The ideas of radical libertarian feminism as reflected in the main characters of Anais Nin`s Ladders to Fire.

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ABSTRACT

LESTARI, VALENTINA WIDYA. The Ideas of Radical Libertarian Feminism as Reflected in the Main Characters of Anais Nin’s Ladders To Fire. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.

Ladders to Fire is one of Anais Nin’s novels which becomes the representation of how women fight towards sexism in the society. It reveals the struggle of two women named Lillian and Djuna to reach their true happiness and pursue their passions by having freedom in their sexual preference. The author of this novel, Anais Nin, expressed herself through the women characters. In her life, Nin was well known as an erotica writer who bravely wrote about sexual life. At that time, she could liberate herself from society’s limitation through her writings.

Therefore, there are two problem formulations related to the topic. The first problem analyzes the characteristics of Lillian and Djunaas seen from their relationships with men and women in the novel. The second problem analyzes the reflection of radical libertarian feminism ideas on Lillian and Djuna’s characteristics.

The writer applies library research as the method since the source of the data is collected from books and web-sources. The research used feminist literary criticism as the approach to analyze the characteristics of Lillian and Djuna in Ladders to Fire which reflect the ideas of feminism, specifically radical libertarian feminism.

The results of the analysis are as follows: The first character, Lillian, is described having bisexual characteristic for having sexual interests toward men and women. Therefore, Lillian’s characteristics are observed through her relationships with men and women. In her relationships with several men named Gerard, Larry, and Jay, Lillian is presented as a powerful and passionate woman. Besides, Lillian is also an attractive and generous person from as seen from her relationships with women. The second character, Djuna, is depicted as a lesbian who lives her own life independently. She also avoids all kinds of maternal or marriage life and has androgynous characteristic. Their characteristics reflect the ideas of radical libertarian feminism which are avoiding maternal life, considering heterosexuality as a form of women’s oppression, and being androgynous. Through their struggle and courage, they prove that such limitation and old-assumptions in patriarchal society cannot limit someone’s freedom, specifically women. They can liberate themselves from gender streotypes which put them as inferior in a society.

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ABSTRAK

LESTARI, VALENTINA WIDYA. The Ideas of Radical Libertarian Feminism as Reflected in the Main Characters of Anais Nin’s Ladders To Fire. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2016.

Ladders to Fire adalah salah satu novel Anais Nin yang menjadi gambaran bagaimana wanita berjuang melawan diskriminasi seks di masyarakat. Novel ini mengungkapkan perjuangan dari dua wanita bernama Lillian dan Djuna untuk meraih kebahagiaan dengan memiliki kebebasan dalam kehidupan seksualnya. Penulis novel, Anais Nin, mengekspresikan dirinya melalui tokoh-tokoh wanita di dalam novel. Dalam hidupnya, Nin dikenal sebagai penulis erotis yang berani menuliskan kehidupan seksual. Pada saat itu, ia dapat membebaskan dirinya dari batasan-batasan social melalui tulisannya.

Oleh karena itu, terdapat dua pokok permasalahan berkaitan dengan topic yang akan dibahas. Pokok permasalahan yang pertama menganalisa karakteristik Lillian dan Djuna yang dilihat dari relasinya dengan pria dan wanita di dalam novel. Pokok permasalahan yang kedua menganalisa gagasan-gagasan feminis radikal libertarian yang tercermin pada karakteristik Lillian dan Djuna. Studi pustaka digunakan sebagai metode dalam penulisan skripsi ini karena data-data yang ada diperoleh dari buku dan web. Skripsi ini menggunakan pendekatan feminisme dalam mengalisa karakteristik dari tokoh Lillian dan Djuna pada novel Ladders to Fire yang mencerminkan gagasan-gagasan feminis, khususnya feminis radikal libertarian.

Hasil penelitian dalam skripsi ini adalah sebagai berikut: Tokoh pertama bernama Lillian memiliki karakteristik bisexual karena ketertarikan seksualnya terhadap pria dan wanita. Oleh karena itu, karakteristik Lillian ditinjau melalui hubungannya dengan pria dan wanita. Dalam hubungannya dengan beberapa pria bernama Gerard, Larry, dan Jay, Lillian digambarkan sebagai wanita yang penuh kuasadan memiliki keinginan yang kuat untuk mewujudkan hasratnya. Selain itu, dalam hubungannya dengan wanita, Lillian juga digambarkan sebagai wanita menarik yang atraktif dan penuh kasih sayang. Tokoh yang kedua bernama Djuna, ia digambarkan sebagai wanita lesbian yang sangat mandiri. Djuna menghindari segala bentuk kehidupan pernikahan beserta maternal karena karakternya sebagai wanita yang androgini. Karakteristik kedua tokoh ini mencerminkan gagasan-gagasan radikal libertarian feminis yakni menolak kehidupan maternal, memandang heteroseksual sebagai bentuk penindasan terhadap wanita, dan memiliki sisi androgini. Melalui perjuangan dan keberaniannya, mereka membuktikan bahwa batasan dan asumsi-asumsi kuno dalam masyarakat patriarki tidak dapat membatasi kebebasan seseorang, khususnya wanita. Kedua tokoh ini dapat membebaskan diri dari streotip jender yang menganggap mereka sebagai kaum lemah di masyarakat.

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THE IDEAS OF RADICAL LIBERTARIAN FEMINISM AS

REFLECTED IN THE MAIN

CHARACTERS OF ANAIS NIN’S

LADDERS TO FIRE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

VALENTINA WIDYA LESTARI Student Number: 124214032

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2016

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THE IDEAS OF RADICAL LIBERTARIAN FEMINISM AS

REFLECTED IN THE MAIN

CHARACTERS OF ANAIS NIN’S

LADDERS TO FIRE

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

VALENTINA WIDYA LESTARI Student Number: 124214032

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA 2016

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ASat:Jana Saslra Undergraduate Thesis

THE IDEAS OF RADICAL LmERTARIAN FEMINISM AS

REFLECTED IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS OF ANAISNIN'S

LADDERS TO FIRE

VALENTINA WIDYA LESTARI Student~urnber:

124214032

Approvedby

Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hwn. Advisor

AdventitIa Putranti,S.S., M. Hum. Co-Advisor

111

Augustl5, 2016

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ASarjana SastraUndergraduate Thesis

THE IDEAS OF RADICAL LmERTARIAN FEMINISM AS REFLECTED IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS OF ANAISNIN'S

LADDERS TO FIRE

VALENTINA WIDYA LESTARI Shldent Number: 124214032

Defended before the Board of Examiners On Au!,'Ust 30, 2016

and Declared Acceptable

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Name Chairperson Secretary Member 1 Member 2 Member 3

: Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A. : Sri Mulyani, Ph.D. : Sri Mulyani, Ph.D.

: Drs. Hitmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. : Adventina Putranti, M. Htun.

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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I certify that this undergraduate thsis contains no material which has been previously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that, to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thsis contains no material previously written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text of the undergraduate thesis.

Yogyakarta, August 15, 2016

Valentina Wldya Lestari

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAI-I UNTUK KEPENTINGANAKADEMIS

Yang bertanela tangan eli bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma Nama

Nomor Mahasiswa

: Valentina Wielya Lestari : 124214032

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepaela Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang beIjuelul

THE IDEAS OF RADICAL LIBERTARIAN FEMINISM AS REFLECTED IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS OF ANAIS NIN'S

LADDERS TO FIRE

beserta perangkat yang eliperlukan (bila aela). Dengan elemikian saya membelikan kepaela Perpustakaan Universitas SanataDhanna hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan elalam bcntuk meelia lain, mengelolanya elalam bentuk pangkalan elata, menelistribusikan secara terbatas, elan mempublikasikannya eli intemet atau meelia lain untuk kepentingan akaelemis tanpa perIu meminta ijin kepaela saya maupun memberikan royalti kepaela saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pemyataan ini saya buat elengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat eli Yogyakarta

Paela tanggal 15 Agustus 2016

Yang menyatakan,

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vii

And the day came when the ri

sk

it took to stay tight inside

the bud was more painful than

the risk it took to blossom.

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viii

I dedicate this work

for my parents, Ibu

and Bapak, for their

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to God for His eternal blessing and strength that I receive abundantly in my life. Second, I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka M. Hum., for his guidance and patience during the process of writing this thesis. Besides, I also thank Adventina Putranti, S.S., M. Hum. who had enlightened and advised me that lead to the betterment of my thesis during the process of revision. For all the lecturers in English Letters Department who had kindly shared the knowledge and experiences with me.

My biggest gratitude goes to my parents for endlessly supporting me through the prayers and affection in my life. I specifically thank my mother for always reminding me to believe in myself even when self-doubt haunts my head. I also thank my brothers Pandu and Mamas. I am really thankful for the jokes and affection shared through the night video calls which successfully boost my mood up.

My heart also goes to Claudia, Raymond, Nina, Andira, Pieter, and Ami for the memories during these years of friendship. I thank my boarding house mates, Suciana and GG, for the tears and joy shared in the middle of nights. The upcoming distance definitely cannot stop us. I express my love and gratitude to all of you.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ...ii

APPROVAL PAGE ...iii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ...iv

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ...v

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ...vi

MOTTO PAGE. ...vii

DEDICATION PAGE. ...viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS ...x

ABSTRACT ...xii

ABSTRAK ...xiii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...1

A. Background of the Study ...1

B. Problem Formulation ...4

C. Objectives of the Study ...5

D. Definition of Terms ...5

1. Characters. ...5

2. Feminism. ...5

3. Radical Libertarian Feminism. ...6

4. Masculinity. ...6

5. Femininity.. ...6

6. Androgyny. ...6

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...8

A. Review of Related Studies ...8

B. Review of Related Theories ...10

1. Theory of Character and Characterization...10

2. Theory of Feminism. ...13

3. Theory of Radical Feminism. ...15

C. Theoretical Framework...21

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...23

A. Object of the Study ...23

B. Approach of the Study ...25

C. Method of the Study ...26

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ...28

A. The Description of Lillian and Djuna ...28

1. Lillian ...28

a. Lillian’s Characteristics as Seen from Her Relationships with Men. ...30

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b. Lillian’s Characteristics as Seen from Her

Relationships with Women. ...33

2. Djuna ...36

a. Djuna’s Characteristics as Seen from Her Relationships with Men. ...37

b. Djuna’s Characteristics as Seen from Her Relationship with Women. ...40

B. The Reflection of Radical Libertarian Feminism Ideas on Lillian and Djuna’s Characteristics ...43

1. Avoiding Maternal Life. ...43

2. Considering Normative Heterosexuality as a Form of Women’s Oppression. ...45

3. Being Androgynous. ...47

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...51

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...55

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xii ABSTRACT

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xiii ABSTRAK

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1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Literary work becomes the reflection of society’s issue. It can be reflected through novels, dramas, poems, and short stories. Wellek and Waren state that a novel is a picture of real life manner (1956: 216). One of the issues is women roles in the society. Women are often positioned as the lower and more marginalized gender rather than men in patriarchal society. Patriarchy simply means the universal oppression by men. Adrienne Rich defines patriarchy as:

Patriarchy is the power of fathers; a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men−by force, direct pressure, or through ritual, tradition, law, and language, customs, etiquette, education, and the division of labor, determine what part women shall or shall not play, and in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male (Eisenstein, 1983: 5). Patriarchy puts women as the inferior while men act superior. It gives a stereotype toward women as the second sex and they are controlled under a system which gives them less opportunities rather than men. No broad space for women to develop themselves. According to Rosemarie Putnam Tong, patriarchal ideology exaggerates biological differences between men and women, making certain that men always have the dominant, or masculine, roles and women always have the subordinate, or feminine ones (2009: 52). Women, in the patriarchal society, undergo such discrimination as the effect of gender inequality. Therefore, there comes feminism movement. Feminism movement is women emancipation’s movement which comes from the awareness of gender

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discrimination in the society. Their major aim is gender equality in every social aspect. According to Jo Freeman, the idea of universal equality is that behind the differences, men or women are born to have the same right. Women should have the same rights and duties in life as men have (1975: 439). Most feminists ask for equality in the sense of living. In USA, feminism appears as a form of rebellion toward gender inequality. The first wave of feminism took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, emerging out of an environment of urban industrialism and liberal socialist politics. The goal of this wave was to open up opportunities for women, with a focus on suffrage (pacific.edu, July 29, 2016).

As women have acknowledged about their rights in society, they voice for women’s liberation and gender equality through feminism movement. We (re: women) deserve to be equal with you, for we are in the fact the same. We possess the same capabilities; but this fact has been hidden, or these abilities have, while still potentially ours, been socialized, educated, ‘out’ (1995: 13). As time goes by, feminism movement is divided into several types regarding their concern which follows the major issue in the society. There are many types of feminism movements as one of them is radical feminism. Similar to other feminism types, radical feminists also fight for women’s equality. Yet they claim that women oppression is basically located on sexism. This kind of oppression is the most fundamental oppression and causes long-term suffering for its victim, specifically women. They argue that women should fight toward sexism which traps and limits them.

The radical feminists insist that men’s control of women’s sexual and reproductive lives and women’s self-identity, self-respect, and self-esteem

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is the most fundamental of all the oppressions human beings visit on each other (Tong, 2009: 49).

Radical feminist then splits into two parts which are radical libertarian feminist and radical cultural feminist. These two types have different perspectives about how women should act towards their sexual life. Radical libertarian feminism is one type of radical feminism whose goal to remove women’s oppression by encouraging women to become androgynous. As Tong notes the radical libertarian feminists’ argument:

Radical libertarian feminists claimed that gender is separable from sex and that patriarchal society uses rigid gender roles to keep women passive (“affectionate, obedient, responsive to sympathy and approval, cheerful, kind and friendly”) and men active (“tenacious, aggressive, curious, ambitious, planful, responsible, original and competitive”) (2009: 51). They suggest women to become androgynous, a person whose feminine and masculine characteristics to achieve gender equality. Unlike radical libertarian feminism which encourages women to become androgynous, radical cultural feminism has different perspectives toward sexism. As Mary Daly states that:

She rejected the pluralist model of androgyny, according of women and men have separate but supposedly equal and complementary traits, and the assimilation model of androgyny, according to which women and men exhibit feminine as well as masculine traits. As she saw it, both of these models of androgyny were deficient because neither of them asked whether the concepts of masculinity and femininity are worth preserving (Tong, 2009: 59)

By this quotation, it is clearly stated that the radical cultural feminists do not agree with the idea of becoming androgynous woman. They argue that femininity is the best quality of human and should not be mixed with masculinity. Therefore by using femininity as women’s best armor, women’s right can be achieved equally.

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The novel entitled Ladders to Fire by Anais Nin is first published in 1946. It is the first novel of the series Cities of the Inferior. The other novels of the series are: The Winter of Artifice, Under a Glass Bell, Children of the Albatross, A Spy in the House of Love, and Seduction of the Minotaur. Ladders to Fire reveals the struggle of two women named Lillian and Djuna to reach their true happiness and pursue their passions by having freedom in their sexual preference. The author of this novel, Anais Nin, expresses herself through the women characters. In her life, Nin is well known as an erotica writer who bravely writes about sexual life. At that time, she can liberate herself from society’s limitation through her writings. This novel becomes the representation of how women fight towards sexism in the society. Ladders to Fire isone of Anais Nin’s novels which has different attitude about women’s sexual life in that era.Thus, the writer wants to analyze the idea of radical libertarian feminism in Anais Nin’s Ladders to Fire through Lillian and Djuna characteristics. These two characters have courage to fight for their rights in patriarchal society. Later on, by discovering the characteristics of the Lillian and Djuna, the reader will get the message and understand the idea of radical libertarian feminism as reflected in Ladders to Fire.

B. Problem Formulation

Based on the previous explanation, the writer then formulates two problems:

1. What are the characteristics of Lillian and Djuna in Ladders to Fire?

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2. How do Lillian and Djuna’s characteristics reflect the ideas of radical libertarian feminism?

C. Objectives of the Study

Based on the two problems formulated above, the writer aims to answer the questions. The first goal is to find out the characteristics of Lillian and Djuna in Ladders to Fire. The second goal is to reveal how the ideas of radical libertarian feminism are reflected through Lillian and Djuna’s characteristics in the novel.

D. Definition of Terms

There are several terms need to be explained in analyzing Anais Nin’s Ladders to Fire to avoid misunderstanding. Those terms are character, feminism, radical libertarian feminism, masculine, feminine, and androgyny.

1. Character

Abrams explains that characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and by what they do-the action (1971: 21).

2. Feminism

Maggie Humm states that feminism is the ideology of women’s liberation since intrinsic in its all approaches is the belief that women suffer injustice because of their sex. The definition incorporates both a doctrine of equal rights for

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women and an ideology of social transformation aiming to create a world for women beyond simple social equality (1995: 183).

3. Radical Libertarian Feminism

Radical libertarian feminism is one type of feminism whose goal to achieve the equality between men and women by rejecting patriarchal society’s assumption towards sexism and gender. They claim that women’s oppression is basically located on men’s dominance. Therefore, they demand for freedom in every aspect of life including sexual preference (Evans, 1995:64).

4. Masculine

Abstract masculinity, according to Nancy Hartsock, is a mode of conceptualization that emphasizes mutually exclusive dualities. She suggests that this accounts for hierarchical dualism in social institutions which underpin gender domination. Evelyn Fox Keller suggests that masculine connotes autonomy, separation, distance and particularly objectivity (Humm, 1995: 163).

5. Femininity

A term which describes the construction of ‘femaleness’ by society and which connotes sexual attractiveness to men. The World feminists interpret ‘femininity’ more positively. For example BudhiEmecheta describes how the self-creation of femininity enables her women characters to become strong and independent (Humm, 1995: 93-94).

6. Androgyny

Greek word from andro (male) and gyn (female) which means a psychological and psychic mixture of traditional masculine and feminine virtues. It is to be

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distinguished from hermaphroditism, which primarily a physical condition. Second wave feminism suggests that androgyny could offer a new monogendered personality. Many feminist philosophers claim that androgynous personalities are holistic and have a capacity to experience the full range of human emotions (Humm, 1995: 10).

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8 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

A literary work may have many perspectives. Anais Nin’s books have been

discussed before to reveal Nin’s motives through her novels. Several researches

have been done towards one of Anais Nin’s entitled Henry and June. One of the

researches is an undergraduate thesis entitled Radical Libertarian Feminism as Seen in the Main Character of Anais Nin’s Henry and June by Lusi Maria Widjanarko (2008) from Sanata Dharma University. It concerns on the

characteristics of Anais Nin as the main character and how Nin’s characteristics

reflect the ideas of radical libertarian feminism.According to Widjanarko in her research, Anais Nin has several characteristics such as unfaithful, bisexual, adventurous and seductive woman. Widjanarko also states that the radical

libertarian feminism as a part of radical feminism concerns about women’s

freedom in private sphere

From Nin’s characteristics which reflect the ideas of Radical Libertarian

Feminism, we can see that women who doesn’t bounded by the gender and

sex classification can do what a man usually does. By having an ability to do what men usually do, a woman can get equal position and freedom (2008: 60).

Widjanarko’s statement above concludes that women should have freedom

and not to be limited by gender and sex role. The research by Widjanarko is well-applied to support this research because of the similar theory of feminism which is the radical libertarian feminism. Moreover, since Anais Nin’s characteristics

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areoften portrayed through the women characters in her books, there is relation

about Nin’s characteristics in Henry and June and the characteristics of women

characters in Ladders to Fire.

Nin’s characteristics are also revealed in an undergraduate thesis entitled

Nin’s Motivation to Establish Relationship with Henry and June in Anais Nin’s Henry and June written by Ika Dewi Widiastuti (2011) from Sanata Dharma University. Nin is described as attractive, smart, hypersexual and independent

woman. These characteristics aim to reveal Nin’s motivation to establish relationship with Henry and June. The result of this research states that Nin’s

motivation is purely to fulfill her needs such as psychological need, sex need, safety need, love and belonging needs. Based on the analysis, it can be said that

Nin’s motivation to establish relationship with Henry and June is to fulfill her

needs. She fulfills her needs in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and she also reaches

the top level, the actualized person (2011: 53).

Another research of Nin’s novel comes from Ohio University Press. In the

novels, Nin indicates that neurosis keeps the female characters from becoming complete human beings. She emphasizes their fragmented nature by using only their given names. These women include Lillian, whose self-doubt causes her overbearingness; timid Djuna, who yearns for love but misses much of life because of her inability to live in the present; guilt-ridden Helen, who cannot attain the freedom she expected when abandoning her husband and children long ago; Sabina, whose broken internal compass makes her life chaotic; and Stella,

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whose distrust of others keeps her from revealing her true self (ohioswallow.com, 2015).

In this research, the writer aims to reveal the women’s characteristics in Ladders to Fire which reflect the ideas of radical libertarian feminism. Since the previous researches which have been mentioned focus on Nin’s characteristics as the author, it will be very useful as the supporting sources for the writer to reveal the characteristics of the women characters in the Ladders to Fire. Anais Nin has been described as bisexual, independent, and attractive woman in the previous researches, therefore the women characters in Ladders to Fire may be the

portrayal of Nin’s characteristics.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

Characters plays important role in the flow of a story. M.H. Abrams explains that characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, whoare interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and by what they do-the action (1971: 21).

According to Robert Stanton, character is generally used in two ways. The first character marks out the person who appears in the story. The second

character refers to the traits or the elements in somebody’s personality that makes

up each of a person. A character’s reason of behaving as he does is his motivation

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From the definitions of character in the previous paragraphs, it is clear that character is one of the important elements in a story that has motivation in his/her emergence. To analyze the characteristics of characters in a story, the theory of characterization is needed. Henkle in his book acknowledges that there are two types of characterization which are major character and secondary character. Major character usually is the most important character in a story that functioned to help the reader in drawing the theme, used by the authors in order to communicate their human qualities. A major character is also the most complex character. Secondary character or minor character usually is the character, who has limited function in the story. His character is less complex and neccesary to become the background of the major character (1977: 87-97).

Moreover, Murphy points out nine ways to see the characterization of characters in literary works (1972: 162-173). Those are:

a. Personal description

Personal description refers to the description of the character as real person’s

appearance, such as face, skin, eyes, and clothes. b. Character as seen by another

The author describes a person’s characteristics through the eyes and

opinions of the characters. The reader can get it as the reflection image of particular character.

c. Speech

The author gives the readers a picture of someone’s characteristics in the

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character whenever the character speaks, has conversation with others, and whenever the character says/states his/her opinion.

d. Past life

Past life influences someone’s characteristics. The author gives the readers

clues to some events that have helped to shape someone’s characteristics. It can be

seen through the author’s direct comment and the person’s thought.

e. Conversation of others

Someone’s characteristics can be described through the conversation of

other characters in which they say, their opinions or everything about that person. f. Reactions

The author gives a clue of someone’s characteristics through the reaction of

the character in the novel toward various events and situations. g. Direct comments

To understand someone’s charateristics, the author gives a clue by

describing or commenting a person’s characteristics directly.

h. Thoughts

The author gives direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about.

Through this way, the reader can understand the character’s mind and feeeling.

i. Mannerism

Someone’s characteristics can also be seen through his/her mannerism and

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2. Theory of Feminism

Patriarchal society often positions women as powerless. Men are believed as superior and women as inferior. As Montagu states in his book, women have been conditioned to believe that they are inferior to men, and they have assumed that what everyone believes is a fact of nature. Because men occupy the superior positions in almost all societies, such superiority is taken to be a natural one (1953: 23). Men’s superiority has driven women’s role lower in the society. As Montagu continues in her book about her concern of this superior power of men.

Why is that, in most of the cultures of which we have any knowledge, women are considered to be a sort of lower being, a creature human enough , but not quite so human as the male; certainly not as wise, nor as intelligent; and lacking in most of the capacities and abilities with which the male is so plentifully endowed? (1953: 27).

Patriarchal society has given a streotype that women are the second sex. They are controlled under a system which gives them less opportunities rather

than men to develop themselves in the society. Women’s freedom is limited

because of the gender system in patriarchal society.

Instead of being openly coerced into accepting their secondary status, women were conditioned into embracing it by the process of sex-role streotyping. From early childhood, women were trained to accept a system which divided society into male and female spheres, with appropriate roles for each,a nd which allocated public power exclusively to the male sphere (Eisenstein, 1983: 6).

There are also mixed concepts between sex and gender which keep women have lower position than men in social life. Some researchers has demonstrated that biological sex and social gender are separable concepts. As Eisenstein further explains the difference between sex and gender:

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Sex meant the bilogical sex of a child−was it born anatomically a male or a

female member of the human species? Gender was the culturally and socially shaped cluster of expectations, attributes, and behaviors assigned to that category of human being by the society into which the child was born (1983: 7).

Because of this gender streotype, women undergo social injustice that they do not have equal opportunity in social life. Society holds the false belief that women are, by nature, less intellectually and physically capable than men, it tends to discriminate against women.

They make movement called as feminism. This movement splits into three

time periods or called as ‘waves’ and have different aims. The first-wave

feminism starts in the 19th and early 20th century. The goal of this wave is to open up opportunities for women, with a focus on suffrage. The second-wave starts in 1960s until 1980s. In this phase, sexuality and reproductive rights are dominant issues, and much of the movement's energy was focused on passing the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing social equality regardless of sex.The third-wave starts in the 1990s until 2000s and it is informed by post-colonial and post-modern thinking(pacific.edu, August 9, 2016). Overall, all feminism waves concerns to change the social structure to make it less oppressive to women. Some feminists declare that their goal is to understand women’s oppression in term race, gender, class, sexual preference and how to alter it.

Feminism means that we seek for women the same opportunities and privileges the society gives to men, or . . . that we assert the distinctive value of womanhood against patriarchal denigration. While these positions need not to be mutually exclusive, there is strong tendency . . . to make them so (Evans, 1995: 2).

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Therefore, the basic goal of feminism is the liberation of women. As Humm states in her book that the liberation of women is the chief goal of feminist theory.

Contemporary women’s liberation or feminist action, is consciously

revolutionary. It breaks with reformism; it is internationalist and it simultaneously attacks the state, cultural ideology and the economy (1995: 151).

3. Theory of Radical Feminism

Radical feminism arises in the second-wave feminism. The second-wave starts in 1960s until 1980s. In this phase, sexuality and reproductive rights are dominant issues, and much of the movement's energy was focused on passing the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing social equality regardless of sex (pacific.edu, August 9, 2016). Unlike other feminists who perceive themselves as reformers, radical feminists perceive themselves as the revolutionaries rather than reformers.

Unlike reformist feminists, who joined fundamentally mainstream women’s

rights groups, these revolutionary feminists did not become

interested in women’s issues as a result of working for government agencies,

being appointed to commissions on the status of women, or joining women’s educational or professional groups. Instead, their desire to improve women’s

condition emerged in the context of their participation in radical social movements, such as the civil-rights and anti–Vietnam War movements (Tong, 2009: 48).

In its early movement in 1960s and 1970s, the radical feminists’ goal is to address oppression towards women in patriarchy society.Radical feminism pays attention to women's oppression as women in a social order dominated by men. According to this approach, the distinguishing character of women's oppression is their oppression as women, not as members of other groups such as their social

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class. Therefore, the explanation for women's oppression is seen lying in sexual oppression. Women are oppressed because of their sex.

Early radicalism is gender difference school in that it sees both male and female character as marred by society: by patriarchy and by capitalism; by

‘the system’, as would probably have been said then. But the sexes had been

harmed in separate ways, and women the more. In contrast to other feminist analysts, early radicals were, though less than their successor, concerned to point the finger of blame at men; it may be that the notion of patriarchy entails this, though it would depend on how its regime was thought to have begun (Evans, 1995: 64).

It is clearly stated that radical feminists think that the root of oppressions

toward women is men’s dominance. Radical feminists aim to break the rigid

gender roles that society has imposed to free both men and women. As Humm continues that they sometimes believe that they must rage a war against patriarchal society and the gender system. Radical feminists focus on the roots of male domination and claim that all forms of oppression are extensions of male supremacy (Humm, 1994: 183). In the movement to pursue women equality, there comes two different perspectives. The radical feminism then splits into two areas. a. Radical Libertarian Feminism

According to Rosemarie Putnam Tong, radical libertarian feminists think that people, men or women should explore both feminine and masculine sides of themselves. Every woman should have a sexual experiment whether with herself, with other men, or with other women. Moreover, there are four basic ideas of radical libertarian feminism noted by Tong in Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction Third Edition. The first idea is being androgynous. The term androgny itself means:

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Androgyny, an ancient Greek word−from andro (male) and gyn (female)− . . . seeks to liberate the individual from the confines of the appropriate. . . . [It] suggests . . . a full range of experience open to individuals who may, as women, be aggressive, as men, tender; it suggests a spectrum upon which human beings choose their places without regard to propriety or custom (Eisenstein, 1995: 60).

Based on the quotation above, being androgyny means having the good characteristics of male and female. By being androgyny, a wowan has extricated hersef from rigid gender system. Radical libertarians claim that an exclusively

feminine gender identity is likely to limit women’s development as full human

persons. Thus, they encouraged women to become androgynous persons, that is, persons who embody both (good) masculine and (good) feminine characteristics or, more controversially, any potpourri of masculine and feminine characteristics, good or bad, that strikes their fancy (Tong, 2009: 50).

The second one is allowing lesbianism. Radical libertarian feminists argue

that heterosexuality is a form of women’s oppression where there is a tendecy

women are positioned lower than men. They become the pioneer of lesbian media of women. Lesbian theorists argued that lesbianism is much more matter than a

matter of sexual preference. As Eisenstein writes based on radicalesbians’

argument:

She is the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion. She is the woman who, often beginning at an extremely early age, acts in accordance with her society . . . cares to allow her . . . . She may not be fully concious of the political implications of what for her began as personal neccessity, but on some levels she has not been able to accept the limitations and

oppressions laid on her by the most basic role of her society−the female role

(1983: 51).

Further, according to Eisenstein the term lesbian defines someone who has withdrawn herself from the conventional definitions of feminity. She has refused

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to buy into the limitations and restrictions placed upon her by the social

expectations of acting like a “true woman” (1983: 51). Radical libertarians argue

that since a woman does not need a male body to achieve sexual pleasure, she does not have to engage in sexual relations with a man unless she wants to. Therefore, they suggest lesbian as another sexual preference for women to express themselves.

If a woman wants to be a true feminist, she must become a lesbian. She

must do what comes “naturally,” thereby freeing her own consciousness

from the false idea that she is deviant, abnormal, sick, crazy, or bad because she enjoys sex with women, not with men. (Tong, 2009: 71-72).

The radical feminists think that lesbian is the only way of a woman to find her whole self in a relationship. They hope by being lesbian they can cultivate the treasures of their femininity and find self-realization within herself. There are also two types of lesbian which are the ‘masculine’ and the ‘feminine’ which is often

being called as the ‘butch’ and the ‘femme’. The butch is a woman who adopts

what will be considered masculine characteristics while the femme is a feminine lesbian.

The third concept is believing that women should substitute artiﬁcial for natural modes of reproduction. The radical libertarian feminists perceive reproduction as women's main weakness. They are against biological motherhood and believe that femininity and reproduction limit women's capacity to contribute to society as they argue that the root of all female oppression lies in women's ability to bare children. As we shall see, radical libertarian feminists are convinced the less women are involved in reproduction, the more time and energy women will have to engage in society’s productive processes

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(Tong, 2009: 74). Another view comes from Evan’s book quoting Firestone about

women’s maternal life. Therefore women must rebel; women must control

fertility. Women must own their own bodies and new technology. And women must control childbearing and rearing (Evans, 1995: 68).

Maternal life, as we can see, can limit women roles in the society. They are bounded with the obligation to raise children in which spend most of her life.

The claims of reproduction, too, have kept women from the productive sphere, and so from the road to freedom. It is not childbearing as such that necessitates this, but the whole structure built on and resting upon it, of reproduction, sexuality, and the socialization of children (Evans, 1995: 73). The fourth idea is supporting pornography. Pornography is defined sexual material depicting and encouraging violent and coercive sexual degradation (Humm, 19995: 212). Therefore pornography is socially regarded as an act

againsts society’s norm and moral. According to Tong in her book, the radical

libertarian feminists urged women to use pornography to overcome their fears about sex,to arouse sexual desires, and to generate sexual fantasies. These feminists claimed that women should feel free to view and enjoy all sorts of pornography, including violent pornography (2009: 68). They views

pornogography as women’s freedom to pursue sexual pleasure without any

limitation. Women should be free to enjoy all kinds of pornography whether involving themselves or not. Maggie Humm also states that pornograpphy expresses and reproduces the hierarchical difference between masculine and feminine which is part of culture (1995: 212). By this means, some feminists

agree that pornography should not considered as women’s sexual objectification instead women’s freedom to experience any sexual actvitiy. These feminists argue

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that a true feminist should not limit herself to a certain sexual encounters. Further, she notes that feminists theory takes the view that pornography does not, in fact, violate the norms of heterosexuality but operates to sustain them (1995: 212).

b. Radical Cultural Feminism

Radical cultural feminists believe that women are better than men. They differ from radical libertarians who raise the idea of being androgynous, these radical-cultural feminists express the view that it is better to be female/feminine than it is to be male/masculine. Thus, women should not try to be like men instead they should try to be more like women by emphasizing women values.Radical cultural feminists argue that femininity is better than masculinity. Women should pursue gender equality with feminity and sexual relation must relate with emotions not just pleasure.

She rejected the pluralist model of androgyny, according of women and men have separate but supposedly equal and complementary traits, and the assimilation model of androgyny, according to which women and men exhibit feminine as well as maculine traits. As she saw it, both of these models of androgyny were deficient because neither of them asked whether the concepts of masculinity and feminity are worth preserving (2009: 59). Besides, they view pornography as women’s sexual abuse where women are

put as the object of men’s sexual pleasure. Pornography basicly leads to sexual

harassment which ables men to opress women. Radical cultural feminists reject all forms of pornography and prostitution because it is only connected with pleasure

and makes women as men’s sexual fulfillment (Tong, 1998: 97-104).

The difference of radical cultural feminism with radical libertarian feminism is also located on reproduction system. While radical libertarian feminists think of

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reproduction control towards women and supporting abortion, the radical cultural feminists states that women's oppression is not caused by female biology and reproductive possibilities but rather by men's jealousy of women's reproductive abilities. That is why the radical cultural feminists reject reproduction control

towards women because it is linked as men’s control through woman’s natural

ability.

C. Theoretical Framework

There are three theories which are used to analyze Ladders to Fire. Those are theory of character and characterization, theory of feminism, and theory of radical feminism. Firstly, by using the theory of character and characterization,

the writer analyzes the women’s characteristics in the novel which are revealed

through the dialogue and author’s descriptions. There are many women characters

in Nin’s Ladders to Fire, yet the writer’s concern is only on the three women

characters who are Lillian and Djuna since they are the main characters in the novel. Their actions, dialogues, thought, and experiences are examined in order to get deeper understanding of the characters, which is related to the concept of radical libertarian feminism.

Secondly, the theory of feminism is used to answer the second questionabout how Lillian and Djuna’s characteristics reflect the ideas of radical

libertarian feminism. Since the theory of feminism is various, the writer’s focus is

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The radical libertarians encourage women to explore both feminine side and masculine side of themselves. They also concern women’s freedom in all life aspects including sexual preference in social life. The ideas of radical libertarian feminism can be seen in Ladders to Fire through how the women characters break the old custom of patriarchal society and let women have such freedom to fulfil

their passion and sexual preferences. The relation between women’s

characteristics and their struggle shows that they reflect the idea of feminism, particularly radical libertarian feminism.

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

Ladders to Fire is a novel by Anais Nin, an American author, which consists of 190 pages. She was born on February 21 1903 to Cuban parents in France. Nin spent her time in Spain and Cuba but lived most of her life in the United States where she became an author. As an author, Nin wrote many journals and books. She was better known as a person who recorded everything in her diaries and regarded as one of finest erotic literature writers. For Anais Nin, her writing and her life were not separable, they were both part of the same experience. She

claimed that “it is the fiction writer who edited the diary” (ohioswallow.com, June

28, 2016). Ladders to Fire was published in 1946 by Swallow Press in New York. This is the first volume of the series Cities of the Interior, the other four novels of the series are Children of the Albatross (1947), The Four-Chambered Heart (1950), A Spy in the House of Love (1954), and Seduction of the Minotaur (1961). Ladders to Fire reveals the struggle of two women named Lillian and Djuna to reach their true happiness and pursue their passions by having freedom in their sexual preference. The author of this novel, Anais Nin, expressed herself through the women characters. In her life, Nin was well known as an erotica writer who bravely wrote about sexual life. At that time, she could liberate herself from

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Nin’s works generally tell a story about how women fight toward sexism in that era. The explosion of the feminist movement in 1960s gave feminist

perspectives on Nin’s works. She had a special appeal to feminists yet Nin

disassociated herself from the political movement at the moment. Noel Riley

Fitch, the author of Nin’s biography book, noted that Nin’s works has changed

many women in the world and gives different perspectives about women’s roles in the society. “She would talk in very Lawrencian language about following your

own desires and needs, living freely,” Fitch said. “Women still adore her. They say she changed their lives.” (news.usc.edu,August 9, 2016). Moreover, Fitch also

quoted a statement toward Nin’s works from Kate Millet, the author of Sexual

Politics, “the first real portrait of the artists as a woman.”

Ladders to Fire is one of Anais Nin’s novels which has different attitude

about women’s sexual life in that era. This novel becomes the representation of how women fight toward sexism in the society. In this first volume of the series of Cities of the Interior, Nin introduces all the characters who are Lilian, Djuna, Helen, Sabina and Jay, the male character. As Gunther Stuhlmann also states in the foreword of Ladders to Fire that all characters are presented fully in the first volume, Ladders to Fire. They are developed later in the succeeding volumes. As each book came out, however, it was received as if it were an independent novel (Nin, 1946: ix).

Ladders to Fire is divided into two parts, the first part is This Hunger and continued with Bread and the Wafer. There are two main characters who are Lillian and Djuna who struggle to pursue their passion and natural desire. They

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fight over old custom where bisexualism and lesbianism are still considered taboo. Lillian is a woman who is very adventurous in her love life. She has several

relationship with men and once builds a marriage but it does not work. Lillian’s

sexual interest is not only towards men, but also women. They are Djuna, Helen, and Sabina whom Lillian is attracted to. As they also have interest with woman, they share affection and passion with Lillian. These four women then try to reach their own happiness by pursuing their natural desire and freedom. With their effort, they make that it is not impossible to have sexual attraction both in male and female. They show that human, specifically woman, should be free to

experiment their sexual interests without being limited by society’s assumption.

B. Approach of the Study

In conducting the analysis towardLadders to Fire, the writer uses Feminist Literary Criticism approach since this research focuses on the struggle of the

women characters to break patriarchy’s gender stereotype. Maggie Humm states

that feminist literary criticism rejects traditional standards of criticism and of literary history. Feminists use literary criticism to help them deconstruct the politics of patriarchy as it is represented in language (1995: 153). According to the previous statements, it can be concluded that feminist literary criticism concerns on how women struggle to pursue and criticize gender issue through literature. Moreover, Humm also states that the first and major achievement of feminist criticism was thus to highlight gender streotyping as an important feature of literary form (1995: 8). By this statement, the basic goal of feminist literary

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criticism is to reform gender streotyping which put women lower and more marginalized in patriarchal society.

The writer chooses this approach to analyze the ideas of radical libertarian feminism as reflected in Ladders to Fire. There are two main characters in the novel named Lillian and Djuna who have similar sexual preference and use it as the freedom to pursue their passion. Their struggle becomes the reflection of

feminism, specifically radical libertarian feminism, which fight over patriarchy’s

gender streotyping.

C. Method of the Study

In this study, the writer used library research as the method to gather the data and theories. Library research is defined as the systematic study and investigation of some aspect of library and information science where conclusion are based on the analysis of data collected in accordance with pre-established research designs and methodologies (hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca, August 9, 2016). This is the most relevant method to conduct this study since it concerns on the document sources. The primary source is the novel entitled Ladders to Fire with foreword by Gunther Stuhlmann by Anais Nin. Secondary sources are used to support this study which are collected through jurnals, books and dictionaries. There are also web-based sources to gather all the supporting information in this study.

To study the primary source, there were some steps applied. The novel was read firstly to get whole understanding about the contents and other aspects within the novel. After deciding to analyze feminism as reflected through the women

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characters in the novel, the writer focused on the major characters only who are Lillian and Djuna. Their characteristics in the novel were analyzed using the theory of character and characterization. After studying their characteristics, the writer then related their characteristics with feminism theory, specifically radical libertarian feminism. Finally, the conclusion of this study was drawn after passing through all the steps.

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28 CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

A. The Descriptions of Lillian and Djuna

Based on the two problem formulations discussed in the chapter one, this part of the study aims to answer those formulated questions. The analysis is divided into two subchapters. The first subchapter aims to answer the descriptions of Lillian and Djuna as the main characters. It consists of the general description of Lillian and Djuna, specifically their relationship with other men and women. The second part contains the reflection of radical libertarian feminism ideas on Lillian and Djuna’s characteristics.

1. Lillian

In Ladders to Fire, Lillian is one of the major characters besides Djuna. She is presented as a powerful woman. Her powerful characteristic is mostly shown through her relationships with several men named Gerard and Jay. Lillian is the woman who plays men’s roles on her relationships by being more responsible and initiative. She works outside to supply her lovers’ daily needs and makes decision firstly. She also becomes the one handling her relationships with no men’s interference.

Having passive men counterparts makes Lillian passionate about her desire to have an equal life companion. Hence, she becomes adventurous in her love life by building relationship with several men and women. She has no fear to pursue her passion and desire. Lillian once builds marriage with a man named Larry and

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has two children. Yet she is not happy and feels lost in her own family and house. Thus she leaves her family and continues her adventurous love story.

Besides having relationships with men, Lillian also builds relationships with women. She is depicted as a bisexual woman who is very adventurous with her love life. There are several women becoming Lillian’s affairs named Djuna, Helen, and Sabina. Djuna is firstly presented as Lillian’s besfriend who is developed later becoming one of Lillian’s lovers. They build a relationship because of the equal power in between. Lillian and Djuna share equal affection and support each other with no one side dominancy.

As a woman, Lillian is very attractive. She owns the charm which can make her surroundings admires her beauty and personality. One of the women who is attracted with Lillian’s personality is Helen. In Ladders to Fire, Helen is firstly presented as one of Jay’s affairs who later also becoming Lillian’s affair. She is married and has two children, yet Helen decides to leave her family because she wants to pursue her passion of living in freedom. Both Lillian and Helen admire each other for being very passionate of their dreams. The mutual attraction of being courage and passionate between them can successfully build a relationship.

Another woman who is attracted with Lillian’s charm named Sabina. As well as Helen who is firsly presented as one of Jay’s lovers, so does Sabina. When Lillian finds out that Jay has an affair with Sabina, she feels attracted with Sabina instead. In the novel, Sabina is characterized as an artist who is attractive and has mysterious personal life. Hence, Lillian is curios to know what lies behind Sabina’s mysterious characteristic. Both of them turn out having mutual

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attraction. Sabina is also attracted with Lillian’s personality and power. Lillian and Sabina admit hating and regard men as an obstacle in women’s freedom. a. Lillian’s Characteristics as Seen from Her Relationship with Men

Lillian’s powerful characteristic is obviously shown in her relationships with men. The word powerful is defined as the ability to control or influence people or things. Lillian is often positioned both as a husband and a mother by her lovers. In her relationship with a man named Gerard, Lillian is the one who takes initiative and makes decision. Gerard is presented as a passive man who always hands over his will to Lillian.

She fell in love with an extinct volcano. Her strength and fire were aroused. Her strength flowed around his stillness, encircled his silence, encompassed his quiteness (1995:7).

The moment she sat near him he recaptured his quality of a mirage: paleness, otherworldliness, obliqueness. He appropriated woman’s armor and defences, and she took the man’s. (1995: 8).

Lillian realizes that Gerard always becomes dependent and can not fulfill her need of an equal life companion. Thus she ends her relationship. To preserve this fatal secret: you, Lillian, are too strong; you, Gerard, are not strong enough (which would destroy them), Gerard (like a woman) wove false pretexts. The false pretext did not deceive Lillian (1995: 12).

It significantly shows the fact that Lillian is the superior of her relationship. Besides, Lillian also has a relationship with a man named Jay, a bohemian artist. As an artist, Jay does not want any obligation in their relationship such as working to supply their daily needs. Jay admits that he will not work because he can not bear repetition and the atmosphere in the office or the regular hours. Therefore

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Lillian works outside and takes care of everything in her house because Jay is a powerless companion. As a woman, Lillian fulfills every man’s desire. It is reflected in the quotation below:

His helpness made him the ‘homme fatal’for such a woman. His hunger for anything metamorphosed her into an Aladdin’s lamp: even his dreams must be fulfilled (1995: 65-66).

Jay is very helpness and has no contribution in their relationship. He is like a beggar begging for a mercy from Lillian and Lillian fulfills it. Jay gives Lillian the savor of the present, and let her take care for the morrow as shown in the following descriptions:

Nothing could prevent her from feeling that she was not Juliet waiting on the balcony, but Romeo who had to leap across space to join her. She had leaped, she had acted Romeo, and when woman leaped she leaped into a void (1995: 55).

She was his confessor and his companion, his collaborator and his guardian angel. At this moment he treated her as if she were a man (or the mother) (1995: 69).

Once again she had worn the warrior armor to protect a core of love. Once again she had worn the man’s costume. Jay had not made her a woman, but the husband and mother of his weakness (1995: 87).

From the descriptions above, Lillian obviously shows her powerful characteristic. Through her actions of taking men roles in her relationships, it shows that Lillian can not passively wait for her lovers to handle the relationships. She has no fear to show her power and becomes the one whose more responsibility rather than men.

Besides being characterized as a powerful woman, Lillian is also passionate about her dreams and desire. She craves for a life companion whose equal power with her. When her desire can not be fulfilled, she will continue her adventurous

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life to pursue it. Once, Lillian is married with a man named Larry and has two children. They live in a beautiful house which is filled with Lillian’s decorations yet the house does not seem to belong to Lillian. The house is built for peace and harmony, like other houses, yet it does not suit Lillian’s personality and passion. She always feels like a stranger in it because she has not been able to show her own character which is adventurous. In her marriage, Lillian is obligated to take care of her family and play role as a good mother and wife. She feels trapped and anxious about her life and nature as a woman. Lillian knows that marriage and maternal life do not seem suit her personality. Hence, Lillian decides to leave her family to pursue her desire.

The care Lillian spent in the house, on her husband and children came from some part of her being that was not the deepest Lillian. Who had made the marriage? Who had desired the children? Lillian had made all this and lived in it, but it had not been made out of the deeper elements of her nature, and she was a stranger in it (1995: 24).

Lillian’s adventurous life is also supported by her attractive personality. She owns the charm which can attract her surroundings. In her relationships Lillian always becomes the one who both builds and ends it. She attracts her lovers by using her charms, femininity, and power. Djuna, one of Lillian’s affairs, once says that Lillian is a femme fatale woman who can easily move from one circumstance to another and attract men by an aura of charm. Lillian’s attractiveness is also shown from Jay’s impression toward her. At the first time they meet, Jay knows that Lillian is a powerful woman who is very passionate about her dreams and freedom, he is not only impressed but also attracted to Lillian’s personality:

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From the very first Jay hated her, hated her as Don Juan hated Dona Juana, as the free man hates the free woman, as man hates in woman this freedom in passion which he grants solely to himself. Hated her because he knew instinctively that she regarded him as he regarded woman: as a possible or impossible lover (1995: 128).

By the quotation above, it is clearly stated that Lillian owns attractive personality which can impress Jay. Besides, Lillian’s description about her attractive characteristic is also noted when she cooks and enters kitchen. Lillian is described as someone who always becomes the central of her surroundings. When she starts to cook, the entire kitchen is mesmerized as if she puts a spell in it. Lillian’s charm and power are reflected even in her cooking as mentioned in the quotation below:

When she cooked, the entire kitchen was galvanized by the strength she put into it, the dishes, pans, knives, everything bore the burnt of her strength, everything was violently mashalled, challenged, forced to bloom, to cook, to boil. The vegetables were peeled as if the skins were torn from their resisting flesh, as if they were the fur of animals being peeled by the hunters (1995: 4).

b. Lillian’s Characteristics as Seen from Her Relatioship with Women Lillian is described as a bisexual woman who has sexual interests towards men and women. Hemings states that bisexuality as a sexual preference in which women should explore within themselves.

Those of us who consider ourselves feminist are excited about the possibilities of a bisexuality informed by the understanding that sex and gender are classifications by which women are oppressed and restricted. We see bisexuality calling into question many of the fundamental assumptions of our culture: the duality of gender; the necessity of bipolar relationships [. . . and] the demand for either/or sexualities (2002: 17).

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Based on the quotation above, having sexual interests toward men and women has become one of women’s freedom. Women who have courage to consider themselves as bisexual are no longer submissive towards old customs.

In Ladders to Fire, Lillian builds relationship with several men who are Gerard, Larry, and Jay yet it can not satisfy her hunger for such love and affection. She falls in love with them yet she will feel empty in her relationships, therefore she also adventures her sexual life with women named Djuna, Helen, and Sabina. In her courtship with Djuna, Lillian feels a complete affection from Djuna. Djuna plays important role in Lillian’s life because Lillian’s desire and needs are fulfilled through Djuna’s affection.

But it was Lillian who was drowning, and it was Djuna who was able always at the last moment to save her, and in her moment of danger, Lillian knew only one thing: that she must possess Djuna. It was as if someone had proclaimed: I need oxygen, and therefore I will lock some oxygen in my room and live on it. So Lillian began her courtship (1995: 41-42).

The quotation above concludes that Lillian wants Djuna to be her lover. Lillian feels equal power in her relationship with Djuna because they encourage each other. It is shown in the following quotation: They exchanged jewels, clothes, books, they protected each other, they expressed concern, jealously, possessiveness. They talked. The relationship was the central, essential personage of this dream without pain (1995: 21).

Later, when Lillian finds out that Jay has an affair with a woman named Helen, she is also attracted with Helen. Lillian’s attraction toward Hellen is not an attraction of friendship or sisterhood, but a sexual attraction.

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She gave Hellen such faith as lovers give. She gave to the friendship an atmosphere of courtship which accomplished the same miracle as love. On a magnificent day of sun and warmth Lillian said to her: “If I were a man, I would make love to you.” (1995: 83-84).

Lillian then ends her relationship with Helen since she starts to feel like a hostage and it traps her. She meets and falls in love again with a woman named Sabina, one of Jay’s affairs. Lillian admires Sabina’s body and feels her passion and her soul in Sabina’s. It is shown in the quotations below:

Lillian wanted to reach out to her, into these violet shadows. She saw that Sabina wanted to be she as much as she wanted to be Sabina. They both wanted to exchange bodies, exchange faces. There was in both of them the dark strain of wanting to become the other, to deny what they were, to trascend their actual selves. Sabina desiring Lillian’s newness, and Lillian desiring Sabina’s deeply marked body (1995: 145).

Lillian saw her for the first time the woman she had always wanted to know. She saw Sabina’s eyes burning, heard her voice so rusty, and immediately felt drowned in her beauty. She wanted to say: I recognize you. I have often imagined a woman like you (1995: 125)

Furthermore, Lillian is also presented as an attractive woman. Attractive characteritsic as defined by Huffman is having the physical properties – size, shape, facial characteristics, and manner of dress – will attract other people’s preference toward someone (2000: 594). Lillian owns those criterias which make her attractive and can impress not only men but also women. Djuna, as a woman, is also attracted to Lillian for her beauty and sensual appearance. Djuna feels amazed by Lillian’s beauty and admires it. She always compliments the way Lillian behaves. As one of Djuna’s admiration toward Lillian is noted in the following description: she looked like a white negrees, a body made for rolling in natural undulations of pleasure and desire. Her vivid face, her avid mouth, her provocative, teasing glances proclaimed sensuality (1995: 44).

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Another admiration toward Lillian comes from Sabina. Sabina admires Lillian’s soul and beauty. Lillian’s attraction drew Sabina’s attention for Lillian has nice and pleasant appearance. Hence, when both Lillian and Sabina finally build the relationship in between, Sabina feels deeper admiration towards Lillian. Sabina looked at the whiteness of Lillian’s body as into a mirror and saw herself as a girl, standing at the beginning of her life unblurred, unmarked. “How soft you are, how soft you are,” said Sabina (1995: 146).

2. Djuna

Another main character in Ladders to Fire is Djuna. Djuna is described as an androgynous woman. Androgynous has been defined as a blance personality of having feminine and masculine chracteristics. Many feminist philosophers claim that androgynous personalities are holistic and have a capacity to experience the full range of human emotions (Humm, 1995: 10). In the novel, Djuna is delineated having masculine and feminine characteristics within herself.

Her masculinity is shown through her independence and self-governed characteristics. She is also courageous to pursue her own nature and desire with no obstacle from her surroundings. Her bad childhood memories of being abandoned by her father and being put into an orphan assylum have created independent characteristic to depend on no one but herself. She does not want to be limited to pursue her desire, therefore she avoids maternal and marriage life. On the other side, Djuna owns the quality of feminine characteristic which is shown through her generousity toward her surroundings, as ones of them are

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relationships with men, Lillian has become powerful and responsible because of her passive male partners. Besides, Lillian also has charms and feminine side within herself which can attract her surooundings. Both Lillian and Djuna develop their characteristics and combine the masculine and feminine side by breaking the patriarchal society’s assumption.

From the review above, it can be concluded that the women characters in Ladders to Fire reflect the ideas of radical libertarian feminism. Through their characteristics and courage, it can be concluded that such limitation and old-assumptions in patriarchal society can not limit someone’s freedom, specifically women. The two women characters, Lillian and Djuna, can liberate themselves from gender streotypes which put women as inferior.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. New York: Holt, Reinhart & Winston Inc, 1993.

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. New York: Vintage, 1989.

Eisenstein, Hester. Contemporary Feminist Thought. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1983.

Evans, Judith. Feminist Theory Today: An Introduction to Second-Wave Feminism. London: Sage Publications, 1995.

Freeman, Jo. Women: A Feminist Perspective. 3rd ed. Michigan: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1975.

Henkle, Roger B. Reading the Novel: An Introduction to the Techniques of Interpreting Novel. Michigan: Harper & Row, 1995.

Huffman, Karen, mark Vernoy, and Judith Vernoy. Psychology in Action. New York: John Willey and sons Inc., 2000.

Humm, Maggie. A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Criticism. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1994.

Humm, Maggie. The Dictionary of Feminist Theory Second Edition.New York: Ohio State University Press, Inc., 1995.

Montagu, Ashley. The Natural Superiority of Women. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1953.

Murphy, M.J. Understanding Unseens. London: George Allen and Unwin Limited, 1986.

Nin, Anais. Ladders to Fire wih foreword by Gunther Stuhlmann. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1995.

Stanton, Robert. An Introduction to Fiction. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Inc., 1965

Tong, Rosemarie Putnam. Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive IntroductionThird Edition. Colorado: WestView Press, 2009.

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Wellek, Rene and Austin Warren. Theory of Literature (3rd Ed). New York: A Harvest Book Harcout, Brace and World, Inc., 1956.

Widjanarko, Lusi Maria. “Radical Libertarian Feminism as Seen in the Main Characters of Anais Nin’s Henry and June.” Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.

Widiastuti, Ika Dewi. “Nin’s Motivation to Establish Relationship with Henry and June in Anais Nin’s Henry and June.”Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.

Internet Sources:

Franklin V, Benjamin. Introduction: Ladders to Fire.Swallow Press, Ohio

University Press. n.d.

(http://www.ohioswallow.com/extras/9780804011556_introduction.pdf).

September 14, 2015

Rampton, Martha. Four Waves of Feminism. Pacific University Oregon. October 25, 2015. (http://www.pacificu.edu/about-us/news-events/four-waves-feminism). July 29, 2016.

Tucker, Carol. The Truth about Anais Nin. USC News, University of Southern California. October 25, 1993. (

http://news.usc.edu/9040/THE-TRUTH-ABOUT-ANAIS-NIN/). August 9, 2016.

“Research Methods”. HLWIKI International. December 2, 2014.

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57 APPENDIX

Ladders to Fire tells a story of how women struggle to pursue their passion and desire. There are two women characters named Lillian and Djuna who become the main characters. This novel is divided into two parts, This Hunger and Bread and Water.

The story begins with Lillian’s habit of coming home, feeling emotional and lost because of her unfulfilled desire in social relations. She is a very passionate

woman who is being trapped in patriarchal society’s rules. The anxietyof pursuing her passionand desire against society’s objection haunts her life mostly.Lillian dreams of an equal life companion in her life whose great power. One day, she meets a man who once appears in her dream named Gerard. They build the relationship for the mutual attraction in between. Yet, Lillian finds out that Gerard is not her equal partner since Gerard is passive and it bores her. Her desire for an active life companion cannot be truly fulfilled in Gerard’s characteristic therefore she decides to end it.

Later, Lillian meets a woman whom she is attracted to, named Djuna. She feels the equal power in Djuna’s personality. They build the relationship in between and complete each other’s soul. It is a relationship between two women who share equal power, speed, and fervor. Lillian tells her whole life including the anxiety which haunts her mostly and Djuna shelters Lillian warmly.

Lillian then marries a man named Larry and has two children. Her marriage goes stable with no great obstacle. Yet Lillian feels trapped in her family because she cannot pursue her desire and be herself. She feels lost in her won house and

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family. Lillian knows that such harmony and peaceful life do not suit her adventurous personality. Her rolesof taking care the children and the house are replaced with Nanny, a maid in the family. Later, Lillian’s urge of living in freedom encourages her to leave her family and ask for divorce.

After divorced with Larry, Lillian lives in a small apartment by herself. Her relationship with Djuna grows stronger than before. They admire each other’s personality. As Lillian’s story life goes on, she meets a painter named Jay whom she is attracted to. They build the relationship and live in Lillian’s apartment. Jay

enters Lillian’s life like a beggar who begs for a mercy from her and Lillian fulfills

it. Jay is powerless and becomes a homme fatale for Lillian’s powerful characteristic. Lillian works outside and earns money to fulfill their needs while Jay only waits quietly at the house.

Jay then has an affair with several women as one of them named Helen. Lillian knows it and finds out who Helen is. At the first meeting with Helen, Lillian is attracted to Helen. She no longer feels the anger within herself instead falls in love

with Helen. They share their story life and Helen’s decision of leaving her family to pursue her desire successfully amazes Lillian. As the relationship goes on,

Helen’s need of Lillian grows immense and it traps Lillian. Therefore, she decides

to end the relationship.

The second part of this novel is Bread and Water. This part contains Lillian

and Jay’s relationship which grows complex for Jay’s attraction towards Djuna.

One day, Jay comes to Djuna and tells his marriage which becomes Lillian’s control. Djuna comforts Jay with her feminine side and listens to his story. Both Jay

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and Lillian admire Djuna’s personality and consoling soul. Yet.Djuna is only attracted with woman therefore only Lillian completes her life. Jay continues his affair with another woman named Sabina, a well-known mysterious woman among

the society. Again, Lillian finds out Jay’s affair by herself. She meets Sabina in a

coffee shop and is attracted with Sabina’s attractive characteristic. Lillian can feel

Jay’s attraction towards Sabina. After having long conversation about Jay, Lillian

and Sabina are attracted to each other. They build the relationship and share affection in between. Again, Lillian feels an equal power in a homogenous relationship. No one side dominancy because they complete each other. Yet, the

relationship does not work since Sabina’s mysterious characteristic transforms into

manipulative.

Lillian knows then that only Djuna who can fulfill her desire completely. She also knows, however, that she needs Jay in her life. Both Jay and Lillian fix the relationship and make it lasts.

The ideas of radical libertarian feminism as reflected in the main characters of Anais Nin`s Ladders to Fire.

THE IDEAS OF RADICAL LIBERTARIAN FEMINISM AS

REFLECTED IN THE MAIN

CHARACTERS OF ANAIS NIN’S

LADDERS TO FIRE

THE IDEAS OF RADICAL LIBERTARIAN FEMINISM AS

REFLECTED IN THE MAIN

CHARACTERS OF ANAIS NIN’S

LADDERS TO FIRE

124214032

And the day came when the ri

sk

it took to stay tight inside

the bud was more painful than

the risk it took to blossom.

I dedicate this work

for my parents, Ibu

and Bapak, for their

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