CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
There are many opinions of critics to Wordsworth’s “Michael”. Graham Hough gave opinion about the theme of “Michael” which is love of father for his son.
It is told in blank verse unrhymed iambic pentameter of a rather stiff simplicity and much of it is straight narrative so unelaborated that it treads on the verge of the
prosaic. He said that the effect of “Michael” is not immediate. It is more prolonged acquaintance with the poem reveals it as the most characteristic Wordsworthian
achievement. A poem where a long familiar emotion, that has been absorbed into the personality and is no longer clamorous or importunate, is evenly diffused throughout
Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 191. R.O.C Winkler had opinion on the plot of “Michael”, especially the influence
of nature. He stated that in “Michael”, nature is something outside the human situation. According to him, Michael as the main character in the poem is part of the
natural world himself, and the strength of his body and mind, the birth, growth, and bereavement of his love for Luke, are all enforced in terms of his work among the
things of nature. The old man’s feelings with the natural world around him, there is no scope for turning to nature for consolation. The natural word simply endures and
the only support that Michael has for his suffering is endurance Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 192.
7 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Geoffrey H. Hartman said that the story of “Michael” touches on a kind of loss and suffering which occurs in some form to everyone. The changes wrought by
the industrial revolution are only the occasional cause for the disaster. The universal aspect of the loss suffered by Michael is of a hope which has attached itself to a
person and seems to die with the person. He also had opinion with the nature in “Michael”. He said that the nature was essential to human actions and meditations.
His picture of the old man is not simply of suffering or muted despair, but of natural resilience and the habit of fortitude. He clearly shows the symbol or the evidence of
Michael’s tragedy through his opinion: “Though we are told about the seven years in connection with Michael’s
unfinished labors at the sheepfold, there are remains his persistence which suggest an immemorial covenant between man and the land. Michael does not
hasten the end and abides his times without abandoning the land even in imagination. Michael dies as he has lined: In the eye of nature. Yet Michael is
not an obsolete possibility of the human spirit: the covenant that holds the mind of man to the earth springs only such as him” Mukherjef and Rajender,
2000: 192-193. This study is further analyzing the tragedy of Michael where Michael as the
tragic hero of modern tragedy. The analysis is going deep into the central character of the poem. The analysis is also using the theme, “father’s love to his son”, to find the
elements of Michael’s tragedy. Different with R.O.C Winkler, the writer further analyzes the nature as the ‘unrealized mistakes’ of Michael in supporting his tragedy.
The analysis further develops the opinion of Geoffrey H. Hartman, especially in analyzing Michael as the tragic hero. Besides that, the relation of nature and the
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