Analysis of Theme Through The Protagonist in Philippa Gregory's 'The Other Boleyn Girl'.

ABSTRACT

Dalam Tugas Akhir ini, saya menganalisis tokoh utama dalam novel The
Other Boleyn Girl karya Philippa Gregory. Tokoh utama ini digambarkan hidup
dalam lingkungan kerajaan pada zaman Raja Henry VIII di Kerajaan Inggris.
Anne, tokoh utama novel ini, merupakan seorang wanita muda yang
mempunyai sebuah mimpi yang teramat tinggi. Di awal cerita, Anne digambarkan
seorang wanita yang baik dan peduli terhadap orang lain serta pintar. Akan tetapi,
saat mimpinya berubah menjadi sebuah obsesi, Anne berubah menjadi seorang
wanita yang jahat, egois dan licik. Anne melakukan segala cara untuk memenuhi
obsesinya walaupun ia akan melakukan perbuatan yang sangat buruk. Pada
akhirnya obsesi tersebut membawanya pada kehancuran. Ia tidak hanya
mengalami kehancuran tetapi juga kehilangan nyawanya karena dihukum mati
oleh Raja Henry VIII karena kelakuannya yang teramat buruk.
Setelah melakukan analisis terhadap karakter Anne tersebut, saya
menyimpulkan bahwa seseorang yang memiliki obsesi berlebihan akan
membawanya pada kehancuran. Hal ini dikarenakan obsesi dapat merubah
seseorang menjadi orang yang jahat yang akan menghalalkan segala cara guna
memenuhi obsesinya. Oleh karena itu, saya berpendapat kita hanya bisa berusaha
meraih mimpi kita tanpa memaksakan keadaan. Bila kita memaksanya, pada saat
itulah obsesi itu akan muncul dan menghancurkan hidup kita.


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TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..............................................................................

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................. iii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ........................................................................
Statement of the Problem .......................................................................
Purpose of the Study ..............................................................................
Methods of Research ..............................................................................
Organization of the Thesis .....................................................................


1
2
2
3
3

CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH
THE PROTAGONIST IN PHILIPPA GREGORY’S
THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL ..........................................................

4

CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ..........................................................

15

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................

18


APPENDICES:
Synopsis of The Other Boleyn Girl .....................................................
Biography of the Author .....................................................................

iv

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APPENDICES

SYNOPSIS OF NOVELS
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The Other Boleyn Girl is a novel about two Boleyn girls, both of whom
love the same man. The man is the King of England, whose name is Henry VIII.
Mary Boleyn is the younger sister of the Boleyn girls. At first, King Henry is
attracted to Mary Boleyn. Eventhough Mary has already got a husband, he does
not care about it. He still wants to have her as his mistress because he wants a son.

From his Queen, he does not have a son. Yet, the King must have a son to replace
him after he dies.
After Mary becomes the King’s mistress and has given two children, a
daughter and a son, for the King, her father and her uncle ask her to become a
Queen. Yet, she refuses it because she does not want to betray her own Queen.
Suddenly, Anne, who is Mary’s sister becomes Mary’s rival to draw the King’s
attention. Anne wants to take over Mary’s place as the King’s favorite girl
because she has an ambition to become the Queen of England.
At the beginning, Mary and Anne have a harmonious relationship. Yet, in
the middle of the story, their relationship becomes ruined when Anne turns to be
an obsessive girl. Anne is willing to do thing in order to become the Queen of

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England. Although she knows that she will hurt her own sister, Anne does not
care about it.
After Anne becomes the Queen of England, she still cannot give the King
a son. Therefore, she does everything in order to maintain her position as the

Queen. She conducts an incestuous affair with George, her brother. She does that
in order to have a son. Yet, the King finds out about it and thus decides to execute
Anne.

BIOGRAPHY OF AUTHORS
Philippa Gregory is a New York Times bestselling author of over eight
historical fiction books, including The Other Boleyn Girl (2001) and The Boleyn
Inheritance (2006). She was born in 09 January 1954, Kenya, she moved to
England with her family and lives there. She was educated in Bristol and at the
National Council for Training of Journalists course in Candiff. She worked as a
senior reporter on the Portsmouth News, and as a journalist and producer for BBC
radio. Philippa obtained a BA degree in history at the University of Sussex in
Brighton and a PhD at Edinburgh University in 18th century literature.
Her first novel, Wideacre (1987), was written as her completed her PhD
and became an instant world-wide bestseller. On its publication, she became a
full-time writer. Her knowledge of gothic eighteenth century novels led to the
world-wide success of Wideacre, which was followed by a haunting sequel: The
Favored Child (1989), and the delightful happy ending of the trilogy: Meridon
(1990). This novel was listed in the Romantic Novel of the year at the same time.


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In her later novels, she pioneered the genre which becomes her own: a
fictional biography, the true story of a real person brought life with painstaking
research and passionate verve. The flowering of this new style was undoubtedly
The Other Boleyn Girl, a best-seller which stormed the US market and then went
worldwide telling the story of the little known sister to Anne Boleyn. This novel is
becoming a classic historical novel, winning the Parker Pen Novel of the Year
Award 2002, and the Romantic Times fictional biography award. This story was
adapted for the BBC as a single television drama and a film.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION


BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Philippa Gregory is an English novelist who was born in Kenya. Later she
moved to England where she lives and produces novels. She writes a number of
fictions based on history. As a matter of fact, she is a New York Times bestselling
author of over 8 historical fiction books. “Accuracy is very important to me
because I have a total commitment to history” (“Biography of Philippa Gregory”).
Most of her novels are concerned with romantic happenings and situations.
Accordingly, she won Romantic Novelist of the Year Award in 2002.
One of Philippa Gregory’s novels, The Other Boleyn Girl is a classic
historical fiction novel based on the sixteenth-century life. This novel becomes
popular and won the Parker Pen Novel of the year award 2002 and the Romantic
Times fictional biography award. This novel is also made into a film released on
29th February 2008. The Other Boleyn Girl is concerned with the obsessions of
Anne Boleyn, Mary Boleyn’s rival, to get attention of love from King of England,
Henry VIII. Because of her obsessions, she does anything to get what she wants
although it means hurting her own sister. It is a normal for everybody to have a

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dream but becoming obsessive is not good for us because it can ruin our
relationships with other people.
In my thesis, I choose to analyze the theme from this novel. According to
Story and Structure, “The theme of a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its
central insight” (Perrine 102). I intend to analyze theme through portrayal of the
protagonist because according to Perrine, “A story through its portrayal of specific
persons in specific situations will have something to say about the nature of all
men or about the relationship of human beings to each other or to the universe.
Whatever central generalization about life arises from the specifics of the story
constitutes theme” (103). Therefore, I think it is most suitable to analyze theme
through the portrayal of the protagonist from the novel The Other Boleyn Girl.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The problems of this study are:
1. What is the theme of the novel?
2. How does the portrayal of the protagonist help to reveal the theme?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Based on the statement of the problem, the purposes of the study are:
1. To show the theme of the novel.
2. To show how the portrayal of the protagonist helps to reveal the theme.

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METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method I applied is library research. At first, I read Philippa Gregory’s
The Other Boleyn Girl as my primary text. Then, I analyze the portrayal of the
protagonist. I use some resources and references from the book and Internet that
enables me to support the analysis and help me write the thesis. Finally, I make
some conclusions of what has been discussed.

ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
There are three chapters in my thesis. Chapter One is the Introduction
which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problems, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research and the Organization of the Thesis.
Chapter Two consists of analysis of the theme through the portrayal of the

protagonist in Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl. Chapter Three is the
Conclusion followed by the Bibliography and the Appendices which consists of
the Synopsis of The Other Boleyn Girl and the Biography of Philippa Gregory.

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After finishing the analysis of the protagonist in The Other Boleyn Girl by
Philippa Gregory, I would like to draw some conclusion. In the novel, I find there
is a good girl who has a big dream which turns into an obsession that makes her
become a wicked girl. Her obsession leads her to her downfall because she does
everything in order to fulfill her obsession. Therefore, I formulate the theme of the
novel “A dream which turns into an obsession may lead to one’s downfall”.
Anne, the protagonist of The Other Boleyn Girl, is a good girl who has a
high dream at the beginning because she is portrayed as a high dream, caring and

smart girl. Yet, her characteristics changes when her dream turns into an
obsession. Anne becomes wicked, selfish and cunning. She turns into that kind of
woman because she wants to fulfill her obsession. Besides, she will do anything
even bad things to fulfill it. She is so blinded by her obsession that she does not
care even if she has hurt her own sister, Mary, in order to fulfil her obsession.
Anne comes to her downfall because of her obsession. Her downfall can
be seen when she has a disabled baby from her affair with George. Because of it,
people look down on her as the Queen of England. Moreover, having such an

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obsession ruins her relationship with her brother and sister. Her downfall can also
be seen when she becomes the loneliest girl. People who always stay beside her
leave her. Not only that, she is also executed by the King. From analysis above, I
find that the portrayal of Anne as the protagonist of the novel can reveal the
theme.
After I read The Other Boleyn Girl, I find that this novel wants to make all
people aware that a dream which turns into an obsession can make our life
become ruined. It is a good thing to want to realize our dream, but a dream which
turns into an obsession may result in a bad thing. Being obsessive makes us do
anything in order to get what we want even bad things. Not only does it make our
characteristics change from positive characteristics into negative ones but also can
make us to come to our downfall.
I am of the opinion that this novel also wants to inform us that an
obsession does not make us happy; on the contrary, it makes us miserable and
lonely. We will feel alone because all people who always stand by side us will
choose to leave us. They do that because they have been hurt by us. Perhaps, we
are not aware that we actually have hurt them. However, we actually have hurt
them in such a way that we can fulfil our obsession. Therefore, I find that an
obsession is a negative thing which can lead us to our downfall.
In my opinion, The Other Boleyn girl is very useful to be read because we
can learn a lot of things from the novel. It explains us how an obsession can ruin
our life. This novel is useful for not only the King Henry’s period in the sixteenthcentury but also our present time. As we know, all of people in the world have
dreams to achieve a high position wherever they are. It is a common thing if they

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want their dreams to come true. They often do anything that they can to get the
position they want. They also are not aware of the fact that actually they have
sacrificed the people who always stand by them, like their family or their best
friends. Sometimes, they do not ever care about it. In their mind, they just want to
fulfil their obsession. Therefore, if we read this novel, it can act as a reminder that
should not become an obsessive man, which make us capable of doing anything to
get what we want.
As a human being, we can just do the best to get what we want; especially
to fulfil our dream so as to become true. However, we should not let our dream
become an obsession which can make us become bad people. We must keep our
mind fresh and logical so that we can think positively in our lives.
Finally, after reading and analyzing The Other Boleyn girl by Philippa
Gregory, I find that we can not force anything in order to realize our dream. If we
force ourselves to get what we want by doing anything even bad things, it would
turn to be an obsession. Consequently, it may lead us to our downfall, is presented
in the theme of this novel. That is, “A dream which turns into an obsession may
lead to one’s downfall”.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text
Gregory, Philippa. The Other Boleyn Girl. New York: Pocket Star Books, 2007

References
Book References:
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. United States: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1974

Internet sources:
“Biography of Philippa Gregory”. Philippa Gregory. 2006. 18 Apr. 2008.

“Biography of Philippa Gregory”. The Other Boleyn Girl. 2009. 22 Feb. 2009.


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