man is better off not knowing the nature of his destiny in the soliloquy Mrs. Levi, one of its main characters. The soliloquy itself has been altered by Wilder from its
origin under the title The Merchant of Yonkers to its modification under the title The Matchmaker
Kernan, 1967: 66. According to Bogard, the difference is partly in the tone, the use of the
concrete rather than the general, but mostly in the quality of the imagery. In its stress on growth and on the value of life, the imagery of this one speech is almost
sufficient on itself to lift the farce from its emptiness Kernan, 1967: 66 In this thesis the writer uses the result of their observations which
report the application of traditional farce techniques. Their observations support the finding of why Wilder uses the traditional of style in writing The Matchmaker.
The thesis will not argue the information conveying by many critics concerning the play. It takes the information as the references.
B. Theoretical Review
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
In his book entitled A Glossary of Literary Term, there is a definition of character. Abrams clarifies that characters are the people in a dramatic or
narrative work, interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that expressed in what they say the dialogue and what
they do the action Abrams, 1981: 20 According to the role the character serve in the story, Henkle 1977:
87-89 mentions that they may be divided into major and minor or secondary PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
character. A major character can be the center of the story. Usually, the acts of the story are focused on this character from the beginning to the ending part.
Meanwhile, minor or secondary character appears in a certain setting, just necessarily to become the background for the major character.
In his book Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense, Perrine says that in proportion to the fullness of the character’s development, characters in a story
are relatively flat or round 1974: 69 Flat character is the same sort of person at the end of the story as he or she is at the beginning. This character tends to stay
the same throughout the story. A round character often changes. A round character tends to react differently toward different situation and or person
encountered. They tend to grow, develop, and change. In his book Understanding Unseen’s, Murphy points several ways in
which the writer attempts to make the characters understandable and come life like to the readers. The ways come from the personal description, the way a
character is seen by others, by character’s speech, his or her past life, from the conversation of others, the figure reactions, direct comment stated by author, the
character’s thought, and mannerism 1972: 161-173. The explanation is as follow:
a. Personal description
“The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes.” b.
Characters as seen by another “Instead of describing a character directly the author can describe him through
the eyes and opinion of another.” PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
c. Speech
“The author can give us an insight into the character of one of the persons in a book through what that person says.”
d. Past life
“By letting the readers learn something about a person’s past life the authors can give us clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character.”
1972: 166. e.
Conversations of others “The author can also give us clues to a person’s character through the
conversation of other people and things they say about him.’ 1972: 167. Therefore, the reader can study the character by analyzing ‘the direct
comment by the author, through the person’s, through his conversations or through the medium of another person.
f. Reaction
‘The author can also give us a clue to a person’s character directly’ g.
Direct comment ‘The author can describe a comment on a person’s character directly.’
h. Thoughts
‘The author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about.’ i.
Mannerism ‘The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits or idiosyncrasies
which may also tell us something about his character.’ 1972: 173 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
2. Theory of Motive
