From the discussion above, it seems clear that Cornelius is a clerk that not rich, and not too old. In his age of thirty-three, he wants to enjoy his life once
of a lifetime, because his daily life is boring. He spends his life works at Mr. Vandergelder’s store from six until nine o’clock in the night without a single
evening off. He hates Mr. Vandergelder because of that. He is also a spontaneous person, who decides everything without considering the consequences. Even he
knows the consequences, he still have courage to take a risk because he seems not to care about his own future. Although he is careless, he is a responsible man who
does not want to be considered as thoughtless person.
B. The Behavior of Mr. Levi and Cornelius in their Courtship
In this part, the writer will discuss the behavior of Mrs. Levi when she is doing courtship towards Mr. Vandergelder and also Cornelius when he is doing
courtship towards Mrs. Molloy. This section will help the writer to find the real motivation of both Mrs. Levi and also Cornelius in doing courtship. To make it
easier; the discussion will be started from the behavior of Mrs. Levi when she is doing courtship and then Cornelius when he is doing courtship as seen in
Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker.
1. Mrs. Levi’s Behavior in her Courtship
As the story tells us, Mrs. Levi is doing courtship towards Mr. Vandergelder. She makes Mr. Vandergelder as her target and she always keep her
eyes on him. To make the behavior of Mrs. Levi more understandable, it is better for us to know the brief characteristics of Mr. Vandergelder.
He is sixty years old and is described in the stage notes as choleric, vain, and sly. He is stingy with money and rude to everyone he talks to. He is
displeased with practically everything around him. He does not like the clerks who work at his hay, feed, and provisions store because he thinks that they should
work more than fifteen hours a day, six days a week. As a widower, Mr. Vandergelder plans to marry again. He explains to the audience that a woman who
marries into a household will keep house better than one who is hired to do so. Mr. Vandergelder is a typical person who wants to be on top. He often
gives order to everyone, and he will feel pleased if they do as perfect as he ordered before. It is shown when he orders Cornelius to run the store perfectly as
his absence. He is threatening that he will discharge Cornelius if there is any problem.
VANDERGELDER : …… This is the first time I’ve been away from the store overnight. When I come back I want to hear that
you’ve run the place perfectly in my absence. If I hear of any foolishness, I’ll discharge you. Wilder, 1964: 207
Knowing what kind of person Mr. Vandergelder is, Mrs. Levi sets up several plans. She creates a situation where Mr. Vandergelder has nobody to share
with; nobody likes him, and no power to rely on. She creates the situation with the help of the circumstances around her.
At first, she tries to take Mr. Vandergelder’s niece attention. She knows that Ermengarde is the only relatives that Mr. Vandergelder has. It means
that Ermengarde is someone who is very close with Mr. Vandergelder. By taking her attention, Mrs. Levi will get close relation with Mr. Vandergelder’s relatives
and it is easier for Mrs. Levi to step inside to Mr. Vandergelder’s life. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
One way to get attention from Ermengarde is by helping her to marry with someone she loves, Mr. Kemper. As we know, Mr. Vandergelder forbids
Ermengarde to marry Mr. Kemper because he thinks that Mr. Kemper will not able to give Ermengarde a proper life. He will not give her niece to marry
someone who cannot support her. It is clearly stated when he talks to Mr. Kemper while they are in the living room of Mr. Vandergelder’s house.
VANDERGELDER : Ermengarde is not for you, nor for anybody else who can’t support her. Wilder, 1964: 186
Unintentionally hearing about the plan of Mr. Kemper and Ermengarde to elope, Mrs. Levi sets up a plan. From the plan, she gets two
advantages. One is that she can get Ermengard’s trust, and in the same time she can gets her attention. Two is that Mrs. Levi can show to Mr. Vandergelder about
how hopeless he is without her niece. So Mrs. Levi tells Mr. Kemper not to elope, but to be patient while
she tries to convince Mr. Vandergelder to let him to marry Ermengarde. She asks him to see Ermengarde at her house at five-thirty. And after that, she will bring
them to Harmonia Garden Restaurant at six. She tells that Mr. Vadergelder will be there and everything will be arranged. She does it all to get sympathy from
Ermengarde by being helpful person, as her nature that she likes to help people. MRS. LEVI : I’m taking Ermengarde to New York on the next train. I
shall not take her to Miss Van Huysen’s, as it planned; I shall take her to my house. I wish you to call for her at my house at
five-thirty. Here is my card.
………… MRS. LEVI : ……… So you will come at my house at five-thirty. At
about six I shall take you both with me to the Harmonia PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Garden Restaurant on the Battery; Mr. Vandergelder will be there and everything will be arranged. Wilder, 1964: 198
To make Mr. Vandergelder attracted to her, she often seduces him.
She knows how to please Mr. Vandergelder by flattering him. Seduction is frequently used more broadly as a synonym for the act of charming someone--
male or female--by an appeal to the senses, olfactory or visual, for instance. When Mrs. Levi tries to make Mr. Vandergelder loves her, she uses the way of seduction
to show that she is care about him. From that, she can get Mr. Vandergelder’s sympathy little by little and become closer and closer to him. It is shown when she
tells Mr. Vandergelder about how younger he is day by day and also when she looks at his hand and tells him that his life lines will lead him to successful life.
MRS. LEVI : …….. Oh, Mr. Vandergelder, how handsome you look. You took my breath away. …….. Oh, Mr. Vandergelder, I
wish Irene Molloy could see you now. I don’t know what’s come over you lately. You seem to be growing younger
everyday.
………… MRS. LEVI : I’m a judge of hand, Mr. Vandergelder. Show me your
hand. Lord in heaven, what a life line ……. From here to here
. It runs right off your hand. I don’t know where it goes. They’ll have to hit you on the head with a mallet. They’ll have
to stifle you with a sofa pillow. You’ll burry us all. Wilder, 1964: 200
Not only once she seduces Mr. Vandergelder. She also does it while
they are eating at Harmonia Garden Restaurant. At dinner with Vandergelder, she carefully but obliquely states that the case for his marrying her so that he will
think that the idea was his own. She seduces Mr. Vandergelder’s feeling of wanting to marry someone by saying that she does not want to be the next Mrs.
Vandergelder. Actually she does not mean that, because basically she is the one who wants to be Mrs. Vandergelder. But she says that to make Mr. Vandergelder
thinks what will happen if Mrs. Levi becomes the next Mrs. Vandergelder. By saying that she does not want to marry Mr. Vandergelder, her position of being
the next Mrs. Vandergelder become stronger because she knows that Mr. Vandergelder will think about the opposite and he will think about marrying Mrs.
Levi. She does it because she has known the character of Mr. Vandergelder well. Her strategy works, in part because he is a willing victim, which becomes obvious
when announces that she has agreed to become his wife and she has him change his announcement to finally agreed, as if he had been begging her for a long
time. MRS. LEVI : Horace Vandergelder, get that idea right out of your
head this minute. I’m surprised that you even mentioned such a thing. Understand once and for all that I have no intention of
marrying you. Wilder, 1964: 257
One skill that Mrs. Levi has is that she is a good liar. One of her big lies is that she tells Mr. Vandergelder about the absence of Miss Ernestina Simple.
She creates Miss Ernestina Simple, who never appears because of the fact that she does not exist, to make Mr. Vandergelder believe that he is still loved by
someone. More than that, she also makes Mr. Vandergelder not too worried if he loses Mrs. Molloy, who in the first place is the priority of being the next Mrs.
Vandergelder. She tells Mrs. Vandergelder that Miss Simple is the best suitable bride for Mr. Vandergelder. As a person who knows what Mr. Vandergelder
wants for his bride, Mrs. Levi describes Miss Simple as perfect as what Mr. Vandergelder wants so that he cannot refuse the charm of Miss Simple.
MRS. LEVI : Usual? I’m not wearing my self to the bone hunting up usual
girls to interest you Mr. Vandergelder. …….. Ernestina? She’ll bring you five thousand dollars a year.
MR. VANDERGELDER : Eh Eh Wilder, 1964: 203 That is not the only lie that she makes. She also tells lie about how
great Cornelius is in front of Mr. Vandergelder and Mrs. Molloy. She says that Cornelius is the finest, gayest person in all New York, and how rich Cornelius
because he is one of the Hackls. When she finds Cornelius in Mrs. Molloys shop, she helps him hide from Vandergelder, and she makes up a ridiculous story so that
Mrs. Molloy will not realize that he is a lowly clerk. This serves two purposes: she wants to help the lovers, and she wants to keep Mrs. Molloy from
Vandergelder. From that, Mrs. Levi has two benefits. First, she can make Mr. Vandergelder thinks that Mrs. Molloy has an affair with other men, and he will
cancel his plan to marry Mrs. Molloy. Second, she can get rid of Mrs. Molloy from the competition of marrying Mr. Vandergelder because Mrs. Molloy will
change her target to Cornelius. Her plan is successful when Mr. Vandergelder finally gets angry and leaves Mrs. Molloy. He is angry because there are two men
hiding in Mrs. Molloy’s hat shop where they are having conversation. Mrs. Molloy also has forgotten her plan to be Mrs. Vandergelder and turn her eyes to
Cornelius. MRS. LEVI : Lord, the whole rooms crawling with men I’ll never
get over it. VANDERGELDER : The world is going to pieces I can’t believe my
own eyes MRS. LEVI : come, Mr. Vandergelder. Ernestina Simple is waiting
for us. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
VANDERGELDER : Mrs. Molloy, I shan’t trouble you again, and vice versa
. Wilder, 1964: 232 When doing courtship towards Mrs. Vandergelder, she does
everything to help her plan, and it means that she does everything for her advantages. She has the heart to make someone disappoined or even down just to
get what she wants. As an example, she has the heart to break Mr. Vandergelder’s plan in marrying Mrs. Molloy so that she herself can marry him. She tells about
Miss Simple, she tells that Cornelius is a famous person in New York, and even when the situation is unpleasant for Mr. Vandergelder, she still can set up plan to
support her main plan which is to make Mr. Vandergelder have feelings for her. Her act and her words have been thought carefully to set a trap to get
what she wants. Her ability to play words has become her successful strength in marrying Mr. Vandergelder. It is seen when she tells to Mr. Vandergelder that she
will not marry him. That words make Mr. Vandergelder think about her, and what will happen if Mrs. Levi becomes his wife.
MRS. LEVI : I certainly hope I did. If I had any intention of marrying again it would be to a far more pleasure-loving man than you.
Why, I’d marry Cornelius Hackl before I’d marry you. Wilder, 1964: 257
Her manner that pretends as if she does not want to marry Mr. Vandergelder is one of her ways to get him. She does not want to be seen as she
chases Mr. Vandergelder, but she wants to make Mr. Vandergelder chases her. She finally gets what she wants in Mrs. Van Huysen’s place when Mr.
Vandergelder tells how much Mrs. Levi means to him, and finally he propose her to be his wife.
VANDERGELDER : I know I’ve been a fool about Mrs. Molloy, and that other woman. But, Dolly, forgive me and marry me.
Wilder, 1964: 279
2. Cornelius’ Behavior in his Courtship
