THE OPPRESSION TOWARD MEN AND WOMEN IN PATRIARCHAL CULTURE AS SEEN THROUGH THE CHARACTERS IN MARIA IRENE FORNES’

  THE OPPRESSION TOWARD MEN AND WOMEN IN PATRIARCHAL CULTURE AS SEEN THROUGH THE CHARACTERS IN MARIA IRENE FORNES’ THE CONDUCT OF LIFE AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

  Student Number: 074214034

  

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SRI RUTH MEILINA SIANTURI

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

  THE OPPRESSION TOWARD MEN AND WOMEN IN PATRIARCHAL CULTURE AS SEEN THROUGH THE CHARACTERS IN MARIA IRENE FORNES’ THE CONDUCT OF LIFE AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

  Student Number: 074214034

  

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

SRI RUTH MEILINA SIANTURI

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011

  

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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  

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I will praise thee;

for I am fearfully and wonderfully

made:

marvelous are thy works;

and that my soul knoweth right well.

  

(Psalm 39:14, KJV)

 

 

  

LIFE is HARD!

TRY MORE,

PRAY MORE.

  (a sticker on a motorcycle)

  

 

 

Jesus to me:

You are worth more than you’ve ever thought. . .

  (Iyut)

  

 

 

 

 

  

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For My Greatest and Beloved Parents,

  Pangihutan  Sianturi and Ruslan Situmorang 

    My Irreplaceable Sisters and Brother,

   Sianturi, Martha Sianturi,   Masniary

  Maria  Carolin Sianturi and Syawal Albert Daniel Sianturi   

  My Accidental Siblings,

  Youth  and Teen Fellowship of Hagios Family   

  My Lovely ‘Begundalz’,

  All  mates of ‘Sastra’ 

    and My Partner in the Future. . .

  =) PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

LEMBAR PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH

UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Sri Ruth Meilina Sianturi

  NIM : 074214034 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

  

The Oppression toward Men and Women in Patriarchal Culture as Seen

through the Characters in Maria Irene Fornes’ The Conduct of Life

  beserta perangkat yang diperlukan. Dengan demikian, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media yang lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta izin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

  Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal 25 November 2011 Yang menyatakan, Sri Ruth Meilina Sianturi PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Above all, my primary and greatest gratitude goes to Jesus Christ as my Almighty God, my Deliverer, my Comforter, my Best Pal and my Romantic Man.

  I give thanks for the moon, the night sky, the dusk, the rainbow, the rain and the endlessly passionate love and blessing that You always give every second in my life, no matter how often I forget to be thankful for my precious life. You are definitely awesome, Lord!

  I dedicate my thesis to my beloved parents, Pangihutan Sianturi and

  

Ruslan Situmorang; Maria Carolin Sianturi and Syawal Albert Daniel

Sianturi as my sister and my brother in all seasons. Through all challenges and

  difficulties, we realize more that His love is better than life. I am so blessed of having a family like them all, and I cannot pass each day without praying, thanking and loving each of them. They are my home.

  This thesis would not be finished without the guidance, corrections, supports and reminder of my thesis advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka,

  

M.Hum. and my co-advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum.. I do appreciate

  their helps and patience during my thesis’ writing. I also give thanks for all my lecturers in the Department of English Letters, Sanata Dharma University, for the knowledge that has given to me.

  I thank God for giving me Ko Tedy, Puni, and Kak Gati as my brothers and sister in Christ. I will not forget the time we wept, prayed, and laughed together. I thank them for letting me being ‘the real me’ in front of them all. Keep PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  holding on to Christ! I give a billion thanks, huge hugs and lovely kisses to

  

Mekdi, Bella, Lemper, Yona, Nopek, Dion, Yosie, Ntis, Debby, Gatha, Septi,

Botak, Dani, Oodz, Epan, Dapit, Alim and Miiko as my accidental siblings in

  Christ. We all have passed the process of our friendships’ crisis and I believe that God indeed adds more love within us to love each other sincerely. I send my thanks to F4 Community, partners of Teen’s Advisor, boys and girls of Hagios

  

Teen Fellowship, friends in Hagios Youth; for the process of growing strong

together in Jesus Christ.

  I do not know what my life in Sanata Dharma University would be without

  

Irene Ossi Widyastuti, Maria ‘Koka’ Pranoto, Steffani Dhea, Hellene ‘Pibi’,

Henrica ‘Tombrow’, ‘Lala’ Soehardi, Sylvia Puput, Maria ‘Pita’, Presti

Nataya and ‘Abu’ Primasandi; I do love them! Moreover, to all friends of

‘Angkatan 2007-Generasi Menolak Tua!’: Zi, Kenan, Chenk, Sonson, Simon,

Ilun, Yudha, Iyem, Dito, etc; all ‘The Bounty’s crew’, all committee of

‘JAKSA 2008-2010’. All of them enrich the color of my life through the classes,

  the talks, the processes and the sleepovers. I ask God to bless each of them.

  Last but not least, I give thanks to all the people who give me thoughts, advice and awareness of this wonderful life.

  Sri Ruth Meilina Sianturi

  

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE …………………………………………………………… i

APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………….. ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ………………………………………………… iii

MOTTO PAGE …………..……………………………………………… iv

DEDICATION PAGE ………………………………………………….. v

LEMBAR PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK

KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS ………………………………………….. vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………….. vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………….. ix

ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………… xi

ABSTRAK ………………………………………………………………... xii

  

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

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW …………………………… 6

A. Review of Related Studies ………………………………………... 6 B. Review of Related Theories ……………………………………….. 9

  1. Theory of Character and Characterization …………………….. 9

  2. Theory of Patriarchy …………..……………………………… 14

  3. Theory of Gender ……………………………………………… 22

  C. Theoretical Framework …………………………………………… 27

  

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ……………………………………. 29

A. Object of the Study ……………………………………………….. 29 B. Approach of the Study …………………………………………..... 30 C. Method of the Study …………………………………………….... 31

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……………………………………………. 33

A. The Depiction of Male and Female Characters in the Play …... 33

  1. Orlando ……………………………………………………….. 33

  2. Leticia ………………………………………………………… 41

  3. Alejo ………………………………………………………….. 49

  4. Olimpia ……………………………………………………….. 53

  5. Nena ………………………………………………………….. 58

  B. The Patriarchal Culture as Seen in the Play …………………... 61

  1. The Elder Male as the Ruler of the Family ………………...... 62

  2. The Uneducated Women ……………………………………. 67

  3. The Typical Man and Women Characters ….………………… 69

  

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  C. The Oppression toward Men and Women in Patriarchal

  Culture …………........................................................................... 73 1. The Oppression toward Men in Patriarchal Culture …...........

  73

  2. The Oppression toward Women in Patriarchal Culture .......... 79

  

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………………………………………… 85

BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………. 88

APPENDICES …………………………………………………………… 90

Appendix 1 ……………………………………………………….. 90 The Summary of the Maria Irene Fornes’ The Conduct of Life ....... 90 Appendix 2 ……………………………………………………….. 92 Maria Irene Fornes’ Life ………………………………………….. 92

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ABSTRACT

  SRI RUTH MEILINA SIANTURI. The Oppression toward Men and Women

  

in Patriarchal Culture as Seen through Characters in Maria Irene Fornes’

The Conduct of Life. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of

Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.

  The issue that women have lower position than men has existed since a long time ago. By looking at the physical strength, the tendency to act kindly and the ability to express the emotional expression make women look weaker than men. This condition becomes clearer in patriarchy. In patriarchy, women are regarded as the second class society, because it puts men higher than women. It is also believed that patriarchy is the main source of women suffering and oppression. While women are oppressed in patriarchy, men also suffered in that system. This phenomenon appears in Maria Irene Fornes’ The Conduct of Life. It is the reason why the writer is challenged to analyze the oppression that men and women suffer in patriarchal culture through the characters in the play.

  There are three objectives in this thesis. The first is the characterization of all characters in the play. These characterizations will reveal the condition of each character. The second objective is finding the patriarchal elements in the play. Since the play takes place in an unknown Latin American country, it needs proof that the setting of the play is a patriarchal society. The last objective is the oppression that the men and women characters suffer in patriarchal culture.

  This thesis is a library research. The primary source is the script-play by Maria Irene Fornes entitled The Conduct of Life. The other source such as theories and references are taken from the written texts. After reading the play for several times, then searching the appropriate theories and approach is the next step to analyze it. Theory of character and characterization, theory of patriarchy and theory of gender are the most appropriate ones. Since this study analyzes men and women, the gender study is the right approach to be used.

  The result of the analysis is that not only women who suffer in patriarchal society, but men also do. In addition to the suffering, the gender role and gender stereotype ask them to fulfill their ‘destiny’ as men and women. Being a husband must be a breadwinner and being a wife must be the caregiver are two examples of the roles that they have. The society does not give them chance to be what they want to be, but the society shapes them with the requirements that they have to fulfill. Whenever they do not succeed doing them, they will be regarded as the outcast. Therefore, the best way to survive is fulfilling the demand that society ask, no matter how oppressed they are with the inevitable role of being male and female. This harsh system unconsciously makes the people within the society deal with rudeness, aggressiveness and hopelessness. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ABSTRAK

  SRI RUTH MEILINA SIANTURI. The Oppression toward Men and Women

  

in Patriarchal Culture as Seen through Characters in Maria Irene Fornes’

The Conduct of Life. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,

Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.

  Permasalahan bahwa wanita memiliki posisi lebih rendah daripada pria sudah ada sejak lama. Menilik dari kekuatan fisik, kecenderungan untuk bersikap ramah dan kemampuan untuk mengekspresikan perasaan membuat wanita terlihat lebih lemah dari pria. Kondisi ini semakin jelas dalam patriarki. Di dalam patriarki, wanita dianggap sebagai masyarakat kelas kedua, karena pria dijunjung lebih tinggi daripada wanita. Patriarki juga dipercaya sebagai sumber dari penderitaan dan tekanan yang wanita alami. Bukan hanya wanita, namun pria pun mengalami tekanan yang sama dalam patriarki. Fenomena ini terjadi dalam karya Maria Irene Fornes, The Conduct of Life. Inilah alasan penulis tertantang untuk menganalisa tekanan yang pria dan wanita alami dalam budaya patriarki yang tergambar lewat tokoh yang ada di dalam drama tersebut.

  Skripsi ini mempunyai tiga tujuan. Pertama, penokohan semua tokoh dalam drama tersebut. Penokohan ini akan mengungkapkan keadaan tiap tokoh. Kedua, menemukan unsur patriarki dalam drama. Sehubungan karena drama ini berlatarkan sebuah negara di Latin Amerika yang tidak diketahui dengan jelas, jadi diperlukan bukti bahwa keadaan masyarakat dalam drama tersebut adalah patriarki. Ketiga, tekanan yang dialami oleh tokoh pria dan wanita di dalam budaya patriarki.

  Skripsi ini merupakan sebuah penelitian kepustakaan. Sumber utama adalah naskah drama oleh Maria Irene Fornes berjudul The Conduct of Life. Sumber lainnya seperti teori dan referensi berasal dari teks tertulis. Setelah beberapa kali membaca naskah, langkah selanjutnya untuk menganalisa adalah mencari teori dan pendekatan yang sesuai. Teori yang digunakan adalah teori tokoh dan penokohan, teori patriarki, dan teori gender. Karena kajian ini menganalisa pria dan wanita, jadi studi gender adalah pendekatan yang dipakai.

  Dalam patriarki, tidak hanya wanita namun pria pun menderita. Hal ini pun diperkuat dengan peran gender dan stereotip yang memaksa mereka untuk memenuhi ‘nasib’ mereka sebagai pria dan wanita. Suami harus mencari nafkah dan istri harus mengurus rumah adalah dua contoh peran yang harus mereka jalankan. Kondisi masyarakat tidak membiarkan mereka menjadi seperti apa yang mereka inginkan, namun mereka dibentuk dengan berbagai permintaan yang harus mereka penuhi. Apabila mereka tidak berhasil melakukannya, mereka akan dianggap sebagai masyarakat buangan. Lantas, menjadi seperti apa yang masyarakat inginkan adalah cara terbaik untuk bertahan hidup, tidak peduli bagaimana tertekannya mereka dengan peran yang tak terhindarkan itu. Sistem masyarakat yang kejam ini secara tidak langsung membuat orang-orang di dalamnya berhadapan dengan kekerasan, keagresifan dan keputusasaan. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study According to the The Holy Bible, in the beginning, God created Adam as

  the first man on this earth. Then He thought that it was not good for the man to live alone, so He created Eve to be a helper for Adam. “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him”” (2009: 5).

  As the time goes by, the matter that God created Eve to be Adam’s helper brings a misconception about the woman’s status. The term ‘helper’ causes woman to have a lower level than man. It is added with the matter that woman was created from a rib of the man, and it creates an opinion that in the creation of a woman, the participation of a man was totally needed; while God created a man directly from the ash, without any participation of a woman. Unfortunately this misconception still exists nowadays. Most of the people forget that God created both male and female equal and “in the image of God He created him,” (2009: 3), which means similar to His image. He created us equal and gave no tendency to make someone higher than the other. As the world develops with its knowledge, technology and modernity, one of the effects caused by the misconception is the existence of patriarchy.

  As stated in 50 Keys Concepts in Gender Studies, “Patriarchy means rule by the male head of a social unit (a family or tribe, for example)” (Pilcher and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  Wheelehan, 2004:93). The existence of the man as the head of the family makes the younger men, the women and the children under the control of the man.

  Patriarchy is “a system of male authority which oppresses women through its social, political and economic institutions” (Humm, 1995: 200). However, the concept of patriarchy which puts men higher than women has been used by the feminists in general as the root of the oppression that women suffer.

  Every system which is created by human beings should have at least a purpose that is good for their life. It happens also in patriarchy. In the beginning, the system surely created for some good purposes. Unfortunately, people grow with their basic characteristic that is never feeling enough with their condition and wanting more and more. If this characteristic exists in the man who controls that situation, it will make him greedy and cause bad effects to those who are led by him. Generally, patriarchy is always connected with the male’s power and male’s domination toward women. This link has caused oppression toward women.

  Most of the cultures in this world use patriarchy as their system, although there are some cultures that use matriarchy as their system. The patriarchy system gives more opportunity and more power to men to do many things and in turn, gives limitations for women to do so many things. Realizing it or not, patriarchy makes men show their existence, but gives the invisibility to women.

  The reasons why men oppress women are based on assumption that physically men are stronger than women and it leads them to be more aggressive.

  There are always two things in an oppression case: the oppressor and the oppressed person. Oppression must start from a thought and awareness that PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  another side is weaker than the other. Then the oppressor uses the power that he has to oppress the victim. He does it to get advantage for himself. The bigger the power that the oppressor use to the oppressed, the more obedient the oppressed will be. It will make the oppressed person powerless and have nothing to do except do what the oppressor ask to do so.

  Oppression is not always on women as the weaker side, but it can be on men too. Both male and female are oppressed because they, unconsciously, accept and fulfill their gender role. “…the male gender role or the female gender role is like a script that men and women follow to fulfill their appropriate parts in acting masculine or feminine” (Brannon, 1996:168). To play his role as the breadwinner, a man has to work and earn money for fulfilling his family’s needs. He will do a lot of things to show that he is capable to be regarded as the breadwinner. Since there are two main matters in life: accepted and respected; someone will do many things to be accepted in his environment or society. Then they will do the same to be respected in his society. In many cases, they will not care about themselves, their feelings or even their life. For women, they are expected to do more than men do.

  Both oppressions are done under the patriarchal culture. Whether they realize it or not, men and women accept and follow their ‘destiny’ as men and women, and they live according to the role that society gives them.

  Since this thesis takes a drama as the source of the topic, it needs some explanation about what drama is. Play or drama is one major genre in literature. A play is not like a poem or a fiction which can be enjoyed only by reading it. When PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  a play is performed on stage, it will give the spectators pleasure more than the pleasure of watching a movie. The combination of the actors, the costumes, the setting of the stage and the lights is a stunned thing, moreover if it is watched live. Besides that, a play can be used as a way to criticize something. Every people or group can use it to show their opinion, their criticism and their idea to the society.

  Feminist too, can do it. “Feminist plays and performance art explore issues of women’s oppression and right based on sex and gender-related issues” (Barranger, 1990:647). The issues that they discuss in the play are mostly about the inequality that they get or the struggle that they work on to get their freedom and right.

  The Conduct of Life is a play by Maria Irene Fornes which tells about the oppression that women suffer because of the man’s dominance toward them.

  However, the victim of the oppression is not only the women, but also the men. The men are also oppressed by the patriarchal culture that exists in the play. Because of this unusual issue, the writer is challenged to explore the play more deeply.

B. Problem Formulation

  According to the purpose of this writing, there are three problems that will be discussed further:

  1. How are the male and the female characters depicted in The Conduct of Life?

  2. How is the patriarchal culture seen in The Conduct of Life? 3.

   How does the patriarchal culture oppress men and women as seen in The Conduct of Life?

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   Objectives of the Study

  Considering the problem formulation, there are three objectives of the study. The first one is to get the description of each character in the play clearly, male and female. The second is to know how the patriarchal culture seen in the play. Then, the last is to reveal the oppression that the man and woman experienced as exposed in the play.

D. Definition of Terms

  In order to help the readers understand this writing clearer, there would be two definitions to be explained.

  1. Oppression According to Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture, oppression is “the condition of oppressing or being oppressed” (1992: 932). Then, the term ‘oppress’ itself has definition “to cause to feel ill or sad” (1992: 931). From the definition of two words above, oppression means the condition that causes to feel ill or sad.

  2. Patriarchal Culture The term ‘patriarchy’ refers to “...the way in which societies are structured through male domination” (Edgar and Sedgwick, 2005: 270). It means that the society is dominated by the men. Then, the definition of patriarchal culture is the culture that uses patriarchy as their system. The culture will appreciate men more than women and consider the men higher than the women. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies There are several related studies that will be discussed in this part. Those studies are needed in order to understand the play from various points of view. Different studies will make the understanding of this play more completed. The first review is from the preface of the The Conduct of Life’s script

  play. Barranger makes a review of it, saying that the domestic unit in The Conduct of Life is a political microcosm for a tyrannical, male-dominated, class system characterized by the destructiveness, aggressiveness, and victimization. The system transforms women (and also men) into creatures who are conditioned to engage in betrayal, aggression and violence (1990: 651).

  The review above shows that the system used in the play is laden with roughness that can easily destroy and cause bad effects in a society. She also states that the effect of that society is the transformation of human beings into the creatures who get used with the betrayal, aggression and violence. The condition does not only change the women, but also the men.

  Another review comes from Barnet, Burto, Ferris and Rabkin in the book

  Types of Drama. They state that Fornes

  Addresses political issues specific to the Latin community in the Americas: the personal and political costs of dictatorship, class division in marginalized communities, and conflicting attitudes toward sexuality and sexual violence (Barnet et al., 2001: 1345). PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  Barnet et al. discuss the condition of Latin community in America. They emphasize the dictatorship, class division focuses on the marginality, and clash toward sexuality and sexual violence. When it is seen from the play script, they have a tendency to stand for the female characters who become the victims of the dictatorship that the main male character has.

  Moreover, Barnet et al. also studies about the placement setting of the stage. “Many critics have argued that the geography of the stage world Fornes describes is fundamental to the playing of the drama. Each level offers a visual clue to the separation and isolation experienced by the characters (Barnet et al., 2001: 1345)”. With her background as a painter, the position and the heights of the stage have main point for Fornes. The complete setting of this play, based on the stage directions is so symbolic for the audiences.

  Gary Vena and Andrea Nouryeh also review this play. They state, “Fornes’ characters come to an understanding of how to conduct their lives by articulating their ambitions and fears” (1996: 1148). They focus on the connection between the characters and the title of the play. The title The Conduct of Life becomes the basic reason why they do what they do, and each character has a different way to conduct their life. After exploring each character of the play, they added that, “each of the play’s nineteen short scenes captures a single dramatic moment in the lives of the characters, letting the audience piece together the moral tale unfolding before them” (Vena and Nouryeh, 1996: 1149). In a similar meaning, they say that the whole scenes of the play create several dramatic things PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  for the characters. The things are still jumbled and Fornes as the playwright offers the audiences to arrange them to be completed.

  A different opinion comes from Widjaya in her undergraduate thesis. She states that as the ending of this play is a continuing of victimization, beginning from Orlando’s victimization toward three women characters then Leticia to Nena by giving the gun to Nena after Leticia shoots Orlando dead, the writer sees it as an endless chain of tyranny. The effect of Orlando’s victimization still continues as an endless chain of tyranny (Widjaya, 2003: 51). This study seems quite similar to the first study that has been discussed before, it is about victimization. However, this study focuses on the chain of tyranny that has no end because of the main male character’s victimization toward the three female characters in the play. It has no end because as the victims, they continue the victimization to other characters as seen in the ending of the play.

  Then the last review is also from an undergraduate thesis. She says that the feminism ideas shown by the three female characters and The Conduct of Life are some protest against male-domination and patriarchal culture (Perdana, 2008: 51). Many critics categorize this play as a feminist play. However, Fornes does not claim herself as a feminist, but because the play puts women as the center of the issue and there are some ideas of feminisms inside, then it is categorized as a feminist play. It is also a protest against male-domination and patriarchal culture because those conditions are the reasons why feminism exists.

  This writing has some similarities with some studies above, but still, this writing has different focus to explore from those studies. If the previous studies PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  writing focuses on the oppression that men and women suffer in patriarchal culture that exists in the play. Usually, the victims who are oppressed with patriarchal culture only women as the weaker side, but according to the play, men also take part as victims because of the patriarchal culture. This writing will focus on the oppression that both men and women suffer in patriarchal culture.

B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character and Characterization

  Before depicting each character in the play, the first thing to do is knowing what a character is. Starting with its definition, character refers to “a reasonable facsimile of a human being, with all the good and bad traits of being human” (Roberts and Jacobs, 1989: 56). A character is a human being in a literary work who also has speech, thought and behavior like the real human being. How the writer of the literary work describes the character is nearly like a person in reality. A bad character does not always do bad things, in a certain time he/she also does something good. A character is presented as natural as a human being, with their weakness, strength, dreams, will, and many others.

  Since this thesis explores about a play, the approach to the character and characterization is for drama. There are few differences between character and characterization in play, fiction and poetry. In drama, characters are represented by the actors. Whatever the actors do in the stage, their actions become the clues to create the depiction of their characterization. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  There is a change around the middle of the eighteenth century in social and ethical considerations that caused philosophers and writers to look upon human beings, a common humanity. “We have come to see human beings as less than heroic but still deserving of our attention and respect” (Barranger, 1990: 341). The bourgeois drama of the middle eighteenth century often emphasizes the power of someone to be a hero. In modern dramas, the characters are shaped to be more human. “They are not kings and princess, but they exhibit joy and pain as universal human” (Barranger, 1990: 341).

  In modern dramas, playwrights usually “create three-dimensional characters who are distinct individuals and seem to represent people who react to the outside world as we do” (Vena and Nouryeh, 1996: ix). The three-dimensional characters are made as real as the common human being. Then, there are also some kinds of characters: major characters, they who stand at the center of the drama are the protagonist (the hero) and antagonist (the opponent); and minor characters, they who stand at the periphery or somewhere in between. In fact, the playwright may create characters who are stereotypes or may represent ideas (Vena and Nouryeh, 1996: ix).

  Based on Barranger’s point of view, “characters have complex personalities” (Barranger, 1990: 338). Each character cannot only be said as the smartest one, while in the other side he/she is also bed-tempered. It is quite impossible if a character only has one characteristic, but it depends on how the playwright describes him/her and whether he/she is a major character or not. In addition Barranger also states that “the meaning of a character’s behavior and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  choices ultimately derives from situation” (Barranger, 1990: 338). Like the human beings, the actions, words, and decisions come from the situation and condition that the characters have.

  There are several ways to approach the understanding of drama’s characters. First, observing what the playwright says in the stage direction about them. Second, observing what the characters say about one another in the dialogue. Third, classifying the general types—physical and psychological. Forth, interpreting the moral or ethical choices that determine their destinies (Barranger, 1990: 339).

  Different from character, characterization can be said as the way the character is depicted in the story, in this case, in the play. The way we can get the characterization from a character is by seeing him/her from appearance (what he/she wears and how he/she looks like), a place to live, mind (the way he/she thinks about something), speech (the way he/she delivers his/her words and also their dictions), and actions (the activities that he/she do and his/her responds toward something) (Barranger, 1990: 338). The way we can get the characterization can be said as the method of characterization. Moreover, the methods of characterization can be seen from the hidden narration, the conflict, soliloquy and aside, and the place where they do their actions.

  Hidden narration means “having one character in a play narrates

  something about another character” (Reaske, 1996: 47). The word ‘hidden’ means that the playwright might not directly give comment to the character. The PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  characterization through hidden narration connects deeply with the characterization through the words and action that certain people do in a play.

  Just like human beings, whenever we interact with other people, it might cause a conflict. The same thing happens in a play, “characters interact with other characters and, typically, this interaction results in some form of conflict” (Barranger, 1990: 339). The conflict can exist in various ways: “a character against God, against nature, against society, against the unknown, against another character, and against himself or herself” (Barranger, 1990: 339). Each character is not possible to have more than a conflict within them. The clash between the character and those things adds more color to the play and makes it more interesting.

  Characters’ fates are often determined by issues of heredity and environment, by their fitness to survive in a hostile world, by their neuroses as a result of unresolved conflicts, and by economic factors where character becomes a function of society materialism (Barranger, 1990: 339). Because the characters in play are made as closely similar as human beings, they have to struggle and survive to face the obstacles and the bad things that happen to them. Whatever comes to them, they have to overcome or give up.

  In addition to the method of characterization, there are soliloquy and

  

aside. Soliloquy is “speech of a character alone on the stage, revealing his

  thoughts”, while aside is “speech in the presence of others but unheard by them” (Barnet et al., 1993: 636). If it is in fiction, we can read the characters’ mind directly, but in a play we know their mind from the soliloquy and aside. Soliloquy PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  is when the actor speaks alone on stage, and aside is when the actor is speaking, but the other actors pretend not to hear him/her.

  Another thing that is needed to be understood about the method of characterization is the place where they do their actions. Moreover, the play that we discuss here is a play by Maria Irene Fornes in which the placement of the setting has their own meaning. Therefore, the position of the actor speaking is also important. “We need to be able to determine where the action is taking place, which characters are present even they are not speaking, and what is happening from moment to moment” (Vena and Nouryeh, 1996: viii).

  As the play runs on the stage, the attentions are grabbed to be focus on whatever happens on the stage. Mostly, the focus points to the character that is having dialogues. “Certain characters may know less than we do because they have been offstage, while others, although silent, may have witnessed or heard the same scene as we have” (Vena and Nouryeh, 1996: ix).

  For the audiences and them who read the script, there are some challenges to get the complete understanding about the characterization of the characters. The characters do not always reveal their mind with dialogues, but sometimes their gestures have implications more than their words. “We must see and understand what is explicitly said and done, as well as be alerted to what is implied and left spoken” (Vena and Nouryeh, 1996: vii).

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   Theory of Patriarchy

  Literary, patriarchy means “rule of the father” (Payne, 1997: 394). It means that the rule of the society is held by the elder man of that society. In other words, a man takes control of this society.

  Although most of the society systems in the world use this system, in fact “all human societies are patriarchal in that they are segregated and stratified by sex” (Payne, 1997: 394). Men and women are different from each other, but when the differences between these two sexes become the reasons to stratify, it will cause problems.