The stereotype made by the society had placed women in a difficult situation. There is an unseen border which restricts them to develop. As Montagu
says that in the society there was conditioned norm, which stated that women can do and can not do. Montagu, 1953: 38 This norm makes women lack of
opportunities to develop their intelligence and skills, and they have different opportunities to men. This situation inflicted a loss upon women because in
almost everyday society there is a belief that men are superior and women are inferior. In past, limited by the norm, women can not have their opinion to be
heard. Women think that the belief is right, because it is believed as what really happens. Montagu, 1953: 23
Facing for the bad situation for long enough time, the women then try to find a solution for the problem which is basically appeared because of the
patriarchal system on society. What the women need is the equal rights on many aspects as what is owned by the men. The women’s courage to struggle in order to
get the equal rights as the men is known as the born of feminism. In
Waller’s The Bridges of Madison County, there is the character of
Francesca Johnson. This character can be seen as the woman figure that represents women in the middle of feminist movement. In this novel, the character of
Francesca who is drawn as a woman who realizes the unfairness of gender discrimination and holds some feminist ideas after she experiences some
situations which boxed her in the corner because of her position as woman. Waller builds Francesca’s character as faithful wife and a good mother, although
she had some difficult experiences in her past that she can not easily forget. She PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
holds out in her family’s situation in which she feels oppressed; put away her mind to escape from that situation and buried her dream of finding the true love
on someone. Later, it can be seen that in fact, Francesca does not struggle to get
out from her difficult life situation by radical rebellion, but she has a tendency to deal with her situation by realizing and accepting the situations that in fact,
happen to her. The Bridges of Madison County, that title on its own is already enough to
scare half of the male population away. They know its a romantic drama and dont even need to see it, they are already convinced that they wont
like it. And yet, if only they took the time to give it a try, they might be surprised by it. I know I was, so why should’t others have the same feeling
about it Philip Van der Veken, 2005
The same
with Philip Van der Veken from Tessenderlo, Belgium who says
that he is surprised by the things that he finds in the story, the writer is also interested by the fact that besides being rich and dominated by symbols, there is
another thing that is interesting enough to be discussed further as the main topic in this paper, that is Francesca Johnson as the reflection of women in the middle of
the emerging feminist movement. Until now the matter of gender discrimination still becomes a popular
issue in society. In fact, the existence of discrimination toward female is caused by social culture. The stereotype on society which said that women is in the
second class of social, while the first class consists of parents, man, and society seems never faded. So that woman often feels being harassed in almost all aspects
of life. Feminism issues in this novel are interesting to be discussed because it
gives the readers some perspective about the women’s reasons of why they do not PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
dare to be feminists in order to minimize the oppression toward them. Through Francesca’s story of life in this novel, the readers will find a situation in which a
woman, in this case Francesca Johnson shows her courage to solve her problems of life by sacrificing herself as a woman to lose her hopes and dream. She
recognizes her position as a woman who lives in a society with it’s paradigm that there are some things that women should not do. The uniqueness of Francesca’s
character is that she knows how to be a tough woman without merely complaining, and also has no anger and egoism to be understood by men or by the
other, but she prefers to maintain her desire and try to put up with her life situation.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background above, this study formulates two questions: 1.
How is Francesca Johnson described in Robert James Waller’s The Bridges of Madison County?
2. How does Francesca Johnson reflect the life of women in the middle of the
emerging feminist movement?
C. Objectives of the Study
In this thesis, the readers can find the contra- feminism idea through one of female characters in the novel The Bridges of Madison County. That is why it is
significant to know further about the character of Francesca Johnson and how she is represented first before discussing the main issue about the women’s position in
the middle of emerging feminist movement in the novel The Bridges of Madison County.
D. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misinterpretation in understanding this thesis, there should be some explanation about some words, which are mostly used and widely
related to the topic that is going to be analyzed. Those words are follows: 1.
Feminine Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language define
feminine as having quality regarded as gentleness, weakness, delicacy, and modesty; womanly 1989.
2. Feminism
According to Maggie Humm, feminism is the ideology of women’s liberation since intrinsic in all its approaches is the belief that the women
suffer because of their sex. 1990: x. 3.
Feminity Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language
describes feminity as the qualities or nature of the female sex; womanliness, also effeminacy 1989.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
The Bridges of Madison County is the novel written by Robert James Waller. This novel is firstly published in1992 and was best sold in the United
States. Here can be seen that Waller as the writer was competent to catch the readers’ desire, it is to get the novel in which the story derived from the affairs
which usually happen in daily life situation so that they get a great enjoyment to play with their feeling when they read it.
Therefore, only two years after it’s firstly published, the movie of The Bridges of Madison County was made. There are a lot of comments about this
novel which has been filmed. Much of them give positive opinions about this novel. Some readers and viewers said that this novel brings a new interesting
thing that is closely related to the issue of feminism. Leo Goldsmith, in his review states that it is crucial in both versions that
Francesca does not leave her husband for Kincaid, but in Waller’s estimation her gesture is one of feminine self-sacrifice, a relinquishing of
her desire in the service of both of the men she loves. Only in Eastwood’s version is Francesca’s choice made something subtler: Francesca’s is a
denial of something very like “true love,” but it is emphatically her decision to do so. She is not compelled by a woman’s sense of duty nor by
the world’s cruel gender inequities, but by a practical unwillingness to ruin several lives including perhaps her own by pursuing an ethereal “true
love” Goldsmith, 2007
In his review above, Goldsmith reveals his finding that the Francesca’s character in the novel represents a woman who does a feminine self-sacrifice, meaning to
8 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
say that Francesca is one who faces a situation in which she becomes a party who should give in to the moral value.
Another researcher the writer chooses as the references for her review of related studies is Eka Wahyuning. She is a graduate student of English Letters
Study Programme, Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, generation of 1995, who had done to analyze Waller’s The
Bridges of Madison County on her project for final thesis. She takes The Significance of The Symbol of The Covered Bridges Toward The Main Characters
as Seen in Waller’s The Bridges of Madison County as the topic on her thesis. On her thesis, she had focus on all symbols used in the novel and also the relationship
between the characters, especially Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson. Different from Eka Wahyuning, in this thesis, the writer will focus to study the
character of Francesca Johnson and discuss her position and life situation as a woman in the middle of the emerging feminist movement.
B. Review of Related Theories
In order to analyze the problem formulation, the writer employs two kinds of theories.
1. Character and Characterization
Abrams in
his book
A Glossary of Literary Terms describes character as “the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the
reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and by what they do the action” Abrams, 1981:
