1. #160;Research background 1.1 Jennie Gerhardt As the first prominent writer in the American literary history of the 20th century and the pioneer of American modem fictions, Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) takes the lead in faithfully describing the new city life full of hardships in the history of American literature. American critics consider that Dreiser is true to life and made bold innovations In addition, he breaks through the traditional durance in thought, liberates American fiction and brings a revolution in American literature. As a result, Dreiser is regarded as American Zola in Forerunner Times and one of the three great writers in America after the First World War besides Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. His major works include Sister Carrie (1900), Jennie Gerhardt (1911), The ”Genius” (1915), An American Tragedy (1925), and Dreiser Looks at Russia (1928). Based on the early life of Dreiser#8217;s sister, Mame, Jennie Gerhardt is set in an American big city. After the completion of the industrial revolution, America enters into the industrial age and becomes one of the world powers. Meanwhile, people#8217;s mindset changes accordingly. This novel narrates a tragic character-Jennie, a kind and honorable woman with many virtues. She devotes herself to her common family by having illicit sexual relationships with two wealthy men from the upper class. In 1964, it was adapted into a movie Jennie Gerhardt with Sylvia Sidney playing the leading role. 1.2 Regret for the Past Lu Xun (1881-1936), the chief commander of China#8217;s cultural revolution, is not only a great man of letters but a profound thinker and revolutionary. As a pioneer of the contemporary Chinese literature, Lu Xun makes literary achievements and has profound influence on Chinese literature after the May Fourth Movement. He focuses on the bottom rung of societies, describing the daily life and mental state of those living at the bottom of the society. His novels have been translated into many languages as well as filmed. For instance, AHQ and The New Year#8217;s Sacrifice profoundly expose some problems of the feudal society. Cryout, Hesitation,#160;Diary#160;of a#160;Madman, Wild grass, and Ascends towards Flowered Evening represent the fundamental interests of most Chinese people and reflect their true life under oppression of Three Big Mountains (imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism). Loneliness and sadness of#160;human life#160;have deeply#160;infiltrated the short story collections, Cryout and Hesitation. Regret for the Past has been widely recognized as the only love novel written by Lu Xun. Chinese feudalist ideology still has a great influence on the public after the May Fourth Movement, which is the setting of Lu Xun#8217;s Regret for the Past. What it narrates is the process of the love between two awakening intellectuals-Juansheng and Zijun, who live together out of love and feel disillusioned at last. Juansheng and Zijun once frantically chase the individual liberation and marital freedom, but their experiences in love is doomed by the powerful feudal forces. In 1981, the adapted opera Regret for The Past was performed for the first time by Yin Xiumei and Cheng Zhi at Beijing People#8217;s theater, which proved a big success. In the same year, it was adapted into a movie with Lin Ying and Wang Xingang playing the leading roles, whose performances reached a wide audience. Both Jennie Gerhardt and Zijun have the same tragic fates and there are some reasons for their tragedies. This paper will make a careful analysis of the similarities and differences of the tragedies the two heroines have to face as well as find relevant causes of their tragedies. 2. Need for the study As for the need of study, firstly, few critical works make a comparison of causes of the two tragic figures. This paper will on one hand interpret in detail the reasons for the heroine#8217;s tragedies. We can see there are some similarities and differences concerning the causes of two female characters#8217; tragedies. In addition, after the analysis of these causes, we can get some inspirations to avoid what has happened to the two heroines. In detail, females must purse equality between men and women; if not, they may face possible discrimination. Anyway, freedom and independence are of great significance for females, which can help them attain genuine happiness. 3. Literature review 3.1 Previous studies on#160;Jennie Gerhardt Jennie Gerhardt has been the subject of widespread praise since its very publication in 1911, which is quite different from Sister Carrie. According to Henry Louis Mencken, Jennie Gerhardt is the best American novel he has read except The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin. The mass media and critics speak highly of Jennie Gerhardt, considering Dreiser should gain respect and the novel makes readers feel pain and sympathy. Some articles focus on the tragic character of Jennie, such as Wang Lan#8217;s (2004) Tragic Character of Jennie Gerhardt, others prefer to compare Jennie with a female character from foreign literary works; Zhang Jing (2009) tells us that different characteristics determined different destinies. Other critics center on some different perspectives. For instance, Chen Xiuyuan (2013) reads this book from the ethic perspective and Wang Qiaoxian analyzes Jennie Gerhardt from consumption ideology. These articles mainly analyze Jennie#8217;s tragedy in one aspect and the explanation has been pretty specific. 3.2 Previous studies on Regret for the Past In the semi-feudal China, Lu Xun sees that there were many tragedies to which people showed indifference; as a result, he#160;writes a love tragedy of Juan Sheng and Zijun. Regret for the Past has drawn much attention from the public. For instance, Shi Yaxi and Wang Xiangyun (1981) analyze the story of Zijun and Juansheng from two perspectives, causes of the tragedy and the practical significance of the novel. Critics tend to analyze the causes of tragedies between Juansheng and Zijun, i.e. Feng Ming (2000) considers it is difference of ideas and character that leads to their love tragedies. Huang Jiangying (2003) makes a comparative analysis of Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre and Zijun in Regret for the Past from three angles, resistance consciousness, cultural attitude and social background. Jane Eyre and Zijun have distinct destinies due to the internal and external factors. It is true that Huang#8217;s discussion bears some resemblance to the present study, but there still exists difference, i.e. the causes which lead to Jennie#8217;s and Zijun#8217;s tragedies will be listed and the similarities and differences concerning the causes will be analyzed. In addition, in Huang Jiangying#8217;s paper (2003), Jane Eyre gets happiness at last for her strong character and rebellious struggle for equality whereas Zijun dies due to Juansheng#8217;s abandonment so they have different fates. This thesis will study two female characters who have the similar fates: Zijun dies and Jennie lives in solitude. In addition, Han Xin (2011) analyzes Zijun#8217;s tragedy and summarizes some causes and Wang Chengxia (2014) researches Zijun from the practical significance of her tragedy. 3.3 Previous studies on the comparison of Jennie and Zijun Up to now, there are several studies about the comparison between Jennie and Tess. For instance, Li Min (1998) realizes the significance of female self-consciousness from Jennie#8217;s and Tess#8217; tragedies; Zeng Qingmei (2013) mainly discusses the tragic connotations of Jennie#8217;s and Tess#8217; tragedies; Liang Songyu (2014) compares Tess#8217; and Jennie#8217;s tragedies from the perspective of feminism. There are a few studies about the comparison between Zijun and other tragic females. Liu Huan (2011) describes Nora#8217;s and Zijun#8217;s resistance from their roles as dolls. Yuan Guoxing (2012) tries to explore Sister Xianglin#8217;s and Zijun#8217;s suicides; the two tragic females are from Luxun#8217;s novels. 3.4 Tragedy 3.4.1 Definition of tragedy In Poetics, Aristotle comments that the ending of a tragedy is a katharsis (purgation, cleansing) of tragic emotions of pity and fear. Katharsis is a term that has generated considerable debate. The word means ”purgation”, and by employing a medical metaphor-tragedy Aristotle seems to arouse the emotion of pity and fear so as to purge away their excess, and to reduce these passions to a healthy, balanced proportion. Aristotle also talks of ”pleasure” that is proper to tragedy, apparently meaning the aesthetic pleasure one gets from contemplating the pity and fear that are aroused through an intricately constructed work of art. This is the original definition of tragedy in the social sense. In the Webster's Dictionary, tragedy has three separate meanings: a very bad event that causes great sadness and often involves someone's death; a very sad, unfortunate, or upsetting situation: something that causes strong feelings of sadness or regret; a play, movie, etc., that is serious and has a sad ending (such as the death of the main character). In the Youdao dictionary, tragedy has two meanings: an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; drama in which the protagonist overcome by some superior forces or circumstances excites terror or pity. This paper intends to adopt the first meaning according to Webster's Dictionary; that is, tragedy means a very bad event that causes great sadness and often involves someone's death, for both heroines suffer sadness and death. 3.4.2 Dreiser and Tragedy Literary critics have made numerous comments on Dreiser#8217;s writings for about one century. However, we must acknowledge the fact that Dreiser is a great writer for his distinct style. The key to his success lies in his creation of many tragic scenes and the tragic beauty draws plenty of readers#8217; attention. Tragedy, as one kind of drama, reveals itself in the social life to the attendees with stagecraft. Dreiser writes the social tragedy, and shows the sufferings and deaths of leading roles by means of tragic conflicts. Just as Lu Xun says, ”To destroy something valuable in life before other people”. In this way Dreiser expresses his ideas concerning American reality and aesthetic evaluation. On one hand, Dreiser#8217;s tragedy is mainly related to the social forces and people of good moral qualities; on the other hand, it can be defined as the failure, destruction and death in the course of inevitable social conflicts. In Sister Carrie, Carrie satisfies her own lust by means of degeneration and loses the virtues of the laborers. Carrie, born in a rural family, becomes several men#8217;s lover to pursue wealth. At last, she seems to enter into the monde; nevertheless, she doesn#8217;t attain happiness but feel lonely. Her seeming success is actually a tragedy. Jennie Gerhardt is a complete tragic figure. She pursues happiness; nevertheless, when happiness comes, it disappears quickly followed by heavy tribulation. Two men, Brander and Lester, mainly bring tragedy to Jennie. Brander makes Jennie pregnant when they are not married, which is the beginning of Jennie#8217;s tragedy. Brander promises to marry Jennie, but he dies suddenly. Lester, another rich man, lives with Jennie and her daughter. However, Lester is faced with a tough choice; at last, he abandons Jennie and marries Letty, a wealthy woman from the upper class. Jennie#8217;s daughter dies after they move to the countryside, which is the peak of Jennie#8217;s tragedy. In Jennie Gerhardt, the tragic feature is mainly reflected in Jennie#8217;s misery, such as her premarital pregnancy, abandonment by Lester and the death of Jennie#8217;s daughter. 3.4.3 Lu Xun and Tragedy Lu Xun delineates a lot of tragic characters. To say he is the greatest tragedian in the history of modern Chinese Literature is no exaggeration. If we compare Lu Xun#8217;s novels to a treasure, A Madman's Diary and other eight novels can be the most string parts. As Lu Xun puts, a tragedy destroys something valuable in life, which reveals its features and reflects his unique understanding of tragedy and a strong tragic sense. Most of Lu Xun#8217;s novels are tragedies, which can be divided into five types according to the theme, i.e. tragedies of the whole Chinese people (in A Madman's Diary), tragedies of the poor peasants (in Homeland and The True Story of Ah Q), tragedies of the Chinese working women (in Blessings and Divorce), tragedies of Chinese lower-class intellectuals (in Kong Yiji and Regret for the Past) and tragedies of participants of the old democratic revolution (Medicine). Medicine is a good case in point to explain Lu Xun#8217;s views on tragedy. It reveals the lines dividing working masses and bourgeois revolutionists just through a steamed bun with human blood. Xia Yu, a revolutionist, dies a heroic death for the people, but his behavior isn#8217;t understood by them. What#8217;s worse, those superstitious people make steamed buns with Xia#8217;s blood. 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