IRONY IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS SEEN FROM FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE TO REVEAL THE THEME IN PHILIPPA GREGORY’S PERFECTLY CORRECT

  IRONY IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS SEEN FROM FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE TO REVEAL THE THEME IN PHILIPPA GREGORY’S PERFECTLY CORRECT

  AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

  THERESIA SUZANA Student Number: 994214007 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2007

  Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.—William A. Foster Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. – Mark twain

  

Barangsiapa tidak mengasihi, ia tidak mengasihi Allah, sebab Allah adalah

Kasih. 1 Yohanes 4 : 8.

  This undergraduated thesis is dedicated to My beloved parents My beloved sister

  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First of all, my deepest gratitude is given to my Almighty God, His son Jesus

  

Christ, for Their love and guidance given to me to finish this thesis. Without Them, I am

nothing and cannot finish this thesis.

  Secondly, I would like to give my biggest gratitude to Dra. Enny Anggraini

  

M.A. as my advisor. I thank her for guidance, patience, direction, and advice. I do realize

without her help, I cannot finish my thesis. I also thank to

  

  My gratefulness also goes to my father and mother, Paulus Ramschie and Srie

  

Yantari, my sister Frederika Laura Christy, for their patient, support and love. My

  brother in law, Daniel Weiberg, and also with their ‘angels’, Ethan and Chloe for being parts of my life.

  I would also like to thank all of 99ers for being my best friends. I thank them for the best time we spent together. To Robert, Sidik, bang Reygan, Badrun, Yoma, Helen, Silvy, they give different colors to my life.

  Last but not least, to my beloved soulmate Harry ‘Tembem’ Aryanto

  

Tamtomo, for his love, patience, time, and understanding, for being my half heart, also

  for being my ‘trash bin’, and shoulder to cry. I thank God for creating him to complete my life with everything he has.

  Theresia Suzana

  TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE .......................................................................................................................i

APPROVAL PAGE .............................................................................................................ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE........................................................................................................iii

MOTTO PAGE ....................................................................................................................iv

DEDICATION PAGE .........................................................................................................v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...................................................................................................vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................vii

ABSTRACT..........................................................................................................................viii

ABSTRAK ............................................................................................................................ix

  3. Miriam Carpenter ......................................................................35

  C. The Theme of the Story.................................................................52

  3. Situational Ironies .....................................................................48

  2. Dramatic Ironies........................................................................45

  1. Verbal Ironies............................................................................43

  B. The Ironies Seen Through the Main Character .............................43

  4. Rose Miles.................................................................................39

  2. Toby Summers ..........................................................................32

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION............................................................................1 A. Background of the Study...............................................................1 B. Problem of Formulation ................................................................4 C. Objectives of Study .......................................................................4 D. Definition of Terms.......................................................................5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ............................................................7

A. Review of Related Studies ............................................................7 B. Review of Related Theories ..........................................................8

  1. Dr. Louise Case.........................................................................28

  

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................25

A. Object of the Study .......................................................................25 B. Approach of the Study...................................................................26 C. Method of the Study......................................................................27

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS .......................................................................................28

A. The Characterization of Main Character.......................................28

  C. Theoretical Framework .................................................................22

  4. Theories on Theme....................................................................21

  3. Theories on Feminism...............................................................13

  2. Theories on Irony ......................................................................11

  1. Theories of Character and Characterization..............................8

  

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ................................................................................56

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................59

  

ABSTRACT

  THERESIA SUZANA (2007). Irony in the Main Characters Seen from Feminism

Perspective to Reveal the Theme in Philippa Gregory’s Perfectly Correct.

Yogyakarta: Faculty of Letters, English Letters Department, Sanata Dharma University. The Novel entitled Perfectly Correct was written by Philippa Gregory in 1996. This novel tells a story about the life of Louise and her two best friends, Toby and Miriam, as the main characters. In this novel, the three best friends are described as academicians and feminists who believe that they already lived a perfect life. There are many ironies can be seen from the main characters and later on, the ironies gradually change their way of life.

  In this thesis, there are three objectives. The first objective is about the description of the main characters. The second objective tries to find the ironies that can be seen through the main characters based on feminism perspective. The third objective is to reveal the theme referring to the ironies.

  This thesis is a library research, therefore the data are taken from a novel written by Philippa Gregory entitled Perfectly Correct. Sources that are used in the analysis are quoted from books and websites. The approach that is used by the writer is feminist approach. The feminist approach is used as a guidance and limitation so that this thesis can consistently focus on the irony in the main characters to reveal the theme.

  After analyzing this novel, it can be concluded that there are three main characters. They are Louise Case, Miriam Carpenter, and Toby Summers. Louise is a kind person, smart but has a solitary life. Miriam is a very active person, has an outpouring energy but she neglects her marriage life. Toby is an egoist person, ambitious, and also has a solitary life. There are three kinds of irony in the story. The first one is verbal irony like when Louise’s action is an irony regarding to what she says. The second one is dramatic irony like when Toby should confront Rose about his relationship with Louise and Miriam. Toby tries to deny the fact that Louise is more than a good friend while the readers know that Louise is more than his best friend. The last kind of irony is a situational irony with an example like the position of Toby Summers. He feels that he has all he needs, a wife, a mistress, and a great career path. He does not know that his competitor is only a decent farmer who he thinks quite illiterate; eventually by the end of the story, Louise choose Andrew Miles instead of Toby. The theme that can be revealed from the ironies is that a beautiful life is not always a perfect life. The story in Perfectly Correct begins with the main characters’ beautiful lives in their own version and it gradually changes when a character named Rose Miles appears in the story. After they meet Rose, their lives gradually change to a better direction. Which is shown through ironies that happen in their daily lifes.

  

ABSTRAK

  THERESIA SUZANA (2007). Irony in the Main Characters Seen from Feminism

Perspective to Reveal the Theme in Philippa Gregory’s Perfectly Correct.

Yogyakarta: Fakultas Sastra, Jurusan Sastra Inggris Univeritas Sanata Dharma. Novel berjudul Perfectly Correct karya Philippa Gregory ditulis pada tahun 1996. Novel ini bercerita tentang kehidupan Louise dan dua sahabatnya, Toby dan Miriam sebagai tokoh utamanya. Dalam novel ini ketiga sahabat tersebut digambarkan sebagai dosen dan feminis yang percaya bahwa hidup mereka sudah sempurna. Banyak ironi-ironi yang bias dilihat dari karakter-karakter utama. Ironi tersebut secara bertahap mengubah cara hidup mereka.

  Dalam tesis ini, akan ada tiga tujuan yang dirumuskan. Tujuan pertamas adalah mencari penjelasan tentang karalter datri tokoh-tokoh utama. Tujuan kedua adalah mencari ironi- ironi yang dapat ditemukan melalui tokoh-tokoh utama dilihat dari sudut pandang feminisme. Tujuan ketiga adalah mencari tema yang dapat diketahui melalui tokoh-tokoh utama dan ironi-ironi dalam Perfectly Correct. Tesis ini adalah sebuah studi pustaka, oleh karena itu data yang diambil dari novel karya Phillipa Gregory. Sumber-sumber yang digunakan dalam analisa dikutip dari buku-buku dan halaman internet. Pendekatan yang digunakan penulis dalam membuat analisis adalah pendekatan secara feminisme. Pendekatan feminisme digunakan sebagai panduan dan batasan sehingga tesis ini secara konsisten tetap berfokus pada ironi-ironi tokoh utama sehingga dapat mengungkap tema cerita. Setelah menganalisis novel ini, maka disimpulkan bahwa terdapat tiga tokoh utama. Mereka adalah Louise Case, Miriam Carpenter, dan Toby Summers. Louise adalah seorang baik hati, cerdas, tetapi dia kesepian. Miriam adalah seorang yang aktif, mempunyai energi yang lebih tetapi mengabaikan kehidupan pernikahannya. Toby adalah seorang egois, ambisius, dan juga kesepian. Terdapat tiga buah ironi dalam cerita

  

Perfectly Correct. Yang pertama adalah ironi verbal, terlihat ketika perkataan Louise

  menjadi ironi terhadap perbuatannya. Yang kedua adalah ironi dramatis, terlihat ketika Toby harus beradu argumen tentang hubungan dia dengan Louise dan Miriam. Toby menyangkal kenyataan bahwa Louise lebih dari sekedar teman baik sedangkan pembaca mengetahui bahwa Louise memang lebih dari sekedar teman baik. Ironi terakhir adalah ironi situasi, dimana contohnya adalah kedudukan Toby Summers. Dia merasa bahwa dia sudah memiliki semua yang dia butuhkan, istri, selingkuhan, dan jenjang karir yang bagus. Dia tidak menyadari bahwa pesaingnya adalah seorang petani sederhanayang selama ini dia sangka tidak terpelajar.Pada akhir cerita, Louise lebih memilih Andrew Miles daripada Toby. Tema cerita yang dapat diungkap dari ironi adalah sebuah hidup yang indah bukanlah hidup yang sempurna. Cerita dalam perfectly Correct dimulai dari indahnya kehidupan menurut persepsi para tokoh utama dan lama kelamaan berubah sampai mereka bertemu Rose Miles. Kehadiran Rose Miles mengubah kehidupan mereka ke arah yang lebih baik.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study In this life, there are so many options or choices for most of everything. As

  human beings, we were quite lucky to posses intelligent and common sense to choose. In terms of sexuality and gender, some people choose to be gay, lesbian, or feminist. Sometimes some choices are not even better than the others are. For example, it is not easy for someone to declare himself or herself as a gay or as a lesbian because the choice of life that he or she made is against the common people. As the world revolved, life also changes from time to time.

  th

  In the early 20 century, the social community set a very high standard of rules on everyday life. There were not many options or choices can be made at that time, for example is the position of women in the society.

  At that time, women are considered weak characters who are only allowed doing domestic routines. From time to time, things started to change for women.

  Women’s voices started to be heard. In the modern era, men and women are equal in terms of human right, responsibility, etc. In some cases, women can do more than men. For example, a single parent mother can work as a secretary in the morning and raise her children at the same time.

  This equality between men and women also can be applied in love life. Women used to have no choice but to accept the man chosen for her by her family, but now, women can go out with any men she wishes. Based on the explanations above, the writer was intrigued to find out more about how a-so-called feminist deals her problems in everyday life. Some feminists hate men for not treating them properly but on the other hand there is a tendency that these feminists started to behave like men who make it become an irony.

  To have a better understanding on this subject, the writer found a piece of work in the shape of a novel called Perfectly Correct that was written by Philippa Gregory. The novel itself brought about a story about three best friends who are involved in triangle love affairs.

  Dr. Louise Case, the main character, has the right career, the right country cottage, and commitment-free relationship with a fellow academician. According to temporary codes, it is all very correct, except that Louise begins to suspect it is far from perfect. The fellow academician to whom she had a commitment-free relationship was no other than her best friend’s husband named Toby Summers. Both of them worked in the same college as lecturers. Toby was in Sociology department, while Louis lectures women studies; both of them had deliberately forged a completely open relationship. Miriam, Toby’s wife and Louise’s best friend never knew this affair for she spent so much time at the women crisis center where she works. The story itself gradually develops by the presence of another character, an old gypsy woman named Rose who started ruin everything.

  Considering the complexity of the issue in the story, and the interesting ironies, the writer decide to choose this novel for the study. The writer is interested in analyzing the main characters in relation with the ironies and the theme of the story. The writer would like to focus the analysis on the main characters. To understand whom the main characters are, and how they are described or presented, will bring me into the appreciation of the work.

  The main characters of Perfectly Correct become the major attention in this study because the plot of the story is focused on them and they create the ironies through their behavior and action seen from feminism perspective. Irony, according to M.H. Abrams (1981:89) means, “A difference between what is asserted and what is actually the case.” In a short story, irony is found when someone tells something that is contradictory to the fact. The existence of irony can be a great help for the reader who tries to understand this novel because irony can become a device to build a certain atmosphere, to make the reader get involved in the story. Besides, it also helps to understand the characters of the story.

  Finally, to complete the discussion of the study, it is also interesting to get the theme of the story that can be revealed through the description of the main characters and the ironies in the novel. B.

  Problem Formulation

  Based on the preceding paragraphs stated in the background of study, the problem will be formulated as follows.

  1 How are the main characters in Gregory’s Perfectly Correct described?

2 What are the ironies reflected through the main characters in Perfectly

  Correct seen from feminism perspective?

  3 What is the theme that can be revealed through the main characters and the ironies in Perfectly Correct? C.

  Objectives of the Study

  The objective of the study is to reveal the theme of Perfectly Correct through the main characters and the ironies. To achieve the objective of the study, there are some steps to be done. The first is to describe the main characters of the story. The second is to analyze the ironies reflected through the main characters seen from feminism perspective. The third is to reveal the theme of the story through the main characters and the ironies. D.

  Definition of Terms

  Some terms will be used in the study. They are explained in order to give a clearer focus in analyzing the topic. The terms that will be explained are character, irony, feminism, perspective, and theme.

  The first term that will be explained is the character. According to Abrams’s

  

Glossary of Literary Terms , “character as the person presented in a dramatic or

  narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say the dialogue and by what they do (1981: 20).”

  The second term that will be explained is irony. Yelland, Jones, and Easton in

  

A Handbook to Literary Terms describes irony as “in its narrow sense is a figure of

  speech in which the idea intended to be conveyed is different from, usually the opposite of, the literal of word used; in a broad sense, it is a conflict between reality and appearance (1953:100).”

  Maggie Humm in her book The Dictionary of Feminism Theory described feminism as “the ideology of women’s liberation since intrinsic in all its approaches is the belief that women suffer injustice because of our sex. Feminism also incorporates various methods of analysis and theory, if feminism is taken to be the theory of the woman’s point of view.” (1990:74-75)

  According to Wikipedia, a perspective is a choice of a context or or a reference (or the result of this choice) from which to sense, categorize, measure, cohesively forming a coherent belief, typically for comparing with another. To choose a perspective is to choose a value system and, unavoidably, an associated belief system.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_view_%28literature%29

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies When a work of literature is published and read by public, it might evoke

  some comments from its readers. Through this novel, Perfectly Correct, Philippa Gregory as the writer received some acknowledgments as well as criticisms. These show that Gregory’s works were well noticed and appreciated by common people.

  Appreciations on the novel can be found as comments, such as a comment from Mike Petty from Literary Review in Perfectly Correct novel. He said that,” This novel is a side-splitting gem of a story…everyone’s beliefs are affectionately mocked (1996:p.300).”

  The unknown scholar in the web page writes that Perfectly Correct is one of the best comedy reads.

  Philippa Gregory's Perfectly correct stands out as one of the best comedy reads of the year, a tale of political correctness derailed, and there's a lot of comedy in Elinor Lipman's Isabel's bed, the very funny tale of a would-be writer and his famous mistress

  (http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Bookmark/1996/December/Beststaffreads .asp).

  Perfectly Correct is a contemporary comedy novel with historical content.

  The writer hopes that this study will offer something new to the readers where the writer will analyze the novel from feminism point of view or perspective instead of focusing on the historical background. In this thesis, the writer will analyze Perfectly

  

Correct , which deals with ironies seen from feminism point of view or perspective.

  To support this analysis, the writer uses some books that are related to the theories on character, theories of irony, theories on feminism and theme.

B. Review of Related Theories

  Before discuss to the next chapter, the writer would like to state the theories that is used in this study that support me in the analysis of the novel. In this part, the writer adopt several theories, which are closely related to the analysis, namely theory on feminism, theory on characterization, theory on irony and theory on theme.

1. Theories on Character and Characterization

  In order to reveal the development of the main character, it is important to understand the basic theories about character and characterization. Every narrative work has a character. In An Introduction to Fiction, Stanton says that the term “character” has two meanings. It can refer to “the individuals who appear in the story and also the mixture of interests, desires, emotions, and moral principles that shapes each of these individuals” (1965: 17). Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to

  

Literature mention that the term character is used to “designate the individual’s

  speech and action. In other words, a character can represent human being’s actions, behaviors, and attitudes.” (1986: 81) Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literature state that characterization is the creation of these imaginary persons, so that the characters exist for the reader as lifelike (1986: 81). They classified characterization in fiction into three fundamental methods. The first method is the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action. The second is the presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader will be able to deduce the attributes of the actor from actions. The third method is representation from within a character, without comment on the character by the author of the impact of the actions and emotions on the character’s inner self.

  Kenney, in How to Analyze Fiction, stated that simple characters are character that the readers can sum up the character’s personality into formula (1966:28). Round or complex characters are the characters that cannot be summed up into a single phrase; we have to remember the character in connection with a great scene. Another theory about character is stated by Perrin, in his book entitled Literature: Structure,

  

Sound, and Sense , “Character is developed into static and developing character”

  (1978:700). Static character does not experience changes from the beginning to the end of the story. The developing character, which also called as dynamic character, undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of his characterization, personality or out look.

  Murphy’s Understanding Unseen gives more detail techniques of characterization. It mentions nine techniques of characterization used by author to describe the characters of a story (1972: 161-173). They are: a.

  Personal Description

  An author uses this method particularly to give the description of character face, body, and the other physical appearances.

  b.

  Character as Seen by Another Instead of describing a character directly, the author can describe a character trough the eyes and opinions of others.

  c.

  Speech The author gives the readers an insight into the character of one of the person in the book through what the person says.

  d.

  Past life By letting the readers learn about a character’s past life, the author can give the clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thought, through his conversation, or through the medium of another person.

  e.

  Conversation of others The author can also give the readers clues to a persons’ character through the conversation of other people and the things they say about her/him.

  f.

  Reaction The author can give the readers a clue to a person’s character by letting the readers know how that person reacts to various situations and events.

  g.

  Direct comment The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly.

  h.

  Thoughts

  The author can give the reader direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this aspect, he/she is able to do what we cannot do in real life. The reader then is in privileged position; he has, as it were, a secret listening device plugged into the inmost thoughts of a person in his/her novel. i.

  Mannerism An author can describe a person’s mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his/her character.

2. Theories on Irony

  Since this is related to the second question in the problem formulation, the writer wants to state several theories of irony, according to Abram’s A Glossary of

  

Literature Terms , irony is the root sense of dissembling, or of a difference, what is

  asserted and what actually the case (1989:89) is. In Kenney’s book How to Analyze

  

Fiction, ironies in fiction consist if discrepancy between what is stated and what is

suggested (1990:135).

  In his book A Handbook to Literature, Holman stated two points about irony. First, irony makes a contrast between the meaning intended by the speaker and the different significance seen by another. The other definition says that irony is a broad term referring to the recognition of a reality different from appearance (1989:258, 264)

  According to Mary Rohberger and Samuel H. Wood Jr in Reading and

  

Writing about Literature , irony is “found when someone tells or does something which is opposite to the fact or to what is expected (1971:34).” There are three definition of irony found in Webster’s Encyclopedia Unabridged Dictionary of the

  

English Language . The first, irony is a figure of speech in which the literal meaning

  of locution is the opposite of that intended, as in the Greek sense when the locution understates the effect intended. Secondly, irony is an utterance or the use of words to express a meaning, which is different from, and often the direct opposite if the literal meaning. Thirdly, irony is a technique of indicating as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that is actually or ostensibibly stated (1989:752-753).

  Furthermore, the writer wants to show two points of view in understanding the irony. Yelland, Jones, and Easton in A Handbook to Literary Terms describes irony as “in its narrow sense is a figure of speech in which the idea intended to be conveyed is different from, usually the opposite of, the literal of word used; in a broad sense, it is a conflict between reality and appearance (1953:100).”

  Similar to that, Perrine (1974:215) states irony as a contrast involving discrepancy in which one terms of the contrast in some way mocks the other term.

  Irony can be differentiated into verbal irony, dramatic irony, irony of situation, and irony of fate or cosmic irony.

  a.

  Verbal irony is a figurative of speech in which the opposite is said from what is intended. The difference is between what is said and what is meant.

  b.

  Dramatic irony is the contrast between what a character says and what the reader know to be true. c.

  Irony of situation is the discrepancy between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment or between what is and what would seem appropriate.

  In irony of situation, the expectation is different from reality. The discrepancy occurs when what hope is not the same as what happens.

  In this study, the writer will mostly discuss Perrine’s theory. The reason of the writer for using this theory is that they are more relevant to analyze the ironies in the story. In the story itself, irony can be found in many ways, for example from the conversations between the characters, the action that the characters do, and from the choices of life that the characters choose.

3. Theories on Feminism

  The piece of literary work, which is analyzed, surely can be trustworthy and brilliant if the writer adopt significant sources to support it. The relevant details are the devices that appear to backup this thesis. Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods, Jr. in their book entitled Reading and Writing about Literature state:

  Except that more attention is paid to formal composition, writing about literature is not essentially different from talking about literature. In both cases, a thesis is advanced and supported by means of relevant details. (1971:99)

  Sargent in his book, Contemporary Political Ideology said that feminists argue that men socialize women to accept both physical and mental mistreatment.

  The legal system has traditionally treated women as offender. Women have been taught to accept such abuse from men and to consider it almost normal (1987:220).

  Based on those descriptions, it can be said that from the old days until now, women have to believe and follow what the society wants them to do as women especially as wives. They only have to obey and serve men. It seriously influences women’s psychological, even it becomes a stereotype in society. In other words, women oppression actually does not only from men but also comes from women themselves and traditional society where the stereotype exists. Women have already depressed mentally without realizing it. Further, Sargent also stated about modern feminism that developed from a position of opposition, opposition not to men as such but to the oppression of women and first by implication and then explicitly all peoples who are treated as inferior by dominant group (1984:271).

  A good woman has no desire to rule where she feels it to be her duty as it is her highest pleasure, to love, honor, and obey. She submits with cheerful acquiescence to that order in the conjugal relation which god and nature have established (1984:521).

  Feminism appeared since women are being assumed as lower class than men. Politics, social, and economics are some area where women have been defined as inferior to men. Those facts make the feminist seek equal right for women and to give them equal status to men. They want equal opportunities to compete with men. The main goal of feminism is to gain equality for women in every aspect of life. In addition, feminism can move practically or theoretically to achieve equal right and social transformation for women.

  According to Viola Klein in her work, “The Historical Background of Feminism” in Women: a Feminist Perspective edited by Jo Freemen: “In every respect, harder than men’s, women were no more than one stage behind men in the social evolution. Women remained serfs after men had already outgrown the state of serfdom” (1984:520).

  Gender always becomes public discussions and argumentation about gender points in the differentiation between men and women in mascuinity as feminine terms related to the historical inequality. For years, the facts prove that masculine gender holds the higher position in society than feminine gender.

  Another intriguing theory about feminism as proposed by Maggie Hum in her book, a Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Feminist Literary Criticism is that in the book she explained that many critics writing what they call “feminist criticism” seems to share three basic assumptions: a.

  Gender is constructed through language and is visible in writing style; and style, therefore, must represent the articulation of ideologies of gender. However, the definition of ideology contains the notion of contradiction. This is because ideology is what we construct to explain to ourselves our experience and the experience of others. Ideology is our way of coping with the contradictions of experience; inevitably, the ideologies of women are likely to encompass more contradictions than the ideologies of men since women are provided with many more confusing images of themselves than are men (1994:4). th b.

  century socialization, and sub- There are sex-related writing strategies. In the 19 ordination of middle-class women limited their access to, and means of, expression, as much as did the exclusion of working-class women from shipbuilding or public utilities as a means of employment. Men and women do use language in different ways. They often have their different vocabularies and use their vocabularies in different kind of sentences (1994:5).

  c.

  Feminist criticism is that the tradition of literary criticism, like the economic and social tradition of which it is a part, uses masculine norms to exclude or undervalue women’s writing and scholarship. Present day feminist have learned a good deal about literary meaning from masculine critiques and from alterative critical approaches proposed by male critics (1994:6).

  Maggie Hum also describes that feminist criticism addresses four issues in literary criticism. First is masculine literary history. It addressed by reexamining male texts, noting their patriarchal assumption and showing the way women in these texts are often represented according to prevailing social, cultural and ideological norms.

  This criticism is thematic, focusing on women’s oppression as a theme in literature and assuming a women reader to be a consumer of male-produced works. Second is the invisibility of women writers has been addressed. Feminist critics have charted a new literary history, which gives full weight to the texts of neglected women and women’s oral culture, previously regarded as extra-literary. Third is feminist criticism confronts the problems of the “feminist reader” by offering readers new method and a fresh critical practice. Such a practice focuses on those techniques of signification, such as the mirroring of mothers and daughters or textual moments of mother/daughter empathy, which are undervalued in traditional criticism. Fourth is feminist criticism aims to make us act as feminist readers by creating new writing and reading collectives (1994:9-10).

  Cindy Tittle Moore in her essay entitled Feminism Terminologies discuss about variety of movement in feminism. There are thirteen kinds of feminism movement that can be used in analysis.

  a. Amazon Feminism Amazon feminism is concerned about physical equality and is opposed to gender role stereotypes and discrimination against women based on assumptions that women are supposed to be, look, or behave as if they are passive, weak, and physically helpless. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html) b. Erotic Feminism

  This seemed to start in Germany under the rule of Otto von Bismarck. He ruled the land with the motto "blood and iron.” In society, the man was the ultra manly man and power was patriarchal power. Some women rebelled against this, by becoming WOMAN. Eroticism became a philosophical and metaphysical.

  (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)

  c. Eco-Feminism: This branch of feminism is much more spiritual than political or theoretical in nature. It may or may not be wrapped up with Goddess worship and vegetarianism.

  Its basic tenet is that a patriarchical society will exploit its resources without regard to long-term consequences as a direct result of the attitudes fostered in a patriarchical/hierarchical society. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na- dir/feminism/terms.html)

  d. Feminazi: This term was "invented" by the radio/TV host Rush Limbaugh. He defines a feminazi as a feminist who is trying to produce as many abortions as possible.

  Hence, the term "Nazi" - he sees them as trying to rid the world of a particular group of people. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html) e. Individualist, or Libertarian Feminism

  Individualist feminism is based upon individualist or libertarian (minimum government or anarchocapitalist) philosophies, i.e. philosophies whose primary focus is individual autonomy, rights, liberty, independence, and diversity. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)

  f. Lesbianism: There are a couple of points to make here. First is that Lesbianism is not necessarily a ‘de facto’ part of feminism. While it is true that merely being a lesbian is a direct contravention of "traditional" concepts of womanhood, Lesbians themselves hold a wide variety of opinions on the subject of feminism just as their straight sisters do. On the other hand, Lesbianism has sometimes been made into a political point by straight women "becoming" lesbian in order to fully reject men.

  However, it is never accurate to characterize all feminists as Lesbians nor all Lesbians as feminists. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html) g. Liberal Feminism: This is the variety of feminism that works within the structure of mainstream society to integrate women into that structure. Its roots stretch back to the social contract theory of government instituted by the American Revolution. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)

  h. Marxist and Socialist Feminism Marxism recognizes that women are oppressed, and attributes the oppression to the capitalist/private property system. Thus, they insist that the only way to end the oppression of women is to overthrow the capitalist system. Socialist feminism is the result of Marxism meeting radical feminism. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na- dir/feminism/terms.html) i. Material Feminism

  A movement in the late 19th century to liberate women by improving their material condition. This meant taking the burden of housework and cooking off their shoulders. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html) j. Moderate Feminism:

  This branch of feminism tends to be populated by younger women or other women who have not directly experienced discrimination. They are closely affiliated with liberal feminism, but tend to question the need for further effort, and do not think that Radical feminism is any longer viable and in fact rather embarrassing.

  (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html) k. Pop Feminism It appears to be a catch-all for the bogey “man" sort of feminism that everyone loves to hate, the kind of feminism that grinds men under its heel and admits to no wrong for women. It is doubtful that such a caricature actually exists, yet many people persist in lumping all feminists into this sort of a category.

  (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html) l. Radical Feminism:

  Provides the bulwark of theoretical thought in feminism. Radical feminism provides an important foundation for the rest of "feminist flavors.” Seen by many as the "undesirable" element of feminism, Radical feminism is actually the breeding ground for many of the ideas arising from feminism; ideas which get shaped and pounded out in various ways by other (but not all) branches of feminism. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html) m. Feminist Men's Movement:

  These groups are closely aligned ideologically with the feminist movement. They believe that we live in a patriarchal system in which men are the oppressors of women, and that the men's movement should identify this oppression and work against it. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)

4. Theories on Theme

  Holman and Harmon state that theme is, “a central or dominating idea in work (1986:502).” As the central idea of the story, theme unifies the elements to forma complete and unified story. Therefore, to discover theme of the story, a comprehension of numerous elements of work is needed. Further, they say that in poetry, fiction, and drama, theme is an abstract concept made concrete through its representation in person, action, and image in the work. Generally, the form of theme in fiction is based on the reason of character’s behavior or motifs (1986:502). Stanton in

   Kenney in his book How to Analyze Fiction states that theme is the total

  meaning discovered by writer in the process of reading (1966:94). Moreover, he says that in discovering the themes, the reader should pay attention to the other elements in the story such as character, plot, setting, point of view, etc. He suggests that by understanding those elements more deeply we can find the themes that lie in the story Furthermore, Perrine in Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense adds that there is no prescribed method for discovering a theme but we should keep in mind the following principles: a.

  Theme must be expressible in the form of statement with a subject and predicate.

  b.

  The theme must be stated as a generalization about life. In stating the theme, we do not use the name of the characters in the story, for to do so is to make specific rather than a general statement. c.

  We must be careful not to make the generalization larger that is justified by the terms of the story. The terms like every, all, always, should be used very cautiously; terms like some, sometimes are often more accurate.

  d.

  Theme is the central idea and unifying concept of the story. (i) It must account for all the major details of the story. (ii) The theme must not be contradicted by any detail of the story. (iii) The theme must not rely upon supposed facts-facts not actually stated that or implied by the story. The theme must exist inside and not outside the story (1978)

  Baldick in his book, The Concise Oxford Dictionary Literary Terms, adds that theme is a salient abstract idea that emerges from a literary work’s treatment of its subject matter; or a topic recurring in a number of literary works. The theme of a literary work may also be announced explicitly, but more often, it emerges indirectly through the recurrence of motifs (1990:225).

  C.

   Theoretical Framework

  The purpose of this study is to be able to reveal the theme of the novel through the characters and the ironies. The theory of “character” in Stanton’s

  

Introduction to Fiction and Holman and Harmon’s A Handbook to Literature,

  Perrin’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense and theory of characterization in Murphy’s Understanding Unseen and also by Holman and Harmon are used analyzing and to get a better understanding the characteristics the main characters

  The theories of irony are needed to reveal the irony in the novel. Here, the writer used Abram’s theory of Irony in a Glossary of Literary Terms, Yelland, Jones, and Easton’s in A Handbook to Literary Terms, Mary Rohberger and Samuel H. Wood Jr’s Reading and Writing about Literature, Kenney’s How to Analyze Fiction, and Perrin’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. The writer also applied theories about feminism, so that the answer of the problem formulation can be seen from a feminist perspective or point of view especially for the ironies. The theory from Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods, Jr. about feminism in Reading and Writing about

  

Literature, Philip Rice and Patricia Waugh’s theory of feminism in Modern Literary

Theory, Sargent’s Contemporary Political Ideology, Viola Klein’s Women: A

Feminist Perspective, and Maggie Hum’s A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary

Feminist Literary Criticism and in