摘 要

美国现实主义作家西奥多·德莱赛的作品《嘉莉妹妹》一经问世便饱受争议，国内外对于这部作品的研究主要集中于三位主要人物以及作者的写作手法。本文将运用弗洛伊德关于梦的理论与方法来对《嘉莉妹妹》中明妮的梦境进行分析，探索梦境背后隐含的意义，帮助读者走进人物的内心世界，从而更好的理解小说的人物与主题，并借此来诠释梦在文学作品中的意义与价值。

弗洛伊德用来分析梦境的方法是象征解释与自由联想，他认为梦的本质是愿望的满足，而明妮的三个梦——煤矿之梦、水之梦、岩石之梦，虽然梦的显性内容各不相同，但表达的都是同一个愿望——拯救妹妹嘉莉。根据弗洛伊德的理论，做梦过程是白天的清醒生活中的活动激发了某个潜意识愿望，作者的研究表明，明妮潜意识中存在一个帮助嘉莉的愿望，但这个愿望由于某些原因受到压制，当嘉莉走投无路离家出走时，明妮对她的担忧与愧疚使得这个被压抑的愿望得到强化。而明妮在梦中所体验到的担忧、恐惧、焦虑等情绪其实就是她在现实生活中的真实感受，即因意识到嘉莉会成为别人的情妇而对她的命运感到担忧、恐惧，因无法帮助她而感到痛苦、内疚。

通过研究，不难看出，煤矿之梦和水之梦反映出明妮被压抑的感情，而岩石之梦则体现了她在现实生活重压下的生存焦虑。

关键词：《嘉莉妹妹》；明妮；梦的解析

Abstract

Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie has attracted great controversy ever since its publication. Researches from home and abroad center on the three main characters, the writer’s writing style and techniques. This thesis will employ Freudian dream theory to interpret Minnie’s three dreams in Sister Carrie so as to reveal the latent dream-thought and to explore the significance and value of dreams in literature works, allowing the audience to have a different glimpse of Minnie’s mental life and to obtain a better understanding of the character as well as the theme of the novel.

The translation of symbols and free-association are two important techniques in the work of dream-interpretation. According to Freud, dreams are the fulfilment of wishes. Although the obvious dream-content of Minnie’s three dreams are different, the wishes represented in the dreams are the same—to save her sister Carrie. On the basis of Freudian dream theory, one of the three situations of the dream-process is that one of the unconscious wishes has been aroused through the waking activity during the day. Through the research, the author finds that Minnie has a wish to help Carrie, which is repressed in the unconscious for several reasons. When Carrie gets into trouble and runs away from home, the suppressed wish is reinforced and revived by Minnie’s guilt and worry towards Carrie. In addition, the affect of worry, fear and anxiety that Minnie has experienced in the dreams is what she has experienced in the waking life: worry and fear for Carrie’s fate to be a mistress; pain and guilt for being unable to help Carrie.

Through the research, the author comes to the conclusion that the coal-mine dream and the water dream reveal Minnie’s suppressed emotion and that the rock dream reflects her living anxiety under the pressure of reality.

Key Words: Sister Carrie; Minnie; the interpretation of dreams

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Freudian Dream Theory 4

2.1 Sigmund Freud and The Interpretation of Dreams 4

2.2 Dreams as The Wish-fulfilment 5

3 Analysis of Minnie’s Dreams 7

3.1 The Coal-mine Dream: Worry 7

3.2 The Water Dream: Sadness 8

3.3 The Rock Dream: Fear 8

4 Psychological Analysis of Dream-processes 10

4.1 Motive Power of Minnie’s Dreams 10

4.1.1 Wish to Help Carrie from The Unconscious 10

4.1.2 Residues of the Day: Carrie’s Departure 11