THE INFLUENCE OF LOVE AND DEATH IN THE CHARACTER OF EDNA PONTELLIER AS DESCRIBED IN KATE CHOPIN’S THE AWAKENING

THE INFLUENCE OF LOVE AND DEATH

  IN THE CHARACTER OF EDNA PONTELLIER AS DESCRIBED IN KATE CHOPIN’S THE AWAKENING

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

  By

FERI JANURIANTA

  Student Number : 014214031

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

  A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

THE INFLUENCE OF LOVE AND DEATH

  IN THE CHARACTER OF EDNA PONTELLIER AS DESCRIBED IN KATE CHOPIN’S THE AWAKENING

  By

FERI JANURIANTA

  Student Number : 014214031 Approved by

  Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum August, 18 2009 Advisor Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd. M.Hum August, 18 2009 Co-Advisor

  A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis THE INFLUENCE OF LOVE AND DEATH

  IN THE CHARACTER OF EDNA PONTELLIER AS DESCRIBED IN KATE CHOPIN’S THE AWAKENING

  By

  FERI JANURIANTA

  Student Number : 014214031 Was defended in front of Board of Examiners

  On August 21, 2009

  And Declared Acceptable BOARD OF EXAMINERS

  Name Signature

  Chairman : Dr.Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M. A _____________________ Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum _____________________ Member 1 : Adventina Putranti, S.S. M.Hum _____________________ Member 2 : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum _____________________ Member 3 : Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd. M.Hum _____________________

  Yogyakarta, August 31, 2009 Faculty of Letters

  Sanata Dharma University Dean

  Silence is the true friend that never betrays.

  (CONFUCIUS)

  For My Beloved Daughter and Son; Alban and Fathin You are my life’s greatest gift.

  

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma : Nama : Feri Janurianta NIM : 014214031

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

  

THE INFLUENCE OF LOVE AND DEATH IN THE CHARACTER OF

EDNA PONTELLIER AS DESCRIBED IN KATE CHOPIN’S THE

AWAKENING.

  beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada Tanggal 30 September 2009

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis. First of all, my deepest gratitude is to my Lord who always loves me, and takes care of me everyday. I would also like to thank to my advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum who gave and confirmed this permission and encouraged me to go ahead with my thesis. For my Co-Advisor,

Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd. M.Hum and my reader, Adventina Putranti, S.S.

  M.Hum., thank you for all your suggestions.

  For my beloved family, thank you for your love, care and guidance. I am so grateful for your love accompanying me in sadness and happiness. The last, I am also very grateful to everyone, especially my friends of English Letters ‘01 whose help, stimulating suggestions and encouragement helped me in all the time of research for and writing of this thesis.

  Feri Janurianta

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  10 f. The Character’s Reactions to Various Situations and Events..

  27 C. The Influence of Love on Edna’s Character Development that Leads to her Death ......................................................................

  20 A. General Characterization of Major Characters of The Awakening 20 B. Plot Structure of The Awakening............................................

  18 CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ..................................................................

  16 C. Method of the Study..............................................................

  15 B. Approach of the Study ..........................................................

  15 A. Object of the Study................................................................

  14 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY .....................................................

  12 C. Theoretical Framework .........................................................

  11 2. Plot and Character Development ............................................

  11 i. Mannerisms..............................................................................

  10 h. Thoughts..................................................................................

  10 g. Direct Comments of the Author..............................................

  10 e. Conversation of Others............................................................

  TITLE PAGE .......................................................................................... i APPROVAL PAGE ................................................................................ ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ........................................................................... iii MOTTO PAGE ...................................................................................... iv DEDICATION PAGE............................................................................. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................... vii ABSTRACT............................................................................................ viii ABSTRAK .............................................................................................. ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION..........................................................

  10 d. Past Life ..................................................................................

  9 c. Speech .....................................................................................

  9 b. Character as Seen by Other Character(s) ................................

  9 a. Personal Description................................................................

  9 1. Character and Characterization ...............................................

  7 B. Review of Related Theories ..................................................

  7 A. Review of Related Studies ....................................................

  5 CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW.........................................

  5 D. Definition of Terms ................................................................

  4 C. Objectives of the Study ..........................................................

  1 B. Problem Formulation..............................................................

  1 A. Background of the Study........................................................

  51

  

ABSTRACT

  FERI JANURIANTA (2009). The Influence of Love and Death in the

Character of Edna Pontellier as Described in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.

Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

  This study is a study of character development of the heroine in Kate Chopin's short novel The Awakening. This short novel is chosen as the object of this study, first, because of its great literariness and the controversies it has always caused ever since it was published for the first time in 1899. The second reason for choosing this novel is that, even though its plot is developed in a common pattern, the main character's self-development is peculiarly interesting and, third, the ending is unusual in the way the heroine commits suicide and not ends happily. It is hypothesized that this development and end have something to do with love as the main aspect in the heroine's experiences throughout the story.

  For those reasons, the writer formulated the problems into the followings . They were: (1) How does the general characterization of the major characters of

  

The Awakening ? (2) How does the plot structure on the story describe the

  character development of Edna Pontellier? (3) How does Edna’s love influence the development of her character throughout the story and lead to her death/suicide?

  The analysis employs formalistic approach, which deals only with the intrinsic elements of the story, with a particular emphases in character, characterization, plot, and character development. The discussion is conducted along the lines of plot outline, with more elaborate explanation on the process undergone by Edna Pontellier as the main character, in the light of the influences that other major characters--especially Robert Lebrun and his love--have on Edna Pontellier. The emphasis is put on Edna Pontellier, and the allusion to other characters is only made as far as their contribution to the protagonist's character development.

  This study concludes that Robert Lebrun's love for Edna is the strongest influence in Edna Pontellier's character development up to her tragic end. It is this love that has changed Edna into new woman finding her new self-identity, freedom of expression (including in sexual expression), self-independence and self-actualization. However, it is also this love, which is unfulfilled, that drives her to commit suicide by drawing herself deep into the sea.

  

ABSTRAK

  FERI JANURIANTA (2009). The Influence of Love and Death in the

Character of Edna Pontellier as Described in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.

Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.

  Studi ini adalah sebuah kajian tentang perkembangan karakter tokoh utama dalam The Awakening, sebuah novel pendek karya Kate Chopin. Novel pendek ini dipilih sebagai objek kajian ini, pertama, karena nilai sastranya yang tinggi dan karena novel ini sudah menimbulkan begitu banyak kontroversi sejak pertama kali diterbitkan pada tahun 1899. Alasan kedua mengapa penulis memilih novel ini adalah bahwa, meskipun alurnya dibangun dalam pola yang umum dan sederhana, perkembangan karakter tokoh utamanya amat sangat menarik, dan, ketiga, akhir cerita ini sangat tidak biasa dalam hal bahwa tokoh-utama wanitanya bunuh diri, alih-alih berakhir bahagia. Diduga, perkembangan karakter tokoh yang demikian itu erat kaitannya dengan cinta sebagai aspek utama dalam pengalaman- pengalaman sang tokoh utama sepanjang cerita tersebut.

  Karena alasan tersebut, penulis memformulasikannya menjadi permasalahan-permasalahan berikut: (1) Bagaimana karakterisasi secara umum akan karakter-karakter utama yang ada dalam The Awakening? (2) Bagaimana Struktur plot cerita menggambarkan perkembangan karakter dari Edna Pontellier? (3) Bagaimana pengaruh cinta Edna mempengaruhi perkembangan karakternya dalam cerita dan mendorongnya kedalam bunuh diri?

  Analisis dalam kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan formalistik, yang hanya berurusan dengan unsur-unsur intrinsik karya sastra ini, dengan penekanan khusus pada tokoh, penokohan, alur cerita dan perkembangan karakter tokoh utamanya. Pembahasannya dilakukan mengikuti garis besar alur cerita, dengan penjelasan lebih mendalam pada proses yang dijalani oleh Edna Pontellier sebagai tokoh utamanya, di bawah pengaruh tokoh-tokoh penting lainnya dalam cerita tersebut--khususnya tokoh Robert Lebrun dan cintanya--terhadap Edna Pontellier. Tokoh Edna Pontellier menjadi fokus utama pembahasan, dan tokoh-tokoh lain disinggung hanya sebatas pengaruh mereka terhadap perkembangan karakter tokoh protagonis ini.

  Kajian ini menyimpulkan bahwa cinta tokoh Robert Lebrun-lah yang merupakan pengaruh terkuat yang menggerakkan perkembangan karakter tokoh Edna Pontellier hingga sampai pada akhir yang tragis. Cinta inilah yang telah mengubah Edna menjadi seorang perempuan baru yang menemukan identitas-diri, kebebasan berekspresi (termasuk dalam hal seks), kemandirian, dan aktualisasi- diri. Tetapi, kasih-tak-sampai ini pulalah yang menggiring Edna untuk membunuh dirinya sendiri, dengan cara menenggelamkan-diri ke kedalaman laut lepas.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Literary work is one media for human being to express their feeling, ideas,

  thoughts and also their experiences. By reading literary work, people or the readers can understand about the author’s ideas, thoughts and experiences through the literary work itself. After reading the author’s literary work, the readers not only can able to understand the author’s ideas, thoughts and experiences, but also the readers can also to analyze more deeper about the intrinsic elements in the literary work, that is written by the author. In this thesis, the writer thinks that understanding about the intrinsic element is very important in order to help the writers and also the readers to understand deeper about the story.

  The period of the long 1800s in American social life was marked with atension between the old and the new, the traditional and the modern. The industrialization, urbanization and changing social norms of the turn of the century all contributed to the fact that life was changing, not only for American men but also for the women. The Industrial Revolution, for example, transformed handicrafts, which woman had always done in their homes, into a machine- powered, mass-produced industry. This meant that lower-class women could earn wages as factory workers and this circumstance signaled the beginning of their independence—that somehow detached them for their basic domesticity—even was legally controlled by their husbands or fathers. Moreover, as one may expect of a social condition in transition such as the nineteenth–century Americans, middle- and upper-class women were still expected to stay at home as idle, decorative symbols of their husbands' wealth. They were, as Virginia Woolf termed it, expected to be angels in the house. They were pregnant frequently due to the restrictions on birth control, they cared for their homes, husbands, and children, played music, sang, or drew to enhance the charm of their homes and to reflect well on their husbands. Wives were possessions, cared for and displayed, who often brought a dowry or inherited wealth to a marriage. They were expected to subordinate their needs to their husbands’ wishes (Wyatt, 1995; Culley, 1976:117-119). All these circumstances brought significant influences to social, political and cultural life of the society, and, in particular, its literary products.

  Among the many of such literary products of that period was Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. Written by the end of the century in the period of great American transformation, this short novel itself was considered by many to represent a very unusual—i.e. unacceptable—change in women’s attitudes towards their live: their rights and obligations as individuals and in relations to other people. The reception of the novel indicates the climate of the time. Despite over a hundred stories, sketches, and essays she had written and published in the popular and literary magazines of the period, the publication of The Awakening in 1899 cast a shadow over Kate Chopin and she only managed to publish three more short stories before her death in 1904 (Culley, 1976: vii). Contemporary the artistry of the writing. Still, newspapers and magazines of the day were filled with such comments as "it is not a healthy book," "sex fiction," "the purport of the story can hardly be described in language fit for publication," "we are well satisfied when Mrs. Pontellier deliberately swims out to her death," "an essentially vulgar story," and "unhealthy introspective and morbid."

  The Awakening (first published in 1899 by Herbert S Stone and Co.) itself was a story written between 1897 and 1899 while the authoress was living in St.

  Louis, a time when the Industrial Revolution and the feminist movement were beginning to emerge yet were still overshadowed by the prevailing attitudes of the nineteenth century. Narrated in a third-person perspective by an anonymous narrator, it could be read as a story of female independence and sexual and emotional awareness symbolized in its heroine’s awakening, a theme that still resided within the society’s taboo. For the most part, the tone is objective, although it occasionally reveals support for whatever the tragic heroine of the story thought and did.

  What is interesting about this specific narrative is the outstanding way the authoress fabricated the discourses of eros (sexual love) and thanatos (death) along the lines of the main character’s self-development as a kind of call for her society for female independence and its farthest consequence. This feature found its ultimate strength and significance in the very context of the fact that suicides were a sort of expected Victorian convention. It was very common that female heroines in major literary works of the nineteenth century were killed off, and

  In fact, death was a standard retribution for women who committed adultery. Gustave Flaubert, for example, wrote Madame Bovary in 1857 and his heroine, Emma, killed herself after a story much like Edna's. The Awakening itself has been termed a 'Creole Bovary' by some. In 1875, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy was published; Anna throws herself under a train after an ill-fated romance. Maggie Tulliver, in Mill on the Floss by George Eliot, actually drowns herself. That novel was published in 1860. In 1891, Thomas Hardy wrote Tess of

  

the D'Urbervilles and Tess was killed after she committed an act colored with

suicidal intent (Wyatt, 1995; Koloski, 2009).

  It is for this reason that this study chooses Kate Chopin’s The Awakening as its object of scrutiny.

B. Problem Formulation

  Bearing in mind how dense the discourses of love and death color the whole narrative of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and, particularly, influence the characteristic development of its tragic heroine, Edna Pontellier, this study is therefore undertaken to address the following problems or questions:

  1. How does the general characterization of the major characters of The

  Awakening ?

  2. How does the plot structure on the story describe the character development of Edna Pontellier?

  3. How does Edna’s love influence the development of her character throughout

  In the context of this thesis, the general characterization of the major characters serves as the context in which Edna Pontellier’s character development takes place throughout the story. Moreover, since the process of a character’s development takes place along a certain plot structure, thus a discussion on plot structure of the story is taken up as well. In this thesis, the plot is firstly described in general based on the very commonly-known plot outline, and, subsequently, it is elaborated further in a more detailed discussion on the development of Edna Pontellier’s character under the hypothesized influence of Robert Lebrun’s love.

  C. Objectives of the Study

  Along the lines of the above-mentioned problem formulation, the objectives of the study are thus set up. They are, first, to describe the development of Edna Pontellier’s character throughout the narrative; and, second, to account for the way the heroine’s eros leads her to a tragic thanatos, i.e. committing suicide.

  D. Definition of Terms

  In analyzing this story, there are some definitions of terms that will be helpful for the writer to understand and to analyze the story.

  1. Characters According to Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms, “Characters are the person, in a dramatic or a narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositional action” (Abrams, 1981:20). It means that the character is the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work that is endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are express id the dialogue and action.

  2. Major Character According to Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction, a central or major character is a character that becomes the center of the other character and dominates the whole story. This character is presented frequently in the story and relevant to every event in the story and usually every event causes some change either in the central character or in our attitude toward the central character itself (Stanton, 1965: 17-18)

  3. Minor Character In An Introduction to Fiction, Stanton also says that minor character is a character presented in the story to help the other character, especially the major character (Stanton, 1965: 17-18). The minor character can be important character in the story because the minor character’s attitudes toward the major character are significant to visualize ad to understand the major character. The aim of the author present this minor character is to help the readers visualizing and understanding the major character in the physical ad psychological

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter is divided into three sections. Section A provides a review on

  related studies, in which some criticisms and studies by other writers and critics on Kate Chopin’s The Awakening are given a mention. Section B constitutes a review on related theories, in which those concepts fundamental to further discussion on the object of this study are explored concisely. This section comprises the important concepts on character and characterization, and of plot and character development. The last section of this chapter provides the theoretical framework, within which the previously mentioned concepts are described as contributing to the analysis of the novel.

A. Review of Related Studies

  In her preface to the text of the novel, Culley relates that when published for the first time in 1899 by Herbert S Stone and Co. of Chicago, The Awakening was met with harsh criticism and the short novel was removed from the library shelves in St. Louis. Chopin herself was refused membership in the St. Louis Fine Arts Club because of her novel, despite the fact that she had already been a well- known author of over a hundred stories, sketches, and essays, all of which had appeared in the popular and literary magazines of her days (Culley, 1976: vii). This long controversy has been involving many critics of various perspectives of pros and cons. As one may expect, in its early days the novel was subject to hostile criticism as it voiced a brand new concerns in woman’s freedom and sexual expression, something alien to its times. One among the many early critics of this vein was CL Deyo, who noted that the novel was ‘sad and mad and bad’ (Culley, 1976: 143). Percival Pollard’s ‘The Unlikely Awakening of a Married Woman’, published in his Their Day in Court by Neale Publishing in 1909 (Culley, 1976: 160-2), also showed similar hostility. In 1952, however, Van Wyck Brooks wrote “But there was one novel of the nineties in the South that should have been remembered, one small perfect book that mattered more than the whole life-work of many a prolific writer” (Culley, 1976: 143). This statement by Brook signaled the work’s return to critical favor and acclaim, although by no means ended the controversy. In our own times, The Awakening is perhaps one among the most productive objects of literary criticism and study. A browse to major literary websites as well as personal blogs shows nearly countless number of studies on this particular novel.

  The study on the same short novel by Kate Chopin offers a different aspect as the focus of discussion. If other studies’ foci are on woman and domestic issues, social and historical background of the novel, or the controversies evolving around the novel’s aspect of sexuality, this particular study is formalistically focused on the influence of love of other character that leads the female protagonist to death by committing suicide, without taking much account of the

B. Review of Related Theories

  This section deals with the concepts which comprise the fundamentals of the analysis of this study. They are the concepts of character and characterization, and of plot and character development. The concepts are considered as inseparable from each other in the discussion of the love and death of Edna Pontellier in the course of her awakening as described in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening .

1. Character and Characterization

  Murphy in Understanding Unseen : Introduction to English Poetry and the

  

English Novel for Overseas Students states there are some ways of the author can

  make the readers understand about the characters on the story. The ways of the author to make his or her characters understandable are: a. Personal Description The author can describe the person’s appearance and clothes in the story. The author describes what the characters are like and tells the readers the details of the person characters’ appearance such as the face, skin colors, eyes, hair and the clothing.

  b. Character as Seen by Other Character(s) Instead of describing a character directly the author can describes a character through the eyes and opinions of another people in the story. The reader gets as it were, a reflected image. In other words, the author describes a character I the story by letting another people in the story make an opinion toward the character him or c. Speech The author can give the readers an insight into the character of one of the persons in the story through what that person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he put forward an opinion, he is giving the readers clue to his character.

  d. Past Life By letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life, the author can give the readers a clue to events that have helped to shape the person’s character.

  This can be done by direct comment by the author, though the person’s thoughts, through the person’s thoughts, through his conversation or through the medium of another person.

  e. Conversation of Other Characters The author can give the readers’ clues to a person’s character trough the conversations of other people and the things they say about the character itself.

  The clues that the readers have, comes from the people who talk about and the thing they say to the character of the person who spoken about.

  f. The Character’s Reactions to Various Situations and Events The author can also give the readers a clue to a person’s characters by letting the readers know how that person reacts to various situations and events. So through this reaction, the readers can understand the mental and moral qualities of the person in the story.

  g. Direct Comment of the Author h. Thoughts The author can give the readers direct knowledge of what a person in the story is thinking about. Here, the author is able to do what the author his or herself cannot do in the real life. The author also can tell the readers what different people are thinking. i. Mannerisms The author can describe a person’s mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies, which may also tell us something about his character (Murphy, 1972:160-173).

  Characters are also the persons presented in works of narrative or who convey their personal qualities through dialogue and action by which the reader or audience understands their thoughts, feelings, intentions and motives. Characters either remain stable in their attitudes throughout a work (static characters) or undergo personal development and change, whether through a gradual process or a crisis (dynamic characters); but in any case they usually remain consistent in their basic nature.

  A flat character (also known as a type, or a two-dimensional character) is

  defined by a single quality without much individualizing detail. A round character is a complex individual incapable of being easily defined. The degree to which characters are given roundness and individual complexity depends upon their function in the plot--some only need to be seen at a distance, like strangers or acquaintances, rather than known intimately.

  The concept of character is among the most fundamental ones in the particular concept. To follow Abrams in his A Glossary of Literary Terms, characters are conceived as : the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say (the dialogue) and what they do (the action). The grounds in a character’s temperament and moral nature of his [or her] speech and actions constitute his [or her] motivation. (Abrams, 1981: 20-22). Abrams distinguishes characters further into the so-called static and dynamic characters, relating that some characters may remain ‘stable’ or unchanged in his/her outlook and dispositions from beginning to the end of the work; whereas some others may undergo a radical change, either through a gradual development or as a result of an extreme crisis (Abrams, 1981:20).

  In the context of this study, the concept of dynamic character is adopted and applied to Edna Pontellier, the heroine of The Awakening, whose characterization is conceived in the sense that Holman and Harmon propose in their A Handbook to Literature, i.e.as the creation of images of imaginary persons so credible that they exist for the reader as real within the limits of the fiction or literary work (Holman and Harmon, 1972: 90-93). In the sense of the dynamics of the character and story, the narrative certainly progresses along the line of a certain plot pattern, and the concepts of plot and character development are explored briefly below.

2. Plot and Character Development

  The concept of plot has long been subject of much debate, with the

  This difference in emphasis has long been persisting, but in the context of this study, the concept of plot is understood in the sense that Ronald S Crane (in Holman and Harmon, 1972: 397) introduce. They relate that

  [….] a given plot is a function of the particular correlation among…three variables, which the completed work is calculated to establish, consistently and progressively, in our minds. These variables are (1) the general estimate we are induced to form…of the moral character and deserts of the hero… (2) the judgments we are led similarly to make about the nature of the events that actually befall the hero…as having either painful or pleasurable consequences for him…permanently or temporarily; and (3) the opinions we are made to entertain concerning the degree and kind of his responsibility for what happens to him. The above quotation indicates that plot is always in very close relation with character development. This is particularly true with a dynamic character that experiences changes in her/his nature as the narrative progresses.

  In the realization of a character development as such, there are a great variety of plot forms available. As Abrams notes in his A Glossary of Literary

  

Terms , some plots forms are designed to achieve tragic effects, whereas others are

done to come to a comic, romantic, or satiric end (Abrams, 1981:137).

  Although not all plots deal with conflict, the most commonly used plot pattern consists of exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, and falling action.

  Other than the conflict between individuals or characters, there may be the conflict of a hero/heroine against fate, or against the circumstances that stand between her/him and a goal he has set for him/herself; or, as in many stories, the conflict takes place between opposing desires or values in a hero/heroine’s mind (Abrams, 1981:137) or conscience.

  All of the concepts of character and characterization, and of plot and character development as delineated in this section are further put into a theoretical framework as follows.

C. Theoretical Framework

  This section delineates the way the above-mentioned concepts contribute to the analysis of the novel and to the findings of the answers to the questions as stated in the problem formulation of the prior chapter.

  The concepts of character and characterization are useful in the attempt to understand the character of the novel’s protagonist, as the focus of this study, whereas those of plot and character development are essential to the understanding of the flow of the narrative and the protagonist’s character changes throughout the story. By means of the application of the concepts on the story, the study will hopefully come to the answers to the questions of, first, how Edna Pontellier’s character develops throughout Kate Chopin’s The Awakening; and, secondly, how Edna’s love influences the development of her character throughout the story and lead to her death/suicide?

  For the sake of clarity, the scope of the study is limited mainly to the discussion of Edna Pontellier’s character development as reflected in the steps of development constituting parts of the story’s plot, which is made clearer in the chapter to come. The allusions to other major characters are taken as far as their contributions to Edna’s character changes, and are not discussed in any depth.

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The Awakening is undoubtedly the most famous of Kate Chopin’s literary

  works, due to the controversy it has caused ever since the first time it was published in 1899 by Herbert S Stone and Co. of Chicago. This novelette was reprinted in 1906 by Duffield of New York, but then it went out of print and remained so for more than fifty years in the country. As the object of this study, the authoritative text of the novelette as obtained from the 1976’s edition of Margaret Culley’s (ed.) The Awakening: An Authoritative Text, Contexts,

  

Criticism by WW Norton & Company (New York) is used. The text is divided

into thirty-nine short chapters and runs up to 111 pages.

  The Awakening belongs to the genre of bildungsroman (novel of

  intellectual, spiritual or moral evolution) and shares elements of and is heavily influenced by the local color. Using English with frequent use of French, this short novel was written between 1897 and 1899 while Chopin was living in St. Louis. It employs an anonymous third-person narrator, which is frequently felt as sympathizing for and supporting personally of the protagonist and as aligning with the authoress herself, even if for the most part, the tone of the whole story is objective. Taken as a whole, however, the story reveals a support for woman’s independence and sexual and emotional awareness symbolized in Edna's

  The novel opens on Grand Isle, a popular summer vacation spot for wealthy Creoles from New Orleans. The second half of the novel is set in New Orleans, mainly in the Quartier Français, or French Quarter.

  The Awakening is a short by , first published in . It is widely considered to

  be a precursor to . The novel chronicles the life of Edna Pontellier, the book’s , as she examines her happiness, role as a mother, and place in society. The novel is commonly studied to review issues, and discover underlying controversies, as well as the reasons why Chopin chose to include these issues in her novel. It has also been condemned for its overwhelming use of complex sexual , which caused a major uproar when the novel was first published.

  By exploring Edna's life and death, Chopin was breaking down barriers, challenging beliefs and conceptions of marriage, love, happiness, and even the very presence of being. After the uproar that ended Chopin's career, she was banned from an arts club and she lost friends. Although there is some debate about how serious the "book banning" of The Awakening really was, it is certain that the book and its author were almost forgotten. Rediscovered in the 1960s and 1970s, Chopin's scandalous novel is now considered an important classic.

B. Approach of the Study

  This study treats its object objectively and formalistically, separating the novel from its social and historical contexts and from its readers’ responses. This treatment constitutes a formalistic approach of the study, which, according to literary work without taking into consideration those factors extraneous of the work itself. The focus of such a study is on the content—or part(s) of the content—of the work itself (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 27).

  Another source, as mentioned in Literature: Reading and Writing The

  th Human Experience ; 7 Edition by Richard Abcarian and Marvin Klotz.

  For the formalist, the work exists independently of any particularly reader. The work is a structured and formal aesthetic object comprising such elements as symbol, image, and sound patterns. Political, biographical or historical considerations not embodied in the work itself are irrelevant. ( Abcarian and Klotz, 1998: 1372)

  Rohrberger and Woods in the book Reading and Writing about Literature also mentioned that formalistic approach only examines the novel, play, or short story without giving the external factors from these literary works, such as biography, sociology, or the literary history. It focuses on the content of the work itself (Rohrberger and Woods, 1971:27). So, the formalistic approach, which is used to analyze this novel, is an approach that only analyzes the intrinsic elements of the novel, play or short story such as character, and plot. The intrinsic elements are the basic element in this approach, so the intrinsic elements are important for this approach of study.

  In so doing, this study deals only with some of the intrinsic elements of the novel, i.e. with its main and major characters and their characterization, its protagonist’s character development, and the story’s plot as the essential pattern along the line of which the protagonist develops throughout the narrative.

  This approach is adopted in this study since it provides a fairly simple analytical guideline which shall result in the clear findings describing the protagonist’s character development under the influence of her (newly found) sexual love that finally leads her to the suicide.

C. Method of the Study

  This study makes use of library research, with Kate Chopin’s novel The

  

Awakening being the main source of the data to be analyzed, and other printed and

on-line materials being the secondary and supporting ones.

  The research is conducted in several steps. First, the technical reading of the short novel as the fundamental, preliminary step before turning to further analysis. As the object of this study, the authoritative text of the novelette as obtained from the 1976’s edition of Margaret Culley’s (ed.) The Awakening: An

  

Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism by W.W. Norton & Company (New York)

  is used. The reading is conducted, secondly, to recognize the data, particularly those dealing with the character, characterization, and character development of Edna Pontellier, the heroine of the story as reflected in the narrative’s plot. The resultant plot overview is subsequently analyzed in the light of the influence of love of the female protagonist on her character development, before this study finally concludes with the answers to its questions.

  As its theoretical fundamentals, this study adopts several literary concepts taken from such major references as M.H. Abrams’ A Glossary of Literary Terms

  (1972); and Rohrberger and Woods’ Reading and Writing about Literature (1971). Other minor references and reading materials are mentioned in detail in the Bibliography.

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS This chapter deals, first, with the discussion on the general

  characterization of the main characters of The Awakening. Secondly, the plot overview and pattern are explored before it finally comes, third, to the core discussion on love and death in the course of the Edna Pontellier’s awakening.

A. General Characterization of the Major Characters of The Awakening

  The Awakening involves many characters, some are major, and some

  others are minor. Besides such minor characters as Doctor Mandelet, The Colonel, Victor Lebrun, Lady in Black, Etienne and Raoul Pontellier and some others, the followings are the main characters constituting the focus of the story and the analysis of this study. Other than Edna herself as the protagonist, the other major characters here are conceived so for their contributions to the protagonist’s course of love and awakening that finally leads her to death by committing suicide. To maintain the focus of the analysis to come, only Edna Pontellier, Robert Lebrun, Mademoiselle Reisz, Adele Ratignolle, Leonce Pontellier, and Alcee Arobin are taken into consideration; Edna, for her position as the protagonist of the story; Robert Lebrun as he represents the greatest influence that affects Edna in her awakening; Mademoiselle Reisz as she serves as the model based on whom Edna attempt to achieve her self-actualization; whereas Adele Ratignolle, as she society’s conventions, especially on the issue of woman. In what follows, each of the major characters is overviewed generally in terms of her/his characterization, which includes his/her respective role(s) and influence on each other and the way she/he develops throughout the story. The general account on the characterization of the novel’s main characters to follow is taken and understood contextually throughout the text, and specific references to any feature of the characters in this general overview are not made available. However, a significant number of supporting quotations from the text are shown in some detail in Number 2 in Section B.

1. Edna Pontellier

  Edna is the heroine or protagonist of the novel, and the “awakening” to which the title refers is hers. The course of her character development can be distinguished in the following line: from a twenty-eight-year-old wife of a New Orleans’ businessman, Edna suddenly finds herself dissatisfied with her marriage and the limited, conservative lifestyle that it allows; she emerges from her semi- conscious state of devoted wife and mother to a state of total awareness, in which she discovers her own identity and acts on her desires for emotional and sexual satisfaction. Through a series of experiences, or “awakenings,” Edna develops into an independent woman, who lives apart from her husband and children and is responsible only to her own urges and passions. It is her encounter and meddling with other people during the summer long holiday she spent with her family (re-

  )open her perspective on herself and Robert's love, in particular, triggers in her conscience a new self-consciousness of being herself.

  The course of her character development is represented in the following quotations from the novel. At the initial phase of the development, she is 'awakened' by a new consciousness of self-identity that has long disappeared before:

  She perceived that her will had blazed up, stubborn and resistant. She could not at that moment have done other than denied and resisted. She wondered if her husband had ever spoken to her like that before, and if she had submitted to his command. Of course she had; she remembered that she had. But she could not realize why or how she should have yielded, feeling as she then did. (Chopin in Culley, 1976:53).

  The next phase in her character development testifies to her newly-found independence that drives her into deciding on starting a new independent life of her own in her own place and bearing her own very identity as a free woman.

  The pigeon-house pleased her. It at once assumed the intimate character of a home, while she herself invested it with a charm which it reflected like a warm glow. There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual. Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to “feed upon opinion” when her own soul had invited her. (Chopin in Culley, 1976: 93). Furthermore, still in later phase, Edna comes to a real freedom she has finally defined for herself, i.e. not to be any man's possession any longer, assuming her own roles as an independent woman, free from any man's hegemony.

  “You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things ..[…]. I am no longer Mr. Pontellier’s possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose…” (Chopin in Culley, 1976: 106-7).

  Tragically, Edna's awakenings isolate her from others and ultimately lead her to a state of total solitude and finally to committing suicide.