Besides those three theories, the writer also uses the review on the historical background considering that the topic deals with the society of America
in the early 20
th
century. This review helps the writer to understand the condition of American society, especially the women’s world. By understanding the
historical background of the society, the writer will be helped in analyzing the text to answer the problem formulations in the previous chapter.
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is a play taken from Barnet’s An Introduction to Literature
entitled Trifles, which was written by Susan Glaspell in the year of 1916. This play consists only one act. However, it contains a big issue which
becomes a contradiction up to now, male domination. The story takes place in Wright’s house and it is about the mystery of
a murder. The essence of the story is very obvious and easy to understand. This murder becomes a mystery since the characters do not know who the murderer is,
until one of the women characters finds a key to the solving problem.
B. Approach of the Study
In this study, the writer uses Sociocultural-historical Approach. Rohrberger and Woods state in their book Reading and Writing About Literature that “ Critics
whose major interests is the sociocultural-historical approach insist that the only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization that produce it”
Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 9. In this case, they define civilization as the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people and point out that literature
takes these attitudes and actions as its subject matter. This approach is used because the writer thinks that this is the most
appropriate approach to be used to analyze the text of the play, considering that
“literature is an expression of society” Wellek and Warren, 1956: 95, and also the focus of the study that is analyzing the satirical part of the text toward the
male-dominated American society. The writer chooses this approach as the perspective to see, understand and also analyze the text of the play. It is necessary
to investigate the social background in which a work was created and which it necessarily reflect because “literature is not created in an emptiness and expresses
ideas significant to the culture that produce it” Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 9.
C. Method of the Study
In examining the problem formulation of the study, the writer took a library research or a desk research. The writer also did read some books to gather
the data. The data were taken from two sources, primary and secondary sources. For the primary source, Trifles by Susan Glaspell was taken as the focus of the
analysis. There were several steps that were taken to finish this study. The first step, the writer read the play and understood it. Second step, the writer tried to
find some books of theories and extrinsic data to support the process of the analysis, and also some books of criticism to support the hypothesis. The writer
also did the browsing to look for some information related to the study in the internet. These books and information from internet were used as the secondary
sources to gather the data. The third step, the writer decided the formulation of the problems and determined the suitable theories to analyze the study. They are
theory of character and characterization, theory of satire and theory of feminism. In analyzing the play, the writer used sociocultural-historical background. This
approach was used in the study to examine Glaspell’s Trifles as the literary work
