Theory of Critical Approach to Literature

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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The theories mentioned below will help to have a foundation for the analyses in the study. This chapter provides a literary theory and some thoughts that the writer will apply to analyze the formulated problems in the problem formulation. They are theory of critical approach to literature, theory of character and characterization, human’s maturity and family, parents’ roles in educating children, the function of the family, the influences of divorce toward children, family members relationship: character development, and theoretical framework.

2.1 Theory of Critical Approach to Literature

According to Rohrberger and Woods 1971: 6-15, there are five types of critical approach in literature namely the Formalist Criticism, the Biographical Approach, the Sociocultural- Historical Approach, and the Mythopoeic Approach, as well as the Psychological Approach. In this study, I only use the Psychological Approach. Psychological approach is a critical approach that “involves effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns” Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 13. It means that one main reason to do something is coming from the result of human’s thoughts that follow certain patterns. I believe that someone cannot understand truly what the other wants without trying to understand the psychological situation. The same principal applied in the literary work analysis as well. Referring to the understanding above, I consider the Psychological approach the most appropriate approach to help to analyze Tom’s character development in the play. In order to assist the psychological approach, I provide some thoughts of psychological criticism by Kennedy and Gloia 1999: 1947. Here, I would like to utter their thoughts in accordance with the study. First, it investigates the creative process of a character. It relates to normal mental function of a character. Synonymously, it relates to how a character thinks about something. The creative process of the character shows how he tries to achieve something through what he is doing. Second, it employs the psychology to understand character’s motivations and behaviors. Every human has certain things to encourage him to do something. Here, the psychology can investigate what is the reason of the character to do certain things. Moreover, it can also investigate how the character reacts to certain phenomena. Third, it uses the modern insight of human behaviors in real condition to investigate the fictional characters’ act. This thought carries the human behavior in real condition or in real world to investigate the character’s traits in the play—by doing analogy. Moreover, the thought of creative process relates to what Lillie 1961: 21 says about mental process. He says that by explaining the action someone is doing, her or his mental process can be understood.

2.2 Theory of Character and Characterization