Challenges In The Transitional Era: On Theodore Dreiser’s The Financier

In the end of the19thcentury and the early20thcentury, the United States wasexperiencing a shift from the production-oriented society to the consumption-orientedsociety, the rise of consumption ideology changed the whole society gradually, and manytraditional core values had to face the serve challenges from the emerging ones. TheodoreDreiser lived in this turning era, furthermore, the consumption ideology made the greatinfluences on his writing, which all manifested in The Financier.As the first volume of Dreiser’s Trilogy of Desire，The Financier, by narrating theprocess of Cowperwood from nobody to a capitalist, provides the readers with theeconomic, political, social and all-round conditions and reveals a series of conflicts inAmerican transitional era.Set the end of19thcentury and the early20thcentury as historical background, thethesis analyzes the challenges in the transitional era in The Financier from the followingthree aspects: crisis on puritanical values, influence of consumer culture and resistancefrom a New Woman, and then explores Theodore Dreiser’s complicated attitudes in thistransitional period, namely, Dreiser supports the new social ideology adapted to thedevelopment of society positively but fails to subvert over the traditional ethics andmorality thoroughly Moreover, it aims to remind people in contemporary society to keep arational mind, take the essence, discard the dregs when faced with the temptation andchanges. In the end of19thcentury and the early20thcentury, the rise of the consumptionideology first attacks the American cultural root: Puritanism. People prefer to Cowperwoodand his motto “satisfy myself” rather than the traditional beliefs such as restraint, humilityand Franklin’s American Dreams, and his sexual disorder also challenges the puritanicalvalues. Secondly, consumption greatly changes as well, that is, the new consumptioncharacteristics take place of the traditional consumption, besides, females are not limited athome but become the new consumers. In addition, the appearance of the new womanpromotes the advancement of the society, at same time, makes challenges on thepatriarchal society.Therefore, The Financier not only reveals a series of the challenges in the Americantransitional era. Moreover, in The Financier, Dreiser represents a historical era vividly forthe readers, and also shows his complicated thinking in the turning era.