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An American Tragedy

120 statements
22 feature instances
7 referencing feature instances

An American Tragedy	type	TVTItem
An American Tragedy	label	An American Tragedy
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An American Tragedy	comment	Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy was first published in 1925. A Doorstopper, this long book chronicles the downward spiral of Clyde Griffiths, a poor young man trying to escape his roots but finding himself facing hurdles on account of his class, background and education at every step of the way. He eventually ends up in a Love Triangle between the wealthy Sondra Finchley and the poor Roberta Alden. As the title states, it eventually ends in tragedy.The story was based on a real-life incident, the murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in 1906. In many ways it anticipates the "true crime" novels with its detailed realism, gritty descriptions, lack of sentimentality and emphasis on larger social forces. However, the prose style is closer to that of Émile Zola than pulp fiction.The story had a major impact in its time and was repeatedly adapted for film and theatre. In addition to this, the story itself has inspired many a Whole-Plot Reference and Shout-Out to the infamous "boat scene".Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })An official film adaptation appeared in 1931, directed by Josef von Sternberg; however, Executive Meddling resulted in a film neither Sternberg or Dreiser liked. The story was adapted again (albeit with the characters' names changed) as the 1951 film A Place in the Sun, directed by George Stevens and starring Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. Other works that echo its story include Sunrise, Match Point, and A Kiss Before Dying.The novel entered the public domain in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand in 1996, in the EU (except Spain) and UK in 2016, and the US in 2021.note Australia, Canada, and NZ then had "life plus 50" terms (Dreiser died in 1945). NZ still has that term; Australia and Canada have since changed to "life plus 70", but Australia didn't make it retroactive, and Canada didn't change until after the copyright would have expired anyway. Before it harmonized its copyright laws with the rest of the EU in 1987, Spain used "life plus 80", and it retains that term for works by creators who died before that year. As for the US, the copyright term from works of that era is based on the date of publication, and is 95 years.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })Since the copyright has expired and this work now falls into the Public Domain, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
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An American Tragedy / int_1f6983f7	type	Ambiguous Situation
An American Tragedy / int_1f6983f7	comment	Ambiguous Situation: Roberta's death is presented this way, Clyde planned her death but hesitated at the moment but his intentions were made clear to Roberta who panicked and toppled the boat. Clyde made a half-attempt to save her and ultimately tried to escape and hide the evidence. This explanation is described by his lawyer as "moral cowardice" but not necessarily homicidal intent.
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An American Tragedy / int_216dab44	type	Framing the Guilty Party
An American Tragedy / int_216dab44	comment	Framing the Guilty Party: Happens to Clyde Griffiths. The prosecutor is aware that he is guilty, and manufactures additional evidence to prove it to the jury. This creates an ambiguity on the issue of whether or not Clyde Griffiths actually received justice.
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An American Tragedy / int_21d70919	type	Crapsack World
An American Tragedy / int_21d70919	comment	Crapsack World: Turn of the century New York, especially the slums, is a rather bleak environment, but the rather cold class divisions between that and the more middle-class Lycurgus set are no less brutal.
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An American Tragedy / int_4e3d253b	type	Downer Ending
An American Tragedy / int_4e3d253b	comment	Downer Ending: Clyde Griffiths' mother fails to get a stay on Clyde's execution and he dies. (Assuming that you have any sympathy for Clyde by this point in the story, that is).
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An American Tragedy / int_4edbce3e	type	InterClassRomance
An American Tragedy / int_4edbce3e	comment	Inter-Class Romance: Between the middle-class-at-best Clyde and the wealthy, socially-prominent Sondra.
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An American Tragedy / int_5313c266	type	Bookends
An American Tragedy / int_5313c266	comment	Book Ends: The opening and closing passages of the novel are nearly identical.
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An American Tragedy / int_6231a220	type	Death by Sex
An American Tragedy / int_6231a220	comment	Death by Sex: Roberta Alden. It leads to her pregnancy, which is why Clyde can't just dump her and expect her to disappear from his life forever. They can't get an abortion because it's illegal at that time and they can't find a doctor who would agree to perform the operation, so she asks Clyde to marry her. Clyde doesn't want to, so he decides to murder her. Less directly, Clyde Griffiths himself. By murdering Roberta, he winds up being executed for her murder.
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An American Tragedy / int_74d9d78f	type	Hate at First Sight
An American Tragedy / int_74d9d78f	comment	Hate at First Sight: Or hate before first sight, in the case of Gilbert's reaction to Clyde.
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An American Tragedy / int_819b6384	type	Sympathetic Murderer
An American Tragedy / int_819b6384	comment	Sympathetic Murderer: This is what Dreiser probably meant Clyde Griffiths to be. When you look at what he actually did, compared to his clear in-story alternatives — not so much. He, basically, murders his lover and their unborn child because he wants to trade-up to a richer model.
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An American Tragedy / int_8387bb18	type	Good Girls Avoid Abortion
An American Tragedy / int_8387bb18	comment	Good Girls Avoid Abortion: This concept is explored with all its hypocrisy. Clyde Griffiths and Roberta Alden initially decide to abort her child but find it difficult to seek a sympathetic doctor, mostly because of religious notions. Roberta, already wracked with guilt, decides to keep her baby, an action which drives Clyde to plot her murder. After her death, she's portrayed in the media as an innocent victim led astray by an evil young man, when if she had gotten an abortion she would be judged much more harshly.
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An American Tragedy / int_94e4c8ab	type	Betty and Veronica
An American Tragedy / int_94e4c8ab	comment	Betty and Veronica: Clyde longs for the wealthy Sondra Finchley but is sexually attracted to Roberta Alden, a girl working at the company factory at Lycurgus. When she gets pregnant, it leads him to contemplate murder.
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An American Tragedy / int_a90fff3	type	Based on a True Story
An American Tragedy / int_a90fff3	comment	Based on a True Story: It's based on the Chester Gillette-Grace Brown incident.
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An American Tragedy / int_af26b36a	type	The One Who Made It Out
An American Tragedy / int_af26b36a	comment	The One Who Made It Out: Clyde Griffiths yearns to be this for his family. He does manage to escape it for a time, but his past is always catching up with him.
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An American Tragedy / int_b5b3599d	type	Amoral Attorney
An American Tragedy / int_b5b3599d	comment	Amoral Attorney: The prosecutor at Clyde's trial is motivated partly out of sincere moral outrage but mostly hopes to use the publicity of a public trial and execution to advance his career.
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An American Tragedy / int_b5bd58a3	type	Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor
An American Tragedy / int_b5bd58a3	comment	Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Clyde ultimately prefers the rich Sondra Finchley over the poor Roberta Alden. Unusual version of this in that both girls are rather nice; it's Clyde who's an irresponsible and murderous bastard.
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An American Tragedy / int_bb18a227	type	It's All About Me
An American Tragedy / int_bb18a227	comment	It's All About Me: Every single evil deed which Clyde Griffiths does, he does out of a profound and sincere belief that his own personal happiness trumps any moral claim that any individual or group might exert upon him.
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An American Tragedy / int_c2d6fc5e	type	Murder by Inaction
An American Tragedy / int_c2d6fc5e	comment	Murder by Inaction: How Clyde finally kills Roberta — he meant to actively drown her, but then lacked the courage to go through with murder. When she fell in by accident, he chose not to save her, knowing that she could not swim.
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An American Tragedy / int_d855a477	type	NotSoHarmless
An American Tragedy / int_d855a477	comment	Not So Harmless: Through most of the book, Clyde simply seems to be amoral and weak. It is precisely these qualities which lead him to first impregnate and then murder Roberta Alden.
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An American Tragedy / int_de80e030	type	Social Climber
An American Tragedy / int_de80e030	comment	Social Climber: Clyde Griffiths is an American version of this trope.
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An American Tragedy / int_e4b69188	type	Very Loosely Based on a True Story
An American Tragedy / int_e4b69188	comment	Very Loosely Based on a True Story
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An American Tragedy / int_f76842b1	type	The Fundamentalist
An American Tragedy / int_f76842b1	comment	The Fundamentalist: Clyde's parents are ardently if not fanatically religious.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

APlaceInTheSun	seeAlso	An American Tragedy
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An American Tragedy	hasFeature	The One Who Made It Out / int_90f6737c

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