读者反应批评视角下《嘉莉妹妹》与《德伯家的苔丝》的女性角色构建

The Construction of Female Characters in Sister Carrie and Tess of the D’Urbervilles from the Perspective of Reader-Response Criticism

摘要: 德莱塞《嘉莉妹妹》中的嘉莉与哈代《德伯家的苔丝》中的苔丝虽处于不同社会背景，却都出身贫困乡村家庭，并在生存压力与性别困境中卷入复杂的两性关系。两位女性在社会压力与个人欲望的作用下，选择了截然不同的人生道路。本文以读者反应批评理论为基础，通过对两部作品中女性角色塑造及读者接受历史的比较分析，探讨文本与读者互动如何生成多元意义。研究发现，嘉莉与苔丝的意义并非固定存在于文本内部，而是在不同读者阅读与阐释过程中动态生成，从而持续延展作品的文学价值与现实启示，为理解经典文学的跨时代生命力提供新的视角。

Abstract: Carrie in Dreiser’s Sister Carrie and Tess in Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, though situated in different social contexts, both come from impoverished rural families and become entangled in complex romantic and sexual relationships under pressures of survival and gender constraints. Under the influence of societal expectations and personal desires, the two women choose markedly different life paths. Based on reader-response criticism, this paper compares the portrayal of female characters and the history of reader reception in the two works, exploring how the interaction between text and reader generates multiple meanings. The study finds that the significance of Carrie and Tess does not exist statically within the texts but is dynamically produced through readers’ interpretations, continuously extending the literary value and real-world implications of the works. This provides a new perspective for understanding the cross-temporal vitality of classic literature.