desire. Men had stronger and longer desire than women. Therefore, some men would take a concubine for his sexual desire.
The wife had authority over any concubines and it was easier to divorce a concubine, who was socially inferior to the wife. A man could not
divorce a wife and place a concubine in her stead, but after the death of his wife a man might raise one of his concubines to the status of a wife. A
concubine’s children had equal legal status with any children of the first wife ibid, 170.
C. Criticism and Review of Related Studies
Pearl S. Buck’s Pavilion of Women 1946 is an interesting novel, which tells about Madame Wu, an amazing woman - brilliant, beautiful, full of
contradictions and authority, a woman who took a surprising decision to retire from a marriage life and select a concubine for her husband upsetting her
extended household. As an author of many novels, Buck and one of her novel, Pavilion of Women
1946 still get some criticisms from the readers, both positively and negatively. Erica Bauermeister writes:
‘Pavilion of Women is Miss Buck at her best, the dedicated storyteller. Beneath the deceptive simplicity of the narrative flows the clear, swift tide
of human life--the small commonplaces of daily living, the clashes of personality, and the episodes mean and magnificent.’
http:www.amazon.comPavilion-Women-Oriental- Novels-Pearldp1559210249
From http:www.buy.comprodPavilion_of_Women in San Francisco chronicle, the writer finds another criticism said by Mary McGory that
Pavilion of Women 1946 is a great novel centered on a vital theme which deals
19 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
with one of the essential problems of being, the struggle of the human spirit to free itself.
Besides the novel, Buck also gets some criticisms. Phyllis Bentley says: ‘An attempt is made to present China from within, as the Chinese see it. . .
In the same way, Mrs. Buck aims to present the Chinese customs as familiar, natural, and correct, because so would her characters regard
them. [These customs] are all copiously illustrated, but always presented, as it were, unselfconsciously, as part of the natural process of living; never
by the slightest word or turn of phrase does Mrs. Buck call attention to the difference of these customs from the Western’s.’
http:www.wvwc.edulibwv_authorsauthorsa_buck.ht m
There are also other criticisms which were much less impressed with Bucks depictions of China. One of them is a criticism written in American
Winners of the Nobel Literary Prize by Dody Weston Thompson which says: ‘Moving in a vivid world of Chinese custom, in a spiritual landscape seen
always understandingly through Chinese eyes, Pearl Bucks main characters of that period were nevertheless so universal, so recognizable
anywhere, as to seem only incidentally Chinese. One gets no real sense in these novels of an ethos that was in actuality profoundly different from
the West. Nowhere, for example, is it shown what constitutes a Taoist, Buddhist, or Confucian, their distinctions and similarities, or their
considerable distances from Western thought.’ http:www.wvwc.edulibwv_authorsauthorsa_buck.ht
m
In fact, the use of the criticisms is to improve the work later. The positive comments can be developed later; while the negative comments are used to
improve the mistake, so later the author is able to write better work. There have been two studies done related to Pavilion of Women 1946.
First is analysis of the change of personality of the protagonist and the value of Pearl S. Buck’s Pavilion of Women
1992 written by Liana Kurniawati. Second is Madame Wu’s motivation in choosing a concubine for her husband as seen in
20 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
