Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality is a monograph by Sigmund Freud which codified one of his personal theories. The three essays deal with aberrant sexual desire, sexual desire in childhood and its shaping of adult sexual life, and the maturation of sexuality into a genital-focused force in adolescence. The three essays comprise a comprehensive approach to mapping and tracking the blooming of human sexuality in Freud's outdated clinical model.
An American Tragedy is the story of Clyde Griffiths, a young man raised by penniless religious fanatics. Clyde falls into a life of crime, flees his hometown, and becomes a foreman in the factory of his wealthy uncle. His uncle, though, does not permit him access to rarified social circles. Isolated and forbidden from interacting with the workers, Clyde begins clandestine romances with a poor worker and with a bored socialite. Eventually he murders the pregnant worker in an attempt to join high society, but he is caught and executed.
Sister Carrie is a novel by Theodore Dreiser about innocence, the allure of wealth, love, and disillusionment. The novel tells the story of Carrie Meeber, who moves from the country to Chicago. After living in poverty for some time, she enters a relationship with the wealthy Drouet. Eventually she begins an affair with Hurstwood, with whom she runs away after the affair is revealed. Settling in New York, the couple become alienated, Carrie leaving Hurstwood to become homeless and commit suicide as she becomes a successful yet disappointed actress.