In what respect can Theodore Dreiser's character Caroline Meeber be called a typical picaresque heroine?

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject American Studies - Literature grade: 23 (B) University of Stuttgart (Institute for American Studies) course: American Studies Advanced Seminar: American Picaresque Fiction language: English abstract: Caroline Meeber is one of the most fascinating characters American author Theodore Dreiser ever came up with. The life sequences she goes through have got a picaresque dimension comparable with the bildungsroman. I want to examine in how far those picaresque elements are of deep importance for the work itself. Is this Dreiser novel a real picaresque masterpiece or does he only use certain features of the respective genre?