Background of the Study

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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

Since the novel is classified as a classic or old novel, some studies and criticisms related to the novel were made. The writer looks for some studies related to Emma in order to support this study. According to George Henry Lewes, the author presents characters clearly from their way of thinking, giving opinion, expressing feeling and behaving in her novel. Furthermore, he comments that it is easy for an artist to choose a subject from everyday life but not for her to represent the characters and their actions that they shall be at one lifelike and interesting. An artist can choose whenever ordinary people are introduced, they are either made to speak a language never spoken out of books, and to pursue conduct never observed in life. Otherwise, they are intolerably wearisome 1970: 7. Some research about this novel have been done before. The first has been done by Laurentius Siwitanto entitled Analysis on the Inconsistent Behaviour of the Main Character in Jane Austen’s Emma. The second has been done by Ninik Christianawati entitled The Influence of Other Character toward Emma’s Personality Development As Seen In Jane Austen’s Emma. The first researcher in his undergraduate thesis use the novel Emma as the object of the study. He focused on the main character in the novel. Siwitanto in his undergraduate thesis says This novel deals with a story of a smart girl who is misleading herself. During its process, she behaves inconsistent because firstly, she wishes others well but, in fact, her action are turning into ill-directed 2002: 8. Siwitanto found that this novel is interested to be analyzed because of Graham Hough‘s statement in the afterword of the novel that Emma is the only one that bear the name of its heroine and becoming the most perfect of Jane Austen’s novels Austen, 1816: 387. The story is composed by several characters and events that are woven together. The second analysis which is done by Ninik Christianawati is different from the previous researcher. In her undergraduate thesis The Influence of Other Character toward Emma’s Personality Development As Seen In Jane Austen’s Emma, she tried to find out the influence of the other character toward the main character development. Christianawati says The result of this study shows that Emma’s personality changes. The criticism and advice of Mr. Knightley brings great changes in Emma’s attitude and behaviour 2001: 58. Christianawati found that Emma’s personality has changed because the influence of Mr. Knightley. It is shows that the researcher only focuses on one character who influences the main character’s development. The difference between this study and the previous studies is this study is going to see deeper how the main character can be developed by the influences of the minor characters. It means that the writer not only focuses on one character who influences the main character’s development.

B. Review of Related Theories

In this part, the writer would like to present the relevant theories. Those theories are theory of character and characterization, theory of setting, and theory of character development. Those theories are useful because those theories help the writer to answer all the questions.

1. Theories of Character and Characterization

Since the problem formulation deals with the main character, first of all the writer considers that understanding the character well is needed in this study because character has an important role in the novel. A character gives the readers a description about how the story flows thus the readers can imagine what the story tells about. As Robert Stanton said “Every story essentially displays actions. To describe actions in a story, of course, persons who do those actions are needed. In a story, persons who do actions are called characters. It is through the knowledge of fictional characters readers can understand their actions and vice versa” 1965: 17. M. H Abrams gives a deeper definition of characters. He defines character as “person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who possess moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say- the dialogue- and what they do-the action-“1999: 21. Also, he states that fictional characters have the same characteristics as real human beings because they have temperaments and moral that will become the motivations of their speeches and actions.