Method of the Study

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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS

In this chapter, the writer analyzes the novel in order to find out the answers to the problem formulation in the first chapter. First, the writer describes the characterization. Second, the writer describes the social condition of the 19 th century British depicted as setting in the novel. Third, the writer describes how the characters and setting in Eloisa James‟ A Kiss at Midnight reflect James‟ views toward British social condition in the 19 th century.

A. The Characters

1. The Character of Katherine Daltry

Katherine Daltry is the major character of the novel A Kiss at Midnight. Katherine who is always called Kate by the family and friends is 23 years old woman. She is the granddaughter of an earl that makes her belong to the upper class in the society. Kate‟s mother passed away when she is sixteen. Her father married again to Mariana then passed away, he leaves everything that he had to Mariana. Mariana makes all of the inheritance to her daughter ‟s dowry. When his father death, Kate become penniless because Mariana does not care of her: I am the older daughter of my father, Victor Daltry. He was the younger son of an earl, and had a snug estate, built from my mother‟s dowry. After my mother died, he left the entire estate to my stepmother, Mariana, who bestowed it on her own daughter, Victoria. James, 2010; 254 Mariana is not good stepmother. She relegates Kate to the farthest chamber in the manor and does not give any proper clothes to Kate as a lady. Kate feels ashamed because her appearance is not meet an aristocrat standard: It was the pitying glances she had from aquaintances who never met her at dinner anymore. It was being relegated to the chamber in the attic, with faded furnishings that advertised her relative worth in the household. It was the self- loathing of someone who can‟t quite bring herself to leave home and have done with it. It was fueled by humiliation, and despair, and the absolute certainty that her father must be turning in his grave. James, 2010: 4 Since her father died, she had learned what it felt like to be humiliated; to tuck your hands out of sight when you saw aquaintances for fear they would see the reddened fingers. To hold your boots close to the horse‟s side so that no one saw the worn spots. To pretend you left your bonnet at home, time after time James, 2010: 35 Kate is a clever woman. After the dead of her father, her stepmother does not want to manage the estate. Kate takes over the estate management, although it usually do by men. Kate could do the estate management means that she is a clever woman, because to manage the estate she needs the ability of accounting and farming. She also has ability to manage the mansion, Yarrow House, which she did after her mother bedridden: She generally managed to forget that she had once been mistress of the household. After all, her mother had been bedridden for years before she died, and sickly most of Kate‟s life. Kate had grown up sitting opposite her father at the dining room table, going over the menus with Mrs. Swallow, the housekeeper . . . James, 2010: 5-6 Kate also could speaks French. It means that she has proper education of a lady: W e‟re eating with the family,” Algie said nervously. “ „In family‟ they call it.” “ En famille ,” Kate corrected him. “I suppose that‟s the language they speak over in Marburg. I probably won‟t understand a word.” “Actually, that‟s French,” Kate said. “French? I learned that at Eton.” There was a pause. “More or less . . . do you suppose that‟s what they speak at the table?” “I shall translate, if need be,” Kate told him, thinking that it was a good thing she had come rather than Victoria, who didn‟t speak a word of French. Thankfully, she herself had learned the language before her father died. Ability to speak French means that Kate has proper education as aristocrat. An aristocrat woman usually has a governess who teaches them at home. They teach foreign languages, especially French, poem, and household management. In addition to her proper education, Kate is also a responsible woman. She feels responsible to her father‟s servants and tenants. She tries to make sure that all the people who work for her father can live properly. When her stepmother decides to evict the vicaris‟ wife from her land, Kate fights against her stepmother for the vicaris‟ wife‟ welfare. It is because Kate feel responsible to the vicaris‟ wife who has four children. “‟Since her husband died,‟ Kate said, “Mrs. Crabtree is both exhausted and afraid. The house is not pigsty; it is simply disorganized. You can‟t evict her. She has no where to go” James, 2010: 8. “...she has four small children and we have some responssibility to them- .” James, 2010: 9. Kate also feels responsible to her stepsister, Victoria welfare. Victoria is Mariana‟s daughter. Victoria is a kindhearted woman, though she never help Kate to get her right. Victoria accepts whatever her mother does to Kate, but Kate still cares for Victoria because she is her half sister. She wants to help Victoria when