The contribution of conflicts in revealing Nina Sayers` personality disorder seen in Mark Heyman`s Black Swan - USD Repository
THE CONTRIBUTION OF CONFLICTS IN REVEALING
NINA SAYERS’ PERSONALITY DISORDER SEEN IN MARK
HEYMAN’S BLACK SWAN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
THEODORA FILLI ASTRIDA
Student Number: 034214086
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
THE CONTRIBUTION OF CONFLICTS IN REVEALING
NINA SAYERS’ PERSONALITY DISORDER SEEN IN MARK
HEYMAN’S BLACK SWAN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
THEODORA FILLI ASTRIDA
Student Number: 034214086
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
TO SEE A WORLD IN A GRAIN OF SAND AND A HEAVEN IN A WILD FLOWER HOLD INFINITY IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND AND ETERNITY IN AN HOUR.
(William Blake) Dedicated to My Little Sun, Arda
My Amazing Mother, Yohana My Incredible Father, Hendry With love.
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the works or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, September 26, 2011.
Theodora Filli Astrida
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Theodora Filli Astrida Nomor Mahasiswa : 034214086
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
The Contribution of Conflicts in Revealing Nina Sayers’
Personality Disorder in Mark Heyman’s Black SwanBeserta 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 royalti kepada saya selama tetap mancantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 20 September 2011.
Yang menyatakan, (Theodora Filli Astrida)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, I would like to give my deep thanks to God who always be my savior in every difficulty and for His blessings during the completion of this thesis. I also would like to express my gratitude to Modesta Luluk A.W., S.S. as my advisor and Maria Ananta T.S., S.S., M.Ed. as my co-advisor who have spent their precious time to read and to share their opinion on my thesis. Their concerns, suggestions, and corrections are very meaningful to make this thesis be easier to present.
My endless gratitude is also given to my parents, Drs. Martinus Hendry and Maria Yohana, who make it all possible for me to pass through. And also for my brothers, Oktavianus and Thomas, my sister Dian, my niece, Dita; thank you for reminding me about dreams and hopes.
I also would like to thank to Ndut for serving me hot milks while I was busy finishing my thesis; and my 2003 friends: Ella, Poppi, Ika, for being my great companion during the making of this thesis. I do thank them for their joys, care, help, and support, and for friends who can not be mentioned one by one. To my other parents: Ibu Maria, Bpk. Darso, Bpk. Guntur, Ibu Hartati, and Ibu Ika. Thank you for your support, kindness, helps, and prayers.
And the special gratitude is presented to my beloved Ali and Arda. Thank you for your sacrifices and making my dreams come true.
Theodora Filli Astrida.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ……………………………………………………………. i
APPROVAL PAGE ……………………………………………………… ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………… iii
MOTTO PAGE ………………………………………………………….. iv
DEDICATION PAGE …………………………………………………… v
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY …………………………………….. vi
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN ……………………………………… vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ………………………………………………. viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………….. ix
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………… xi
ABSTRAK ……………………………………………………………….. xii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………….. 1
A. Background of the Study ………………………………………. 1 B. Problem Formulations …………………………………………. 6 C. Objective of the Study ………………………………………… 6 D. Definition of Terms ……………………………………………. 6CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ……………………………. 8
A. Review of Related Studies .......................................................... 8 B. Review of Related Theories …………………………………… 101. Theory of Character and Characterization ...................... 10
2. Theory of Conflict. …………………………………….. 13
3. Theory of Personality Development ……………………. 14
4. Theory of Personality Disorder ………………………… 16
C. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………… 17
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY …………………………………….. 18 A. Object of the Study…………………………………………….. 18 B. Approach of the Study ………………………………………… 20 C. Method of the Study …………………………………………… 21 CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS A. Analysis on the Major Characters Presented in the Script …… 22
1. Nina Sayers …………………………………………… 23 a.
Quiet ……………………………………………… 23
b. Shy ……………………………………………….. 24 c.
Obsessive …………………………………………. 25 d. Envious ……………………………………………. 26
e. Submissive ………………………………………… 27 f.
Optimistic …………………………………………. 28 g. Frigid toward Man ……………………………….. 28 i. Naïve ………………………………………………. 30
2. Erica …………………………………………………… 31 a.
Excessive Mothering ………………………………. 31
b. Over-Estimate ……………………………………… 31 c.
Over-Protective ……………………………………. 32 d. Authoritarian ………………………………………. 32
e. Introvert ……………………………………………. 33
3. Michael Brennan ……………………………………… 34
a. Attractive ………………………………………….. 35
b. Emotional …………………………………………... 35
c. Flirtatious ………………………………………….. 36 d.
Confident ………………………………………….. 36
e. Money Oriented …………………………………… 37
f. Unpredictable Person ………………………………. 37
4. Lily ……………………………………………………. 38 a.
Fashionable ………………………………………… 38
b. Extrovert …………………………………………… 39
c. Free Spirit Person …………………………………... 38 d.
Self-Confident ……………………………………… 39 e. Rude ………………………………………………. 39
f. Sensual …………………………………………….. 40
B. The Conflicts between Characters Revealed in the Story ……. 40
1. Internal Conflict ………………………………………. 41
2. External Conflict ……………………………………… 42
a. Conflicts between Nina and Erica …………… 42
b. Conflicts between Nina and Brennan ………. 46
c. Conflicts between Nina and Lily ……………. 48
C. The Contribution of Conflicts in Revealing Nina Sayers’ Personality Disorder ................................................................. 52
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ……………………………………....... 61
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………. 65SUMMARY ……………………………………………………………… 67
ABSTRACT
THEODORA FILLI ASTRIDA. The Contribution of Conflicts in Revealing
Nina Sayers’ Personality Disorder Seen in Mark Heyman’s Black Swan.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.Black Swan is a fictional literary work written in the form of movie script.
It reveals a story of a young girl and talented ballerina, Nina Sayers, who lives with her single parent mother. Being raised with excessive love and negativistic parental behavior makes her have a particular and introvert personality.
This study tries to discuss the personality disorder that occurs to the character of Nina Sayers as the result of the conflicts that rise between her and the other characters as described in Mark Heyman’s Black Swan movie script. These influential characters include her mother, her dance director, and Lily. Related to the title of the thesis, the researcher would like to analyze the problems: 1) How are the characters described in this script? 2) What are the conflicts between the characters? 3) How do the conflicts contribute to Nina Sayers’ personality disorder?
By presenting this thesis, the researcher aims to identify the characterization of the characters based on the Abrams and Murphy’s theory. Moreover, the researcher also tries to explain about the conflicts that appear between main and minor characters. And at the final, the researcher wants to find out how the conflicts contribute to Nina Sayers’ personality disorder.
Through the analysis, the researcher finds that the existences of other character with their own characteristics are influential toward Nina Sayers’ personality. The conflicts that are experienced by Nina and the other characters have a contribution toward Nina’s psychological state that is best described as a schizophrenic person. The method used in this research is a kind of library research which data are obtained from the movie script itself and some books as its references. The approach used is the psychological approach since this thesis aims to analyze the psychological state of the character,
From this study, the researcher can conclude that the conflicts that happens to Nina Sayers have the contribution in revealing Nina Sayers’ personality disorder in the way they lead Nina into a stressful condition which rise her potentiality of schizophrenic person. Her potentiality exists because of her life background that is raised by an over-protective mother.
ABSTRAK
THEODORA FILLI ASTRIDA The Contribution of Conflicts in Revealing
Nina Sayers’ Personality Changes Seen in Mark Heyman’s Black Swan.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.Studi ini menganalisa sebuah naskah film dengan judul Black Swan yang ditulis oleh Mark Heyman. Black Swan menceritakan tentang kehidupan seorang gadis remaja bernama Nina Sayers yang dibesarkan oleh ibu yang merupakan orang tua tunggal baginya. Sebagai anak tunggal, ia dibesarkan dengan kasih sayang yang terlalu berlebihan dan pola asuh yang negatif dari orang tuanya.
Studi ini mengangkat tema tentang perubahan kepribadian yang terjadi pada Nina Sayers setelah konflik-konflik yang dialaminya. Konflik-konflik yang muncul itu terjadi antara Nina dan ibu, pelatih dansa, dan saingannya Lily. Penulis akan membahas tiga rumusan masalah yaitu: 1) bagaimana deskripsi karakteristik dari karakter utama dalam cerita? 2) Konflik apa yang muncul dalam cerita? 3) Bagaimana kontribusi konflik terhadap penyimpangan kepribadian diri Nina .
Pertama, penulis akan menganalisa bagaimana karakter-karakter utama dideskripsikan dalam cerita berdasarkan teori Murphy dan Abrams. Kemudian, penulis akan mengidentifikasi konflik-konflik yang terjadi, baik konflik internal maupun konflik eksternal. Dan selanjutnya, penulis akan merelasikan konflik- konflik tersebut dengan penyimpangan kepribadian yang terjadi dalam diri Nina. Metode yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah metode penelitian kepustakaan dimana data-data yang digunakan diambil dari teks naskah film dan beberapa buku sebagai referensinya. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam studi ini merupakan pendekatan psikologi karena sangat berhubungan dengan pembelajaran psikologi tokoh yang dimaksud.
Kesimpulan yang dapat diambil dari studi ini adalah bahwa konflik- konflik yang terjadi terhadap Nina mempunyai kontribusi untuk memunculkan potensi Nina sebagai seorang Schizophrenia. Potensi ini karena latar belakang Nina yang diasuh oleh ibu yang sangat protektif..
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Nowadays, literature has existed in all over the world and presented their
uniqueness found in their elements, whether it is in their extrinsic or intrinsic parts. Novel, short stories, poems, and plays are some of literary works which are familiar and can be found easily in our daily life. By reading literature, whether it is a fiction or non-fiction such as autobiography, the reader may have a fascinating and excited feeling, or even enjoy the imaginary character, condition, or places which might be far away from the reality.
A (movie) script can be regarded as a literature in the way it fulfills the imaginative, aesthetic quality and creative aspect which is highly structured by its plot, character, tone, symbols, conflict, and other elements, which involves emotions, actions, and ideas in the form of a story (Bressler, 1999). A script is different from other genres of literature because, as it is a dramatic text, it is potential to be performed or enacted. Barranger in his book Understanding Plays emphasizes that the words “text” or ‘script” to describe the written form which is performable (1990:4).
Wellek and Warren in Theory of Literature stated that literature reflects human feeling toward his life and closely related to human experience that is expressed in written way (1956: 94). Hudson in his book An Introduction to the
Study of Literature also emphasizes that, instead of their function of giving emotional and intellectual pleasure to its reader, literature through their medium of language, is also a media to represent some aspects of human life such as history, social, moral, psychology, and so on (1960:10). It means that, by reading literary work, whether it is poetry, prose, or play, the reader are not only provided a certain amount of aesthetic pleasure by stimulating imaginations but also able to explore the human experiences and their life problems which relates to the human aspects of life.
Terry Eagleton in his book entitled Literary Theory: An Introduction stated that “Literature may provide valuable insights into human behavior” (1996:9). It means that literature not only represents human feeling but also can be considered as a media to understand their attitude toward their life experiences. This human behavior, or personality, can be observed through the existence of characters in the literary works.
In a literary work, a character is employed as somebody who acts to represent the content of the work. As Heinrich Boll said in his book The Elements
of Fiction, “A character simply means a person (or personified or
anthropomorphized animal, object, or deity) who acts, appears, or is referred to in a work”(1957:604). It means that the characters in the story are significant in the way they build the story or become the central of the story itself.
When there is a need to observe the characters’ behavior in a literary work, the reader will be in touch with the psychological state of the characters itself. The concept of relationship between literature and psychology is also one of many concerns in Wellek and Warren’s book entitled Theory of Literature,
By ‘psychology of literature,’ we may mean the psychological study of the writer, as type and as individual, or the study of the creative process or the study of the psychological types and laws present within works of literature, or, finally, the effects of literature upon its readers (audience psychology) (1956:81).
The story presented in a literary work involves actions. These actions will create movement which will develop particularly as conflict or even a dilemma.
The conflict appears in a condition where there is a clash between characters, between a character and his environment, a clash of forces in the universe, even a struggle for meaning on the part of the reader. A dilemma happens when a conflict doesn’t need to be resolved, where there is a situation in which there are two courses of action both of which are equally bad or equally impossible.
In relation to the title of the study, the researcher will try to understand the individual aspect of a character in a particular literary work, which is the aspect of personality development, in a psychological point of view. The researcher tries to identify character’s changing of mind and its influential factors, especially the factor of other character’s existence toward one character’s behavior. Hurlock in her book Personality Development stated that human’s personality development itself is influenced by two major factors. First major factor is human early experiences within the family and the second major factor is important events happening outside the home (1974: 19-20). It means that a character/person in their interaction with others may receive some influences from his/her environment which affect their behavior unconsciously. Personality development of a character can be observed through the character relationship within family scope and the experiences from outside.
Black Swan is quite interesting for the researcher to be the object of the
study in the way it reveals the psychological aspects that is represented by its main character. The story of this fictional work is also mysterious, leaving question in readers’ mind: what did really happen toward the character and what did not; which part is real and which one is fantasy.
In this study, the researcher will analyze and take a deeper look on a character in Black Swan namely Nina Sayers as the protagonist characters and the other antagonist characters such as Erica, Brennan, and Lily. The character of Nina Sayers is revealed as an interesting one: talented young ballerina, introvert, “perfectionist”, “ambitious”, and beautiful. As a major character in the story, Nina leads the readers into the conflicts which result in her radical personality changes. The researcher is interested in analyzing Nina character since Nina is having a lot of oppression from her environment, not only from the family, her mother, but also with people in Ballet Company.
Nina, in her seventeen, the only daughter in the family, lives in an apartment in New York with her mother, Erica, who seriously controls her life and pushes her to become a great ballerina. Her mother’s past life as a failed ballerina is the reason of the mother to insist Nina. Her narcissistic attitude toward Nina is also proven with a number of Nina’s picture as a ballerina on the mother’s bedroom wall. In addition to take control in Nina’s life, her mother also alienates Nina from any activities outside or interaction with others. The door is always locked and the mother is always over-worrying Nina when she gets home late.
Nina’s activities are just focused on her ballet so that she can not easily get closer with others. Her mother’s controls give much influence toward Nina in her behavior. Some conflicts with her mother’s attitude sometimes make her feels irritated, dilemma, annoyed, and lose her own privacy and raises as her internal conflict. Moreover, the external conflicts which are experienced by Nina with her dance director, Brennan and her rival Lily make her become more depressed of her own ambition. Nina begins to fantasying her double, having visual hallucinations, strong delusions, and paranoid.
The researcher finds that there is a changing in Nina’s characteristic or personality from the beginning to the ending of the story as the influence of conflicts between other characters. This fact becomes the idea of the researcher in conducting the study of Nina’s characteristic and other influential character as well as the conflicts which make her suffers the psychosis symptoms as a kind of her personality disorder.
Francis Bacon in his book Selected Essays stated that, Ambition makes a man active, energetic, and prompt in the performance of his duties. But if an effort is put to make some restraint on an ambitious man, he is likely to become spiteful and dangerous (2000:273). From the quotation above, it means that an ambition can give people spirit to act and to achieve, but if they are prevented to reach or to get what they are desire to, they would become unconsciously dangerous and might influence them to develop a totally new character beyond their mind. As seen in Nina’s character, the mother’s overbearing attitude, Brennan’s discouraging behavior toward Nina’s ability to dance Black Swan, and Lily’s opportunity to take the Swan Queen role, are considered as “efforts to make some restraint on her ambition” and makes her revealing the other side of her personality as the result of oppressive situation.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study explained above, the researcher draws the problem formulations in the form of question, as follows:
1. How are the major characters described in the script?
2. What are the conflicts revealed in the story?
3. How do the conflicts contribute in revealing Nina’s personality disorder?
C. Objective of the Study
According to the problem formulations which have been stated previously, this paper has three objectives to analyze. First, the researcher tries to analyze the characteristic of characters as stated directly or indirectly based on the script. Next, it is also important for the researcher to identify the conflicts which appear in the story. And at the final, the researcher tries to see how the conflicts influence and reveals Nina’s personality disorder at the end of the story.
D. Definition of Terms
There is one term which is commonly used by the researcher in conducting this study. In order to avoid misunderstanding, the term can be defined as follow:
- Personality Disorder is a psychological term which describes behavior deviation from the expected values/norms, meaning to say that the person does not behave as he/she normally does. The scientist used some similar terms to describe the person, such as “disturbed”, “neurotic”, “psychotic”, while the layman says this kind of person as “crazy”, “peculiar”, “nutty”. (Hurlock, 1974: 389)
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Study Literature is the expression of life through medium of language. To reveal
it, an author creates one character or several characters to keep the movement of the story so that it can reach the purpose of its writing that is to convey the author’s idea. Of course, there are many human aspects that people can learn from a character. As mentioned in the previous chapter, through a literature, we can have the appreciation toward the historical up to moral and social aspects which are indirectly stated in the story. And also, through a character, the readers may learn about the characters’ personality which naturally includes each individual’s most striking or dominant characteristics. So, when reading a literary work, we also get into the idea of its close relationship with psychology in the way they have object in common that is human being.
When we analyze a text, Black Swan in this case, it means that we can observe the characters’ personalities, from both physical and psychological point of view and also the influential aspects which might shape the personalities.
There are some comments that appear concerning Black Swan, especially toward the major character in the story. The researcher finds that there are a lot of comments that tries to analyze the character of Nina Sayers from many points of view. Steve Limberti, a professor of psychiatry at University of Rochester Medical Center, for example, stated his comment on the character of Nina Sayers. He is interested on Nina’s psychological manner. According to him, Natalie Portman’s character was involved in a highly stressful competition, she had conflicted relationships with her mother and with her understudy, and she was the object of sexual advances by her director. Anyone of these issues alone would be stressful, but experiencing all of them at once would be emotionally devastating, particularly for a young woman who is somewhat naïve and sheltered. Moreover, Limberti also suggest that the repeated vomiting and weight loss in the days leading up to her final performance may have caused an electrolyte disturbance that could have contributed to the psychosis.
Kevin Spacey also posted his comment on Nina Sayer’s mental disorders. He stated that, “Nina is nuts. She is suffering from a mental condition known as schizophrenia. The schizophrenia is brought on by the extreme pressure Nina is under, both from her mother, her dance director, and herself. She desires to be perfect, and this is unattainable desire is slowly eating away at the walls of her psyche. It also doesn’t help that she’s struggling with confused sexual feelings, from the advances of her boss to the strong attraction to her chief rival.” ( http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Movies/black-swan-psychiatrists-diagnose-natalie- portmans-portrayal-psychosis/story?id=12436873 .
Based on Browler’s case study which was conducted in a mental hospital toward a schizophrenic patient, there are some factors which become the cause of this personality sickness, especially from her family environment. It described how the mother’s of the patient was an unstable woman, aggressive, and domineering. She was also overprotective which afterward be responsible for the dependency and submissive characteristic of the patient. Moreover, the father also had contribution toward the sexual disorder of the patient since he was weak and passively seductive.
Compared with both study above, this study has the same object to identify that is the character of Nina Sayers. The researcher tries to relate the psychological development of the character based on her relationship or their conflict with others, and how then the conflicts lead Nina to her personality disorder.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theory of Character and Characterization There are some opinions that reveal the definition of character. M.H.
Abrams in his book “The Glossary of Literary Terms” defines characters as the persons presented in a dramatic work, who are interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue and what they do-the action (1981:20). Meaning to say that the characters’ dialogues and actions in a literary work shows the moral value and distinctive qualities which will be based on reader’s interpretation.
Based on their level of importance, characters can be divided into major character and minor character. A major character is the most important person who becomes the center of the story. His or her action in the story is focused from the beginning until the final part of the story. While minor character is a character that appears in certain setting and become the background of the major character. Their roles are less important in the way they are not fully developed characters and they just support the development of the major characters (Abrams, 1981:20).
According to Murphy in Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to
English Poetry and English Novel for Student Overseas, there are nine ways to
understand the character of the story (1972: 161-173). These nine ways that are suggested to characterize a character can be explain as follows.
a. Personal Description The character’s personal description is the first .way to characterize a character by observing his/her physical or external appearance such as the character’s outfits or part of the body.
b. Character as seen by another Through this way, the author gives a description of a character by other characters’ point of view, attitudes, or direct comments c. Speech Through their speech, the author can describe a character by their using of language. The way they speak in a conversation and giving their opinion may also reveal the personality of the character.
d. Past life A person’s past life can shape his/her nature. We can find out the character’s past life by the author’s direct explanation, through the character’s thought, or from the conversation of others.
e. Conversation of Other
The conversation of other people and the things they say about him/her can give a description of the character’s nature. Readers will understand that others’ saying about a character may reveal her/his characteristic.
f. Reactions By perceiving the character’s reactions in a various situations or events, the author may give clues about the character’s personality from his/her tendency in facing the situation.
g. Direct Comments The author describes the character by his/her own direct comments on the characteristic of the character in the story directly to the readers. It becomes easier for the readers to understand one character by the author’s direct explanation
h. Thoughts The nature of the character can be known by what he/she is thinking. The author shows the character’s personality by understanding his/her thought. i. Mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies We can understand the character through the way the author presents the character and the way they behave, their gesture and habits. These become the clue for the readers to understand the characteristic of the character.
From the theories above, the researcher draws a conclusion that a character in a story is a person which expresses the human qualities through their dialogues and actions. A character also used to show how an individual is different in their desires, interest, emotions, and moral principles, and to understand each character, the readers can get the knowledge from the personal description up to their behavior.
2. Theory of Conflict
According to Webster Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary (2000:242), the term conflict has more than one meaning: 1. fight, battle, war 2. – a competitive or opposing action of incompatible antagonist or state action (as of divergent ideas interest or persons)
- mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, wishes, or external or internal demands.
3. The opposition or person of forces that give rise to the dramatic action in drama or fiction. (1986: 383) According to Stanton in his book An Introduction to Fiction, conflict can be a clash between characters, between character and his environment, within himself (1999:57). It means that, when there is a clash situation between two or more characters or between one characters and his/her social life, it is categorized as an external conflict. While, if the conflict occurs in person’s mind and feeling, it can be regarded as internal conflict.
According to Ferster in his book Arguing Through Literature: A Thematic
Anthology and Guide to Academic Writing, conflicts may include clashes or
tensions between people or groups who want exclusive possession of the same thing or who have contrasting goals and values. The problems may appear as the need for someone to overcome obstacles to achieve the goal.
According to Hurlock in her book Personality Development, conflicts may cause stress that give rise to anger, jealousy, envy, or some other unpleasant emotion. This emotional stress takes the form of anxiety, frustration, jealousies, and envies. Anxiety may come from parental over protectiveness which results in the person’s inability to handle his problem. (1974:223).
3. Theory on Personality Development
Elizabeth Hurlock in her book Personality Development explains that parent has an important role on their children personality development in the way they raises them. Some parents use authoritarian method by using strict rules and regulations to enforce the desired behavior. This will produce a child with particular manner: quiet, well behaved, socially passive, and restricted in curiosity, originality, and fanciful. Hurlock also explains that besides the influence of the family, the environment where the child lives also has contribution toward child’s shape of personality. (1976:96-102)
Hurlock also stated that the changes in the personality can be divided into three categories. First, the changes can be in the matter of their direction, whether it is for the better or might be for the worse. The changes in personality can be slow or fast, and when the radical changes occurs, which means that it happens suddenly and persist, are generally indicative of mental illness (1976: 122)
4. Theory on Personality Disorder
According to Hurlock in her book Personality Development, a sick personality is a condition where there is a change in the personality structure which results in poor personal and social adjustment. It is also stated that during the periods of stress, any forms of personality sickness are likely to be intensified and to develop into a characteristic pattern of adjustment. Children who are in their puberty may experience personality sickness because of their failure to find their self-identity. They feel dissatisfaction with themselves and with the adjustments they make to others and to the goals they have set for themselves. Hurlock also states that common example of the persistence of maladjustive behavior develops early in life is juvenile delinquency. For example the situation of hostile and defiant attitudes toward parents. The children will become disobedient, troublesome, and unruly because of their unfavorable attitudes toward the treatment they receive. The personality sickness can be fundamentally caused by anxiety which comes from self-dissatisfaction or self-rejection. This dissatisfaction is revealed because of any obstacles to the fulfillment of the person’s interest, needs, and desire. Lack of self-perspective also leads a person to self-dissatisfaction and self-rejection in the conditions where lack of opportunities for contacts with people; inability to communicate things with others; and unwillingness to see oneself realistically. When a child experienced a hallucinations and fantasy, it can be the danger signals of personality sickness in irrational degree, for example when she fantasying with her imaginary companions. Fantasy can be an imaginary satisfaction of wishes which has been forbidden by repression (1974: 389-399).
According to Steve Limberti, what Nina faces is a kind of psychosis. Psychosis is a loss of contact with reality that usually includes false beliefs or delusions, and seeing or hearing things that are not there. Like a fever, psychosis is a symptom rather than a disease, and can be caused by a variety of triggers, exposure to mercury, drugs like amphetamines, epilepsy, a brain tumor, dementia or psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. Schizophrenia itself, is a psychotic disorder which is characterized by loss of contact with the environment, by noticeable deterioration in the level of functioning in everyday life, and by disintegration of personality expressed as disorder of feeling, thought (as in hallucinations and delusions), and conduct. It also can be the contradictory or antagonistic qualities or attitudes. According to Robert W. White in his book The
Abnormal Personality, the basic developmental disorder found in schizophrenic
histories is a protective avoidance of contact with surroundings, especially human surroundings. He also proposes schizophrenia as “splitting of the mind” which emphasizes on the principal characteristic (1948:279). Schizophrenia is included as functional psychoses which has no observable physical basis and can be regarded as an mental illness.
What Nina Sayers undergoes is a kind of paranoid schizophrenia in the way she is so ambitious person who sets unobtainable goals and then blames others for her failure to achieve them. White also states that homosexuality usually appears in the history of paranoid schizophrenic patient. (1948:283).
Schizophrenia is included as functional psychoses which has no observable physical basis and can be regarded as an mental illness.