Review of Related Studies

8

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents a review of related literature. The discussions are divided into four major parts, namely review of related studies, theoretical review, sociocultural and historical background, and theoretical framework. The previous study of Nawal El-Saadawis Woman at Point Zero done by three researchers will be presented in the review of related studies. In the theoretical review, theory of critical approach, theory of motivation, and theory of freedom are reviewed. In the sociocultural and historical background, there is an explanation about Egypt which covers the twentieth century Egyptian society, Egyptian law and Egyptian social strata. The Egyptian women on the twentieth century will also be presented. The theoretical framework provides information about why and how those theories are applied.

2.1 Review of Related Studies

There are some studies on Woman at Point Zero written by a famous Egyptian writer Nawal El-Saadawi. Some of them are Firdaus Motivation in Becoming a Prostitute as Revealed in Nawal El-Saadawis Woman at Point Zero by Rigen Pratitisari 2001, Feminism as Reflected in Nawal El-Saadawis Novel Woman at Point Zero by Yulia Ong 2004, and A Study of the Main Characters Motivations for Accepting the Death Sentence in Nawal El-Saadawis Woman at Point Zero by Dewi Maharani Purba 2006. These studies take different aspects in analyzing the novel. The study of PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 9 Firdaus Motivation in Becoming a Prostitute as Revealed in Nawal El-Saadawis Woman at Point Zero by Rigen Pratitisari 2001 analyzes a life of a female prostitute in a society dominated by men. It discusses two problems. They are how a society can give an enormous influence upon ones perspective and character and the reasons of a womans decision to be a prostitute which actually against the societys norms. In this study, the psychological approach is used to analyze the reason upon Firdaus decision in becoming a prostitute. It also employs sociocultural-historical approach to examine a societys contribution toward someones life. The conclusion of the study is that a society can give a big contribution to its citizens because society can shape ones character. It also concludes that prostitution is viewed as the only way for women in patriarchal society to be free from mens domination. This study gives a contribution to the study. It gives a clear explanation about the mens domination toward women in Egypt as a patriarchal society. It also gives knowledge that society treatments toward women in Egypt drive the main character in the novel become a prostitute. A study entitles Feminism as Reflected in Nawal El-Saadawis Novel Woman at Point Zero was done by Yulia Ong 2004 discusses two problems. The first problem is what Egyptian societys point of view toward women as reflected in the novel Woman at Point Zero. The second problem is what feminism reflected through Firdaus character in Nawal El-Saadawis Woman at Point Zero. This study applies sociocultural-historical approach and the theory of feminism to analyze these problems. This study shows that the feminism in the twentieth century of Egypt emerges through Firdaus in Nawal El-Saadawis novel Woman at Point Zero. This study helps to draw a concept of feminism in Egypt at that time. Going PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 10 further, this concept of feminism can give knowledge about womens struggle against mens domination in Egypt at that time. The study by Dewi Maharani Purba entitles A study of the Main Characters Motivations for Accepting the Death Sentence in Nawal El-Saadawis Woman at Point Zero 2006. This study embodies the emotional situation of Firdaus until she decides to refuse to live and accept the death sentence. It discusses three problems. The first problem is how Firdaus as the main character in the novel is described. The second problem is how the society is portrayed in the novel. The third problem is what motivates Firdaus to accept the death sentence. This study applies two approaches. They are psychological and socio-cultural approach. The psychological approach explains about human motivation, personality and behavior patterns written in a literary object. This approach is used to find the Firdaus characters to answer the focus of the study which is Firdaus motivation in accepting the death sentence. The second approach, socio-cultural approach, is used to represent the society condition at that time to support the writer in finding Firdaus motivation of accepting the death sentence. The result of the study shows Firdaus characters which are innocent, silent, though, brave, determined, smart, independent, and sensitive. The findings of the study help to know Firdaus characters. Each study on the novel Woman at Point Zero takes a different aspect. The study conducted by Rigen Pratitisari entitled Firdaus Motivation in Becoming a Prostitute as Revealed in Nawal El-Saadawis Woman at Point Zero mainly focuses on Firdaus’ motivations of becoming a prostitute. However, the study which is done by Yulia Ong entitled Feminism as Reflected in Nawal El-Saadawis Novel Woman at Point Zero talks about feminism in Egypt, which can be seen from the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 11 character Firdaus. The study conducted by Dewi Maharani Purba entitled A Study of the Main Characters Motivations for Accepting the Death Sentence in Nawal El-Saadawis Woman at Point Zero mainly discusses about Firdaus’ motivation of accepting the death sentence. Meanwhile, the title of this study is Firdaus Searching for Freedom as portrayed in Nawal El-Saadawis Woman at Point Zero. Therefore, this study focuses on how Egyptian women search for freedom from men’s domination and power as portrayed by the character Firdaus in the novel. In this thesis, the social background and the society’s treatments toward women as shown by the character of Firdaus in the novel are also going to be analyzed. The analysis of Firdaus searching for freedom is broken down into two parts. The first part is Firdaus’ motivations on searching for freedom. The second part focuses on the ways how Firdaus searches for freedom. 2.2 Theoretical Review 2.2.1 Critical Approach