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CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter consists of three parts, they are; review of related studies, review of related theories, and theoretical framework. In the review of related studies, the
writer reviews previous works done on the same novel, states her new discovery in the study, and shows the differences between her study and the other studies. Review
of related theories is used to review the theories which are relevant to the study. The last part is theoretical framework. In this part, the writer explains the contribution of
theories and reviews in solving the problems of the study.
A. Review of Related Studies
L eo Tolstoy‟s Anna Karenin has been used in three previous studies. The first
study focuses on Anna Karenin‟s character development and motivation to commit suicide, the second is about the personality changes of Anna and Levin in searching
for the meaning of happiness, and the last discusses the biblical values conveyed through Anna‟s and Levin‟s characters.
In this study, the writer discovers a new aspect of the novel that has not been discussed and analyzed in those three previous studies. It is about the motivations of
Anna Karenin, the main character of the novel, to break her expected gender roles as a noble Russian woman.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Literature
In Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, Culler 1997 describes literature as a fictional work and an aesthetic object. As a fictional work, “literature
separates language from other contexts in which it might be used and leaves the work‟s relation to the world open to interpretation” p.32. In addition, literature can
also be assumed as an aesthetic object because “…,with other communicative functions initially bracketed or suspended, it engages readers to consider the
interrelation between form and content” p.33. Weltanschauung as cited by Rene Wellek and Austin Warren 1956 says that,
“Among the arts, literature, specifically, seems also to claim „truth‟ through the view of life which every artistically coherent work processes.” p.34. Moreover, Connolly
1955 also supports the idea above that “By reading literature, men can find
themselves and the world they live in. Besides, people can learn the meaning of the personal struggled presented by the characters in the story.” p.1
From those three definitions, the writer can understand that literature is the representative of human life in reality. Through literature, people can see the scenes
of life which contain characters, emotions, struggles, and feelings. Therefore, by reading Anna Karenin, people can also get a better understanding of how life works
and have a better view of living as a human being.
2. Theory of Character
Character is one of the main elements needed in a novel. Without the existence of characters, the story will not be meaningful and interesting. Characters
make the story alive. They help the readers to imagine and feel the atmosphere of the story through actions and dialogues. Abrams 1999 defines characters as:
“The persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with particular moral, intellectual, and emotional
qualities by inferences from what the persons say and their distinctive ways of saying it
—the dialogue—and from what they do—the action.” p.33. Abrams believes that dialogues and actions which are presented by each character in
the story help the readers to find out the motives and the values lay behind what they say and do.
In addition, Rohrberger and Woods 1971 states that “Characters have particular personalities and physical atrributes that distinguish th
em from other characters.” p.20. From their point of view, it can be concluded that characters in the story, the
same as human beings in real life, have their own unique personality and appearance, which make them different from one another.
Koesnosoebroto 1988 differentiates two types of characters. They are: major and minor characters. Major characters are those who become the center of the story.
They always emerge from the beginning to the ending of the story. The heart of the story is emphasized from their life experiences. On the other hand, minor characters
only appear in certain parts of the story. Their roles are less important than the major ones p.23.
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