A STUDY OF REBELLION AGAINST PATRIACHAL SOCIETY AS SEEN IN THE CHARACTER OF ELLEN OLENSKA IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE AGE OF INNOCENCE A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Edu
A STUDY OF REBELLION AGAINST PATRIACHAL SOCIETY AS SEEN IN THE CHARACTER OF ELLEN OLENSKA
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE AGE OF INNOCENCE A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the
Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education
By Maria Eka Lestari
Student Number: 06 1214 164
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011
A STUDY OF REBELLION AGAINST PATRIACHAL SOCIETY AS SEEN IN THE CHARACTER OF ELLEN OLENSKA
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE AGE OF INNOCENCE A THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the
Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education
By Maria Eka Lestari
Student Number: 06 1214 164
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except those cited in the quotations and the references, as scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, 7 April 2011
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSTUJUAN
PUBLISKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Maria Eka Lestari Nomor Mahasiswa : 06 1214 164
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
A STUDY OF REBELLION AGAINST PATRIACHAL SOCIETY
AS SEEN IN THE CHARACTER OF ELLEN OLENSKA
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE AGE OF INNOCENCE
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 7 April 2011 Yang menyatakan Maria Eka Lestari
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the first place, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to the Almighty God for His Blessing and mercy so I can finally finish writing this thesis.
His love and guidance have given me strength to cope with the hard days of my life.
I am also aware that I would not be able to complete this thesis without the help of others. In the process of writing this thesis I received enormous assistance and support from many people with their attention, intelligence, knowledge, and love that I am obliged to express my gratitude to them.
I would like to address my deepest gratitude to my major sponsor, Drs. L.
Bambang Hendarto Y., M.Hum. who has willingly provided his precious time for
reading, correcting, and improving my thesis. I thank him so much for the guidance, support, advice and assistance during the completion of this thesis.
I would like to express my gratitude to all lectures of English Language Education Study Program who have guided and enriched me with knowledge and wisdom during my study at Sanata Dharma University. I would also like to thank all of the secretariat staffs for helping me in dealing with the administration.
My deepest gratitude goes to my beloved parents, Bapak Antonius Ngatija and Ibu Benedicta Ngatilah, for their endless love, prayers and both financial and moral supports. They not only teach me to be a strong and independent woman but also to believe in my self that I can pass all difficult days I have ever had. My deeply love also goes to my lovely sister, Agatha Dwi Lestari, who is always there to cheer me up.
My special thanks go to my best friends: Intan as my “twin sister”, Lani,
Ika, Septi, Sari for the support, love, togetherness, faith and criticism. They have
given me the best time in my life by accepting me the way I am. They always cheer me up when I feel down. What a beautiful memory we have. I would like to thank all friends of 2006 PBI’s students, especially Neti, Intan, Ria, Ziko, Fajar, and Dewi for being great partners in LEAF English Course.
Last but not least, I would like to address my special thank to my beloved
Heindra Pradana, S.Pd. who is always there for me. I thank him for giving me his
enormous endlessly love, support and understanding.Maria Eka Lestari
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page TITLE PAGE…….……………………………………..……………............ i APPROVAL PAGES……............................................................................ ii STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY............................................ iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI .................................. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………….......... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................. viii ABSTRACT................................................................................................... xi
ABSTRAK ……………………………………………………………………... xii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study……………………………………………… B. Problem Formulation…………………………………………………. C. Objectives of the Study………………………………………………. D. Benefits of the Study…………………………………………………. E. Definition of Terms……………………………………………………
1
4
4
5
5 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Review…………………………………………………..
1. Critical Approach…………………………………………….
2. Theory of Character and Characterization……………………
8
8
9
3. Patriarchal Society……………………………………………
12 B. Theoretical Framework………………………………………………..
18 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study………………………………………………….
19 B. Approach of the Study………………………………………………
20 C. Method of the Study…………………………………………………
20 CHAPTER IV. ANALYSIS
A. Ellen Olenska’s character as depicted in The Age of Innocence………
22 1. Open-minded…………………………………………………..
23 2. Brave…………………………………………………………..
24
3. Independent……………………………………………………
25
4. Artistic…………………………………………………………
27
5. Eccentric ………………………………………………………
28 B. The Description of the Patriarchal Society……………………………
30
1. Male Dominance………………………………………………
31
2. Male Identification……………………………………………
32
3. Male Centeredness…………….………………………………
34 4. Obsession with Control……………………………………….
36 C. The Ways Ellen Olenska Rebels Against Patriarchal Society………..
38
1. Getting along with New York Gentlemen……………………
39 2. Breaking Social Customs of Old New York………………….
42
3. Asking for a Divorce…………………………………………..
45 CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions……………………………………………………………
B. Suggestions……………………………………………………………
1. Suggestion for Future Research………………………………
2. Suggestion for English Language Teaching…………………
52
54
54
54 REFERENCES…………………………………..…………………………. 57
APPENDICES Appendix 1 Summary of The Age of Innocence…………………………………………...
59 Appendix 2 Biography of Edith Wharton………………………………..………………...
62 Appendix 3 Lesson Plan and Material of Teaching Public Speaking I ……………………
64
ABSTRACT
Lestari, Maria Eka. 2011. A Study of Rebellion against Patriarchal Society as
Seen in the Character of Ellen Olenska in Edith Wharton’s The Age of
Innocence. Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata
Dharma University.This study analyses Edith Wharton’s novel entitled The Age of Innocence. This study is concerned with Ellen Olenska, an unconventional woman who rebels against the Old New York society which still embraces patriarchal concept of womanhood.
There are three problems stated in this study. They are (1) how is Ellen Olenska’s character depicted in The Age of Innocence?, (2) how is the patriarchal society depicted in the novel?, and (3) how does Ellen Olenska rebel against patriarchal society in the novel?
The method employed in this study is library research. I obtained the sources from the novel itself, criticism on the novel, and other sources relevant to this study, the theory of character and characterization, the theory of patriarchal society characteristic and America scenes in the nineteenth century. I used the sociocultural- historical approach to examine the society and its condition related to patriarchal concept.
The analysis of the major character shows that Ellen Olenska is open-minded, brave, independent, artistic, and eccentric. She lives in the society which still holds patriarchal system and sticks with its custom and tradition. It is the Old New York society whose members are all people that come from honored and respectable families. Furthermore, the characteristics of this society are male dominance, male identification, male centeredness, and obsession with control. Ellen is too different to live among them. She goes against them by breaking social customs of Old New York and getting along with New York gentlemen. This is considered unconventional by the society. Lastly, she also asks for a divorce and causes her family in disgrace.
Finally, this study provides some suggestions for possible future researches on The Age of Innocence. This study also proposes a lesson plan for teaching Public Speaking I in which excerpts of the novel are used as the material.
ABSTRAK
Lestari, Maria Eka. 2011. A Study of Rebellion against Patriarchal Society as
Seen in the Character of Ellen Olenska in Edith Wharton’s The Age of
Innocence. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas
Sanata Dharma.Studi ini meng0analisa novel Edith Wharton yang berjudul The Age of
Innocence. Studi ini mengenai Ellen Olenska, seorang wanita yang tidak
konvensionil di dalam masyarakat. Dia acap kali memberontak melawan aturan di masyarakat New York yang masih memegang teguh konsep masyarakat patriarkal.
Terdapat tiga masalah yang dianalisa dalam studi ini. Yaitu: (1) bagaimana tokoh Elen Olenska digambarkan di dalam The Age of Innocence?, (2) bagaimana masyarakat patriarkal digambarkan di dalam novel?, dan (3) bagaimana Ellen memberontak melawan masyarakat patriarkal di dalam novel?.
Metode yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah studi pustaka. Sumber-sumber yang digunakan adalah novel itu sendiri, kritik-kritik dari novel serta sumber-sumber lain yang berkaitan dengan studi ini termasuk di dalamnya teori tokoh dan penokohan, teori karakter masyarakat patriarkal dan gambaran Amerika di abad sembilan belas. Pendekatan sosiokultur-historis digunakan untuk menganalisa kehidupan masyarakat beserta kondisinya yang berhubungan dengan konsep patriarkal.
Analisa terhadap tokoh utama menunjukan bahwa Ellen Olenska adalah seorang yang berpikiran terbuka, pemberani, mandiri, berjiwa seni, dan eksentrik. Dia hidup dalam masyarakat yang masih memegang teguh sistem patriarkal dengan adat istiadat dan tradisi yang masih melekat kuat. Ini merupakan masyarakat New York dimana orang-orang yang tinggal di dalamnya berasal dari keluarga terhomat dan terpandang. Selanjutnya, masyarakat ini juga mempunyai beberapa karakteristik antara lain dominasi laki-laki, identifikasi laki-laki, pemusatan terhadap laki-laki, dan kontrol dengan kuat oleh laki-laki. Ellen terlalu berbeda untuk hidup di tengah- tengah mereka. Dia melawannya dengan melanggar aturan sosial di masyarakat New York dan bergaul dengan beberapa pria New York. Namun, hal ini masih dianggap tidak umum oleh masyarakat. Kemudian, dia juga meminta cerai kepada suaminya yang membuat malu keluarganya.
Akhirnya, studi ini menyediakan beberapa usulan untuk penelitian-penelitian selanjutnya tentang The Age of Innocence. Studi ini juga menawarkan rencana pembelajaran untuk pengajaran Public Speaking I dimana cuplikan dari novel ini digunakan sebagai materi pembelajarannya.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter consists of five parts, namely background of the study,
objective of the study, problem formulation, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. The background of the study contains the reason in choosing the novel
The Age of Innocence as the subject of the study. The objectives of the study deal
with the purposes of the study. In addition, there are three problem formulations to answer. The benefits of the study try to exemplify advantages to the readers.
The last is the definition of terms which defines significant terms in this study.
A. Background of the Study
Nowadays women in a certain society are considered still as human beings that need protection and consolation from men. Therefore, women are not allowed to do ‘outside’ works. Women are supposed to stay at home and do household chores such as cooking, cleaning the house, and taking care of the children.
Whereas, men do the ‘outside’ work to earn money for the family (Swerdloff 9).
As time goes by, many women think that they are considered to be second class citizens. Women begin to think that they deserve more than they have already had. They want to experience the world outside the home just like the men do. They want to speak in front of two sexes freely. Here, women have found such ways to speak out and show their aspirations. One of them is through writing. By writing, they express their thoughts, feelings, and aspirations about th
Historically in America in the 19 century women’s voice and opinion were not simply heard. The fictional works written by women were largely excluded from the standard of literature. Woman writers were expected to write in the same standard of feminine propriety as they lived their lives, and as a result, women at that time could not express their feeling freely since there were many restrictions and boundaries for them to obey (Bishop 49-50). However, many great women writers dared to break this rule to show their existence in voicing aspirations for women.
Edith Wharton is one of the greatest women writers who focused her writings mainly on women. She included women as dominant characters in most of her works. Wharton’s central subjects are typically the conflicts between social and individual fulfillment, marriage, repressed sexuality, and the manners of old families. She wrote many novels, short stories, and poems. Wharton best novel is
The Age of Innocence . This novel sets in the changing of the world of American’s
post-Civil War era and reflects the conventions of ‘Old New York’ in New York 1870s society.
The Age of Innocence is a story about a love triangle between a New York
lawyer named Newland Archer, an unconventional Ellen Olenska, the wife of a Polish count and Archer’s fiancée, May Welland. Archer who is already engaged to May and works as a lawyer falls in love with Ellen Olenska when he helps her in defending her decision to divorce her husband. A divorce or a woman leaving her husband is considered unconventional and inappropriate. Therefore, when it happens, it results in disgrace upon the woman, in this case Ellen Olenska.
The Age of Innocence is interesting to discuss and analyze since it reveals events that remain in the patriarchal and aristocratic society of old New York.
This novel presents that the society where Ellen lives, ignores reality, pretends to act innocently, and decides who is socially acceptable to associate with, how to behave and who to marry according to the class structure. Women at this era cannot speak freely and think independently.
As a patriarchal society, Ellen’s New York society has a concept concerning women called the concept of womanhood. This concept limits women’s attitude. According to this concept, it is believed that the standard of a good woman “starts as a virtuous, obedient daughter and ends as a submissive wife and nurturing mother” (Gorsky 3). Women must have piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. This concept also arranges women in the marriage. The wife must act as “pure, charming, sympathetic, domestic, self - sacrificing, subservient, selfless creature” (Gorsky 25). “With no legal existence separate from her husband, a woman could not sign contracts, own property, or sue for divorce, and had no rights over her children” (26).
In Old New York, beside the basic patriarchal concept of womanhood, women also have to be pure and innocent, pretending not to know the occasional unpleasantness of reality. This is the concept of womanhood that Ellen is against. Ellen Olenska returns to New York to learn and to love the atmosphere of New York. She thinks she can feel safe and comfortable in the middle of her family and childhood friends. Ironically, her society judges “poor Ellen” as a “bad” woman only because she is different from the other women in the way of thinking, towards her, she realizes that New York is not as “innocent” as it seems. Rather than suppressing her feelings and beliefs, she rebels against the society’s “innocent” masquerade.
Based on the facts described above, it is interesting to find out how Ellen Olenska’s rebellion against the patriarchal concept of womanhood in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence. By knowing Ellen Olenska’s rebellion against her society, a clear perceptive about the features of the society which is patriarchal society can be stated.
B. Problem Formulation
There are three problems formulated in this study. They are:
1. How is Ellen Olenska’s character depicted in the novel?
2. How is the patriarchal society depicted in the novel?
3. How does Ellen Olenska rebel against patriarchal society in the novel? C.
Objectives of the Study
The purposes of this study are first to describe the characters of the main character, Ellen Olenska, and to prove the existence of the patriarchal concept of womanhood in Ellen’s society. Therefore, it can be figured out how patriarchal society looks like. Second, it is also to find out the reason of her rebellion as well.
Third, the purpose of this study is also to reveal the ways Ellen Olenska shows her rebellion against patriarchal concepts of womanhood.
D. Benefits of the Study
Through the study of Edith Wharton’s work, The Age of Innocence, I look forward to having the readers especially the students of English Language Education Study Program be more encouraged to discuss and analyze Edith Wharton’ works, especially The Age of Innocence. As a great female writer, she had written many literary works, not only novels but also short stories, poetry, articles, translations, introductions, and reviews of poems. Her works are reasonable to discuss since most of them are always inspiring.
In The Age of Innocence, Ellen Olenska dares to rebel against patriarchal concept of womanhood even though her family does not support her. She has the courage to break the rules of her society, the patriarchal society. The people within the patriarchal society try to change her into a woman that is appropriate with their concept of a good woman but she refuses to do so. She knows what is best for her. Therefore, I expect the readers can appreciate and learn something from her brave action to rebel against the patriarchal concept of womanhood. I believe that by reading this study, which concerns about women’s issues, the readers will have a better awareness toward women’s existence and women’s rights as well.
E. Definition of Term 1. Society
Landis defines society as a number of people who have lived together long enough to become organized to some degree and who share a common culture
(53). This term is used to discuss the Old New York society with their ways of living and custom.
2. Patriarchal society
Patriarchal society is society where male-dominated structures and social arrangements elaborate the domination of women (Gorsky 56). In this study, patriarchal society is used for finding out what kind of society it is in the novel as well as defining the womanhood concept which is the qualities of being a good woman.
3. Victorian Era
According to Horby’s Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current
English , Victorian Era means period in history starting from a particular event or
time and period in history marked by an important event or development (406).Victorian Era refers to the reign of Queen Victoria of England which also influences American society in the period of 1830 to 1901.
4. Character
Abrams in his Glossary of Literature Terms defines a character as a person presented in a dramatic or narrative work. This person is interpreted by the reader as having a good feature or quality with moral and dispositional qualities. Those are expressed in what the person says; his or her dialogue, and by what he or she does through the action (23).
In this study the term character has two meanings. It means the person that becomes the focus of the novel and who is firstly described deeply through attitudes, performance, and others’ comments, and secondly through psychological traits which concern with their emotion, intellectuality, feeling and motivation.
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part concerns with theories
of literature, which particularly explain some theories of literature that are employed in this study. The theories included are theory of character and characterization, theory of the critical approach, and theory of patriarchal society. The second part of this chapter deals with the theoretical framework of this study.
A. Theoretical Review 1. The Critical Approach
Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature (6-13) divide the theory of the critical approach into five approaches as means of observing a novel. These approaches are to provide the means to understand the positive esthetic values of literary works. The first approach totally emphasizes on the literary work without reference to its social background and focuses on its esthetic value and is concerned with the harmony of all parts to the whole. The second is the biographical approach which argues that it is important to appreciate the ideas and personality of the author to an understanding of the literary subject.
The third is sociocultural-historical approach which leads to analyze a novel in reference to the civilization or attitudes and action of specific group of people that produce the novel. The fourth is mythopoeic approach which tries to discuss certain recurrent patterns of human thoughts in significant work of art with expressions basic to human thought and have meaning for all men. While the fifth is psychological approach which leads to analyze the novel from the psychological point of view of human beings. That is from the organizations of thought and feeling of the character.
This study only applies one approach proposed by Rohrberger and Woods which is Sociocultural-historical approach. According to Rohrberger and Woods socio-historical approach is approach that inserts the real condition of social and historical background which influences the author in making the novel, because the work itself cannot be separated from the social milieu and history when work is created (9-10).
2. Theory of Character and Characterization
As this study aims to explore the main character’s action, it is essential to analyze the characters of Ellen Olenska. At this point, understanding and analyzing Ellen Olenska’s characters may show how characters influence her actions to rebel against patriarchal society. The theories of character used in this study are proposed by Abrams, Stanton, and Kenney. Moreover, the theory of characterization proposed by Murphy is also employed. Both theories are used since they are appropriate for describing the characteristics of the main character in this novel.
a. Character
According to Abrams, character is described as the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who is represented by the reader as being endowed with moral and disposition qualities expressed on what they say or the dialogue and what they do or the action (20). Character is the significant element in the ways (17). First, character designates the individual who appears in the story. Second, character refers to the mixture of interests, desires, emotions and moral principles that make up each individual in the story. It implies that the term “character” represents the individual and his personality traits in the story.
Kenney (45) classifies traits that build up the whole character into three types. The first is social traits. According to Kenney, social traits are related to the character’s role in society, for example the relationship with groups or institutions, which are recognized by society. The second one is physical traits.
They are closely related to the physical appearance of the character. The last one is psychological traits. They discern the emotion, intellectuality, feeling, and motivation of the character.
b. Characterization
Ellen Olenska is the main character of the novel. Here the theory of characterization is used to explore how the main character acts and how the author describes the main character in the novel. Moreover, in order to present the character in the story to be a believable person, the author can use many ways to make the characteristics understandable by the reader.
Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen proposes nine types of description in which an author attempts to present the character in the story as understandable and alive for the readers (161-173). The methods of character’s description are: 1) Personal description The author describes the character’s appearance and clothes directly (161)
2) Character as seen by another The author describes the character through the eyes of other characters so that the readers can get a reflected image (162).
3) Speech The author describes the character through what other characters say about that certain character (164).
4) Past life The author lets the readers learn about the characters past life by giving them clues through his comment, conversation, or through the medium of another character (166). 5) Conversation of others The author gives the readers clues about character through the conversation of other characters and what they say about him or her (167).
6) Reactions The author lets the readers know about the character’s personalities through his or her reaction toward various situations or events (168).
7) Direct comment The author gives comment on a person’s personality directly (170).
8) Thoughts The author gives the readers direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about and what different people are thinking (171).
9) Mannerism The author may also tell the readers something about his characters by describing
Those are some of the ways in which the author makes the readers aware of the personalities and the characters of the people that the author writes about in his or her books. Knowledge of these methods can help the students to get a better understanding and to appreciate literary works more.
3. Patriarchal Society a. Definition
Hartmann states that there are four essential elements of patriarchy. They are heterosexual marriage, female childbearing and housework, woman’s economic dependence on men, and the state and numerous institutions based on social relations among men such in unions, professions, universities, churches, and armies (14-15).
According to Andersen, patriarchy is institutionalized power relationships that give men power over women (384). She also argues that patriarchy referring to radical feminism is a “sexual system of power in which the male possesses superior power and economic privilege” and, they view patriarchy as an autonomous social, historical, and political force (356).
Patriarchal society is then defined as a society in which authority in the family is vested in males through whom descent and inheritance are traced. In its secondary meaning patriarchal refers to a society that in modern times still has an incomplete social structure and retains archaic or traditional forms of hierarchical family relations (dominated by males), property relations, and economic life (Gorsky 55).
b. The Characteristics of Patriarchal Society
Patriarchal society is more than a collection of people in which men and women participate. It is patriarchal society if it promotes male privilege by being male dominated, male identified, and male centered. Besides those three characteristics that patriarchal society has in its existence, it is also organized around an obsession with control as the fourth characteristic. It involves one of the oppression of women aspects as well (Johnson 4).
1) Male Dominance
Johnson states that patriarchal society is male dominated in authority position of political, economic, legal, religious, educational, military, domestic which are generally reserved by men (5). In this characteristic, people tend to underestimate a woman when she finds her way into such positions. In conclusion, male dominance creates power differences between men and women. In other word, male dominance promotes the idea that men are superior to women (Johnson 6).
2) Male Identification
“Patriarchal societies are male identified in that core cultural ideas about what is considered good, desirable, preferable, or normal are associated with how we think about men and masculinity (Johnson 6)”. This is the second character of patriarchal society that presents another aspect as well which is about the cultural description of masculinity and the ideal man in terms. It closely resembles the core values of society as a whole including qualities such as control, strength, competitiveness, toughness, coolness, under pressure, logic, forcefulness, emotion (Johnson 7). Moreover, according to Johnson, male-identified qualities are associated with the work valued in patriarchal society such as in business, politics, war, athletics, law, and medicine (7).
3) Male Centeredness
In addition to being male dominated and male identified, patriarchal society is male centered, which means that the focus of attention is primarily on men and what they do (Johnson 8). In this regard, women are portrayed as creatures who are fussing their support work of domestic labor, maintaining loving relationships, taking care of children and providing services for men.
4) Obsession with Control
The fourth characteristic of patriarchal society is an obsession with control as a core value around which social life is organized. Johnson states that control is an essential element of patriarchy (12). It means that men maintain privilege by controlling women and anyone else who might threaten it. In this characteristic men are assumed and expected to be in control at all times, to be unemotional, to present themselves as invulnerable, autonomous, independent, strong, rational, logical, dispassionate, knowledgeable, always right, and in command of every situation, especially those involving women (Johnson 12). Women, in contrast, are assumed and expected to be the opposite, especially in relation to men.
c. Victorian American Scene in Nineteenth Century
The nineteenth century is also known as Victorian Era according to the reign of Queen Victoria in England. This is the setting of time when the novel was written. Hence, this part consists of some description of the socio-cultural background that lead to the clear understanding of the novel itself. The Victorian society and characteristics of Victorian women are described in this part.
1) The Victorian Society
The family that is the smallest kinship unit in a society in Victorian era embraced the concept of patriarchal family (Ausubel 65). Patriarchal society viewed man as the one to hold the power of the house and the whole family. Moreover, the husband acquired at the moment of marriage all the personal property of his wife, such as money, animals, and goods. He was also exercising a religious function such as saying grace at meals (Kane 61-63).
Women in Victorian time were distinctly one of subordination especially outside the home. Within household they performed many tasks that helped keep the family afloat economically, such as sewing, baking, cooking cleaning, making soap, candles. They were teachers and nurses. The other task was to transmit household skills to their daughters, since schools above the elementary level were predominantly boys and emphasized only a classical curriculum.
The subordination of women was reflected in the laws prevailing in the nineteenth century. The husband had an entire legal right to his wife and could use gentle legal means to constrain her liberty. He had to a sole right to remedies of legal wrongs done to his wife. The woman could not sue alone, and she lost complete control over her property as long as the marriage continued (Kane 62- 63).
2) The Victorian Women
The descriptions of Victorian women presented here are the proper behavior and duties of a woman. Every woman in Victorian time must have had behavior and duties according to the society’s expectations.
Victorian women were supposed to be good mothers, domestic paragons, and when they had enough money, they had to be benevolent contributors to society. They were supposed to be demure and well spoken, beautiful yet seen and less frequently heard. They were not allowed to work outside the home or to support themselves (Swisher 154). The ideal Victorian women were a pious, pure, and above all submissive.
In the Victorian Era, parents trained their daughters for the preparation of marriage intensively. The training consisted of various trainings in order to attract men who were potential to be their husbands. There were three main aspects that became the important tools to accomplish their purpose, which were music, drawing, and French.
The demand for the girls in the Victorian Era like this occurred to fulfill the taste of Victorian bachelors. They needed the girls to be innocent or at least give impression that they look innocent. It could be done when the girls wear white colored outfit that represented the form of virginity and purity. Not only white, the girls also liked to dress in blue or pink to show similar sense (Swisher 184).
Excluded from the world of business and commerce, many middle-and upper class women devoted considerable time and energy to decorate their homes social clubs, tried out new fashions in street promenading, and had fun and excitement in neighborhood dance halls and amusement park excursions (Boyer 690). As a result, women in this era should play as proper women.
Furthermore, the position of women in Victorian society presents a dilemma since they were said as the most active and responsible individuals in the eighteenth century and they turned into the most intellectually confined and domestic creatures in the nineteenth century. It was found by Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville who travelled in America in 1830 that Victorian women were much more independent and self-assertive before marriage (Abbot 13).
Meanwhile, Victorian women understood the constraints that marriage imposed on freedom. Furthermore, they also willingly accepted the social restrictions that put into effect a domestic model of marriage. The Victorian marriage was a patriarchal authorial institution where the husband was a family protector and representative, while the mother was to be submissive and fruitful. The Victorian family was also a patriarchal one in which a husband has a full control over his wife in the eyes of law (13). For instance, a man could divorce a merely woman on the views of adultery. However, a woman had to prove her husband guilty of adultery if she wanted to ask for divorce. Moreover, for Victorian women, divorce was not only expensive but also very hard to do as well. Women and men stayed in unhappy marriages because of numerous reasons.
Many stayed away from divorce because of the stigma attached to divorced women. It was also considered as societal taboo (Abbot 45).
Another life aspect that is shown by Victorian women is their behaviors feminine behaviors which promoted idleness, passivity, and gentility. It brought influence to American women especially middle-class women. They were being encouraged to act like aristocrats, scorning work, and occupying activities which had nothing to do with marketplace. For middle-class women, this new behavior was connected to commercial wealth which dealt with conspicuous consumption of large houses, staffs or servants, and costly furnishing (14).
B. Theoretical Framework
This section summarizes the contribution of the theories mentioned in the analysis of this study. The object of the study is Edith Wharton’s work titled The
Age of Innocence and the problem is about patriarchal society in America
nineteenth century which Ellen Olenska rebels against to. Hence, in this study Socio-historical approach is employed to support the analysis in answering the problem above. Meanwhile, the theory of character and characterization is also applied to describe Ellen Olenska’s characteristics as the main character of the novel.
In addition to dig out more understanding about the description of how Ellen Olenska rebels against patriarchal society as well as the picture of the society itself, theory of patriarchy, the characteristics of patriarchal society, and the descriptions of socio-cultural background of America in nineteenth century are employed.
After all related theories mentioned above are gained, the analysis of this study can be implemented because it already has supporting theories.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY This chapter discusses the methodology in conducting the study. This
chapter consists of three parts, namely object of the study, approach of the study, and method of the study. The first part, object of the study, discusses a brief description of the novel. The second part, approach of the study, presents the critical approaches used in this study. The third part, method of the study, presents about the research procedure which discusses the steps done by the writer in conducting the study to answer two questions stated in the problem formulation.
A. Object of the Study
This study deals with the novel which is written by Edith Wharton, The
Age of Innocence . This novel was first published in 1920 and won the Pulitzer
Prize in 1921. The novel analyzed in this study was published in 1994 by Wordsworth Edition Limited. The book is divided into two parts. The first part of the book consists of 112 pages within chapters 1-18 and the second part of the book consists of 117 pages in chapters 19-34.
The novel has three main characters, Newland Archer, May Welland and Ellen Olenska. Newland Archer is engaged to May Welland, but in the same time he also falls in love with Ellen, May’s cousin. Here Newland Archer starts falling in love with Ellen because he finds a glimpse of freedom from his conventional rules in that an unconventional woman. Ellen is described as an unconventional woman because she dares to break the rules of the Old New York society by asking a divorce over her husband. It is said that the Old New York society does not tolerate a divorce. Instead, Ellen rebels against this society which still embraces patriarchal concept of womanhood.
B. Approach of the Study