Background of The Study
relationship. This universal concept may exist between human beings and God, parents and children, brothers, sister, friends and even between people and other
creatures, such as in a child’s affection for a pet. Many people would put love as their most important need. In order to
satisfy the needs, a person needs to build an interaction with others. It is because humans are known as social being. They cannot survive without other’s help.
Since it is not easy in making the relationship, sometimes problems may occur in human’s relationship. Furthermore, if an individual perceives if she or he is
powerless and live in disharmony with his or her surrounding, it will result in alienation. In addition, according to Maslow the failure to satisfy the human basic
needs can have an impact on an individual’s psychological life. The failure to satisfy their needs can be one of the motivations which can cause some reaction
which sometimes cannot be easily known. The Bridge of San Luis Rey is written by Thornton Wilder, an American
novelist who was born in Madison, Wisconsin on April 17, 1897. He is the son of the editor of the Winsconsin State Journal. Thornton Wilder wrote The Bridge of
San Luis Rey, in 1926 and being published in 1927. Different from his first novel Cabala, The Bridge of San Luis Rey has the charm and quality that causes a
feeling of pity or sadness. Marquesa De Montemayor Dona Maria is one of the major characters in the story beside Pepita, Uncle Pio, Esteban, Don Jaime. Dona
Maria is the daughter of a cloth merchant. She has an introvert character. We can see quite clearly in her relationship with others but she is also a kind and good-
hearted woman. Through the novel Thornton tries to bring a moralistic view for
the readers. A moralistic work when we can get from our real life that is a lesson about giving love and being loved.
The story is about the collapse of the finest bridge in Peru which precipitated the five travelers into the gulf below. All the victims, Dona Maria,
Pepita, Esteban, Uncle Pio, Don Jaime have the same bad experience since in their whole life they are lacking of love and feel lonely. A Franciscan monk who
witnesses the accident tries to investigate whether the accident is an Intention or not. He makes a research on the five victims and tries to prove it mathematically
and historically. His research results in an enormous book. His book, however, is considered as heretical. His theories are unaccepted and he is burnt along with his
book. The Bridge of San Luis Rey is divided into five chapters. In chapter 2 of
the novel, Dona Maria is described. She is one of the characters in the novel. This study is focused on the character of Dona Maria and her relationship with her
daughter, Dona Clara. Dona Maria is one of the victims of the accident. The discussion covers how she is described in the novel and how the absence of love
controls her life. The reason for choosing the topic is because love is the most important need for all human beings. Sometimes a person will do anything to
obtain love from someone special in his or her life. In order to avoid misconception of love, it is important for us to understand the true love.
The writer chooses Dona Maria as the character to be analyzed because her character introduces the other key characters in the novel. However, she is not
the main character in the novel. She is a rich woman but she feels lonely and lacks
love even from her daughter. She gives her daughter an idolatrous love. In her opinion, she has given the best for her daughter but her daughter does not pay it
back. Finally, she realizes that she loves her daughter in the wrong way. She is thinking about her own hopes not her daughter’s hopes, and all those mistakes
happen because of Dona Maria’s childhood. Love is closely related to the psychological aspect of human life. Hence, the approach the writer used in this
study was psychological approach.
B . Aim of the Study
The aim of the study is to find out how Dona Maria is described in The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Besides, this study also has the aim to find out how the
absence of love affects somebody’s life as seen in Dona Maria, the main character of Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey.