西奥多·德莱塞是20世纪美国一位杰出的自然主义作家,他的第一部长篇小说《嘉莉妹妹》在美国文学史上占有举足轻重的地位。讲述的是农村少女嘉莉如何从社会的底层一跃成为百老汇明星的经历,笔锋犀利地描写了在当时消费文化的冲击下,人因自身欲望不断膨胀所引起的人性的扭曲及道德的的沦丧。尽管作为美国自然主义的代表人物,德莱塞的观点难免有些偏激,但其作品仍不失为社会现实的翔实写照。鉴于德莱塞作品的复杂性和不确定性,本文着重从嘉丽所处的时代背景及当时盛行的消费文化角度解析嘉莉妹妹的行为。 Theodore Dreiser was an outstanding naturalistic writer in the United States in the 20th century. His first novel, Sister Carrie, played a decisive role in the history of American literature. Tells the story of how rural girl Carrie leapt from the bottom of society into a Broadway star’s experience. She wrote a sharp description of the distortion of human nature and moral degeneration caused by the constant expansion of her own desire under the impact of the consumption culture at that time. . Although Dreiser’s viewpoints are inevitably somewhat extreme as representative of naturalism in the United States, his works are still a vivid portrayal of social reality. In view of the complexity and uncertainty of Dreiser’s works, this article focuses on the analysis of Sister Carrie’s behavior from the background of the era in which Carrie lived and the prevailing consumer culture.