《德伯家苔丝》的作者托马斯·哈代和《卡丽修女》的作者西奥多·德莱塞都是现实主义作家。他们用自然的方法来写这两部小说。但他们的社会背景确实不同。一个是保守的国家，另一个是新的国家——美国，所以这两部小说所决定的人物和主题也不同。本文将对这两部小说的作者、人物、主题和社会背景进行对比。
【Abstract】 Thomas Hardy, the author of Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Theodore Dreiser, the author of Sister Carrie are all realistic writers. They employ natural method to write these two novels. But their social backgrounds are really different. One is the conservative country─England.The other one is the new country─America.So the characters and themes of these two novels decided by the societies are different too. This article will rest on the contrasts of the authors, the charaters, the themes and the social backgrounds of the two novels.
【Key words】 contrasts Tess Carrie
Introduction
Thomas Hardy and Theodore Dreiser were all born of poverty. Thomas Hardy lived in England during the transitional time when Agriculturalist was menaced by the forces of invading capitalism. Theodore Dreiser lived in America when the literature form was developed from Realism to Modernism. Their point's view of life is different as can be reflected in their two masterpieces Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Sister Carrie respectively.
ⅠContrasts of the authors
ⅡContrasts of the protagonists
ⅢContrasts of the themes
ⅣContrasts of the social backgrounds
Conclusion
We can say Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Sister Carrie have many extremely different things, such as the characters and the themes. By contrasting them, we can find many deeper things, such as social conventions and social backgrounds. Being realistic writers, Thomas Hardy and Theodore Dreiser lived in two countries which had different social conventions. We can find that the society and the social background will influence the authors and give models to their novels. Having the same talent for literature, their creations depended on the society, but not on themselves.
