The English Poor Laws

28 separated the English church from Rome and declared himself as the head of the English church. Through the history, it can be seen that many monarchs have wielded absolute power, sometimes based on their presumed divinity. Then, the power became centralized in the hands of the sovereigns. At first these rulers were supported by the growing middle class, or bourgeoisie, in building and maintaining the monarchs. The supporters, the bourgeoisie, benefited the rulers to form a strong central government that maintained order and provided a stable atmosphere, in which later could supports the development of the society, economic and political of the monarchs. By the 15 th and 16 th centuries absolute monarchs, such as King Henry VIII of England and King Louis XIV of France, ruled the countries of Europe. Abuses of power, as well as growing dissatisfaction among the bourgeoisie, helped bring about the end of many absolute monarchies; revolutions in England in the 17th century and in France in the 18th century were major landmarks in the limitation of absolute power Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2005.

b. The English Poor Laws

The English Poor Laws was a system which was set up by the government of England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The general purpose was to establish a clear public responsibility for care of the poor. It made every parish responsible for the poor and unemployed within that parish. The landlord had to pay taxes to The Justice of the Peace; a kind of organization which made by the government which one of their duty was to be responsible in collecting the taxes 29 Lockyer 139-40. The tax was called the Poor Rate. It was used to help the poor. This had two benefits. First, it made the poor felt that something was being done for them and made them felt less angry about the situation they were in. Secondly, some good work could be done by the poor within the parish to help the parish Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2005. The Poor Laws made local government the primary administrator of welfare. In order to keep welfare beneficiaries under the supervision of their providers, the laws also discouraged the migration of the poor among administrative regions, or parishes. From their inception, the Poor Laws generated controversy. Opponents of the laws argued that if the poor received public assistance, some of them might avoid work, not work hard enough, or not save any of their earnings Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2005.

C. Theoretical Framework

In this part I would like to describe the theories and reviews that I will apply. I use the theory of the critical approaches which can give the knowledge about some approaches. It helps me to decide the most appropriate approach to explore the novel. In this case, through the critical approaches I decide to choose the socio-historical approach, because it can help me get the information of the social and historical background of the story. The theory of character and characterization and theory of setting are used in order to understand and comprehend the novel better. In answering the first problem in this study, I use the theory of character and characterization. Through PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI