摘 要

美国梦贯穿了美国文化，反映了美国价值观及社会主流思想，而美剧正是美国文化的传达者和演绎者，以更为直观及生动的方式将美国梦传递给世界。美国电视剧《破产姐妹》自2011年播出以来收到广泛好评，有许多学者也对其从不同角度进行研究，如英语幽默和字幕翻译，然而并未有学者从马斯洛需要层次理论对其进行分析。本论文从马斯洛需要层次理论视角，采取定性分析和定量分析相结合的研究方法，综合运用大量数据、文献及其他学者的相关研究，对《破产姐妹》中的美国梦进行分析。本研究在《破产姐妹》的六季中选取能够反映美国梦的十八集作为研究语料，旨在马斯洛需要层次理论指导下探索《破产姐妹》中的美国梦。研究发现，《破产姐妹》中的美国梦与马斯洛需要层次理论相似，均为由低级层次向高级层次递进，其主要体现为通过努力工作维持基本生活，对友情、爱情的渴望，追求自由平等的权利和个人成功。本论文的研究成果有助于读者深入理解《破产姐妹》、其他美剧中的美国梦和主流价值观。同时，本文也为中国学生确定合理梦想提供一种参考方式。

关键词：《破产姐妹》；美国梦；马斯洛需要层次理论

Abstract

The American Dream reflects the traditional values and mainstream thoughts of America through American culture. As the communicator and performer, American TV series has disseminated the American Dream to the whole world in a visual and vivid way. Although Two Broke Girls has received favorable response since its premiere, there is no systematic study on the American Dream in this series from Hierarchical Theory of Needs. Under the guidance of Maslow’s Hierarchical Theory of Need, this paper reviews and explores the implications of Two Broke Girls in terms of the American Dream. To achieve the purposes, massive data, available materials and academic insights of scholars are used for reference; qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis are applied as its methodology. This paper selects eighteen representative episodes, which reflects the American Dream, from season one to season six as statistical data for the analysis of the American Dream in Two Broke Girls. It is found in this paper that the American Dream, in accordance with Maslow’s Hierarchical Theory of Need, is mainly reflected in the effort to make a living through hard work, the longing for friendship and love, the right to freedom and equality as well as the pursuit of self-achievement from primary level to higher level. This paper is to promote the further understanding of Two Broke Girls, other American TV series as well as American culture and mainstream values. In the meantime, it also provides a reference for Chinese students to determine their dreams under the guidance of Maslow’s theory.

Key Words: Two Broke Girls; The American Dream; Maslow’s Hierarchical Theory of Needs

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Literature review 3

2.1 Previous Studies of Two Broke Girls 3

2.2 Studies on Maslow’s Hierarchical Theory of Needs 4

3 The American Dream and Personal Needs 7

3.1 The Evolution of The American Dream 7

3.2 The Relationship of The American Dream and Personal Needs 8

4 Analysis of The American Dream in Two Broke Girls 11

4.1 Work and Enterprise 11

4.2 Love and Belonging 12

4.3 Equality and Independence 13

4.4 Self-actualization 14

5 Conclusion 16

References 17

Acknowledgements 19

Analysis of The American Dream in Two Broke Girls from Maslow's Hierarchical Theory of Needs

1 Introduction

Two Broke Girls, a well-received American sitcom, made its debut on CBS in America by Warner Bros in the course of the 2011-2012 television season. It embodies different American Dreams by depicting the daily life, personality of typical characters. The series describes the misadventures of two main characters, Max, born in a poor family, and Caroline, born rich but latterly bankrupt due to her father’s imprisonment for his operating a Ponzi scheme, became friends while working as waitresses in a restaurant and make efforts to achieve their dream of opening a cupcake shop someday in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, New York. Their coworkers were their Korean boss, Han Lee; Oleg, an optimistic but perverted Ukrainian cook; Earl, the cashier in the restaurant, who was an African American in his seventies. Apart from their coworkers, their neighbor Sophie, a polish immigrant, also showed up in the first season. A tally of their money were presented at the end of each episode to present how much they has earned. From the first season to the sixth season, the ups and downs of Max and Caroline’s cupcake business are depicted intertwined with their emotional entanglement. The general believed theme of this sitcom includes friendship, love, optimism, perseverance and so on.

The American Dream, a belief that everyone could attain his or her ideals (democracy, liberty, opportunity and equality) through hard work in America, has been universally accepted and promoted everyone that believes in it. American Dream is interpreted from diverse respective interpretations in different ways, including American literature, movies and TV series.

Hierarchical Theory of Needs was proposed by Abraham Harold Maslow in his masterpiece Motivation and Personality in 1954. Maslow paralleled many other theories of human developmental psychology from preliminary to high level: physiological, safety, belonging and love, esteem, and self-actualization. some of them focus on describing the stages of growth of humankind in hierarchy. He points out that a lower need is more "urgent" in the sense that it must be satisfied before a higher need can take over control. This theory has received great attention so far in psychology research, sociology study and so on.

This paper is designed to present a distinct perspective of the American Dreams in Two Broke Girls with Maslow’s Hierarchical Theory of Needs as the theoretical framework. Although Two Broke Girls has received favorable response, there is no systematic study on the American Dreams in this series from Hierarchical Theory of Needs. Most of previous studies of Two Broke Girls concentrate on the use or function of verbal humor and subtitling translation. Thus, it is meaningful to fill the void by analyzing the American Dream and determine what it means in Two Broke Girls from Maslow’s theory.

This paper is to promote the further understanding of Two Broke Girls, other American TV series as well as American culture and mainstream values. In the meantime, it also provides a reference for Chinese students to reflect their dreams under the guidance of Maslow’s theory.

Under the guidance of Maslow’s Hierarchical Theory of Need, this paper reviews and explores the implications of Two Broke Girls with respect to the American Dream. To achieve the purposes, massive data, available materials and academic insights of scholars are used for reference; qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis will be applied as its methodology. The following questions will be explored: (1) How does Two Broke Girls reflect the American Dream? (2) What is the mechanism of the characters behind their pursuit of their American Dream? This paper selects eighteen representative episodes, which reflects the American Dream, from season one to season six as the data for analysis.