The contribution of conflicts toward eustacia`s decision to commit suicide in Thomas Hardy`s the return of the native - USD Repository
THE CONTRIBUTION OF CONFLICTS TOWARD
EUSTACIA’S DECISION TO COMMIT SUICIDE IN THOMAS
HARDY’S THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Leters
By
CH.NUNUNG MARGANINGSIH
Student Number: 024214096
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGAMME
DEPARTEMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009
THE CONTRIBUTION OF CONFLICTS TOWARD
EUSTACIA’S DECISION TO COMMIT SUICIDE IN THOMAS
HARDY’S THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Leters
By
CH.NUNUNG MARGANINGSIH
Student Number: 024214096
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGAMME
DEPARTEMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE CONTRIBUTION OF CONFLICTS TOWARD
EUSTACIA’S DECISION TO COMMIT SUICIDE IN THOMAS
HARDY’S THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE
By
CH.NUNUNG MARGANINGSIH
Student Number: 024214096
Approved by
Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M. Hum Advisor Modesta Luluk Artika W., S.S Co-advisor
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : CH. NUNUNG MARGANINGSIH Nomor Mahasiswa : 024214096
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE CONTRIBUTION OF CONFLICTS TOWARD
EUSTACIA’S DECISION TO COMMIT SUICIDE IN THOMAS
HARDY’S THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Universtias Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan, dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam benruk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet dan atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin ddari saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencamtumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebennarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 2 Juni 2009 Yang menyatakan (CH. NUNUNG MARGANINGSIH)
Jesus even said to them: “If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me.
I will give you rest. Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble.
Then your soul will find rest” (Matthew 11:28-29)
This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to
- My Beloved Parents -
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I want to express my deepest gratitude to my God the Almighty, Jesus Christ, and Saint Mary for their everlasting love and blessing in my life. They give me strength for my day, comfort for my tears, and light for my way. I am nothing without Them.
I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my father, Bapak, who always supports and encourages me. I thank for his patience and financial support to finish my study. I would like to thank to my lovely mother, Ibuk, who always loves, cares and prays for me. I also thank my sister, Maia, who always supports me. I thank for my family who will always walk with me throughout my life.
My gratitude goes to my advisor, Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd, M. Hum, for all the guidance, advice, and patience that helped me in finishing this thesis. I also would like to dedicate my gratitude to my co-advisor, M. Luluk Artika W., S.S. for giving me advice and suggestion for my thesis. I would like to thank to all my lectures in English Letters Department, the secretariat staffs, and to the library staffs who have helped me during my study.
Last, I would like to thank my friends, especially Monik, Wiwin, Siti, Niko, Dian, Sheila and Cinta who always support and let me lean on when life gets messy. I would like to thank De Nup, Bulbul, Ike “Kotoko”, Tuta, Ka Hota, and Entin for the beautiful moments for my days in Jogya. I also want to thank Adi for his love, support and understanding. Last, I thank all people that I cannot mention the names here that have helped and supported me
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE…………………………………………………………………. i
APPROVAL PAGE........................................................................................... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE………………………………………………………. iii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PESETUJUAN PUBLIKASIKARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS………………. iv
MOTTO PAGE ………………………………………………………………. v
DEDICATION PAGE ……………………………………………………….. vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………. vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………. viii
ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………... x
ABSTRAK……………………………………………………………………... xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………. 1
A. Background of the Study…..……………………………………… 1 B. Problem Formulation……………………………………………… 3 C. Objectives of the Study …………………………………………… 3 D. Definition of Terms ………………………………………………... 4CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW…………………………………. 5
A. Reviews of Related Studies……………………………………….. 5 B. Reviews of Related Theories……………………………………… 71. Theories of Character and Characterization………………… 7
2. Theories of Conflict…………………………………………… 10
3. The Relationship between Literature and Psychology……… 12
4. Theories of Suicide……………………………………………. 12
C. Theoretical Framework…………………………………………... 14
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY………………………………………….. 16
A. Object of the Study………………………………………………... 16 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………. 17 C. Method of the Study………………………………………………. 18CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS…………………………………………………. 20
A. Eustacia’s Characteristics………………………………………… 20 B. Eustacia’s Conflicts ……………………………………………..... 351. Eustacia’s Conflicts with herself………………………………. 35
a. Telling the Truth about Mrs. Yeobright’s Coming or not……………………….... 35
b. Going with Wildeve to Leave Egdon or not ...................... 37
2. Eustacia’s Conflicts with Clym Yeobright……………………. 38
a. The Idea of Living in Egdon …………………………….. 38
d. Eustacia’s adultery and her rejection to Mrs. Yeobright’s coming………………………………. 42
C. The Contribution of Conflicts Toward Eustacia’s Decision to
Commit Suicide…………………………………………………… 43
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………………………………………………. 51
BIBLIOGRAPY …………………………………………...……………….. 54
ABSTRACT
CH. NUNUNG MARGANINGSIH. The Contribution of Conflicts toward
Eustacia’s Decision to Commit Suicide in The Return of the Native.
Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009.
The Return of the Native tells about human life, especially about ambition
and failure. This is shown in the character of Eustacia. Hardy presents an ambitious young woman, Eustacia Vye who is bored with her life in Egdon and she wants to get happiness in her dreamland Paris. She tries to find an ideal man who can bring her out from Egdon and go to Paris. In her struggles for achieving her ambition, she has to face the problems that will give influence to her life.
There are three objectives in this study. The first is to find out Eustacia’s characteristics in the novel. The second is to describe the conflicts that are faced by Eustacia. The third is to explain her decision to commit suicide as the contribution of her conflicts in her life.
This study uses library research. The main source of this study is a novel
The Return of the Native written by Thomas Hardy. The writer also collects the
data from several books and the internet sites that support this study. The writer uses psychological approach to analyze the conflicts and the contribution of the conflicts toward Eustacia’s decision to commit suicide.
From the analysis, the writer finds that Eustacia has some characteristics. She is described as a beautiful, aloof, selfish, arrogant, unrealistic, ambitious, and unfaithful woman. Those characteristics influence her when she faces conflicts in her life. Eustacia’s egoism leads her to have a conflict with herself. Her internal conflicts are her fear and confusion. She is afraid to tell the truth about Mrs.
Yeobright’s coming or not. She is confused whether Eustacia goes with Wildeve or not to leave Egdon. Eustacia’s characteristics also influence her conflicts with Clym Yeobright, her husband. Her conflicts with Clym are about the life in Egdon Heath, the purpose of their marriage, Clym’s profession as a furze cutter, and Eustacia’s adultery and her rejection to Mrs. Yeobright’s coming. The entire Eustacia’s conflicts bring her into difficulties. The conflicts make Eustacia disappointed because everything is not going like her expectation. She fails to get her dream to leave Egdon and move to Paris. Eustacia’s conflicts with Clym also make her depressed so she has a negative view about her future life. Her negative views of her future and her disappointment about her failure drive her to commit suicide.
ABSTRAK
CH. NUNUNG MARGANINGSIH. The Contribution of Conflicts toward
Eustacia’s Decision to Commit Suicide in The Return of the Native.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2009.
The Return of the Native menceritakan kehidupan manusia, khususnya tentang ambisi dan kegagalan. Hal ini ditunjukkan dalam karakter Eustacia.
Eustacia Vye adalah seorang wanita muda yang berambisi, dia bosan dengan kehidupannya di Egdon dan dia ingin mendapatkan kebahagiaan di tempat impiannya Paris. Dia mencoba menemukan seorang pria ideal yang dapat membawanya keluar dari Egdon dan pergi ke Paris. Dalam usahanya mendapatkan keinginannya, dia harus menghadapi masalah yang akan berpengaruh terhadap hidupnya.
Tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk menjawab rumusan masalah, pertama untuk mencari sifat–sifat dari Eustacia dalam novel. Yang kedua untuk menggambarkan konflik–konflik yang dihadapi Eustacia. Yang ketiga untuk menjelaskan bahwa keputusan bunuh diri Eustacia akibat sumbangan dari konflik- konflik dalam hidupnya.
Studi ini menggunakan studi pustaka. Sumber utama dari studi ini adalah novel berjudul The Return of the Native yang ditulis oleh Thomas Hardy. Penulis juga mengumpulkan data dari beberapa buku dan situs internet yang mendukung studi ini. Penulis menggunakan pendekatan psikologis untuk menganalisa konflik–konflik and sumbangan dari konflik–konflik Eustacia terhadap keputusannya untuk bunuh diri.
Dari analisis tersebut, penulis menemukan bahwa Eustacia mempunyai sifat–sifatnya sendiri. Eustacia digambarkan sebagai wanita cantik, penyendiri, egois, sombong, tidak realistis, ambisius, and wanita yang tidak setia. Sifat–sifat itu berpengaruh pada dia ketika dia menghadapi masalah dalam hidupnya. Keegoisan Eustacia menghantarkan konflik denga dirinya sendiri. Konflik pribadinya adalah ketakutan dan kebingungannya. Dia takut untuk menjelaskan kebenaran tentang kedatangan Mrs. Yeobright atau tidak. Dia merasa bingung apakah dia pergi dengan Wildeve atau tidak untuk meninggalkan Egdon. Sifat– sifat Eustacia juga mempengaruhi konfliknya dengan suaminya, Clym Yeobright. Konflik–konfliknya dengan Clym adalah tentang kehidupan di Egdon Heath, tujuan pernikahan mereka, keputusan Clym sebagai pemotong kayu dan tentang kematian Mrs. Yeobright. Semua konflik itu membawa Eustacia dalam kesulitan. Konflik–konflik Eustacia membuat dia merasa kecewa karena segala sesuatu tidak seperti yang diharapkannya. Dia gagal untuk mendapatkan impiannya utuk meninggalkan Egdon dan pindah ke Paris. Konflik–konflik Eustacia juga membuat dia depresi dan berpikir buruk terhadap masa depannya. Pikiran buruk terhadap masa depannya dan kekecewaannya terhadap kegagalannya mendorong Eustacia untuk bunuh diri.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Man is a unique creature; everyone has his or her own characteristics that
can differentiate him or her from others. People also have their own needs and purposes in life. They search for the meaning life in order to get a meaningful life.
They want to fulfill their needs and they want to be a whole being. In order to fulfill their needs and purposes, people have to struggle to get their needs and purposes. The struggles do not always succeed like what we want. Sometimes we have to face problems and many obstacles in our life. People have problems that lead them to some conflicts. A conflict is the condition where an individual is motivated by two or more needs or goals in life (Coleman, 1964: 83). In addition, the consequence is he has to choose one and give up the other. Conflicts influence people to do something or to take a decision to overcome it. Every decision that people take has consequences either good or bad for their life. Dealing with that situation, people often take a different way to cope with it.
Conflicts do not only happen in our daily life, but also in literary work. Literature is related to human experience of life where we can learn many experiences of human being that is expressed in the written form. Literature can also be defined as the work of art that represents human life (Wellek and Waren, 1956: 94). Therefore, literature has a close relationship with human beings.
Literature contains the record of people’s values, thought, problems and conflicts
A novel contains a description of life, in Understanding Unseens, Murphy states that the greatest novels reflect life and are compound similarly of many elements, just as life is a mixture of joy, disappointment, hope, sorrow, humor, suffering and success (1972: 133). The description of a story in the novel, the various problems of human life are usually revealed through the attitude and behavior of characters in the story. Graham Little says in his book Approach to
Literature , a novel or play consists of characters that have their own
characteristics. Those characters potentially create a conflict, which need to be solved (1981: 2). It means that characters have an important part in describing the conflicts whether the conflicts with the other people or conflicts within the characters’ mind.
Based on the explanation above, the writer is interested in analyzing one of Thomas Hardy’s novels entitled The Return of the Native because this novel displays the life of human and society. Moreover, it displays the great examples of conflicts in the story, for example the conflicts of Eustacia. The novel is talking about a young woman named Eustacia who is an orphan living with her grandfather in Egdon Heath. She is bored with her life in Egdon. She looks for an ideal man to achieve her goal, to get away from Egdon and to move to her dreamland Paris. In her struggles for achieving her goal, she faces many problems that lead her to conflicts with other people and herself.
The writer is interested in analyzing the relation between the character and conflicts in the novel especially the character of Eustacia and her conflicts that Vye unlike Thomasin or Mrs. Yeobright; the other women characters in the novel because Eustacia is the most complex character in The Return of the Native.
Eustacia has an unordinary vision of life. She is not satisfied with her ordinary life in Egdon. She has a dream to live in Paris where she can find happiness for her life. She tries to find a way out from Egdon by marrying a man who is just back from Paris, her dream land.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the previous explanation above, the writer formulates three problems that can be formulated as follows.
1. What are the characteristics of Eustacia in the novel?
2. What are the conflicts experienced by Eustacia?
3. How do the conflicts contribute to Eustacia’s decision to commit suicide?
C. Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to find out the answer of the formulated problems in the previous part. There are three objectives of the study. First, the writer tries to know and understand the characteristics of Eustacia. Second, after analyzing the characteristics of Eustacia, the writer tries to find out the conflicts experienced are by Eustacia in the novel in relation to her characteristics. Third, having known the depiction of Eustacia’s characteristics and her conflicts, the writer tries to answer how her conflicts can contribute to Eustacia’s decision to
D. Definition of Terms
To give more understanding for this thesis, some important terms need to be understood in the analysis.
1. Conflicts Internal conflict is the conflict between two desires within a character.
This conflict involves a character’s mind and feeling where a character has the opposing desires and he has to choose one for him. External conflict is the conflict between characters or between a character and his environment. This conflict involves a character and other things outside the character himself (Stanton, 1965: 16). Conflict is the opposing of two needs or valued goals in life (Coleman, 1964: 83). It implies that conflict is the condition where an individual is motivated by two or more needs or goals and the consequence he has to choose one and give up the other.
2. Suicide
Suicide is the act of killing oneself or a violent self-inflected destructive action resulting in death (Smith, 1983: 129). Suicide is an act of killing oneself to end his or her life. An individual does suicide as a means to escape from a self from the life when he thinks that his life is meaningless.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Some criticisms toward Thomas Hardy’s literary work are very important
for the writer in understanding the novel. Thomas Hardy delivers a powerful and firm attitude towards Edgon. He feels that it is a dark, scary and living place. He uses and combines various literary techniques in order to achieve his goal of conveying his feelings towards the heath to his readers. As what is stated in the http://www.bookrags.com/criticsm about this novel:
In The Return of the Native, Thomas Hardy feels that Egdon Heath, the setting of the novel The Return of the Native is a powerful, scary, dark and dreary place s various techniques to express this attitude. He uses some of the techniques he used to convey this thought are diction, imagery, syntax, and tone. The diction he chooses was specific and concrete, presenting an actual place that was depressing. Imagery played a very important role in Harding’s portrayal of the heath as a powerful, scary, live place. Syntax is also used to enhance the power of the heath. The tone of the description of the heath is morose, somber and gloomy. This novel is dealing with human issue about marriage. In The Return of
the Native , Thomas Hardy presents the reader with two pairs of lovers that marry
to accomplish personal goals, not because of a mutual love and a desire to obtain a lifelong soul mate.
Hardy reveals the true motives governing the participants in the novels marriage alliances: Eustacia, Clym, Thomasin, and Wildeve marry to carry out their individual plans for the future, rather than for love of one another. (http://www.classic-literature.co.uk/book-criticism/).
The Return of the Native shows the dominance of nature over man, known as fatalism, is emphasized throughout the novel. This view is shared by the character of Eustacia Vye in the novel like stated by David Cecil in Hardy the
Novelist :
Man in Hardy’s books is ranged against impersonal forces, the forces conditioning his fate. Hardy embodies fate in various forms. We are witnessing a battle between man and destiny. Always, so Hardy tells us, there is discord in the nature of existence. Eustacia the gorgeous, tragic Eustacia of The Return of the Native fights for happiness. She has no wish to make other people unhappy; only, forced by the pressure of her nature towards the sunlight, she brushes aside anything that impedes her way. Fate is her enemy, as is that of her rivals (1956: 27-29).
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy achieves the intensity of
classical Greek tragedy in its depiction of a pitiable human struggle against relentless fate. The author’s somber view of human existence is expressed both in the superb opening description of Egdon Heath and in the tragic lives of Clym Yeobrigt who is the retuned native of the heath, his cousin Thomasin, Damon Wildeve, his mother Mrs. Yeobright, and in Eustacia. (http://www.classic- literature.co.uk/book-criticism/).
The entire opening chapter of The Return of the Native is devoted to a lengthy description of Egdon Heath, the setting of the novel. The heath must be significant in terms of the themes and the continue progress of the novel. The author of the novel, Thomas Hardy, makes the Heath so significant to the point that it can be looked upon as a character like any other in the novel.
The base of it is given at once with the picture of Egdon Heath in the opening chapter. It embodies the scene and atmosphere and is, besides the rendering mood, of a congruous aspect in human life and in the mind of the author. The heath images such meanings. These few pages are its country’ evokes an immensity of space, it will shape with precision the destinies of every person in the story (Arthur Mc Dowell, 1956: 68-69). The criticisms above have provided much information to the writer about the novel. Different from all the previous studies above this thesis will discuss about the influence of conflicts toward Eustacia in her decision to commit suicide.
B. Review of Related Theories
To support this study, the writer uses some theories. The theories are important as the guidance in answering the problems mentioned in the problem formulation.
1. Theory on Character and Characterization
Character is the important thing in a piece of literary work because the character can build the story more alive and interesting. Abrams in A Glossary of
Literary Terms states “Characters are the person presented in a dramatic or
narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral disposition qualities that are expressed in what they say- dialogue and what they do – the action “(1981: 20).
Stanton says that the term of character is used in two ways. First, it gives a description about the individual who involves in the story. Second, it refers to the mixture of interests, desires, emotions and moral principles from the individuals. He also says that a character in a fiction has motivation as the reason in his or her behavior. The motivation occupies continuing desire or specific intention that
In a literary wok, based on the importance, character is divided into two, namely the major and minor character. Major character is a character that becomes the central attention and focus in the story. Minor character is a character that supports the main character (Abrams, 1981: 56)
Based on the complexity, characters can be classified into two: they are round character and flat character. Round character often appears as the center of the story and looks like real human being. With his or her complexity in temperament and motivation, sometimes the character grows and changes during the story. Flat character is captured by the author’s view in a single idea. The author usually does not develop them as fully characters and does not present them in details. They are static and do not grow in the story (Abrams, 1981: 58)
According to Murphy, in his book titled Understanding Unseens, there are nine ways of characterizing the characters (1972: 161 – 163)
a. Personal Description
The personal description is the description given by the author directly about the physical appearance and performance of the characters. From the description, the readers can imagine the looks and the appearances of the characters.
b. Character as Seen by Another
Instead of describing the characters directly, the author describes the characters through the opinions of other characters. The other characters will explain further about the characters based on their own opinions, thinking, or
c. Speech
Sometimes, the author explains about the characteristics of the characters through what they say. From the way of their speech in conversation with others, it can be understood what the characters will be described.
d. Past life
The past has a relation with the present world. What happened with the characters in the past can shape a person’s character and the character’s past life is always closely connected to his or her present life.
e. Conversation of Others
The author also gives information about his characters through the conversation of one character to others. The conversation, which discusses the other characters, will explain about what the characteristics of the person. From that conversation, the reader can get the description about the characters.
f. Reaction
The description of the characters can be seen through their action to various situations and events. The actions of the characters show his or her personality and the actions are related to his or her motives and thought.
g. Direct Comment
The author himself gives information about the description of his characters. By that kind of way, it can make the reader easily understand the characters or to get the author’s idea.
h. Thought
This is also given directly by the author about the way of thinking of the
i. Mannerism
The author gives the description about how the character behaves and talks, we can know the personality of character through his or her mannerism.
2. Theory of Conflict
Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literature state that conflict is the struggle that grows out of the interplay of two opposing focus in a plot. They also state that there are three kinds of conflict; they are the struggle against nature, against another person, and against society (1986: 107). A struggle against nature represents man versus of the nature. A struggle against another person represents a struggle between a people to another. A struggle against society means a struggle between man and values in his society
Redman also states that conflict is the struggle between two opposing forces, ideas or interest, which is the basis of the plot. Conflict is resolved when one force usually the protagonist succeeds or fails in overcoming the opposing force (1964: 363).
Stanton in his book An Introduction to Fiction categorizes conflict in two kinds: internal conflict and external conflict. Internal conflict is the conflict between two desires within a character. This conflict involves a character’s mind and feeling where a character has the opposing desires and he has to choose one for him. External conflict is the conflict between characters or between a character and his environment. This conflict involves a character and other things
In psychology, conflict occurs when the person is faced or motivated by two or more needs and valued goals. The condition where we have to choose one of the two alternatives can lead to frustration. Conflicts are important sources of stress or depression and frequently lead to such tension and inner turmoil that the individuals’ adjuctive capacities are seriously impaired. The key element in conflict is often the frustration that arises when we must choose one alternative and give up the other (Coleman, 1976: 83 – 84, 111).
According to Bergman and Daniel, conflict can occur when a problem blocks a character’s pursuit of goal or when the goals of two characters are opposed (1987: 572). Rita L. Atkinson also states that the major source of frustration is conflict between two motives. When the two motives conflict, the satisfaction of one leads to the frustration of the other (1983: 424).
There are three categories of conflict: approach-avoidant conflicts, double- approach conflicts, and double-avoidant conflicts (Coleman, 1976: 84) a. Approach-avoidant conflicts happen when one alternative involves both pleasant and unpleasant features. There are strong tendencies both to approach and to avoid the same goal or purpose.
b. Double-approach conflicts occur when there is competition between two or more desirable goals or purposes.
c. Double-avoidant conflicts happens when two unpleasant or negative goals or purposes.
3. The Relationship between Literature and Psychology
A novel is one of the forms of literary work that may deal with the psychological aspects of human needs and problems related to human through some representations of the characters. Rene Wellek and Austin Waren state that psychology of literature means the psychological study of the writer, as type, and as an individual, or the study of the creative process, or the study of the psychological types and laws present within work of literature or finally the effect of literature upon its reader or audience psychology (1956: 93). There is another theory that states literature and psychology, Richard A. Kalish states that literature also “holds the mirror up to the man”. A good novelist can communicate the feeling of the characters and can make them more like the real people whose behavior the psychologist attempts to describe (1973: 8)
From the above explanation, there is a close relationship between literature and psychology because both of them emphasize on the study of interpretative process of human behavior through characters in the novel. Since the study of this thesis dealing with a character and her conflicts, the analysis of this novel involves also the study of psychology.
4. Theory of Suicide
Suicide is the act of killing oneself. It is also an act of intentionally destroying oneself or a violent self- inflicted destructive action resulting in death (Smith, 1983: 129). Based on the findings of modern psychology, Baumeister
Suicide has a close relationship with psychological factor because this factor involves in the emotional condition of an individual that is closely related to suicide. In Abnormal Psychology and Abnormal Behavior, Coleman states that the stress situation associated with suicide. The causes of stress are frustration, conflict, and pressure. Frustration occurs when one’s goals are blocked toward progress by obstacles toward a desired goal or by absence of an appropriate goal so that he cannot get his goal. Conflict arises when someone have to choose between two needs or goals. Usually this condition makes frustration because he must choose one and give up the other. Stress may stem not only from frustration and conflicts, but also from pressure. In general pressure, pressure forces someone to intensify or change the direction of his goal or to behave in particular ways (1976: 111).
The stress factors in suicide are interpersonal crises, failure and self- devaluation, inner conflicts and loss of sense of meaning and hope in life.
Interpersonal crises and disruption are related to conflicts or problems in communication and interaction with other people such as marital, separation, or the loss of loved one through death may result in severe stress and suicidal behavior. Failure and self – devaluation are associated with feelings of having failed in some important enterprise and accomplishments with resulting feelings of self – devaluation. The stress situation is characterized by inner conflicts and debate in the person’s own mind. He may be anxious and confused, struggle with the meaning of life and death, and decides that he does not wish to continue the associated with suicide, hopelessness is the most dominant feeling in suicide. If people see a chance, it means there is improvement and hope they will continue their struggle to get their goals. If people feel that life is futile, without hope or meaning of life, as a result people may give up trying and taking his own life (Coleman, 1976: 606 – 608).
Suicide is the common result to the depression experiences. Depression can cause the feeling of hopelessness, despair, and the negative view of oneself and others. Those feelings happen when an individual has to face difficult problem and conflicts in life but he cannot overcome or find solutions to the problems so that he is depressed. Then an individual feels that life is useless because they have negative thoughts in their mind. The negative thoughts can influence the development of the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness in his life. An individual will lose sense of meaning in life and sees suicide as the only way out (Baron, 1995: 557-558).
C. Theoretical Framework
This thesis provides some theories to answer the problems stated in the problem formulation. To answer the first problem formulation, the writer uses the theory character and characterization. Those theories are used to observe how the characteristics of Eustacia revealed in the story. The writer uses certain dialogues and statements in the novel that explain the characteristic of Eustacia. By studying the characteristics of the character will support the writer to analyze the second
In answering the second problem, the theory of conflicts will be used to investigate the conflicts that are experienced by Eustacia in the novel. Here the writer is going to use the external and internal conflicts to reveal the conflicts. To answer the last question the writer uses theory of suicide. This theory is used to show how the conflicts can influence Eustacia’s decision to commit suicide.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study The type of literary work that is analyzed in this study is a novel, and the
title is The Return of the Native. It was first published as a serial in Volume 37 of the magazine Belgravia in 12 monthly installments, running from January to December 1878 inclusive, and then published as six books and contains 46 chapters in three volumes. The writer uses The Return of the Native novel edited by Cyril Aldred printed in 1957 by Macmillan & Co Ltd. This novel consists of six books contains 46 chapters. The structures of the novel are: first book: The
Three Women , second book: The Arrival, third book: The Fascination, fourth
book: The Closed Door, fifth book: The Discovery, and sixth book: After Courses.It tells the tale of Eustacia Vye, a young woman who yearns for passionate love and freedom from the Egdon Heath. With only her grandfather for company, she finds herself bored with her life and looks for the cure to this in finding the ideal man to spend the rest of her life with, hopefully away from Egdon.
However, when Damon Wildeve, the only other person who fits Eustacia's ideals, decides upon marrying Thomasin Yeobright, Eustacia sets her sights on Thomasin's cousin, Clym, who is returning to Egdon Heath from living a lavish lifestyle in Paris as a jeweler. The temptation of rich luxury and escape cause Eustacia to fall hopelessly in love with a man she is yet to see, or know. Finally, teaching, and later, becoming a Heath worker alienates himself from the entire community of Egdon Heath. His decision makes Eustacia feel disappointed and the condition becomes worse when Clym blames her for his mother’s death. That condition makes her depressed and wants to commit suicide, but she fails. Then she plans to escape from the heath with Wildeve. In a stormy night, they plan to go but in her way, she drowns in a poll and dies.
B. Approach of the Study The approach applied in this study is the psychological approach.
Rohrberger sand Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature, state that the psychological approach is an approach that is used to explain human motivation, personality, and behavior pattern written in literary object (1971: 12). A psychological approach outlines a psychological theory in order to help readers in understanding the literary works.
In analyzing the character of Eustacia the writer uses the psychological approach through the interpretation of her thought, feeling, attitude and behavior in the novel. Those interpretations are needed in order to get deep understandings the psychological condition of the character.
This approach is appropriate for this analysis because in analyzing this topic, the writer focuses on the character in dealing with the conflicts in the novel.
This approach let the readers to examine the character’s psychological aspect in the literary works. Therefore, the psychological approach will be proper and
C. Method of the study
In order to reach the objectives of this thesis, the writer used library research as the method of the study. The writer collected the data from the library and this research used two kinds of data; they are primary data and secondary data. The writer used Thomas Hardy’s novel entitled The Return of the Native as the primary data. The secondary sources were taken from some sources on the related topic, for example: books, internet, and criticisms to support the primary data. From the library research, the books that were used, such as A Glossary of
Literature Terms by Abrams, Understanding Unseens by Murphy, An
Introduction to Fiction by Stanton, A Handbook to Literature by Halmon and
Harmon, Hardy the Novelist by David Cecil, Psychology by Baron, Abnormal Psychology and Modern Life by James C. Coleman.
In analyzing the topic, the writer did several steps. The first step was reading the novel for several times so that the writer could get a deeper knowledge about the details of the text and understand the subjects that were going to be analyzed.
The second step was collecting some data from books and internet that related to the topic as the sources to examine the topic. The data were very important because it gives information to support the analysis.
The third step was the writer came to the part of the analysis using all theories in order to answer the problem formulated in this thesis. To answer the first question the writer used theory of character and characterization. Those second question, the writer used theory of conflicts. This theory was used to investigate the conflicts that faced by the character. In answering the third questions, the writer used theory of suicide.
The last step was the writer made a conclusion of the analysis. Here, the writer summarized the result of the analysis and some important points of the thesis.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS In this chapter, the writer analyzes the novel in order to find out the
answers to the problem formulation in the first chapter. First, the writer tries to analyze the characteristics of Eustacia in order to answer the first question.
Second, the writer analyzes the internal and external conflicts that Eustacia has in her life. Third, the writer analyzes how the conflicts influence Eustacia in her decision to commit suicide.
A. The Characteristics of Eustacia
Referring to the theory of character proposed by Abrams (1981), Eustacia can be classified as the major character in the story because she becomes the focus of the story. Eustacia is described by the author through such complexity in terms of her characteristics.
Based on the complexity, Eustacia is a round character because she is a fully developed character in the story. Besides, the author also describes her in details and it is not enough to describe Eustacia by using a simple phrase. Here, the writer uses Murphy’s theory to identify Eustacia’s characteristics in the story.
1. Beautiful
Eustacia Vye was born at Budmouth. She is an orphan who lives in the care of her grandfather, Captain Vye in Budmouth. Budmouth is located near the sea and it is an interesting place to live. Unfortunately, they cannot stay there any