THE IDEA OF FEMINISM REVEALED THROUGH THE MAJOR FEMALE CHARACTERS AS SEEN IN KEN FOLLETT’S THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  

THE IDEA OF FEMINISM REVEALED THROUGH THE MAJOR

FEMALE CHARACTERS AS SEEN IN KEN FOLLETT’S THE PILLARS

OF THE EARTH

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in

English Letters

  

By

AGUSTINUS DIMAS HERLAMBANG

  

Student Number: 054214007

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

  

2012

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am very indebted to Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani S.S., M.Hum., who has helped me a lot in

writing this thesis by giving me help, understanding, advice, guidance and encouragement to

finish this thesis.

  I would also like to thank Elisa Dwi Wardani S.S., M.Hum for her advice and guidance which help me to understand more about this topic.

  I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to all the lecturers of English Letters,

the secretariat staffs especially Mbak Maria Ninik who always welcome and give me useful

information whenever I needed them and the librarians of Sanata Dharma University who found

my cell phone not only once, but twice.

  My special thanks go to my beloved parents who supported me and waited me the whole

time, my friends in Jogja; Dea, Kiky, Hasan, Puput, Herni, Elsa and my cousin, Mbak Sita, who

stand by me in my hardest days and ready to give me some cheering, and to my friends in

Bekasi; Muray, Marcholine, Derry, Dewi, Yudi and Dharma who waited for me to come back

and reunite with them. Lastly, my thanks would go to my dog, Moshi, who knows when is the

time to play and when is the time to let me work.

  Ag. Dimas Herlambang

  TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………….……... i

APPROVAL PAGE ………………………………………………….….…… ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ………………………………………………..…….. iii

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ………….……… iv

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY…………………………………………. v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………….….…… vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………….……. vii

ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………..……. ix

ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………………….. x

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………….

  1 A. Background of the Study …………………………………………….

  1 B. Problem Formulation ………………………………………………… 4

C. Objective of the study ………………………………………………..

  4 D. Definition of Terms ………………………………………………….. 5 CHAPTER II: THEORITICAL REVIEW ………………………………….

  8  

A. Review on Related Studies ……………………………………….....

  8 B. Review on Related Theories ..………………………………………..

  10   1. Theory of Character and Characterization ………………………...

  10

  2. Theory of Feminism ………………………………………………. 12

  3. Theory of Gender Stereotype……………………………………… 15

  C. Review on the Social Condition in Medieval Period in England Especially the Medieval Women ………………………...

  16 D. Theoretical Framework ……………………………………………… 18

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ………………………………………….. 20 A. Object of the Study ………………………………………………….

  20 B. Approach of the Study ……………………………………………….

  21

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS …………………………………………………..

  25 A. Characteristics of the Major Female Characters in The Pillars of the Earth …………………………………………… 25

  1. Character of Aliena of Shiring …………………………………….. 26 2. Character of Ellen ………………………………………………....

  32 B. Forms of Patriarchy Present in The Pillars of the Earth …………….. 36 1. Forms of Patriarchy in the Medieval Society ……………………..

  36

2. Raping and Patriarchy …………………………………………….. 39 3. Religion and Belief ………………………………………………..

  40 C. Idea of Feminism …………………………………………………….

  44 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ……………………………………………….

  48 BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………

  52

  

ABSTRACT

DIMAS HERLAMBANG. The Idea of Feminism Revealed through the Major Female

Characters as Sees in Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth. Yogyakarta: Department of

English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2012.

  This study deals with Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth. The story in this novel

revolves around the building of a cathedral in Kingsbridge in the medieval period. The medieval

society had been very traditional and patriarchal.

  This study has three objectives to achieve. First is to find out the major female characters

in the novel. Second is to find out the condition of the medieval society especially on the role of

women at that time. Thirdly, to find out the idea of feminism which is presented through the

contrasts between the characteristics of major female characters and the women’s role in the

medieval society.

  The method used in the research is desk research. The primary source was the novel

itself, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and is supported by other data and history related

to it; the theory of character and characterization, the theory of feminism, which includes theory

of the relation of men, women and rape, and the theory of stereotype. The writer uses feminist

approach because by applying this approach to this thesis, the writer will have a better

understanding in seeing the problems through feminism.

  After analyzing the novel, the writer has found that the contrasts which are shown in the

novel between Aliena and Ellen and the expectation of the society represent a hidden message.

The hidden message is that women have the equal capabilities as men. And the only limitation

that they have are the stereotypes which discriminates them.

  

ABSTRACT

DIMAS HERLAMBANG. The Idea of Feminism Revealed through the Major Female

Characters as Sees in Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth. Yogyakarta: Department of

English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2012.

  Thesis ini membahas novel Ken Follet, The Pillars of the Earth. Cerita dalam novel ini

berkisar pada proses pembangunan sebuah katedral di Kingsbridge dalam periode abad

pertengahan. Masyarakat abad pertengahan sangat tradisional dan patriarki.

  Thesis ini memiliki tiga tujuan untuk dicapai. Yang pertama adalah untuk mengetahui

karakteristik dari karakter-karakter utama wanita dalam novel ini. Yang kedua adalah untuk

mengetahui kondisi masyarakat abad pertengahan terutama pada peran perempuan pada waktu

itu. Yang ketiga, untuk mengetahui ide feminisme yang disajikan melalui kontras antara

karakteristik karakter-karakter utama wanita dan peran perempuan dalam masyarakat abad

pertengahan.

  Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah desk research. Sumber utama adalah

novel itu sendiri, The Pillars of the Earth oleh Ken Follett dengan didukung oleh data-data dan

sejarah yang berhubungan; teori karakter dan karakterisasi dan teori feminisme, yang meliputi

teori hubungan antara laki-laki, perempuan dan pemerkosaan, dan teori stereotip. Sang penulis

memilih untuk menggunakan pendekatan feminis karena dengan menerapkan pendekatan ini,

penulis akan memiliki pemahaman yang lebih baik dalam melihat masalah-masalah melalui

feminisme.

  Setelah menganalisis novel, penulis telah menemukan bahwa kontras yang ditunjukkan

dalam novel antara Aliena dan Ellen dan harapan masyarakat mengandung pesan tersembunyi.

Pesan tersembunyi itu adalah bahwa perempuan memiliki kemampuan yang sama dengan laki-

laki. Dan satu-satunya batasan yang mereka miliki adalah stereotip yang mendiskriminasikan

mereka.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study The Medieval period is considered to be one of the most exciting periods

  in English History. Hundreds of knights in shining armor, famous kings and queens have been written in medieval history books, middle ages is a period full of tales. However, it was not the best period for women to live in. Medieval society had been very traditional. Medieval women had to lead a difficult life in a society dominated by men. The women were expected to obey not only their father, but also to their brothers and any other male members of the family. In the Medieval period, the society put female in a role inferior to male. This situation had led the society to take advantages of it by giving the women fewer wages than men for the same task.

  This situation clearly described in the website History Learning Site as: For reaping, a man could get 8 pence a day. For the same task, women would get 5 pence. For hay making, men would earn 6 pence a day while women got 4 pence. (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_women.htm) In the medieval villages, although it is highly difficult, women could work in workshops or become trades-women. Meanwhile, women in the medieval towns had more opportunities in terms of earning money; they had several options of professions. The options are shopkeepers, bakers, spinners, ale brewers or known as alewives, farmers, and silk weavers. However, there are still many professions which restricted for them such as knights, sheriffs, architects, masons, actors, tutors, etc., which are known as male professions.

  In politics, women were not represented in the town councils, so ordinary women had no voice in local politics. Though a woman could hold property,

  

 

  receive inheritance, participate in trade, and go to court, she was always under a man's guardianship—her father's, her husband's, or that of another male relative.

  However, we can see some special cases of independent dominant women in the novel The Pillars of the Earth. In this novel, Follett tells a story about the building of a cathedral sets in the medieval period. Although the story revolves around building a cathedral, the most important of this story is not the cathedral itself, but how people, society, and the politics at that time effects the process of building the cathedral.

  In this thesis, the writer analyzes Ken Follett’s fiction The Pillars of the

  

Earth , which sets in the medieval period. This novel is known as Follett’s

  masterpiece. Ken Follett is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels. He

  th

  was born on June 5 1949. In the late 1970s Follett became involved in the course of political activities such as Britain's Labour Party. There, he met Barbara Broer, a noted feminist, who then became his second wife. Until now, Follet has sold more than 100 million copies of his works.

  As stated by Abrams in The Mirror and The Lamp, literary work is the expression of the author’s ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Since literary works show the author’s ideas, thoughts, and feelings, it is possible that there are some implied meanings or hidden messages in the works that the author wanted to send. Based on this, the writer choose Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth because the existence of the idea of feminism in the novel which is presented through the female characters.

  In reality, we can hardly find strong women in that time, but not in this novel where there are many female characters plays in strong position and manage to break the traditional view towards genderization of what women can do.

  There are several dominant female characters that are breaking the traditional point of view of women’s position in the society. However, for the purpose of the study, the writer only interested to two of the major female characters; Aliena and Ellen.

  Aliena, one of the major characters in this story, is authoritative. She experienced from being a princess living in a castle, to an orphan of a traitor who had nothing but the past. The character of Aliena itself is rare to be found in the reality at that time. She is “strong” and can show the society that she is “stronger” than men. Next is Ellen, a daughter of a knight. She knows English, French, and Latin, and in being literate, a rare case for women at that time. She lives in the woods as an outlaw with her son, Jack Jackson. Living in the woods for a woman at that time was very dangerous, she can be raped at any minute by other outlaws, but she is brave and resourceful, which made her to be acknowledged as a strong woman.

  In the reality of medieval period, it was very difficult to find these kinds of educated women who are “strong” and “powerful”. For the same matter, the writer attracted to study and creates a research which focused on the feminist idea that the author implies in the book. It is worth analyzing because we can see the relation between the authors and their literary works which portrayed on what they believe in. The feminist idea reflected clearly in the story where some of the female characters are manage to break the stereotypes of the role of women in the medieval society. This literary works tells about women who survived after facing difficulties caused by the males and fight back. The last reason is that the practices of gender stereotyping that are questioned by the author as the writer’s topic which is present in the story.

  B. Problem Formulation

  1. How are the female characters described in the story?

  2. What form of patriarchy presented in the story?

  3. What is the idea of feminism that is revealed through the female characters which contrasts with the medieval society in the story?

  C. Objective of the study

  The objective of the study is to find out the author’s purpose in creating the powerful female characters which contrast with the society attitude towards women at that period of time. The female characters’ way to survive in a patriarchal society proved us that woman is equal as man. First, the writer will analyze how medieval society contrast with the characteristics of female characters in the story. Last, to find out the feminist idea in the story that is being reflected through the female characters, the writer will analyze the contrast with theories provided through the feminist point of view

D. Definition of terms

  In order to clarify the discussion, the writer would like to explain the meaning of patriarchal society, liberal feminism and feminist idea:

  1. Patriarchal Society

  According to Linda Napikoski, patriarchal is describes as a general structure in which men have power over women. A patriarchal society consists of a male-dominated power structure which rule throughout the society. (http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/a/patriarchal.htm)

  Also, in her book, Of Woman Born: Motherhood As Experience and

  

Institution , Adrienne Rich wrote the term of patriarchal society as; “…the power

  of fathers, a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men-by force, direct pressure, or through ritual, tradition, law, and language, customs, etiquette, education, and the division of labor, determine what part of women shall or shall not play, and in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male, under patriarchy.” (1986: 57).

  2. Patriarchy

  According to Jane Pilcher and Imelda Whelehan in their book 50 Key

  

Concepts in Gender Studies , literary patriarchy means “rule by the male head of

  the society.” But since the context here is feminism, therefore patriarchy here means as the social system which male dominates women. (2004: 93)

  Also, through The Dictionary of Feminist Theory, we can find that patriarchy described as a system, authorized by the males, which oppresses women in social, political, and economic institution (Humm, 1955: 200).

  3. Feminist Idea

  Maria Gousseva wrote in Pravda that since the very early days of mankind that males and females were not equal. She wrote that there are many ideas of feminism (http://english.pravda.ru/society/family/17-03-2006/77425-feminism- 0/).

  For radical feminists, Gousseva wrote that they believe for many centuries women had been oppressed in all elements of social life, and that they were fighting against. The Amazon feminism consisted in the idea that women were oppressed because of their weakness. Followers of the idea believed that women’s world would be able to resist the men’s world when they were physically strong. Lesbianism, the attempt to ignore men as species, belongs to this feminism trend (http://english.pravda.ru/society/family/17-03-2006/77425-feminism-0/).

  4. Gender Stereotypes

  In The Dictionary of Feminist Theory, stereotypes are described as “preconceived ideas” about individuals, groups or objects. (Humm, 1955: 277)

  In other source, Sara Michelle describes gender stereotypes as “a conventionally simplified and standardized conception or image concerning the typical social roles of male and female, both domestically and socially.” In other words, gender stereotypes are beliefs which concerning the characteristics, traits, and activity-domains that are considered to be proper qualities to describe men and women. (http://people.unt.edu/jw0109/misc/stereotype.htm)

5. Middle Ages

  The Middle Ages have various names; the Dark Ages, the Medieval Era, and the Mediaeval. It is the period between A.D. 500 and 1500. This period of time reflect its position between the cultural achievements of the Roman Empire and the flourishing of art and science in the Renaissance. In this period, the dominant religious, political, and cultural force in Western Civilization was the Christian Church, headed by the pope.

  (www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/markpot/lit/introlit/medieval/htm)

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW This chapter is divided into four parts. The first part is the review of

  related studies related to the writer’s topic. The second part is the reviews of the related theories on the writer’s work and topic. In third part, the writer reviews the social condition of the England’s medieval period, especially how the society treat women at the time. Last, in theoretical framework, the writer shows the contribution of the studies and theories that have been previously discussed to the writer’s work and study.

A. Review on Related Studies

  So far, the writer has not yet found any study that uses the same novel as the object of the study of the writer. Therefore, the writer decided to review Cici Riesma Sari’s thesis, Some Feminist Ideas in Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady, which has similar topic to the writer’s, which is the ideas of feminism that is revealed through the characters in the novel. The methods that she uses are great contributions for the writer to reveal Ken Follett’s idea of feminism through the characters in The Pillars of the Earth. The writer also decided to review Amanda Rindu Dyah Perdana’s thesis, Patriarchy, Women Suffering, And the

  

Ideas of Feminism Reflected through the Characters in Maria Irene Fornes’s The

Conduct of Life.

  However, although Sari’s methods in revealing the idea of feminism have similarities with the writer’s method, which is through the characters in the novel, it has several differences with the writer’s methods.

  First of all, Sari uses all of the female characters in the novel to reveal the feminism idea hidden in the novel. Meanwhile, the writer only uses the major female character to find out the idea of feminism beneath it. In the end, Sari’s method has weakness in term of efficiency because as she analyzing the minor characters, she finds out that most of them did not carry the idea of feminism. Therefore, the writer decided to analyze only using the major female characters.

  Furthermore, in her thesis Sari concludes that the background of the feminist ideas conveyed through the characters influenced by the history of the American culture which are originated from the European. She states that since most of the female characters are American, they are shown to be more appreciated than the European since in America people are believed to have equal rights, which means European women are being less appreciated. This contrasts with the writer’s topic which object of the study has dominant female characters regardless of the similar setting which is placed in the Europe. As for the approach applied in the thesis, Sari also uses sociocultural-historical approach which the writer does not applied in his topic.

  As for Perdana’s thesis, she uses the same approach as the writer uses; feminist approach. However, in her thesis, Perdana uses all of the major characters in the play, male and female. The reason Perdana analyzing the male contrasts with the writer’s thesis which use the descriptions of the social condition, the effect of religion and the scene of rape to find out the forms of patriarchy present in the story.

  From the comments and analysis above, we can conclude that this study is different with the Perdana’s and Sari’s studies. Although all of the studies here use the characters of the objects of the studies as tools to find out the feminist ideas, in term of the methods that the writer uses are different.

B. Review on Related Theories

  The theories which are used here is the theory of character and characterization, the theory of feminism, which includes theory of the relation of rape, men and women, and the theory of stereotype. These theories will be helpful to find out what was the author’s purpose in creating dominant female characters in the story.

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

  “Characters is the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say- the dialogue, and what they do-the action.” (Abrams, 1985:23)

  In a story, character is one of the elements. It is a creation of imaginary person of the writer and exists to complete the story. Therefore, a writer can get inside the thoughts of his characters (Murphy, 1972:161).

  To make his character seems real and come alive for his readers, a writer use several methods. These methods are used by giving a description of the character. These methods are; a. Personal description

  The author describes his characters by giving descriptions of the characters’ appearances.

  b. Character as seen by another The author describes his characters through the opinions of other characters.

  c. Speech The author gives some clues about his character’s characteristics through what the characters say.

  d. Past life The author helps the readers to learn about the characters through their past life.

  e. Conversation of others The author gives some clues about his characters through what the other characters say about them.

  f. Reactions The author gives some clues to some characters by letting us know how the characters react to various situations and events. g. Direct comment The author directly gives comment about the characters.

  h. Thoughts The author gives the readers direct knowledge what the characters thinking about. i. Mannerisms

  The author can describe the characters’ mannerisms, habits or idiosyncrasies which also tell us something about their characters.

  (Murphy, 1972: 161-173) Roger B. Henkle divides characters into two categories, major and minor characters. Major characters are the characters that become the central attention of the story while minor characters are the characters that support major characters in building the story (1977: 90).

2. Theory of Feminism

  Through the ages, society believes that women are inferior to men. This belief has been accepted in the society for thousands of years. In the middle ages, the society was very religious and live according what God wants, in this case, the church.

  In the Old Testament in Catholic Bible, Adam’s role is to be Eve’s Master. In the Genesis 3:16, we can find: “…thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” In another part of the Old Testament which is found in the Catholic Bible we can find; No wickedness comes anywhere near the wickedness of a woman... Sin began with a woman and thanks to her we all must die (Ecclesiasticus 25: 19, 24). Meanwhile, in his letter in the New Testament, St. Paul wrote; A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I don't permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner (I Timothy 2:11-14). These beliefs had rooted and build stereotypes and perception in the society that female are less valued than male. These perceptions in the society rise feminism. Feminists seek not only to understand the patriarchal society, but also to reform it;

  “…the word feminism can stand for a belief in sexual equality combined with a commitment to eradicate sexist domination and to transform society” (Humm, 1992:1) It is also clearly stated by Guerin, in the book A Handbook of Critical

  

Approaches to Literature , that feminism has always been on top of the social

  reform movements in the modern era. The beginning of feminists’ history is called as the first wave of feminism. The first wave of feminism was usually concerned about the establishment of the legal policy which stated that women are human beings and it can never be treated as a property (2011: 254).

  The explanation of feminist theory can also be seen in Bijay Kumar Das’ book, Twentieth Century Criticism. In his book, he stated an opinion that women are believe that they are inferior to men and found their selves dependant on him. It is basically spreads out from his mind from the realization that “the world is masculine, because the whole who fashioned it, ruled it, and still dominate it today are men”. (2002: 145)

  In Feminism, A Reader, Humm described feminism as a “social force”; “The emergence of feminist ideas and feminist politics depends on the understanding that, in all societies which divide the sexes into differing cultural, economic or political spheres, women are less valued than men.” (Humm. 1992: 1)

  In this study, the writer tries to find out a feminist idea behind the major female characters which contrast with the stereotypes of women inside the novel.

  In the novel, there is a scene when Aliena is being rape by William. The writer believes that there is a hidden meaning from existence of a rape scene in the novel.

  In her site, Susan Brownmiller states the action of rape is connected with human’s primal act of sex and cannot be separated with biological matter.

  However, human have a complex system of psychological signs and urges; our call to sex occurs in our head.

  Without a biologically determined mating season, a human male can evince sexual interest in a human female at any time he pleases, and his psychologic urge is not dependent in the slightest on her biologic readiness or receptivity. What it all boils down to is that the human male can rape. ( http://www.susanbrownmiller.com/susanbrownmiller/html/against_our_will.htm

  l ) In her book, Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, Brownmiller argues that rape is the form of patriarchy, served as “the perpetuation of male domination over women by force” (1991: 209). She suggested that the hidden meaning of rape is connected to the concept of treating women as property.

3. Theory of Gender Stereotype

  The concept of stereotype is used to describe the “typical picture” that comes to our mind when we are thinking about a particular social group. (Pilcher.

  2004: 166) Meanwhile, gender stereotype can be defined as; “…a standardized and often pejorative idea or image held about an individual on the basis of their gender.” (Pilcher. 2004: 167) In Cultural Theory: The Key Concepts, Edgar stated that a stereotype is an oversimplified views of the attitudes, behavior and expectations of a group or individual. These views may lead to sexism, racism, or prejudiced cultures. He also stated that these kinds of views play a big role in shaping the attitudes of the society. (2005: 380-381)

  Pilcher also shared Edgar’s view of the role of stereotype in the society as she stated in her book; “Research within the field of gender studies has examined the presence of gender stereotyping in key agencies of socialization, such as families, the education system and the media....it is through the application of ‘sex role’ stereotypes by adults, especially parents, that infants and children learn what is deemed appropriate or inappropriate behavior for their sex.” (Pilcher. 2004: 167)

  In her book, Pilcher also mentioned about the issue of power in relation to stereotyping. She stated that “some groups have greater power to make categorizations (stereotypes) than others, and to generate consequences of their categorizations (stereotypes). (Pilcher. 2004: 168)

  

C. Review on the Social Condition in Medieval Period in England Especially

the Medieval Women

  In medieval period, many men lived difficult lives, but for women living in medieval period where the society was completely dominated by men would be very hard. Medieval society would have been very traditional. Women had little role in the country. Within towns, society would have effectively dictated what jobs a woman could do and her role in a village would have been to support her family (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_women.htm).

  In the medieval village, women would have done many of the tasks that men did on the land, but they still paid less than men for doing the same job. For example, for hay making, men would earn 6 pence a day while women only got 4 (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_women.htm).

  Not only that the society paid women less for the same job as men, but the society tells them what they can do and what they cannot do. The law, which set by men, also greatly limited the freedom of women. Women were: 1. not allowed to marry without their parents' consent, 2. could own no business with special permission,

  3. not allowed to divorce their husbands, 4. could not own property of any kind unless they were widows, 5. and could not inherit land from their parents' if they had any surviving brother.

  ( http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_women.htm ).

  In the medieval period, noble women also experienced the effects of patriarchal society. Noble women had very little choice of who her husband might be. Marriages were frequently arranged to bring prestige or wealth to the family of noble women (http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/noble-women-in-the-middle- ages.htm).

  In the English Life in the Middle Ages, Salzman wrote that in Middle Ages, a noble woman or a wealthy heiress was regarded as “a valuable property to dispose of and a good investment to obtain” (Salzman. 1955: 254).

  Furthermore, she wrote: “It was not unusual for parents to arrange marriages for their children while they were still infants; even the actual marriage ceremony was sometimes performed when the bride and bridegroom were so young that they had to be carried to the church and could not repeat all the words of the services.” (Salzman. 1955: 254) Once became a wife, her first duty as a wife was to be fully obedient to her husband.

  “The law gave a husband full rights over his wife, whether she was a Noble woman or a commoner. She effectively became his property.” (http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/noble-women-in-the-middle-ages.htm)

  In education, gender discrimination also existed. While education flourished in the Middle Ages for men, it was not generally encouraged for women. Only women from the nobility or upper classes and nuns had the chance for education, as the rest of them suffered from the lack of education and the only education they know was more likely about how to be a wife or a mother.

  In the medieval period, the church dominates in almost every subject in the kingdom, including education. St. Thomas Aquinas, an influential philosopher and theologian Italian Dominican priest of the Roman Catholic Church, once said his opinion of women in the subject of education:

  "The woman is subject to man on account of the weakness of her nature... Man is the beginning of woman and her end, just as God is the beginning and end of every creature. Children ought to love their Father more than they love their mother."

  In conclusion, the medieval society is undoubtedly a patriarchal society, and no women would have the courage to complain about inequality.

D. Theoretical Framework

  Theory on character and characterization can be applied to analyze the characters of the story. The theories of character and characterization are needed to explain about the female characters. Although there are many female characters in the story, for the purpose of this study, the writer will only focus in analyzing two major female characters. They are Aliena and Ellen.

  Through the theory of the relation between rape, women and men, the writer will analyze the scene of rape in the story to show the position of women that are being oppressed by the patriarchal society. Through the theory of stereotype, the writer will find out the expectation of the society through that time through the stereotyping present in the medieval period.

  Through the data of the condition of women in middle ages, the writer will find the condition of the society to find out the forms of patriarchy present in the story.

  By focusing on the society that presents in the story, the writer would like to find the contrast between the demanded female role in the society and the female characters in the story. In the end, the writer will find out the feminist idea that is being reflected by analyzing the data gathered in the previous chapter through feminist approach and the theory of feminism.

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The work that will be analyzed in this study is Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth . It is a historical novel. In the October 2007 edition, this book is divided into 6

  

parts or 18 chapters and has 983 pages. It was first published in 1989. The book was

not only listed at no. 33 on the BBC's Big Read, a 2003 survey with the goal of

finding the "nation's best-loved book," it was also selected for Oprah's Book Club in

2007. German-Canadian co-production spearheaded by Munich-based Tandem

Communications and Montreal-based Muse Entertainment in association with Ridley

Scott's Scott Free Films had also made this novel come to live into television series.

  The story in this novel is set in medieval period. The story revolves around

the building of a cathedral in Kingsbridge. The novel is full of historical references.

  

Through this novel, we can see how politics and religion connecting one character

with another. In this novel, Follett begins the story with a man named Tom Builder.

  Tom Builder who has a dream to build a defining cathedral, is a man with two

children and a wife who died at the birth of her third child. Eventually, boy was

named Jonathan and was taken by a monk named Philip in a nearby monastery in

kingsbridge. Later, Tom fell in love with Ellen who has a son named Jack. Through

out the story, we will witness how Tom build a cathedral for Phillip after a big fire

  

unknowingly caused by Jack. As Jack grows up, Tom accounted him as his

apprentice, and falls in love with Aliena, daughter of Earl Bartholomew. Aliena and

his brother Richard were expelled from their castle because their father was accused

of treason. She was raped and suffered abuses from her admirer Willliam Hamleigh.

  

Later in the story, Tom Builder is killed by William Hamleigh. While the town of

Kingsbridge is crumbling down, the story became focused on the story of Aliena. At

this time, Aliena married with Alfred, Tom’s son, but impregnated by Jack. After

Aliena given birth to her first son, she went to Spain to search Jack who runaway

from Kingsbridge when Aliena and Alfred are getting married. After Jack comes back

to Kingsbridge, he gets his opportunity to shine and takes on the job of his deceased

step father. He then builds a cathedral far greater than Tom had ever imagined, while

William has failed in life.

B. Approach of the Study

  In finding out the feminist idea of the author from the novel, the writer has

decided to use feminist approach. Feminist approach is an academic approach to

literary study which applies feminist thought in the context of production and

reception to analyze literary text (Goodman, 1996: XI).

  According A Handbook of Critical Approach to Literature sixth edition,

feminism is an overtly political approach that criticizes women stereotyping (Guerin,

2011: 253). Also in the same book, literature is described as political, and its politics

  

“is male”. Since the feminists criticize women stereotyping, therefore in literature

feminist critics explain how the position of women is reflected by literary texts to

expose patriarchal prejudices.

  In her book, Women: A Feminist Perspective, Jo Freeman gives an insight to understand the feminist point of view; “The feminist perspective starts from the premise that women and men are constitutionally equal and share the same human capabilities; observed differences therefore demand a critical analysis of the social institutions that cause them.” (Freeman. 1984; 553) Feminist approach will be a great contribution to this study because by

applying this approach to this thesis, the writer will have a better understanding in

seeing through feminism to answer the problem formulation.

C. Method of Study

  When the writer had found a lot of ideas after read Ken Follett’s novel The

Pillars of The Earth, the writer needed to collect data as many as possible and find

some resources that were useful in analyzing the novel.

  The method used in the research is desk research. Desk research is the

research technique which is mainly acquired by sitting at a desk

(http://www.managementstudyguide.com/desk-research.htm). This research aims to

obtain the data and the information from some references books and internet in order

to support the writer’s idea.

  The primary source was the novel itself, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken

Follett, and also some theory books which will support the analysis. The secondary

source was the supporting theories and data that were from the internet.

  There are some steps which need to be done in this research. Firstly, the writer

did a deep reading to the novel and find out the characteristics of the major female

characters, especially Ellen and Aliena, the condition of medieval society especially