1.1 Background of the Study - A study on the verbal behaviours showing the personality of Nora, the main character of Ibsen's A Doll's House - Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya Repository
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
From the fourth semester until the seventh
students
of
They
Li tera.un;~
I
Liter-ature
III
credits).
the
are
English
Department
obliged to take
are
eight
credits), Literature
(2
semester,
credits
(2
I I
tauqht
cr-edits),
(2 credi.ts), and Literary Appreciation
The students are expected to
read
.-·,
"-
critically,
and appreciate poems, short stories,
and drama written in English
(
novels,
(Teachers' Training Faculty
of Widya Mandala Catholic University 1991:106).
Studying
literature
is not
only
interesting,
also useful to increase our knowledge. Roberts and
( 1'7'89: 2)
claim
that
and
Literature can help
intelectually.
cultural,
helps
to
religious
world of which we are a part.
grow
us
both
conne:·ct
beings in facing life reality.
ables
us to recoqnize what human dreams,
and
Literature
its readers'mind, knowledge, and insights
ht.tman
how
Jacobs
philosophical,
ourselves
broadens
the broader
It
us
but
In addition,
also
about
it
en-
struggles,
and
a character faces his or her dreams and struggles
different
places,
times, and conditions that
one
Literature has three classes: prose fiction,
in
would
poetry,
and drama (Roberts and Jacobs 1989:2). The writer
drama
as the topic of her thesis because
,-ead ing
(
du.e
to
its
efficiency.
chooses
drama is
According
worth
Little
to
"Dt-c;Hna is a subject to a time limit (sc;,y
196:.~;)'
hours)
thr~E·e
to which the novel is
not
two
restr.i.cted."
one can get lots of information even
than
t.ime
~·Jorti,
if one reads a novel. Besides, drama
bec.;;,use Df :i. ts
r·,~adinq
presents
characters
which
"content
are shown
is
quality".
in
also
Drama
dialogues
and
so tf1at drama has a dramatic characterization
which
others
do not have.
It has a quality
cd:.ti.tudes
J.'/78:T~;l)
in
to
action
in
d;?scribe
(Scholes
..
thJ.S
a
thesis,
the writer has
by
social.
chosen
Henrik
The
Ibsen.
consideration of choosinq this drama is based on the
fact.
that
that
when reading this drama,
the-,
the writer finds
out
theme beinq presented by Ibsen is closely related
to
human being's life and its problems. The lesson taken from
is
to
br-oaden
knowledge about Nora's life, especially in this modern era
ir1
which a woman can act as a mother, a career
woman
or
both.
This play is also interesting to the writer's opinion
d1...1.e
t.o
the fact that the writer has been studying
at
a
Teacher Training Department in which the writer is taught
to be a good teacher who should take care of her own life,
educate
herself, and later on be able to
educate
others
(the
students, her own children, etc).
life,
this play is a good example of how a woman finds out
Related to
own identity and idea which are of a great
daily
influence
to her life, her family and her social lite.
Henr·ik
Ibsen
is
one
of
the
master··s
of
the
realistically problematic plays in the nineteenth century.
He wrote a string of realistic dramas or sometimes
dramas that deal with the
social
the
(Robf.et-ts
Ibsen's
which
tr-oubled
individual, the family,
and
called
relationships
the
community
and Jacobs 1989: 14:3:8). A __QpJ_j_:_;_:;___l::!_g_L_,t_;;_;jQ_ is one
best plays written in 1879.
signifies
a true story in
It is a social
an
ordinary
situation
(King 1980:10). This idea is supported by Annas and
who state that social drama is
( 1''1'90: 1444)
reproduce
of
Rosen
attempted
as faithfully as possible the reality of
to
daily
life as it might appear to an observer.
To
analyzes
the
qF,t.
Nora's
personality
as the
writer·
by
main
studying her verbal behaviours or her dialoques toward the
other characters in the play. Smith (1964:89) states
per.. sun alit·/
explanation,
can
be
attained
through
the
that
author's
the character's speech and actions, or
other
characters'opinion
about
them.
also
F~ns-e
especially
in
early
Fu.rthermore,
st
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
From the fourth semester until the seventh
students
of
They
Li tera.un;~
I
Liter-ature
III
credits).
the
are
English
Department
obliged to take
are
eight
credits), Literature
(2
semester,
credits
(2
I I
tauqht
cr-edits),
(2 credi.ts), and Literary Appreciation
The students are expected to
read
.-·,
"-
critically,
and appreciate poems, short stories,
and drama written in English
(
novels,
(Teachers' Training Faculty
of Widya Mandala Catholic University 1991:106).
Studying
literature
is not
only
interesting,
also useful to increase our knowledge. Roberts and
( 1'7'89: 2)
claim
that
and
Literature can help
intelectually.
cultural,
helps
to
religious
world of which we are a part.
grow
us
both
conne:·ct
beings in facing life reality.
ables
us to recoqnize what human dreams,
and
Literature
its readers'mind, knowledge, and insights
ht.tman
how
Jacobs
philosophical,
ourselves
broadens
the broader
It
us
but
In addition,
also
about
it
en-
struggles,
and
a character faces his or her dreams and struggles
different
places,
times, and conditions that
one
Literature has three classes: prose fiction,
in
would
poetry,
and drama (Roberts and Jacobs 1989:2). The writer
drama
as the topic of her thesis because
,-ead ing
(
du.e
to
its
efficiency.
chooses
drama is
According
worth
Little
to
"Dt-c;Hna is a subject to a time limit (sc;,y
196:.~;)'
hours)
thr~E·e
to which the novel is
not
two
restr.i.cted."
one can get lots of information even
than
t.ime
~·Jorti,
if one reads a novel. Besides, drama
bec.;;,use Df :i. ts
r·,~adinq
presents
characters
which
"content
are shown
is
quality".
in
also
Drama
dialogues
and
so tf1at drama has a dramatic characterization
which
others
do not have.
It has a quality
cd:.ti.tudes
J.'/78:T~;l)
in
to
action
in
d;?scribe
(Scholes
..
thJ.S
a
thesis,
the writer has
by
social.
chosen
Henrik
The
Ibsen.
consideration of choosinq this drama is based on the
fact.
that
that
when reading this drama,
the-,
the writer finds
out
theme beinq presented by Ibsen is closely related
to
human being's life and its problems. The lesson taken from
is
to
br-oaden
knowledge about Nora's life, especially in this modern era
ir1
which a woman can act as a mother, a career
woman
or
both.
This play is also interesting to the writer's opinion
d1...1.e
t.o
the fact that the writer has been studying
at
a
Teacher Training Department in which the writer is taught
to be a good teacher who should take care of her own life,
educate
herself, and later on be able to
educate
others
(the
students, her own children, etc).
life,
this play is a good example of how a woman finds out
Related to
own identity and idea which are of a great
daily
influence
to her life, her family and her social lite.
Henr·ik
Ibsen
is
one
of
the
master··s
of
the
realistically problematic plays in the nineteenth century.
He wrote a string of realistic dramas or sometimes
dramas that deal with the
social
the
(Robf.et-ts
Ibsen's
which
tr-oubled
individual, the family,
and
called
relationships
the
community
and Jacobs 1989: 14:3:8). A __QpJ_j_:_;_:;___l::!_g_L_,t_;;_;jQ_ is one
best plays written in 1879.
signifies
a true story in
It is a social
an
ordinary
situation
(King 1980:10). This idea is supported by Annas and
who state that social drama is
( 1''1'90: 1444)
reproduce
of
Rosen
attempted
as faithfully as possible the reality of
to
daily
life as it might appear to an observer.
To
analyzes
the
qF,t.
Nora's
personality
as the
writer·
by
main
studying her verbal behaviours or her dialoques toward the
other characters in the play. Smith (1964:89) states
per.. sun alit·/
explanation,
can
be
attained
through
the
that
author's
the character's speech and actions, or
other
characters'opinion
about
them.
also
F~ns-e
especially
in
early
Fu.rthermore,
st