Review of Related Study

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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter consists of three sections. The first section is review of related study. It discusses the former study about the novel Woman at Point Zero. The second section is the Review of related theory. It presents the theories which are used in analyzing the novel. The third section is the theoretical framework which explains how the reviewed theories are applied in the study.

A. Review of Related Study

There are three previous studies conducted on the novel Woman at Point Zero. The first study was done by Ong Yoelia in 2004. She studied about Feminism in the novel. Her study was intended to reveal the Egyptian society‟s point of view toward woman in the nineteenth century and the feminism which appears in Firdaus‟ character. Yoelia‟s study concluded that Firdaus, was a brave woman who was very different to other women at that time. She dared to fight for her independence and freedom. She had been succeeded to break the old assumption of patriarchy system. The second study was a study about Firdaus‟ motivation in becoming a prostitute. It was done in 2004 by Rigen Pratitisari. Her study aimed to see the life of a prostitute woman in Egyptian society, which was dominated by man. In her study, she found out that Firdaus‟ society paid a big influence in shaping her motivation to be a prostitute. According Pratitisari, prostitution is an expression of freedom in the society where man oppresses woman. The third study was done by Dewi Maharani Purba in 2006. She studied Firdaus‟ motivation in accepting death sentence. She states that Firdaus is a brave- innocent-thought-determinant woman who denies the oppression toward woman. She concluded her study by mentioning that Firdaus was motivated to accept death sentence because she wanted to show a protest against unfair treatments toward woman. Besides that, she felt that she was not accepted by her society. The Forth study was a comparative study conducted by Risa Pareka in 2008. She compared the work of Paulo Coelhos Eleven Minutes and Nawal El Saadawis Woman at Point Zero. She compared the motivation of the main character in both novels, Maria and Firdaus in becoming a prostitute. According to Riesa, Firdaus was motivated to become a prostitute because she attempted to fulfill the psychological needs, belonging needs, secure needs, and esteem needs. Prostitution is a profession that can make Firdaus secure from man. While in this study entitled Firdaus’ Personality Change as a Reaction to Egyptian Society as Portrayed in Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero , the writer analyzes the novel Woman at Point Zero in the point of view of the alteration of Firdaus‟ personality as a form of rejection against Egyptian society which are presented in the novel. The writer focuses on Firdaus‟ personality which alters along the influences of her society.

B. Review of Related Theories