Sister Carrie Summary

Sister Carrie chronicles the ascent and downfall of Caroline “Carrie” Meeber, a young woman who moves from provincial Wisconsin to the big city.

At the beginning of the novel, Carrie is penniless. She takes a train from her hometown of Columbia City, Wisconsin, to Chicago in the hopes of finding work in the city. She is to live with her sister, Minnie, and brother-in-law, Hanson. On the train, Carrie meets a friendly, flirtatious, and well-dressed traveling salesman named Drouet. The two make tentative plans to meet. However, after arriving in Chicago and seeing her sister’s shabby apartment, Carrie feels ashamed that Drouet should see her in such a place and writes to him, telling him not to visit. Shortly after moving in, Hanson makes it apparent that he expects Carrie to pay rent. Consequently, Carrie spends her first few days in Chicago looking for work in the wholesale district. As she wanders around, she becomes fascinated with the merchandise in the department stores and the well-dressed women bustling about, scarcely deigning to look at her.

Carrie struggles to find a business that would hire her, as she has no experience, but eventually lands a position as a manual laborer in a wholesale shoe house. Although she is initially elated at having a position, the tiresome nature of her work and low pay ultimately leave Carrie disillusioned. Minnie and Hanson’s frugal way of life further exacerbates Carrie’s unhappiness. During the winter, Carrie falls sick and her prolonged absence causes her to lose her job. After recovering, Carrie begins another job search, but her spirits are dampened and thoughts of not being able to pay rent and being forced to return to Wisconsin leave her in desperation.

After several days of fruitless searching, Carrie encounters Drouet. Friendly as ever, the salesman treats her to a lavish meal and offers her 20 dollars to buy new clothes. Carrie initially attempts to return the money, but Drouet only proceeds to buy her an array of fashionable clothes and accessories. Drouet, moved by Carrie’s prettiness and poor state, offers to financially support her. After some mental tribulation, Carrie decides to become Drouet’s mistress. She leaves Minnie a simple note and moves into the living quarters that Drouet has rented for her.

Drouet continues to show Carrie the various pleasures of the city. However, over time, Carrie begins to notice his faults: though he remains friendly, Drouet is noncommittal to the idea of marriage, always pushing it off to some later date, and lacks sensitivity. Around this time, Carrie makes the acquaintance of Mrs. Hale, a neighbor, who takes Carrie out driving in richer districts and speaks highly to her of the upper echelons of society, leading Carrie to desire more material wealth than Drouet can provide.

Around this time, Drouet introduces Carrie to Hurstwood, his friend and the manager of a popular, high-end saloon. Carrie finds the suave and sensitive Hurstwood a much more agreeable companion than Drouet. Unbeknownst to Carrie, Hurstwood is in the midst of experiencing some private family tensions: his wife and children are vain and uncaring, and he no longer feels like the true head of his household. Thus Hurstwood feels immediately drawn to Carrie’s youthful innocence and beauty. After some persuading from Hurstwood, Carrie and the manager begin an affair behind Drouet’s back. Shortly after the affair begins, Drouet finds Carrie a part in a play put on by the club that he and Hurstwood attend. On the evening of the show, Carrie puts on a spectacular, if uneven, performance that moves both of her lovers: Drouet resolves to marry Carrie and Hurstwood resolves to steal her away from Drouet.

The following day, Drouet learns from the chambermaid that Hurstwood has been visiting Carrie often—and that the pair are having an affair—so Drouet informs a horrified Carrie that Hurstwood is a married man. Carrie writes to Hurstwood in attempt to cut ties with him. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hurstwood learns from acquaintances that her husband has been driving around with another woman and threatens him with a divorce lawsuit. An agitated Hurstwood takes to drinking at his saloon. While closing up that night, Hurstwood discovers that the safe, which is loaded with cash, is unlocked. In his drunkenness, Hurstwood decides to steal the money in the safe and then tricks Carrie to leave town with him on a train by lying that Drouet has been injured at a faraway place.

After finding out Hurstwood’s deception, Carrie is indignant but eventually acquiesces under the influence of her lover’s passionate pleas and promise of marriage. Hurstwood, hunted by police and his own guilt, returns the majority of what he stole, though he still keeps a small fortune for himself. The couple settle in New York City as George and Carrie Wheeler. At first, Carrie enjoys her new life—Hurstwood finds a job at a common saloon and supports her on a modest yet sufficient salary. However, Carrie soon becomes friends with a neighbor, Mrs. Vance, and realizes that her situation pales in comparison to the lavish lifestyle that her new friend leads. After a while, Hurstwood’s business fails and he loses his job. He asks Carrie to live more cheaply, inflaming the seeds of dissatisfaction planted before, and the two grow distant.

One night, Mr. Vance and his wife treat Carrie to a particularly lavish dinner at a luxurious restaurant. There, Carrie meets, Ames, Mrs. Vance’s cousin, who suggest to her that wealth is not everything—rather, it is better to pursue art. Carrie finds Ames wiser and more admirable than Drouet and Hurstwood and is eager to gain his approval. To Carrie’s dismay, Mrs. Vance soon moves away, and Carrie is left to endure a dull, lonely life with Hurstwood. Although initially eager to find another job, the aged Hurstwood soon loses motivation and simply sits at home reading the newspaper. The money he stole from the saloon in Chicago runs out, and Hurstwood asks Carrie to find a job, placating her by saying that it would only be temporary, and he would soon have another business venture.

Remembering Ames’s admiration for art, Carrie turns to theater and finds a job as a chorus girl, though the work is far less glamorous than she expected. Luckily, her talent allows her to quickly move up the ranks, and she soon secures a decent position within the company. Carrie meets and becomes friends with a fellow chorus girl, Lola, who asks if Carrie would be willing to move into an apartment with her as roommates. Feeling dissatisfied with Hurstwood’s idleness and bound by household duties, Carrie decides to leave him and accept Lola’s offer. She leaves Hurstwood a brief note, enclosing 20 dollars.

Now devoting herself wholly to work, Carrie soon gains recognition and before long becomes one of the company’s stars. She soon gets paid more than she can spend, and her picture appears in the papers. Carrie eventually moves into a luxurious hotel as a patron, bringing Lola with her, and receives many notes from various admirers, though she’s uninterested in all of them. Meanwhile, dejected and deeply impoverished, Hurstwood takes to the streets, wandering and begging, and, unbeknownst to Carrie, eventually commits suicide in a 15-cent boarding house. Mrs. Vance, Ames, and Drouet come to visit Carrie, and though Drouet tries to win Carrie over again, she rejects his advances. The novel closes with a wildly rich and famous Carrie contemplating life, disillusioned and unhappy.