A satire on social class and gender in Victorian society reflected through the main characters In J.M. Barrie’s The Twelve-Pound Look - USD Repository
A SATIRE ON SOCIAL CLASS AND GENDER
IN VICTORIAN SOCIETY REFLECTED THROUGH
THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN J. M. BARRIE’S
THE TWELVE-POUND LOOK
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
NARIS EKA SETYAWATI
Student Number: 054214093
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009
A SATIRE ON SOCIAL CLASS AND GENDER
IN VICTORIAN SOCIETY REFLECTED THROUGH
THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN J. M. BARRIE’S
THE TWELVE-POUND LOOK
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
NARIS EKA SETYAWATI
Student Number: 054214093
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009
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iii When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of the fairies.Peter Pan
- Sir James Matthew Barrie-
If all the good people were clever And all clever people were good The world would be nicer than ever We thought that it possibly could But somehow, ‘tis seldom or never The two hit it off as they should, The good are so harsh to the clever, The clever, so rude to the good!
Good and Clever
-Dame Elizabeth Wordsworth-
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This undergraduate thesis is dedicated with love to
My beloved familyAnd Everyone who loves and cares of me
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma :NARIS EKA SETYAWATI
Nama : 054214093
Nomor Mahasiswa :
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :
A SATIRE ON SOCIAL CLASS AND GENDER
IN VICTORIAN SOCIETY REFLECTED THROUGH
THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN J. M. BARRIE’S
THE TWELVE-POUND LOOK
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, me-
ngalihkan 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 royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai
penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Yogyakarta, 10 Agustus 2009 Yang menyatakan ( NARIS EKA SETYAWATI )
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to give my gratitude to Allah SWT for guiding and keeping me to be strong to finish this undergraduate thesis. Next, I would like to thank my beloved dad and mom, Pak Nar and Bu Is, for their unconditional love and to keep asking patiently on the progress of my thesis. I also thank my brother, Bowo, for his success in study that makes me eager to finish my thesis.
My greatest appreciation is addressed to my sponsor Ibu Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S. S., M. Hum. I really thank her for her patient guidance, suggestion, time and ideas in improving this thesis. My thankfulness goes to Ibu Elisa Dwi Wardani, S. S., M. Hum. who has spent the valuable time to check my thesis. I thank her for her suggestions and corrections. My thankfulness also addressed to Pak Tatang Iskarna S. S., M. Hum. who has introduced me to an amusing thesis defends. I also would like to thank all English Letters lecturers for the experience and knowledge through this pass four years. My thanks are to Mbak Ninik, to administration and library staffs for their useful information and service.
I give my special gratitude to my nDut, Dicko, for his love, patient, and understanding. From him I learn how to control my emotion and not to be selfish.
My thankfulness also goes to my comrades, Nanda, Gretha, Citra, Jonet, Boni, Bzier, and Wulan, for the incredibly wonderful friendship. For “The Engagement” play performance and Panggung Boneka, thanks for the experiences we have shared.
To all my 2005 companions, I am proud to be one of you. Lastly, I thank my friends that cannot be mentioned here one by one.
Naris Eka Setyawati
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ....................................................................................... i
APPROVAL PAGE .............................................................................. ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ......................................................................... iii
MOTTO PAGE .................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION PAGE ......................................................................... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................ vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................... vii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................... ix
ABSTRAK ............................................................................................. x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ........................................................1 A.
1 Background of the Study ...........................................................
B.
3 Problem Formulation .................................................................
C.
4 Objectives of the Study ..............................................................
D.
4 Definition of Terms ....................................................................
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ......................................
7 A.
7 Review of Related Studies .........................................................
B.
9 Review of Related Theories ........................................................
1.
9 Theory of Character and Characterization ..........................
2.
12 Theory of Satire ...................................................................
3.
14 Theory of Gender .................................................................
4.
15 Theory of Social Class .........................................................
5.
17 Theory of The Relationship between Literature and Society C.
18 Review on History ......................................................................
D.
21 Theoretical Framework ...............................................................
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...................................................
23 A.
23 Object of Study ..........................................................................
B.
24 Approach of the Study ...............................................................
C.
25 Method of the Study ...................................................................
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS .................................................................
27 A. The Characteristics of society in Victorian Era depicted through the Characterization of the Main Characters ..............................
27 1. Lower-class Working Women through Kate’s Characterization ....................................................................
29 a.
30 Independent ....................................................................
b.
31 Skillful ............................................................................
c.
31 Hard worker ...................................................................
d.
31 Responsible .....................................................................
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e.
32 Brave ..............................................................................
2.
35 Upper-class Men through Sir Harry Sims’ Characterization a.
36 Arrogant ..........................................................................
b.
38 Ambitious ........................................................................
c.
39 Harsh ..............................................................................
3.
40 Upper-class Woman through Lady Sims’ Characterization .
a.
40 Nervous ...........................................................................
b.
42 Dependent ......................................................................
c.
43 Obedient ..........................................................................
B.
44 Satires on Society in Victorian Era .............................................
1.
46 Satire on Social Class ...........................................................
2.
52 Satire on Gender ..................................................................
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ............................................................
58 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................
60 APPENDIX ...........................................................................................
63
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ABSTRACT
NARIS EKA SETYAWATI. A Satire on Social Class and Gender in Victorian
Society Reflected Through the Main Characters in J. M. Barrie’s The Twelve-
Pound Look. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata
Dharma University, 2009.This thesis discusses satire on social class and gender in Victorian society that is implied in J. M. Barrie’s The Twelve-pound Look play. The reason in writing this thesis is my curiosity to understand satire. This play is chosen because the main characters and their characteristics represent the Victorian society that is satirized by the author. The main characters have experienced the life in the middle of Victorian society. The author tries to satirize the social conditions that are social class and gender through the main characters.
There are two problem formulations in this study. First is to analyze the main characters’ characterization to reveal the characteristics of society in Victorian Era. Second is to find out the satires on society in Victorian Era according to the evidences of previous analysis.
This study applies library research method as the main source to gain the data. The information from the internet is also used as second source. The sociocultural-historical approach is used in this study since it sees the relation between the work and the society in the real life. This approach is useful to analyze the society’s condition at that time.
There two points that can be concluded after analyzing the play. The first point is the description of the characteristics of society in Victorian Era depicted through the main characters’ characterization. The result of the analysis shows that the Victorian upper class men such Sir Harry Sims are described as ambitious, arrogant, harsh, and underestimate the lower class. The ideal Victorian women are those who look like Lady Sims who is described as obedient, dependent, and unskillful. Their duties are for the domestic problems for the sake of their husbands’ and families’ reputation. Upper class people can live in luxury with the help of servants to do their housework. Whereas the Victorian lower class women are described as independent, skillful, hard worker, responsible to their job, and dares to fight for their dignity. The lower class people such as Kate should fight for their living. The second point is the satires on social class and gender in Victorian society. Barrie satirizes the upper class’ ambition, point of view of human value, and bad treatment toward the lower class. In his play, he also satirizes the way an upper class man humiliate lower class working woman. Thus, he satirizes how an upper class man treated his wife badly.
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ABSTRAK
NARIS EKA SETYAWATI. A Satire on Social Class and Gender in Victorian
Society Reflected Through the Main Characters in J. M. Barrie’s The Twelve-
Pound Look. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas
Sanata Dharma.Skripsi ini membahas sindiran tentang kelas sosial dan gender pada masyarakat di jaman Victoria yang tersurat dari drama The Twelve-Pound Look karangan J. M. Barrie. Alasan untuk menuslis skripsi ini adalah keingintahuan saya untuk memahami tentang satir atau sindiran. Drama ini dipilih karena tokoh-tokoh utama dan penokohannya menggambarkan masyarakat di jaman Victoria yang disindir oleh pengarang drama. Tokoh-tokoh utama telah mengalami kehidupan ditengah masyarakat Victoria. Pengarang mencoba menyindir kondisi sosial yaitu kelas sosial dan gender dari tokoh-tokoh utamanya.
Terdapat dua rumusan masalah dalam studi ini. Pertama adalah menganalisa penokohan tokoh-tokoh utama untuk mengungkap karakteristik masyarakat di Era Victoria. Kedua adalah untuk menemukan sindiran pada masyarakat di Era Victoria berdasarkan fakta analisis sebelumnya.
Studi ini menggunakan metoda penelitian pustaka sebagai sumber utama untuk mendapatkan data. Informasi dari internet juga digunakan sebagai sumber penunjang. Pendekatan sosio kultural-historikal digunakan dalam studi ini karena pendekatan ini melihat hubungan antara karya sastra dan masyarakat dalam kehidupan nyata. Pendekatan ini berguna untuk menganalisa kondisi masyarakat pada waktu itu.
Terdapat dua kesimpulan setelah menganalisa drama ini. Pertama adalah deskripsi tentang karakteristik-karakteristik masyarakat di Era Victoria yang tercermin dari penokohan tokoh-tokoh utama. Hasil dari analisis menunjukkan bahwa lelaki kelas atas di jaman Victoria seperti Sir Harry Sims dideskripsikan sebagai orang yang berambisi, kasar, dan merendahkan kelas bawah. Wanita ideal di jaman Victoria adalah mereka yang seperti Lady Sims yang dideskripsikan sebagai penurut, tergantung pada orang lain dan tidak terampil. Kewajiban mereka adalah untuk mengurus rumah tangga demi reputasi suami dan keluarganya. Orang-orang kelas atas dapat hidup mewah dengan bantuan para pembantu yang mengerjakan pekerjaan rumahnya. Sedangkan wanita kelas bawah pada jaman Victoria dideskripsikan sebagai orang yang mandiri, terampil, pekerja keras, tanggung jawab terhadap pekerjaan, dan berani untuk mempertahankan martabatnya. Orang kelas bawah seperti Kate harus berjuang demi kehidupannya. Kedua adalah satir atau sindiran terhadap kelas sosial dan gender pada masyarakat di jaman Victoria. Barrie menyindir ambisi kelas atas, pandangan tentang nilai seseorang, dan perlakuan buruknya terhadap kelas bawah. Dalam drama ini Barrie juga menyindir cara lelaki kelas atas merendahkan martabat seorang wanita pekerja kelas bawah. Dia juga menyindir perlakuan buruk lelaki kelas atas terhadap istrinya.
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Everyone in the world live his or her life in a certain society. People cannot
live alone and always need someone else in their life. They need to communicate one another to deliver their information, value, and idealism. Human beings can express their ideas, thoughts, and experiences in many ways. One of them is in the form of literature. Literary works helps to connect the reader to the society and to learn more about human dreams and struggle in different social condition. Wellek and Warren in their book The Theory of Literature stated that literary works can play the role as historical document that recorded social realities, which are artistically portrayed by the author (1956:102). It means that literary works gives information about history in the society. Reading literary works may enrich the reader’s knowledge about history and social condition in the time when literary works are written. It can also make people more aware of life as Perrine says that “by reading it carefully, one can broaden, deepen, and sharpen his awareness of life and its problem” (1974: 3).
In her Understanding Plays, Second Edition, Barranger said that drama “like a novel or poem, as written words, is considered a literary text” (1994:4). As one of literature, drama offers education that discusses the issues of life. Barranger completed her statement by saying that:
Playwrights also move beyond personal concerns to discuss social and political issues that are of a certain time, yet transcend specific
1 historical periods... The aim of great playwrights is to expand our consciousness on old and new social and personal issues, and to endow us with new perspective on our humanity and the human condition (1994: 7-8).
According to Guth and Shnider, there are two basic kinds of drama or play: comedy and tragedy (1981:585). Comedy is “the kind of drama that entertains us and makes us laugh.” Tragedy is the opposite of comedy. It is “a play in which the central character, or protagonist, is a great or admirable person who goes down to defeat” (1981:586). This thesis concerns with the first type of play as stated in
Everyman’s Encyclopaedia, Fourth Edition that “What Every Women Knows, 1908,
and The Twelve-Pound Look, 1910, both excellent satirical comedies” (J. A Roy, Chalmers, Darlington, 1958: 31). But comedy here is not only a matter of things that entertain us and make us laugh. According to Barranger:
Comedy is not a mere matter of jokes, one-liner, or funny bits of business, like slipping on a banana peel or receiving the unexpected pie in the face. Comic action dramatizes a train of events manifested on the stage by a diversity of actives engaging subjects of human folly or triumph and it has consequences in the social world for the group... (1994: 90)
It means that comedy not a mere of a joke but something that can make us think deeper related to the society. Guth and Rico make this statement stronger by saying that:
Wielding humor as weapon, the comic playwright uses satire to do battle against callousness, stinginess or hypocrisy. Comedy satirizes traits that narrow life, forces that shut off possibility. It mocks bullies and pompous idiots (1997:1371).
This thesis analyzes The Twelve-Pound Look as one of satirical comedy plays that can make people think seriously. This work was written in 1910, the early twentieth century but much influenced by the society in Victorian Era as this era gives greater influence to the following literature. Even though this play was written after the reign of Queen Victoria, this play is used to satirize the Victorian Era. It can be seen from the problems in the play that happened fourteen years ago before the present acts of the play. The different class and gender becomes the issue of this play and the focus of this thesis. James Mathew Barrie, the author of the play, used his work as the satire on social class and gender in Victorian Era. In this work, he ridicules the inability of the upper-class to do his or her job without lower class’ hands. The story goes as the noble man who is just about to be knighted being mocked by a typist who was unfortunately his former wife. The typist still can see the arrogance of the noble man and people who are underestimated by him even his new wife. Barrie satirizes the social class and gender by putting the unexpected lower class woman as the superior person in this play. He does not make the upper class as the superior one but on the contrary.
It is worth to study this topic to be more aware of people around us. It will be helpful to analyze this topic so that readers can learn to be more respectful to the others even to the people who are considered as the lower class. It is worth to analyze because it can give lesson to learn about life.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study, there are two problem formulations that can be formulated as follows:
1. What are the characteristics of society in Victorian Era depicted through the characterization of main characters in The Twelve-Pound Look?
2. What are satirized on society in Victorian Era as seen in The Twelve-Pound
Look ? C.
Objectives of the Study
The purpose of the study is to find out the satire on social class and gender in the Victorian Era. There are two objectives the writer tries to achieve in writing this thesis. First is to reveal the characteristic of society in Victorian Era through the characterization of main characters in The Twelve-Pound Look. Second is to know what are satirized on society in Victorian Era as seen in the play.
D. Definition of Terms
There are several terms to be defined related to the title of this thesis and the analysis that follow. These terms need to be clarified in order to give better understanding of the study.
The first word is class. According to Langbaum in his book Victorian Age, the word such as lower classes, middle classes, working classes, upper classes, class prejudice, class legislation, class consciousness, class conflict, and class war follow in the course of the nineteenth century. Class indicates a change in attitude towards the social division.
The second word is gender. In the book of Speaking of Gender, Showalter says that “term ‘gender’ stands for the social, cultural, and psychological meaning imposed upon biological sexual identity” (1989: 2). It means that gender is social constructed which based on sex difference. Coates in Women, Men, and Language agrees with the previous statements by saying that gender “is used to describe socially constructed categories based on sex” (1993: 2).
The third word is satire. Soukhanov stated that satire is “the use of wit, especially irony, sarcasm, and ridicule, to attack the vices and follies of humankind” (2005:1287). There is also further explanation in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume
19 that satire is “the expression in adequate terms of the sense of amusement or
disgust excited by the ridiculous or unseemly,… that the utterance is invested with literary form. Without humor, satire is invective: without literary form, it is mere clownish jeering” (John Dryden, et al, 1970: 1086). Whereas a simple understandable definition can be found in The New Encyclopaedia Britannica that is
“wherever wit is employed to expose something foolish or vicious to criticism, there satire exists…” (David Worcester, et al, 1983: 268).
The last word is Victorian. Victorian is “relating to, belonging to, or typical of the reign of the British Queen Victoria.” It is “conventional, hypocritical, or prudish showing or typical of attitudes commonly associated with the Victorian Era, especially prudery or conventionalism (Encarta Webster’s Colledge Dictionary,
Second Edition , 2005: 1602). According to Myers and Simms, Victorian Era is “the
period of English literature from 1832 to 1901, named after the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Generally speaking, the period was one of great progress in science, economics, and social welfare, and thus optimistic attitudes concerning the future of Britain were spawned. Literature mirrored the time’s bourgeoning progress with theses of class struggle and social and moral reform although the age was known for its accent on solemnity, decorum and rectitude. The term “Victorian” is used to evoke the attitudes of moral earnestness, complacency, respectability, prudery, and hypocrisy typical of the Victorian middle class. Thus, the Victorian Era is known by its social class society (1989: 334-335).
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW B. Review of Related Studies James Mathew Barrie was one of great playwrights in his era. People
consider him as a talented writer. His first career was being an article writer then turned to be novelist. Among his great works, the most famous one is Peterpan. This succeeds of Peterpan made him urged to work harder. When his play The Little
Minister became well-known and made him rich, he turned from novelist to
playwriting. Even though Peterpan is the most famous works of Barrie, there are many noticeable plays and one-act plays to consider. One of them is The Twelve
Pound Look . Sampson in his book The Concise Cambridge History of English
Literature says that “A triple bill of 1910 contains a very good one-act play, The
Twelve Pound Look ...” (1959: 990). It means that The Twelve Pound Look is one of
good plays of Barrie’s. This simple study had made the thesis writer curious on its goodness. It is not only a kind of good review on the previous study about the play but it implies that there is something worth to study beyond this statement. Sampson adds his statement on the writer, J. M. Barrie, by saying that:
(He) had, like all true fabulist, an undeluded view of life: and beneath the light and whimsical texture of The Admirable Crichton, Dear
Brutus, The Will, and The Twelve Pound Look, there is a gently
irresistible rejection of illusion that is more impressive than the ferocities of the realist (1959: 991-992). It can be concluded that Barrie is a very good writer. Among his plays there is an impressive illusion one of them is in The Twelve-Pound Look. It means that it is not
only a play to entertain the reader but it gives more than what is stated. On his last statement, Sampson says that “A Family Man (1921) says less in three acts and several scenes about the domestic autocrat than Barrie had said in the one scene of
The Twelve Pound Look ” (1959: 993). In other words it can be said that there is a
domestic autocrat illusion in this play. It means that there is dictator or absolute ruler in the marriage that is not directly stated in the play.
In Everyman’s Encyclopædia, Forth Edition, there is a sentence says that “...What Every Woman Knows, 1908, and The Twelve Pound Look, 1910, both excellent satirical comedies;...” (J. A. Roy, et al, 1958: 31). It can be seen from the statement that The Twelve Pound Look contains satirical comedies to consider. The
New Encyclopædia Britannica agrees with the previous statement. It says that “...;
sometimes satirically, as in The Twelve Pound Look (1910), on the typist as the symbol of female emancipation;...” (Denis Mackail, et al, 1983: 197). It means that
The Twelve Pound Look is a satirical play with female typist to symbolize the female
emancipation.A further study is done by Hochman. It is stated in his book of Mc. Graw-
Hill Encyclopædia of World Drama, Second Edition that
Barrie also wrote a number of one-act plays, the best known of which probably The Twelve Pound Look (1910), the story of Kate..., who has left her wealthy husband and barrenness of their life to find dignity and self-respect by working as a typist (1984: 265).
In other words it can be said that The Twelve Pound Look tells about the story of Kate who fight for dignity and self-respect. She left her husband and barrenness to be a typist.
From the related studies above it can be concluded that The Twelve-Pound
Look is one of Barrie’s satirical comedy plays. It is not a mere comedy that can
make people laugh but there is unstated view of the writer. It can make the reader think deeper and be sensitive to the people and surrounding. It can be seen from the typist female symbol, who left his husband, barrenness, and the dictator ruler in the marriage, for dignity and self-respect.
Those studies above are closely related to this study. Their discussions are helpful for the analysis, but they have not answered the problems in this study. In this analysis, the main issues are the criticisms on the social class and gender differentiation which exists on the society when the play is published. Sampson and Roy, et al’s studied that The Twelve-Pound Look is satirical and contains illusion is too broad, it has not answered the problems. Mackail, et al and Hochman’s study is narrower than the previous studies. Although it has not answered the problem formulations, it is helpful to see that there are some issues of society, female, and dignity in The Twelve-Pound Look. Based on those considerations, the study is carried out on more specific area of the text that is the study on the function of the work as a satire on the social class and gender in Victorian Era.
C. Review of Related Theories
The writer applies some theories related to develop this thesis. The theories are:
1. Theory of character and characterization
Character is one of the most important elements in literary work. It is the one that make the story seems alive and understandable. It is the one that make a literary work alive and interesting to read. It can draw the reader to be engaged in the story. According to Abrams, characters are:
The person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral and disposition qualities that are expressed in what they say (the dialogues) and by what they do (the action) (1981: 20).
It implies that there is a relation between the presentation of a character as well as his personality traits and what the readers get from it. According to Rohrberger and Wood, a character “is a person who acts out in a particular time and place in a pattern of events” (1971: 20). It means that there is a plot in a literary work that the character act in particular time and place.
Robert Stanton stated that based on the importance, characters are identified into two ways namely, major and minor characters. The center of the story is focused on the major or main characters. The main characters have an important role because the acts in a story are usually focused on them. The acts of the story are focused on this character from the beginning until the ending. While minor characters appear in certain setting, just necessarily become the background for the major characters (1965: 17).
Furthermore, Stanton in his book An Introduction to Fiction says that there are some indications to understand the character. First is from the character’s name fits the character. Second is the author description and comments on the character clearly. Third is from the other characters’ opinion and attitude toward the character meant. Fourth, as the most important indication is the character’s own dialogue and behavior because every speech, every action is a manifestation of the character (1965: 18). Moreover, Stanton said that an author does not always describe the character clearly or directly to the reader. Therefore, the reader is “lopsided or oversimplified” in making an impression of the character in a story (1965: 18). It means that the reader has their opportunity to give judgments and impression about each character in the story. It can be said that if the author describes the character unclearly, the reader could get his or her judgment to the work.
To present characters in a narrative or dramatic works, an author may use the ways a character portrayal which is often known as characterization. According to Baldick, characterization is the representation of persons in narrative or dramatic works which may include direct methods like the attributions of qualities in description or commentary, and indirect (or ‘dramatic’) methods inviting the readers to infer qualities from characters’ action, speech, or appearance (1990: 34). It means that characterization can be seen from direct methods in the form of description from the author and indirect method such as character’s action, speech, and appearance. According to Rohrberger and Woods, Jr., characterization is “the process by which an author creates character, the devices by which he makes us believe that a character is the particular type of person he is” (1971:20). In other words, characterization is a process used by the author to create a character.
Characterization should also be conveyed into a good way to create a clear image to the reader’s perception.
According to Holman and Harmon there are three fundamental methods of characterization in Fiction. First is the explicit presentation by the author of the character through directs EXPOSITION means that the author directly describes the character. Second is the presentation of the character in action means that without explanation of the author, the reader understand the character. Last is the representation from within CHARACTER means that emotion experience reflected in the character (1986:81).
It can be concluded that character and its characterization are important element in literary work. There are two kinds of characters; main or major character and minor character. Some indications to understand the character can be seen from the character’s name fits the character, the author description and comments on the character, from the other characters’ opinion and attitude toward the character, and the character’s own dialogue and behavior. The characterization can be seen from the author’s explanation, presentation of the character, and representation from within character.
2. Theory of Satire
According to Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms, satire can be described as “the literary art of diminishing or derogating a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking toward it attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation” (1985: 187). A satire is an author’s style to criticize a subject he dislikes or disagrees with. He also says that satire “uses laughter as a weapon, and against a butt that exists outside the work itself” (1985: 187). Laughter is satire’s weapon to criticize the reality. Moreover, Holman and Harmon in their book A
Handbook to Literature state that satire is “a literary manner that blends a critical
attitude with HUMOR and WIT for the purpose of improving human institutions or humanity” (1986: 447). The use of humor and wit in satire is not a mere laughter but correcting the sense of humanity. Satire has an aim to criticize someone or something.
According to Frye, there are two essential things of satire; “one is wit or humor that is founded on fantasy or a sense of the grotesque or absurd and the other is an object of attack” (1957: 224). An author can express his feeling and thought through satire whether it uses fantasy or truth to be satirized. He also states that “satire demands...at least an implicit moral standard” (1957: 224). A satire should contain morality to teach the reader. Soukhanov stated that satire is “the use of wit, especially irony, sarcasm, and ridicule, to attack the vices and follies of humankind” (2005:1287). Moreover, in Encyclopedia Americana is stated that in its more frequent sense, satire is
A literary manner in which the follies and foibles or vices and crimes of a person, mankind, or an institution are held up to ridicule or scorn, with the intention of correcting them. This manner may be present in many art forms and may employ many methods (Petro, Stack, Weinbrot, 1995: 294) It means that satire’s intention is to correct a person, mankind, or an institution.
Moreover in the same book, Petro, et al stated that satire suggest not mere laughter. Its purpose is for correction with the target to ridicule by the satirist’s unmasking of pretense, falsity, deception, and arrogance. Thus, the truth in life is the material for satire (1995: 294).
Holman and Harmon divide satire into two major types; formal or direct satire and indirect satire. In direct satire, the satiric voice speaks out in the first person, address to the reader or else to a character. Indirect satire is expressed through “narratives of the characters or groups who are the butt are ridiculed not by what is said about them, but what they themselves say and do” (1986:448). According to Abrams, in indirect satire, the objects of the satire are characters who make themselves and their opinions ridiculous by what they think, say, and do, and sometimes made even more ridiculous by the author’s comments and narrative style (1981:188).
It can be concluded that satire is not a mere humor to ridicule person or institution but it has the intention for correction. The truth in the society is the material for satire in the form of irony, mockery, and parody. There are two ways to deliver the satire. They are direct and indirect satire.
3. Theory of Gender
In Literature and Gender by Goodman, she stated that “gender refers ways of seeing and representing people and situations based on sex difference” (1996: vii). Showalter gives his contribution with the statement that “term ‘gender’ stands for the social, cultural, and psychological meaning imposed upon biological sexual identity” (1989: 2). It means that gender is a social construction which is based on sex difference. Coates in Women, Men, and Language agrees with the previous statements by saying that gender “is used to describe socially constructed categories based on sex” (1993: 2). Moreover in her other book of Language & Gender,
Interdisciplinary Perspectives she said about gender-differentiated language that it
“use may play a significant role in the continued marginalization of women in the professions, particularly in terms of career progress and development” (1995: 13).
The gender differentiation in language also contributes in the marginalization of women. She continued her statement by saying that: …in the early nineteenth-century, patterns of gender division changed: ‘men were firmly placed in the newly defined public world of business, commerce and politics; women were placed in the private world of home and family’ (1995: 14).
It means that starting from the early nineteenth-century, there are two divisions of gender differentiation in Britain: men are for public world of business and women are for domestic world of home and family. Moreover, Showalter stated about men and women status in the society by saying that gender stereotype in many cultures mostly champions men in any area of life. Regarding the biological characteristics that women have, many societies count women to be weak. This opinion brings out the assumptions that women are the second form of human nature, the second class in society, and thus to be less than men (1989: 3).
4. Theory of Social Class
People who belong in a certain community in a certain period have always communicate with other in term of social life. There is always a differentiation between one another within a group of people in the society. People might make their own group of social classes to be able to distinguish with others. As stated by Maciver and Page in their book of Society: An Introductory Analysis, social classes are “more or less spontaneous formations expressive of social attitudes” (1950: 348).
People are naturally forming the social classes in the society as their expression of social attitude. The class system comes “from and profoundly influences the whole mode of life and thought within the community” (1950: 348). The differentiation of classes made people’s ways of life and think according to people in the same group.
Moreover, Maciver and Page said that “wherever social intercourse is limited by considerations of status, by distinctions between “higher” and “lower,” there social class exists” (1950: 348). The social class occurs when there is a distinction between higher and lower status of people in the society.
According to Landis, there are some factors that have been used to distinguish the social classes in the society including “years of education, amount of income, type of possessions, even type and quality of home furnishings” (1974: 118). The differentiation of social classes can be seen from some factors such as education, wage, and belonging. There is also a statement in The New
Encyclopaedia Britannica that “the different income, personal security, and
knowledge also give different behavior towards people of different levels. The lower class is usually lacks of dignity especially on the authority” (Weber, et al, 1983: 875). It can be said that the class status affects people’s social life in their behavior. The stratification system tends to lower the lowly status’ dignity. Whereas higher status tends to be stronger as he said further that the higher groups usually have stronger view of their claim and merit than the inferior (Weber, et al, 1983: 874). Mayer gives his contribution to The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Fifteenth
Edition with his statement on the three types and characteristics of Social Class in
Britain. They are the upper class, the middle class, and the working class. The upper class are those who are able to develop a distinctive style of life based upon expensive cultural pursuits and leisure activities, from which the great majority of the population is excluded, to exert a considerable influence upon economic policy and political decisions, and to procure for their children a superior education and economic opportunities that help to perpetuate family wealth (1973: 948)
The statement above implies that the upper class can get better life and facilities in the society. Whereas the middle class and working class often has been treated based on their occupations. The middle classes are clerical workers, those engaged in technical and professional occupations, supervisors and managers, and self- employed workers, such as small shopkeepers, farmers and (in some societies) the wealthier peasants. The working class constituted essentially by manual workers in extractive and manufacturing industry. The characteristic of the working class is lack of property and dependence upon wages, relatively low levels of living and of education, restricted access to education, limited opportunities for leisure and cultural activities. There are also different levels within the working class; skilled, semiskilled, and unskilled workers, corresponding broadly with differences in income level (1973: 948). It can be concluded that the middle classes are defined upon their occupations and the working class represents by manual workers in manufacturing industry. They are those people who are lack of property and dependence upon the wages.