of faith she could have had to withstand the impatience of the era.
Ultimately, Sister Carrie achieved everything she desired: a life of wealth and celebrity. But is she truly happy? Without the guidance of spirituality, achieving external success only leads to more confusion. After achieving success and fame, Carrie lounged in a rocking chair in the Waldorf presidential suite, lying blankly out the window at the bustling traffic. Her eyes, filled with bleakness and decadence, uttered just two words: "So what?" This epitomizes the Gilded Age, where everything appears to prosper on the surface, but in reality, even God cannot save them from the turmoil brewing within.
Wow. This seems like quite an intense movie! I look forward to learning more through your analysis and interpretations!
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