MICHAEL AS A MODERN TRAGIC HERO OF WORDSWORTH’S “MICHAEL”: AN APPLICATION OF THE THEORY OF MODERN TRAGEDY
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MICHAEL AS A MODERN TRAGIC HERO OF
WORDSWORTH’S “MICHAEL”: AN APPLICATION OF THE
THEORY OF MODERN TRAGEDY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
COSMAS ANDY IRIANTO BROTO
Student Number: 034214049
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MICHAEL AS A MODERN TRAGIC HERO OF
WORDSWORTH’S “MICHAEL”: AN APPLICATION OF THE
THEORY OF MODERN TRAGEDY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
COSMAS ANDY IRIANTO BROTO
Student Number: 034214049
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EX ME IPSA RENATA SUM
(From Myself I Reborn)
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This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to The One and Only Lord in the Kingdom of Heaven My beloved late father
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Praise to God, finally I finished my thesis. I would like to thank Jesus Christ for blessing me all my life and for guiding me in writing my undergraduate thesis.
I would like to thank Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka M. Hum, my advisor, especially for his guidance, big patience, suggestions and flexible time during the writing of my thesis. I also thank M. Luluk Artika W., S.S., my co-advisor, for reading my undergraduate thesis and giving me suggestions in order to make it better and Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum as my great examiner. And I also thank all my lecturers for their guidance and their time to share their knowledge during the years of my study, and all staffs of English Letters Department, Sanata Dharma University library for all the help.
My deepest gratitude also goes to my beloved family for supporting me in everything. I also would like to express my thanks to all of 2003 friends for accompanying and supporting me during my study. It is nice to be your friend. I dedicate special thanks to Michaella, Lintang, Mariae Bee, Lala, Nita, Tio, and “Adhi Djajan” for their special support. Last but not least, my thank goes to friends in WEDHUZ GOMBLOH Boarding House for giving me happiness and
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ……………………………………………………………… i APPROVAL PAGE …………………………………………………….... iiACCEPTANCE PAGE …………………………………………………... iii
MOTTO PAGE……………………………………………………………… iv DEDICATION PAGE..................................................................................... vACKNOWLEGEMENTS …………………………………………………. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………. vii
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………….. ix
ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………………x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………… 1
A. Background of the Study …………………………..……………… 1 B. Problem Formulation ……………………………………………… 4 C. Objectives of the Study ……………………………………………. 4 D. Definition of Terms…………………………………………………5CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW………………………………… 7
A. Review of Related Studies………………………………………… 7 B. Review on Related Theories………………………………………. 91. Theory of Character and Characterization……………………. 9
2. Theories of Modern Tragedy………………………………....... 12
3. Theories of Modern Tragic Hero………………………...……. 14
C. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………. 16
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ………………………………………... 17
A. Object of the Study………………………………………………… 17 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………... 18 C. Method of the Study……………………………………………….. 19CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………..………………………………………... 21
A. The Description of the Main Character of the Poem “Michael”……21 B. The Contribution of the Other Characters in Developing the Main Character’s Tragedy ……………………………………………….. 251. Isabel…………………………………………………………… 25
2. Luke……………………………………………………………. 27
3. Richard Bateman………………………………………………. 29
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6. Having a Tragic Flaw………………………………………... 45
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……………………………………………. 50
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………….. 53 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………. 55 A. Explication of “Michael”...…………………………………..... 55 B. The Poem of “Michael”……………………………………….. 58 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJIPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ABSTRACT
COSMAS ANDY IRIANTO BROTO. Michael as the Tragic Hero of
Wordsworth’s “Michael”: An Application of the Theory of Modern Tragedy.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.The kind of tragic hero always follows the tragedy which is experienced by the hero. Tragic hero appears in Greek tragedy, Shakespearean tragedy, or Modern tragedy. Tragedy is affected by the background of social status, environment, economy, even the era. Related to the statement above, this analysis will focus on a character inside the poem who becomes modern tragic hero. This character experiences tragedy which is included as modern tragedy and is influenced by the near environment, family members, economical background, and also the unrealized one by one mistake all the time.
The objectives of this study are to answer three main problems. First, this study tries to describe and analyze the main character, the main character of the poem. Second, this study tries to find and describe the influence from the other characters in developing Michael’s tragedy. This is also done to differentiate who the real tragic hero is. Third, this study tries to find how Michael fits the modern tragic hero.
This study applies the structuralism approach because it analyzes Michael’s tragedy aspects from inside or outside the poem to reveal the tragic hero of the story of the poem. This approach is used to analyze form, structure, content, element, and the outside things of the literary work. This study applies library research as the method of the study in order to collect information and analyze the problem.
The result of the analysis shows that Michael is only an old shepherd with many amazing skills. Isabel, Luke, and Richard Bateman become the ‘agent’ to fulfill Michael’s hope and the ‘agent’ of Michael’s tragedy. Michael fits the modern tragic hero categories based on the theory of Arthur Miller. First, he is only an ordinary shepherd and does not have any nobleman blood relation. Second, he is ready to lay down his life to secure his sense of personal dignity. Third, he has the consequence of his total compulsion to evaluate himself justly. Fourth, he has the fear of being displaced. Fifth, he acts against the scheme of things degrading him. Finally, he has a tragic flaw because of his unrealized mistake.
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ABSTRAK
COSMAS ANDY IRIANTO BROTO. Michael as the Tragic Hero of
Wordsworth’s “Michael”: An Application of the Theory of Modern Tragedy.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.Jenis pahlawan tragis selalu mengikuti tragedi yang dialami pahlawannya. Tragedi dapat dipengaruhi dari latar belakang status sosial, lingkungan, ekonomi, ataupun zamannya. Pahlawan tragis muncul baik itu dalam tragedi Yunani, tragedi Shakespear, ataupun pada tragedi moderen. Berkaitan dengan pernyataan di atas, analisa ini akan dititik beratkan pada seorang tokoh cerita dalam sebuah puisi yang menjadi seorang pahlawan tragis moderen. Tokoh ini mengalami tragedi yang dipengaruhi oleh lingkungan sekitarnya, anggota keluarga, latar belakang ekonomi, dan juga kesalahan-kesalahan yang tidak disadarinya dibuat satu demi satu seiring dengan berjalannya waktu.
Tujuan-tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk menjawab tiga permasalahan utama. Pertama, studi ini mencoba untuk menggambarkan dan menganalisa Michael, tokoh utama dalam puisi. Kedua, studi ini mencoba menggambarkan dan menemukan pengaruh dari karakter-karakter lain dalam membentuk tragedi Michael. Hal ini juga dilakukan untuk membedakan siapa yang sebenarnya menjadi pahlawan tragis. Ketiga, studi ini mencoba untuk menemukan bagaimana Michael memenuhi kriteria sebagai pahlawan tagis pada tagedi moderen.
Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan strukturalisme karena menganalisa segala aspek tragedi yang dialami Michael dari berbagai segi baik dari dalam maupun di luar puisi untuk mengungkap pahlawan tragis dari cerita dalam puisi. Pendekatan ini digunakan untuk menganalisa bentuk, struktur, isi cerita, elemen, dan hal-hal di luar karya sastra ini. Studi ini juga menggunakan penelitian perpustakaan dalam mengumpulkan informasi dan menganalisa permasalahan yang ada.
Hasil analisa menunjukkan bahwa Michael hanyalah seorang gembala tua dengan kemampuan yang mengagumkan. Isabel, Luke, dan Richard Bateman menjadi ‘agen’ untuk memenuhi harapan Michael dan menjadi ‘agen’ dari tragedy Michael. Michael memenuhi kriteria sebagai pahlawan tragis pada tragedi moderen menurut teori Arthur Miller. Pertama, Michael hanyalah seorang penggembala biasa tanpa ada keturunan bangsawan. Kedua, dia siap untuk mengorbankan hidupnya untuk mengembalikan kehormatannya. Ketiga, dia
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study William Wordsworth is the greatest poet of the nineteenth century. He has left
sufficient pure poetry, hearth-searching and beautiful. He is one of the great poets of humanity. His poems are most human and at the same time most himself as poet. The main theme of his poem of incidents in human life is love, the workings of love, its poetry to inflict the deepest wounds and to heal the most irreparable. Love is not as passion in the narrow sense of the word but passionate affection, as seen in “Michael”. His own experience of life was by far the most important source of his ideas. “Michael” is one of Wordsworth’s great narrative poems in the last poem to enter the Lyrical Ballads. In “Michael”, he leaves the autobiographical framework almost completely behind and concerns himself. It is because the story belongs to his boyhood memory. “Michael” may have been conceived that Wordsworth thinking back his youth and composing draft for the poem of his life. “Michael” has a special importance in his life, for it marks the stage when he was led on from the pure passion for nature to feel for passion that was not his own (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 188-186).
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worked for. “Michael” is simple tale of human suffering of tragedy. The story of “Michael” touches on a kind of loss and suffering. The universal aspect of the loss suffered by Michael as the main character in the poem is a hope that has attached itself to a person and seems to die with the person. He treats humanity and nature in the same way. In here, he shows man as a part of nature.
The title Michael as the Tragic Hero of Wordsworth’s “Michael”: An
Application of the Theory of Modern Tragedy is chosen to be the topic of this study in
order to analyze the main character as the tragic hero of modern tragedy. The tragedy in the poem is built by the tragedy of Michael supported by other characters. The characterization in Michael successfully makes the poem a work of art, which gives dramatic life to the structure of the poem. Wordsworth establish between himself and his main character. The character and circumstances of Luke were taken from a family to who he had belonged, many years before, the house where he lived in at Town-end, along with some fields and woodlands of the eastern Shore of Grasmere (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 188-186).
He has the essential quality to communicate the main character’s tragedy through the events of each other character in developing Michael’s tragedy. As the main character in the poem, Michael is the central figure of heroic proportions. The heroic characteristic that he has brought him as a good father, husband, and the leader
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Knowing the importance of Michael in the poem, I choose to focus the study on Michael that later ended in tragedy. Michael’s tragedy is a simple tale of human suffering. The poet has attempted to give a picture of a man, a strong of mind and lively sensibility, agitated by two of the most powerful affections of human hearth, the parental affection and the love of the landed property.
His life becomes miserable when his son goes to the town to work with his rich relatives there. Firstly, His reception of the news of his son’s disgrace and light does not break him physically. Then it becomes ironic. The strength that had once been his mainstay to exist, now becomes a burden to him. The potency of his parental love was earlier suggested by its power to ‘enforce’ his ‘patient mind’ to ‘acts of tenderness’; now the potency of his grief is implied by its capacity to render his physical strength meaningless. The unfinished sheepfold in desolation becomes a symbol of the ruin of a heroic life and the loss of his hopes. Thus the simple story of silent suffering and heroic fortitude deepens into truly tragic.
The life story of Michael with Michael as the ‘hero’ leads us to the Modern
Tragedy in which the hero or heroine end tragically. Modern Tragedy is chosen to be
the basic concept in doing the analysis because the life of Michael is as an ordinary people in modern life. Modern Tragedy focuses on the tragedy of a common man not a noble man like in Greek Tragedy (Walley, 1950: 50-59).
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in the society. The hero causes the tragedy to him or to another and it is because of a mistake that sometimes is not realized (Walley, 1950: 54-59).
Further, by doing this analysis, we can prove that the theories on play also can be used in analyzing poem. The theories that are used in this study are taken from the theories on play. The writer adores William Wordsworth so much, especially the poem “Michael”. It is because the story of Michael almost the same as the writer life story. This study is also to appreciate William Wordsworth as a great poet in literary world.
B. Problem Formulation
From the background of the study stated previously, three problems can be formulated as follows:
1. How is the main character described in the poem?
2. What are the contributions of each character in leading the main character’s tragedy?
3. How does Michael fit the modern tragic hero? C.
Objectives of the Study
Some matters are stated to understand this study. The first is to find and analyze the main character described through the lines in the poem. The second is to
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D. Definition on Terms 1. Modern Tragedy
According to Aristotle, tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself, in the medium of poetic language, in the manner of dramatic plot, incorporating incidents to arouse pity and fear wherewith to accomplish the catharsis of such emotion.
Modern tragedy for the lay portrays the life of the person in the modern time where there is not influenced by the myth of god/goddess or the social structure (noble man). The basic difference between Modern Tragedy and Greek Tragedy is that Modern Tragedy tells about the life of common people unlike Greek tragedy tells about the life of noble people .
Shakespearean Tragedy defines it as a story of exceptional calamity ( great misfortune and misery) leading to the death of a man in high estate or the story of human actions producing exceptional calamity and ending in the death of such a man (Walley, 1950: 54-59).
2. Tragic Hero
In Greek Tragedy, Aristotle defines the main character of a tragedy is the protagonist or the tragic hero, who through some flaws in his character
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she loves. The hero is fated to have a tragic ending where god contributes to the downfall of the hero (Walley, 1950: 54-59).
A.C Bradley defines the word tragic hero in the sense of Shakespearean Tragedy as a person of high estate or having greatness more than common people who experiences suffer conducting to his death by his own action (Walley, 1950: 54-59). In modern tragedy, the tragic hero is viewed in his social and moral relationship. Tragic hero on Modern Tragedy tells about the heroic life of a common people. The tragic hero is an ordinary people not a noble man or people in the high estate (Walley, 1950: 54-59).
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CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies There are many opinions of critics to Wordsworth’s “Michael”. Graham Hough gave opinion about the theme of “Michael” which is love of father for his son. It is told in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) of a rather stiff simplicity and
much of it is straight narrative so unelaborated that it treads on the verge of the prosaic. He said that the effect of “Michael” is not immediate. It is more prolonged acquaintance with the poem reveals it as the most characteristic Wordsworthian achievement. A poem where a long familiar emotion, that has been absorbed into the personality and is no longer clamorous or importunate, is evenly diffused throughout (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 191).
R.O.C Winkler had opinion on the plot of “Michael”, especially the influence of nature. He stated that in “Michael”, nature is something outside the human situation. According to him, Michael as the main character in the poem is part of the natural world himself, and the strength of his body and mind, the birth, growth, and bereavement of his love for Luke, are all enforced in terms of his work among the things of nature. The old man’s feelings with the natural world around him, there is
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Geoffrey H. Hartman said that the story of “Michael” touches on a kind of loss and suffering which occurs in some form to everyone. The changes wrought by the industrial revolution are only the occasional cause for the disaster. The universal aspect of the loss suffered by Michael is of a hope which has attached itself to a person and seems to die with the person. He also had opinion with the nature in “Michael”. He said that the nature was essential to human actions and meditations.
His picture of the old man is not simply of suffering or muted despair, but of natural resilience and the habit of fortitude. He clearly shows the symbol or the evidence of Michael’s tragedy through his opinion:
“Though we are told about the seven years in connection with Michael’s unfinished labors at the sheepfold, there are remains his persistence which suggest an immemorial covenant between man and the land. Michael does not hasten the end and abides his times without abandoning the land even in imagination. Michael dies as he has lined: In the eye of nature. Yet Michael is not an obsolete possibility of the human spirit: the covenant that holds the mind of man to the earth springs only such as him” (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 192-193).
This study is further analyzing the tragedy of Michael where Michael as the tragic hero of modern tragedy. The analysis is going deep into the central character of the poem. The analysis is also using the theme, “father’s love to his son”, to find the elements of Michael’s tragedy. Different with R.O.C Winkler, the writer further analyzes the nature as the ‘unrealized mistakes’ of Michael in supporting his tragedy. The analysis further develops the opinion of Geoffrey H. Hartman, especially in
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industrial revolution as the significant aspect in Michael’s tragedy are deeply analyzed.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories of Character and Characterization
“Michael” is a kind of blank verse poetry which is the standard medium of English Drama and also a kind of narrative poetry. Narrative poetry is the poetry which the main purpose is to tell a story. The poem of “Michael” has setting, character, plot, and climax as the elements of narrative poetry. It also contains a series of scene in dramatic form which is narrated (Levin, 1960: 131-144). This poem uses non-participant point of view which is omniscient. The narrator relates what the characters do or think. The omniscient narrator can at any time enter the mind of any or all of the characters. The narrator is also neutral. Where the narrator recounts deeds and thoughts but does not judge (Barnet, 1988: 50-52).
Character refers to the relevant behaviors trends that have particular moral and ethical implications. The character of a person reveals from his or her behavior whereas a personality of a person reveals from a social interaction (Sawrey and Telfrod. 1968: 302). Abrams stated that character is the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, which are interpreted by the readers as being endowed
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E.M Forster divides character into two terms, flat character and round character. Flat character is build around ‘single idea or quality’ and is presented without much individualizing detail, and therefore can be fairly adequately described in a single phrase or sentence. Round character is complex in temperament and motivation and is presented with subtle particularity (Abrams, 1981: 20).
Koesnosoebroto divided character into two kinds, major or main character and minor character. Main character is the most important character in the story. Minor character is character of less important than those the main. The main character needs other character to make the story more convincing an lifelike (Koesnosoebroto, 1988: 67)
Characterization is the process by which an author or a playwright creates a character. Characterization in literature is the presentation of the attitudes and behaviors of imaginary persons in order to make them credible to the author’s audience. According to Encyclopedia Americana: International Edition, Vol: 6, characterization is a unique feature of such fictional forms as the short story, novel, drama, and narrative poetry (Library of Congress Cataloging Data, 1995: 291).
Oscar Bracket states that characterization can be found in four levels: physical, social, psychological, and moral. Physical is concerned with such basic facts as sex, age, size, and color. Social is included the character’s economic status,
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emotional and intellectual, which precede action. Moral decision differentiates characters because the choices they make when facing moral crises show whether they are selfish, hypocritical, or person of integrity (Bracket, 1974: 39-40)
Hugh Holman and William Harmon in A Handbook to Literature state that characterization is divided into three fundamental ways. The first is the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in an introduction or more often throughout the development of the story that is illustrated by actions. The second is the presentation of the character in action with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader will be able to reduce the attributes of the actor from action. The third is the presentation from within a character, without comment on the character by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the character’s inner self, with the expectations that the reader will come to a clear understanding of the attributes of the characters. The three fundamental methods are the basic terms for the author to give characterization toward the characters in the story to be understood by the reader (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 81-83).
According to Yelland, Jones, and Easton, characterization is the creation of imaginary persons. The writer can reveal certain qualities of its own nature and the writer also can try to keep himself in the background and presents the characters of
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Characterization will always be a part of character. Characterization as the part of character is the way an author characterize his or her work. From the theories on character and characterization the writer could conclude that character is a person presented in literary works that has his or her own personalities.
2. Theories of Modern Tragedy
There are many concepts that try to explain the definition or the meaning of tragedy. A tragedy is an unhappy and painful situation which involves death (Kernan 1963: 163). Kernan states that a tragic hero is a person in the rest of his life denies the world around him, but he knows he has to achieve in order to fulfill himself, and he persists in his search while more ordinary men giving in. He commits himself to some curse, which creates conflict with forces whose existence he has not suspected.
Therefore, he stumbles forward into his suffering, and at the end he usually achieves something of value by his struggle.
Aristotle said that a tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete itself, in language with pleasurable accessories, each kind brought in separately in the parts of the work; in dramatic form; with incident arousing ‘pity and fear’ wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotion. The “language with pleasurable accessories” means that with rhythm and
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The basic difference between Modern Tragedy and Greek Tragedy is that Modern Tragedy tells about the life of common people unlike Greek tragedy tells about the life of noble people. In the Greek Tragedy god has an essential role of the tragedy. The hero of the Greek Tragedy is fated to have a tragic ending where god contributes to the downfall of the hero. Shakespearean Tragedy defines it as a story of exceptional calamity (great misfortune and misery) leading to the death of a man in high estate or the story of human actions producing exceptional calamity and ending in the death of such a man (Walley, 1950: 54-59).
In modern time, the tragedy pictures more complex live and ideas. The theory of Aristotle has been rejected by many critics. In The Tragic Fallacy, Joseph Wood Krutch says that tragedy is not the imitation of noble action, for indeed, no one knows what a noble action is or not such a thing as nobility exists in nature apart from the mind of man. As matter of fact, a tragedy is essentially as expression, not of despair but of triumph over despair and of confidence in the value of human life (Levin, 1960: 164).
It is not about gods nor king or noble man anymore. It is about human life, human struggle, human individuality, human egoism, and human social life. Most of modern literatures tend to picture the real condition of human being, and they are written based on the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and feeling. Then it brings a
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“Michael” is considered as a modern tragedy for the play portrays the life in the exact time. It is because modern tragedy tells about the life of common people unlike Greek tragedy tells about the life of noble people influenced by the role of god and otherwise Shakespearean Tragedy defines it as a story of exceptional calamity (great misfortune and misery) leading to the death of a man in high estate because of his own action (Walley, 1950:54-59).
Michael is just a shepherd or a common man. The tragedy of Michael is also because the influence of the society and environment. That is why in the analysis the writer uses the theories of modern tragedy.
3. Theories of Modern Tragic Hero
In Greek tragedy, Aristotle defined the main character of a tragedy is the protagonist or the tragic hero, who through some flaw in his character brings death or destruction upon himself or upon someone he/she loves. He said that the tragic heroes usually from illustrious families and he is not an ordinary man. The tragic hero must be someone who is highly renowned and prosperous. In Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy, he is usually a king or prince. In Shakespearean tragedy, it also concerns with a person, leaders of the state, or a member of great houses, who quarrels of public movement (Levin, 1960: 134-151).
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other human beings. Most tragic heroes are males. The tragic hero usually goes beyond the standards to which reasonable people adhere; he does some fearful deed which ultimately destroys him (Barnet, 1988: 741).
Arthur Miller states that tragedy is the disaster inherent in being torn away from each person which has chosen image of self and position and that tragedy results when the character’s environment denies the fulfillment of this self-concept. According to Miller, the tragic hero of modern tragedy is the person with the underlying struggle is that of the individual attempting to gain his ‘rightful’ position in his society. Tragic man, then placed in a universe of irreconcilables, acting in a situation in which he is both innocent and guilty, and peculiarly sensitive to the ‘cursed spite’ of his condition, suffers. Tragic man viewed in his social and moral relationship (Levin, 1960: 171-178).
Miller states that a modern tragic hero has the categories that must be followed. The categories are:
1. The subject must be a common man. He is not a king or a prince. The common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings are.
2. The subject must be ready to lay down his life to secure his sense of personal dignity. The tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character that is ready to lay down his life, if needed be, to secure one thing his
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4. The subject must have fear of being displaced.
5. The subject acts against the scheme of things degrading him.
6. The subject must have tragic flaw, a failing that is not peculiar to grand or elevated characters. Nor it is necessarily a weakness (Levin, 1960: 171-178).
C. Theoretical Framework
This study is to solve the problems formulation stated before. There are several theories used to solve the problem formulation. To solve the first problem, the theory of character and characterization are used. This is needed to find and describe the characters in the poem. It is also used in understanding the characteristic of each character because the writer of the poem using various expressions to build the characterization.
The theories on tragedy then are used to find the tragedy in the poem. It is including the elements which support it. The theories of modern tragedy and the theory of tragic hero of modern tragedy are used to analyze Michael’s tragedy and the other characters supports to his tragedy. There are many elements that included in the story which needs to be analyzed as the part of modern tragedy. The theory of modern tragic hero is used to analyze Michael as the central character in the poem and to find how he can become a tragic hero of modern tragedy. The approach is used
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The study deals with the poem “Michael” written by William Wordsworth. The poem was written at Town-end, Grasmere, in 1800. The poem consists of 21 stanzas and 482 lines (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 173-183).
“Michael” is one of Wordsworth’s great narrative poems in the last poem to enter the Lyrical Ballads. It is one of Wordsworth’s great narrative poems. In “Michael”, he leaves the autobiographical framework almost completely behind and concerns himself. In the poem Wordsworth creates four characters. They are Michael, Isabel, Luke, and Richard Bateman.
In this study, the writer focuses on the characters, especially Michael as the main character in the poem. Michael is just a shepherd in Grasmere Vale. He is a man with strong mind and lively sensibility. He has a wife, Isabel, and a son, Luke. He teaches everything to Luke with perfect parental affection. His life becomes miserable when his son goes to the town to work with his rich relative there, Richard Bateman. He makes an unrealized mistake which leads his family into tragedy. The strength which had once been his mainstay becomes a burden to him.
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B. Approach of the Study
In doing this analysis, the writer uses structuralism in order to analyze the tragedy of the main character in the poem in revealing the tragic hero of the poem.
The writer uses the structuralism approach because it refers to the form, structure, theory of tragedy and tragic hero, and the outside things of the literary work.
Guerin in A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature said that structuralism is the study to detect the recurrent pattern not just in the particular work but also throughout literature. Perhaps it is revealing something about the way the human mind works (1979: 282).
According to Peter Barry in Beginning Theory (2002: 39-60), narratology is a branch of structuralism although it has achieved a certain independence from its parent. The essence of structuralism is the belief that things can not be understood in isolation-they have to be seen in the context of the larger structures they are part of. It follows from this that meaning or significance is not a kind of core or essence inside things: rather, meaning is always outside. Structuralism approach takes you further and further away from the text and into large and comparatively abstract question of genre, history, and philosophy. This emphasizes on the intrinsic and also extra-textual features in the analysis of literature.
Thus, in the structuralism approach to literature there is a constant movement
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Structuralism is used because this study will discuss the character as the theory of drama (tragedy and tragic hero) with reference to the genre or to its place in the development of the genre. It deals with the tragedy of social life in the industrial revolution in London.
C. Method of the Study
The writer applied a library research as the method of the study. This method is collecting data by reading some books that is useful for the analysis. Two kinds of sources are used to support the study. The primary source was taken from Wordsworth poem “Michael”. The secondary sources were taken from some books and information from internet browsing.
Doing the analysis, the writer took a few steps. Firstly, the writer read the work thoroughly and also interpreted the characters of the work. After the writer read the poem, some tragedy of the characters was found. The tragedy that happened to Michael as the main character was very attractive. This made the writer interested to have a character study in the play to analyze the main character in this poem.
Secondly, the writer decided the topic of the thesis and formulated the problem formulation as the base of the thesis.
Thirdly, the writer used the appropriate approach to analyze the poem line by
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the structure of the poem. It is also used to find another relation with the theory on modern tragedy and another “outside” aspect (industrialism).
After that, the theories and the approach were used in the analysis to analyze the whole work from the first line till the end. After analyzing the characters and the tragedy, the writer searches the tragic hero revealed from the analysis. The tragic hero is revealed from the tragedy of the main character which is supported by other (minor) characters.
Finally, conclusion is made. The conclusion contains the significant information from the introduction until the analysis. It especially contains the summary of the important points that are obtained for the analysis.
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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS A. The Description of the Main Character of the Poem “Michael” Michael is the main character in the poem. The character of Michael is described in two conditions, when he was a boy and when he is old. As a boy, he is not a clever or smart boy. He is lazy to study. He loves to live freely with the nature.
“… while I was yet a boy careless of books, yet having felt the power of nature , by the gentle agency Of natural objects, led me on to feel For passions that were not my own, and think” (Stanza 1, lines 27-31).
After that, Michael is described as an old man. He is a shepherd in Grasmere Vale. He lives near the forest. He is described as a strong man and has a keen mind.
He is prompt, stout of heart, and strong of limb. He has the ability to watch the shepherd better than the others. He can know everything which will happen by noticing the nature. He is a cheerful person and so lively. He is kind and skillful as a shepherd. He has many experiences as a shepherd, joy and fear. He has a big responsibility as a shepherd. He can be said as the friend of nature. His age is around eighties.
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Inside those lines, there are more specific descriptions of Michael. Many of his characteristics reflect the economical power. It is shown by his ability and instinct as a skillful shepherd which can make him prosperous. He is better than the other shepherd and this gives him more ‘natural capital’ to be rich as a shepherd.
“his mind was keen, Intense, and frugal, apt for all affairs, And in his Shepherd's calling he was prompt And watchful more than ordinary men.” (Stanza 2, lines 44-47).
Michael's stout heart may signify one of his minds, which is clearly that of a successful businessperson: "apt for all affairs." He has the capacity to solve many problems and he has the creativity and ideas to control many shepherds’ ‘affairs’. His mind is able to read its ancestral lands like a text but Michael is neither a nature poet, nor a natural theologian, nor a naturalist. He is very close to the nature. Nature is his friend, teacher, master, father, and his worker. The nature is his pleasure and absolutely his life.
“grossly that man errs, who should suppose That the green Valleys, and the Streams and Rocks, Were things indifferent to the Shepherd's thoughts” (Stanza 2, lines 62-65).
The natural setting provides both a necessary backdrop for Michael to perform
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shows his continuity responsibility to the animal that he saves. He take cares them, seeks them when they are lost, and saves them when they are in trouble. He acts not only as a master or an ordinary shepherd, but also as a hero for the animal.
“So many incidents upon his mind Of hardship, skill of courage, joy or fear; Which, like a book, preserved the memory the dumb animals, whom he had sav'd, Had fed or shelter'd, linking to such acts, So grateful in themselves, the certainty Of honorable gains.” (Stanza 2, lines 68-73).
He has a wife that is 20 years younger than him. Her name is Isabel. Although he is eighties, Isabel is his first and only wife. It is like a ‘late marriage’ for a man. It is a proof that love is unlimited. From the marriage, he has a son that he loved much, more than anything else. His name is Luke.
“His helpmate was commonly matron… of house or field.” (Stanza 3, lines 79-109).
Michael is very old that he is near to the death. He is too old for a shepherd or to stay as a shepherd. He is also described as “an old lamp” which shines his family.
Maybe he is old but he is still a shepherd and still “a light”. Although he is old, he becomes the symbol of the shepherd there. He also becomes the teacher and the
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can also be derived from his habit. He usually works till the evening where the old lamp which accompanies the family can be seen from far.
“To deem that he was old,-in shepherd’s phrase, With one foot in the grave.” (Stanza 2, lines 89-90).
“There by the light of this old lamp they sate,” (Stanza 3, line 124). Michael also has an old style. His life is with ancient style of a shepherd which is not colorful and monotonous. It happened before the coming of his wife and his son. His life concerns with the nature not with the style of the common people. He cannot be noticed with what happened in the actual culture events, but he cares with the actual nature events in his environment so much.
“Down from the ceiling, by the chimney’s edge, That in our ancient uncouth country style With huge and black projection overbrowed Large space beneath, as duly as the light” (Stanza 3, lines 110-113).