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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of five parts. The first part is the background of the study which gives a reason for choosing the novel. The second part is problem
formulation which describes the problems which will be analyzed. The third part is the objectives of the study to state the purpose of the study undertaken related to
the problem formulation. The fourth part is the benefit of the study which explains the contribution of this study to the readers generally. The last part is the
definitions of terms to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation.
A. Background of the Study
For all couples, marriage symbolizes a holy bond between a man and a woman. Marriage, establishing a home, and landing a good position are social
correlatives for happiness and fulfillment which represent personal enrichment and success; they stand for it, in a way Henkle, 1977, p. 36. That is why there is no
doubt that when a couple has a commitment to live together, they are demanded to have a responsibility as a husband and a wife.
In a marriage, the couple loves each other and love gives the power or some motivation to their life. Love gives an affection of living together for any condition,
bad or good. When both spouses live in one roof, there is something that cannot be avoided, namely conflict. The conflict that happens between a husband and a wife
is called interpersonal conflict or if it happens within himherself is called
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intrapersonal conflict. Sometimes, a husband and a wife need their own time, to reflect what heshe wants actually.
As a young married couple, a man and a woman usually have a little picture of what marriage is. It can be because of their youth. Niwano as cited in
Dhammananda, 1995, p. 25 says that young people in love usually think and do sweet and romantic things. Their minds are still full of pleasurable things to please
each other. However the way they think and do at dating cannot reflect the real life of a marriage because in marriage, they will face many problems that they have not
imagined at dating previously. So, it means that they have not been ready to take a big responsibility for a marriage. Living together as a husband and a wife means
that life is not always full of romantic sides. When they are quarrelling, they will know the other’s sides or the other’s characteristics, weaknesses or bad habits that
they did not know while dating. When the young couples come to a transition of life after they get married,
they should prepare many things. They not only share about their love and affection but also many others. The more they spend their time in one roof, the more
demands that they want or need. Niwano also says that When the time of dates, emotional pictures, dances, and parties has passed,
the young married couples will have to live together, share meals, and reveal to each other their defects as well as their merits. They will have to spend
more than half of their life each day together; this kind of living makes demands that are different from the less exacting needs of dating and first
love. as cited in Dhammananda, 1995, p. 26.
It can be seen that when the young couple begins a serious relationship, there is one thing that must be realized that is to become mature people. It means that, they
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have to be responsible for taking care of each other, fulfilling some living needs, especially if they have children.
Novel as one of genres of literature can portray human life experience as discussed above. The story may affect the readers emotionally. Eastman 1995
argues that novel “is a fictitious account of human life, told in a prose on a large scale, and so constructed as to give the reader emotional and intellectual pleasure of
a designed quality” p. 5. It means that a novel gives stimulus to the readers to react or respond what happens in the novel as it reflects life experiences.
This portrait of life is also reflected in Mr. Lewisham, the main character, in the novel entitled Love and Mr. Lewisham written by H.G. Wells. As a young man
of eighteen years old, he has many dreams to realize. At his young age, he is married to a girl named Ethel. Both of them actually are idealists. He wants to be
someone more than just an assistant master at Whortley proprietary school as a science teacher. He works hard to pay the tuition for his schooling. However, Ethel
emphasizes that he should pay more attention to their marriage life. In fact, when they are married, he only has little money. His salary actually is not enough for
both of them but it is not a matter of money that can be a problem. Here, he has an interest in Socialism and he cannot share his interest with Ethel easily but only with
Alice Heydinger who can understand and appreciate his ideas. He is also surprised to know that Alice has an interest in poetry. Both of them become best friends and
often talk about their interests to each other. Here, the readers can see how Mr. Lewisham decides to keep his marriage
but he seems doubtful even though he has a deep love for Ethel since they meet for the first time. He realizes that marriage is not as simple as it looks. Even though he
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is married to Ethel, all of his desires or dreams are totally focused on his schooling to achieve his dream as a teacher. However, he gives up his efforts. He decides to
work only for his marriage financial income. This way of life gives the readers, especially the youth, a lesson of how
getting married at young age will not be beneficial for them. It does not mean that marriage totally breaks young people’s dream, but marriage, once again, is a long
lasting relationship so people need to do it at the right age and time. Because of this, I am interested in analyzing Mr. Lewisham’s conflicts in his marriage life as
reflected in H.G Wells’ Love and Mr. Lewisham.
B. Problem Formulation