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b. Leaving Ethel or not
The first problem starts when Mr. Lewisham and Ethel quarrel about Alice’ letter. He is very upset to his wife because she cannot understand his dream
through Alice’ letter. After quarrelling, he walks out of their apartment and asks to himself why he should marry Ethel in the name of destiny p. 154. He sees that
there are many unbearable things in their marriage. He also remembers that her jealousy is such a silly thing. He thinks that they must end their marriage.
However, when he is alone, his memory brings him back to his old days. He hears some lyrics from a band song which are ‘Sweet dreamland fa---ces passing to
and fro, bring back the mem’ry, days of long ago-oh’ p. 156. Suddenly, he realizes that it is not completely her fault to blame. Now, he sees himself as an
unfair person. He remembers how often they quarrel, what rude things he says to her and how she replies with her tears. He recognizes that after leaving his
schooling, he should begin a new step but he himself falls in his disappointment too far. He sees himself as a bad person p. 157.
Now, he is sure with himself how he loves her and cares about her after so many failures and messed things. Therefore, he begins to fix their relations by
buying and sending some roses to her. He hopes that she will forget terrible things they have.
What Mr. Lewisham experiences is an approach-avoidance conflict when
there are attractive and unattractive things in one goal Worchel Cooper, 1979, p.
461. Approach-avoidance conflict is a conflict when a person wants to achieve an advantage but he also escapes from a disadvantage directly. His first goal is leaving
his wife. The attractive thing is his love to his wife and the unattractive thing is his
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disappointment to her. He wants to forget the problem but her jealousy marks in his mind. Here, there is a question within him about who is the one to blame, Ethel or
him. If he is sure that she deserves to be blamed then he will leave her. However, if he is guilty then he will save his marriage.
Historically, a husband could divorce his wife legally if his wife had some guilty in adultery, cruelty, or desertion through Divorce and Matrimonial Causes
Act in 1857 Mitchell, 1996, p. 105. In this novel, he tries to use cruelty as the
reason to leave his wife. He thinks about some disturbing things and unpleasant acts that he would say to her clearly pp. 154-155. The cruel thing that he would
express to his wife is about mental suffering from his marriage. He cannot bear the pressure any longer. His wife springs her jealousy unreasonably. In fact, the
important thing for him now is how he can focus on his new job instead of thinking about her jealousy. Therefore, it can be a reason why he can leave her legally if he
feels annoyed by his wife’s acts. However, the grounds of divorce were so limited at Victorian Era. A husband could divorce his wife mostly only for adultery while a
wife could divorce his husband not only for adultery but also for extremely cruelty, incest, or desertion. Both of them should provide some evidences in the court.
Compared to Mr. Lewisham’s reason, it will be difficult for him to bring his reason to the court if it is because of cruelty to separate from her.
Finally, he chooses not to leave her. As a thoughtful person, he tries not to end their marriage only because of this problem but to clarify this problem from his
perception. He sees that it is not the first time they quarrel but several times because of some silly things. Therefore, he realizes that it is also unreasonable why
he should Alice letter from his wife if there is no affair between him and Alice
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p.158. He also never tells about his best friend to her and it is quite reasonable for her if she is jealous. The way he decides his choice is changing cognition where a
person sees a new point or some positive sides of a choice. Here, he also uses the lyrics song as a medium to change his point of view. According to Hart, conflict in
marriage cannot be avoided as cited in Heyer, 1980, p. 19. It means that it is a natural when a husband and a wife quarrel because of many things. He sees that
there are many difficult things that they should face as a couple and it is natural p. 156. It can be seen, how he reflects his marriage as a young couple. He also sees
himself as
an ego person.
He changes his mind and realizes how far he hurt her and how he really loves her.
Even though Mr. Lewisham already calms down, his anger strikes again when he knows that his roses are put under the table by his wife. At first, he is
preparing himself by sending some roses to start a new beginning. However, his expectation is different with the reality. He is jealous when Ethel mentions Mr.
Baynes as the sender of the roses. As a sensitive person, he is disappointed easily especially when she cannot understand his intention to fix their marriage. The
situation becomes worse when he decides and tells her that he will leave her strongly p. 168.
In this conflict, there is a difference when he has a choice to leave his wife. At the first problem, he does not tell to her directly that he wants to leave her. He
still considers leaving her. Now, at the second problem, he says to her directly that he will leave her. The difference itself is on the reasons of divorce. The reason of
the first problem is cruelty which is the less reason. Whereas, the reason of the second problem is adultery. Adultery is a special interaction with someone outside
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of marriage. Historically, adultery was the strongest reason for a husband to divorce his wife through a court Mitchell, 1996, p. 105. He could also bring his
wife’s lover as the witness at the court. Here, in this novel, he suspects his wife for adultery with Mr. Baynes even though it is not true actually. He is only jealous and
it becomes the reason why he wants to separate from his wife without any considerations. Therefore, he says to her directly that he will leave her.
As a well organized person, he begins to arrange his plan especially what he will do after parting from his wife. He thinks about a new lodging for himself and
some difficulties he will face but when he thinks about her, he becomes doubtful. He thinks what she can do without him and what will happen with her after their
parting. His worries are related to his wife’s future. For a divorced woman, it was very difficult for her to regain her reputation after divorce Mitchell, 1996, p. 105.
She would be considered as a shameful wife. Moreover, her divorce case was reported in the newspaper so that it would be public news. These kinds of things
become some considerations for him to leave his wife or not. In his mind, he realizes that today he behaves unjustly to her p. 169. However, when he thinks
about her, the figure of Mr. Baynes is in his mind and he remembers about her fault.
He felt inexorably kept to path he had chosen, for all the waning of is rage. He had put his hand to the plough. ‘If you condone this,’ he told himself,
‘you might condone anything. There are things one must not stand.’ He tried to keep to that point of view-assuming for eth most part out of his
imagination what it he was not standing. A dim sense came to him of how much he was assuming. At any rate she must have flirted... He resisted this
reviving perception of justice as though it was some unspeakably disgraceful carving. He tried to imagine her with Baynes” p. 170
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Finally, as the answer, he keeps thinking that she is the one doing the wrong thing. However, his mind changes when he enters his room and he sees her sobbing.
Suddenly, he sees how pitiful and hurt she is because of him. As a loving person, he cannot leave his wife as his beloved woman. He cannot imagine what will
happen to his wife if he leaves her especially through a divorce. He forgets his decision to part with her and tries to comfort her p. 171.
What Mr. Lewisham faces is an approach-avoidance conflict. The attractive one is Ethel but the unattractive one is Mr. Baynes’ figure and his jealousy
. He
thinks about her but he remembers about her boss, her incapability, and his prejudice. Those two things cannot be separated from his minds to decide whether
he wants to leave her or not. However, he cannot hide his worries about her fate if he leaves her. This
thought makes him confused. It shows how he still has feeling for her. Finally, he is touched by her sobbing. Unconsciously, he forgets that he wants to leave her. In
the end, he still saves his marriage. Here, he applies changing cognition as the resolution. It can be seen how his worries change his decision. He decides to stay
with her when he sees her helpless and he cannot see her suffered if he still insists on leaving her.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter consists of three parts which are conclusions, implications and suggestions. The first part is some conclusions which summarize the description of
Mr. Lewisham and his conflicts including how he solves his conflicts. The second part is some implications which explain how the study is related to the education
major. The last part is some suggestions for further researchers who will analyze H.G. Wells’ Love and Mr. Lewisham with different topics.
A. Conclusions
There are two parts that can be concluded from the analysis. Those are the description of Mr. Lewisham and his conflicts including what his conflicts are and
how he solves them. Based on the analysis, it can be summarized that Mr. Lewisham is the main character in the story because the whole story tells about his
life. He is also portrayed as the round character because his characteristics change when he faces many problems in his marriage life.
By using Murphy’s theory to characterize the character, Mr. Lewisham is characterized through physical description, manners, conversation with other
characters, thought, and reactions. His first characteristic is described as a loving
person through his manners. No matter how hard his conflict with his wife, he still loves her until the end. Second, he is very well-organized. He arranges his study
daily activities, budget through his Schema, the time table, and notes. Those are seen from his manner. However, from his thoughts and manners show that he is
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