THE IDEA OF FEMINISM AS REFLECTED BY THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERS IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE BUCCANNEERS AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE IDEA OF FEMINISM
AS REFLECTED BY THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERS
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE BUCCANNEERS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
WHENI SRI REZEQI
Student Number: 004214124
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2008
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE IDEA OF FEMINISM
AS REFLECTED BY THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERS
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE BUCCANNEERS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
WHENI SRI REZEQI
Student Number: 004214124
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2008
i
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE IDEA OF FEMINISM
AS REFLECTED BY THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERS
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE BUCCANNEERS
By
WHENI SRI REZEQI
Student Number: 004214124
Approved by
Dewi Widyastuti, S.pd. M. Hum
Advisor
July 17, 2008
Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum.
Co-Advisor
July 17, 2008
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE IDEA OF FEMINISM
AS REFLECTED BY THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERS
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE BUCCANNEERS
By
WHENI SRI REZEQI
Student Number: 004214124
Defended before the Board of Examiners
On July 28 , 2008
and Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name
Signatures
Chairman
: Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A.
________________
Secretary
: Drs, Hirmawan Widjanarka M.Hum.
________________
Member
: Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum.
________________
Member
: Drs, Hirmawan Widjanarka M.Hum.
________________
Member
: Maria Ananta, S.S., M.Ed.
________________
Yogyakarta, August 27 , 2008
Faculty of Letters
Sanata Dharma University
Dean,
Dr. Isodarus Praptomo Baryadi, M. Hum.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
So, verily with every difficulty, there is relief
(Al Insyirah: 5)
iv
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This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to:
My late generous father
&
My tough beloved mother
v
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, praise be to Allah Who is praised in all languages, worshipped at all
times, Whose knowledge encompasses all places, and Whose attention is never
distracted from anything. Alhamdulillah, I finally accomplish my undergraduate
thesis. I thank to Allah Swt for His endless blessing.
Second, I would like to underscore my indebtedness to my former advisors
Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji, M.Hum, and Maria Ananta, S.S., M.Ed for their
guidance, and assistance. I would like to express my deepest gratitude for my
major sponsor Dewi Widyastuti, SP.d.,M.Hum who has helped me patiently
through my writing process of this thesis. My heartfelt appreciation goes to Drs.
Hirmawan Widjanarka, M.Hum, who has checked my undergraduate thesis and
gave me many valuable suggestions. I also thank to all lecturers and staff in
English Letters Departement Sanata Dharma University.
Third, I would like to thank all the people I love. My deepest gratitude
goes to my late father, Burhan Mansur and my mother, Tati Wasiatun who
always prays for my success continuously. No words can ever be good enough to
describe how much I adore them. I also thank to my husband who never stops
loving me and also to my cute little son who always cheers my days up.
Finally, I am grateful to my dearest friends, especially Wahyu Mukti
Kusumaningtias who always gives me support and has sent me the novel and
Lilik Jonet Pranowo for being a helpful friend, and thank to all my other dear
friends who have helped me in many ways, which I cannot mention one by one
due to space limitation.
Wheni Sri Rezeqi
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................ i
APPROVAL PAGE ............................................................................... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ......................................................................... iii
MOTTO PAGE......................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION PAGE............................................................................... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................... vii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................. viii
ABSTRAK ................................................................................................. ix
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1
A. Background of the Study ............................................................ 1
B. Problem Formulation................................................................... 3
C. Objectives of the Study.............................................................. 3
D. Definition of Terms.................................................................... 4
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW .......................................
A. Review of Related Studies ....................................................
B. Review of Related Theories....................................................
1. Theory of Character and Characterization..................
2. Theory of Feminism...................................................
C. Theoretical Framework .........................................................
5
5
6
6
11
14
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY.........................................................
A. Object of the Study ...............................................................
B. Approach of the Study............................................................
C. Method of the Study................................................................
16
16
18
19
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS...................................................................... 21
A. Description of Main Female Characters................................... 21
B. The Idea of Feminism................................................................ 28
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION................................................................ 47
BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................... 51
APPENDIX…………………………………………………………….... 52
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
WHENI SRI REZEQI. The Idea of Feminism as Reflected by the Main Female
Characters in Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers. Yogyakarta: Department of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.
ABSTRACT
This thesis discusses the idea of feminism, which is found in Edith
Wharton’s The Buccaneers. This study deals with the main female characters and
the idea of feminism can be revealed from those main characters.
This thesis proposes two problems to be analyzed, first the characteristics
of main female characters, and second how they reflect the idea of Feminism.
The method of research applied in this study is library research. The writer
collects the data from books, journal, and Internet that contain supporting data.
They are analyzed by employing theory of character and Feminism approach. The
theory of Feminism by Maggie Humm is applied to describe the idea of Feminism
as reflected by the main female characters.
The result of the analysis is that the characters of the main female
characters such as Virginia St.George who is beautiful, confidence, and clever;
Annabel St George is ignorant, shy, merciful, and childish; Conchita is plain;
Lizzy Elmsworth is ambitious and controlled. Annabel St George mostly reflects
the idea of Feminism. Feminism sees women as being held down as a result of
their unequal standing in both working place and the domestic sphere. Marriage is
all seen as ways in which women are exploited by a patriarchal system that
devalues women and the substantial work that they do. Annabel St. George did
not differentiate her class status. Though she is a duchess, she did not make a long
distance gap between her and her people. She did something that most of the
aristocracy prefers not to do, such as chatting with the lower class and helping
them by giving attention to them. Annabel felt sorry to those people who
depended solely on his husband. The idea of Feminism is reflected on Annabel’s
thought of being attentive to the poor people though it means that she must oppose
her husband. She dares to break British Aristocracy rules for being equal with her
husband and get freedom from doing merciful activities.
viii
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
WHENI SRI REZEQI. The Idea of Feminism as Reflected by the Main Female
Characters in Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra
Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.
ABSTRAK
Skripsi ini membahas tentang Feminism yang ada di dalam novel karya
Edith Wharton berjudul the Buccaneers. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meneliti
dan menjawab permasalahan yang didasarkan pada rumusan masalah.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah meneliti karakteristik karakter utama
wanita dari cerita dan menemukan bagaimana ide Feminisme dicerminkan oleh
karakter-karekter tersebut.
Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah studi kepustakaan. Penulis
mengumpulkan data dari buku, jurnal dan Internet. Data-data tersebut dianalisis
dengan menerapkan teori karakter dan karakterisasi, serta Teori Feminisme. Teori
Feminisme dari Maggie Humm digunakan untuk menguraikan ide Feminisme
yang dicerminkan oleh para karakter utama wanita. Sedangkan obyek dari skripsi
ini adalah novel karya Edith Wharton yang berjudul the Buccaneers.
Hasil analisis dari karakter utama wanita antara lain adalah, Virginia St
George adalah seorang wanita yang cantik, percaya diri, dan pandai; Annabel St
George apatis,pemalu, kekanak- kanakan dan murah hati; Conchita Closson
sederhana; Lizzy Elmsworth penuh pertimbangan dan ambisius. Ide feminisme
sebagian besar dicerminkan oleh Annabel St George. Feminisme memandang
wanita sebagai obyek yang ditekan kedudukannya, baik dalam lingkungan kerja
maupun dalam kehidupan perkawinan. Dalam kehidupan perkawinan, wanita
diatur oleh sistem patriarkal yang merendahkan martabat serta peran penting
wanita. Annabel St George tidak pernah membedakan status. Meskipun dia adalah
seorang bangsawan, dia tidakmembuat jarak dengan orang-orang yang memiliki
status dibawahnya. Dia melakukan hal- hal yang tidak disukai kaum bangsawan.
Anabel bersimpati kepada orang- orang yang bekerja pada suaminya. Dia berani
menetang aturan bangsawan Inggris agar dia tetap sejajar serta mendapatkan
kebebasan melakukan aktivitas sosial.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
On these recent days, in a modern world, socially, sexual differences are
still used to justify societies in which one sex or the other has been restricted to
significantly inferior and secondary roles. While there are non-physical
differences between men and women, there is little agreement as to what those
differences are. The United Nation had concluded that women often experience a
"glass ceiling" and that there are no societies in which women enjoy the same
opportunities as men. (http.//www.unitednation.org). The term "glass ceiling"
describes the process by which women are barred from promotion by means of an
invisible barrier. In Indonesia, female often experience problems which often lead
to dismissals, underachievement, difficulty in finding a job, social isolation, and,
occasionally, violent attacks against them.
Many feminists (as well as some non-feminists) view the sexual
objectification of women as one of the main ways in which women are
subordinated in a sexist society. In their view, the objectification of women
involves disregarding personal abilities and capabilities, and focusing instead on
attributes relevant to women's role as sexual partners, such as physical
attractiveness, sex appeal, and submissiveness
Many cases of woman’s abuses still happen. Domestic violence, rape,
discrimination are the evidences of underestimating woman and violence of
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2
woman’s right. Woman is having similar right and equality as man. It has become
a general assumption that woman is still considered as weak, powerless, and
marginal. This situation is especially happened in Indonesia, where woman has
become an object of violence.
Kristieva says that woman is characterized by absence, lack, and
negativity. She is casted only as the mirror in which man sees himself reflected;
woman is only allowed to know woman as man sees her. However, it is true that
in a society, women are always in some sense of the second sex, the subordination
of men. Their common characteristics are being assistants of men. Women have
been subordinated to men in certain key of status, mobility and public leadership
(Quoted in Sim, 2001: 285).
Nonetheless, female inequality can be defined as a state where women are
universally subordinate to men, where men are dominant due to their participation
in public life and their downgrading of women to the domestic area. There is
violence against women, underestimating, and degrading women self-esteem.
Women feel that they are powerless, and suffer from injustice because of their sex
(gender). Since she is a woman, she is treated differently.
Kristieva also believes that from a social perspective it is not surprising
that women in men dominated culture develop symptoms of powerlessness such
as depression and low self-esteem. Women are identical with domestic function;
they have no chance to develop their own life since raising husband and children.
To see this phenomenon, women struggle to liberate their selves to reach equal
opportunity and recognition.
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3
The Buccaneers is a novel written by Edith Wharton in 1938. Edith
Wharton herself is considered as a female writer with prominent ability to portray
tragedies of her characters that failed in overcoming the hardship of fate and
nature. The Buccaneers becomes her last novel due to her death. It is Wharton’s
last and unfinished novel. The words ‘last’ and ‘unfinished’ novel sparked the
writer’s curiosity. The writer wants to know whether the novel has been
completed sufficiently to form a significant and interesting book. The writer finds
it interesting because one of the main female characters, Annabel St.George, is a
dynamic girl. Therefore, she experiences many things in her life, both happy and
sad ones. Annabel’s boyfriend, Guy Thwarte is also a romantic guy. Those
elements make this novel become interesting and worth reading. Marion
Mainwaring, who completed the novel, is every bit as qualified as Edith Wharton.
Mainwaring completed chapter XXIX through chapter XLI.
Edith Newbold Jones Wharton was born in New York, N.Y., into a
wealthy and socially prominent family. Wharton gained first success with her
book The House of Mirth (1905), a story of a beautiful but poor woman, who tries
to survive in the pitiless New York City. Among Wharton’s most famous novels
is The Age of Innocent (1920), which was filmed in 1993. While Wharton’s other
major works includes the long tale Ethan Frome (1991) which was set in
impoverished rural New England (www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wharton.htm).
The reason why the writer chooses the novel- The Buccaneers- is because
it contains a story of the values and morals held by fashionable society at that
particular time, when it was considered more important to marry for social
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position than for romantic love. The novel is also a poignant example of art
imitating life, since one of the storylines closely resembles the real story of the illfated marriage of heiress and Aristocratic gentlemen. Besides, the theme of the
story can be related to the idea of Feminism.
B.
Problem Formulation
Considering the background of the study has been explained above, there are
two problems which are formulated as follows.
1. What are the characteristics of main female characters on Edith Wharton’s
The Buccaneers?
2. How are the ideas of feminism reflected by the main female characters of
Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers?
C. Objectives of the Study
The study is intended to analyse and to answer the problems in a clear
description. Based on the problem formulation mentioned above, the objectives of
the study are firstly is to examine the characteristics of main female characters of
the novel, and to find out how the idea of Feminism as reflected by these
characters.
D. Definition of Terms
In this part, the writer assumes that it is important to clarify the meaning of
significant and important terms that are used in this study. The reason is to give
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5
the right focus on the meaning of the significant and important terms for the
readers.
1. Character
According to Kennedy in An Introduction to Fiction (1983: 5), character is
defined as an extended verbal representation of human being, the inner self that
determines thought, speech, and behaviour. Through dialogue, action, and
commentary, authors capture some of the interactions of the characters who are
worth caring about, rooting for, and even loving.
Main character according to Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction (1965:
17) refers to “a character who is relevant to every event in the story; usually the
events cause some changes either in him as in our attitude toward him.”
2. Feminism
According to Goodman (1996: X), the term Feminist is defined as a person
who has recognition of the historical and cultural subordination of women (the
only world-wide majority to be treated as a minority), and resolve to resist the
oppression and subordination of woman.
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is review on related
studies, which consists of some comments and criticism on the novel. Secondly,
review on related theories, which consist of all theories that are used. The last part
is theoretical framework, which shows the application of all the theories in
analysing the study.
A. Review of Related Studies
The writer finds criticism and comment on Edith Wharton’s other work,
Ethan Frome written by Dr. Kinnicutt. He describes Wharton’s novel as follows:
“Ethan Frome was a classic that will be read and re-read with pleasure and
instructions,” and was astonished at what she had been able to do in the midst of
her ‘pressing anxieties’. (Lewis, 1985: 310)
In The Edith Wharton Society, Abby Werlock who has given great
commitment on Edith Wharton works calls Edith Wharton as one of the major
figures in American literary history. He says that as an author of more than 40
volumes – novels, poetry, non-fiction, Edith Wharton presented intriguing insights
into American experience. Her upbringing provided her insights on the upper
class, while her sense of humour and polished prose produced fiction that
appealed to a large audience. Further, Werlock argues that Wharton, as a naturally
gifted storyteller, wrote novels and short fiction notable for their vividness, satire,
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7
irony, and wit. Her complex characters and subtly delivered point of view make
the reading of Wharton’s fiction both challenging and rewarding, while her own
life illustrates the difficulties that a woman of her era had to surmount to find selfrealization (http://www.wsu.edu/-campbelld/wharton/bio.htm)
B. Review of Related Theories
The theories that the writer uses in this study are theory of Marxist
Feminism and theory of character and characterization.
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Blair in Better Reading II: Literature, states that a character is a
description of figures in the story which includes the descriptions of professions,
statements, dialogues and thoughts. The purpose is to describe what the character
is like such as his behaviour and how he lives to the readers (1948: 52-54).
Through real life, descriptions of a person’s character can be considered as
something unique and separable from all other identities. Further, through his or
her literary works, an author is free to create and to present his or her fictional
character in the works, such as his appearance, his personality and what problem
he might face. It is different from the real life, which is need unique description of
characters as unique ones like in the real life and discusses them as independent
entities, the novel as one of literary works itself consists of simple description of
characters that is got from the real people (Harvey, 1968:31).
E. M Foster in his book Aspects of the novels (1974:47 – 48) classifies
characters into two types: flat and round characters. There are two advantages is
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8
that the flat character is recognizable by the reader’s emotional eye, not the visual
eye, whenever the flat character comes into the story. His second advantage is that
the readers can remember the flat character afterwards, since the circumstances do
not have to change the flat character. The second type of character is round
character. Foster states that the reader cannot express the round character into
simple phrase. The events happen in the story have the connection with the round
character.
In A Glossary of Literary Term (1981: 20-21), Abrams gives the definition
of character as:
The person presented in dramatic or narrative work, which are interpreted
by the reader as being endowed with moral and disposition qualities that
are expressed in what they say (the dialogue) and what they do (action).
Character is an imaginative person that inhabits a story. A character is an
important feature of fiction. Moreover, to interpret the character that is presented
in a dramatic or narrative work, the readers can interpret character’s moral and
indifference qualities through what they say and they do. A character’s motivation
is constituted from “the grounds in a character’s temperament and moral nature
for his speech and actions” (Abrams, 1981: 20). Meanwhile, an action of a
character must not only be motivated, but must also be consistent with the
behavioural traits. It means that, a character that is in the dramatic or narrative
work must be consistent with the behavioural traits or the habitual of the society.
Reading for characters is much more complex and ambiguous than
gearing for plot. Readers usually demand that the characters are easily identified
and labelled as good or bad. For the main character, the readers usually demand
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9
that the main character must be an attractive person. He or she, at least, is good
looking, kind, honest, and perhaps generous. Those demands come from the idea
that the story is not a vehicle for understanding but material from a daydream.
Abrams also said that physical appearances, emotional, and moral qualities
describe character and characterization in dramatic or narrative work. The
emotional, a person’s qualities of mind and moral qualities are shown in the way
they speak, think, and act. Because of the motivation and development, the
character may have a self-change gradually through times.
Character is imaginary person who is involved in a story. Character is
distinguished into two, namely the major and minor character. The major
characters are those who become the focus in the story from the beginning to the
end. The content of the story is highlighted to this character’s experience.
Whereas the minor characters are those who appear in certain setting, just
necessarily to become the background of the major characters. (Kenney, 1983:45).
According to Holman and Harmon (1986: 81), through the characters there
will be found the presence of moral uprightness, and the simpler notion of the
presence creatures in art that is seem to be human beings of one sort of another. It
means that a character is a story can be an imitation of human presented as a brief
descriptive sketch of an individual who is representative of some definite quality.
Thus, character has important roles in a literary work. They lead the readers to
find out the content, the plot, or the theme of the work through their dialogues and
actions.
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Theory of characterization is needed to help in analysing the main female
character of The Buccaneers. The theory proposed by Murphy in Understanding
Unseen (1972: 161-173). According to Murphy, there are nine kinds of
characterization. They are personal descriptions, character as seen by another,
speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and
mannerism.
a.
Personal Descriptions
The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes (1972: 161).
This characterization deals with physical appearance such as face, body, the facial
expression or the outfits she or he wears. It is important because each character
has specific appearance in the novel or play.
b.
Character as seen by another
The second characterization is character as seen by another (1972: 162).
Through this characterization, the author can describe the character through the
eyes and opinion of another. The author also gives the reader the impressions and
the sense such as impression of shape, cleanliness, firmness, smoothness and
color, and the sense of strangeness and mystery.
c.
Speech
A person’s character is known through her style in speaking or the way
she talks to other people and the way she gives opinion. The author can give an
insight to the character of one of the persons in the story through what that person
says (1972: 164). Here the author gives the reader some clues in analyzing the
character through the character’s conversation or opinion.
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d.
Past Life
By letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life, the author
can gives a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character (1972:
166). The author guides the reader to know more about the past life of the
character in order to get some ideas about the shape of character’s thought,
behavior, and action.
e.
Conversation of others
The fifth characterization is conversation of others. The author gives the
reader clues to a person’s character through the conversation of other characters
and the things they say about him (1972: 167).
f.
Reactions
It is the way to understand a person’s character by seeing at how the
person in the story reacts to various situations and events in his life. It gives some
views to the reader to watch the character closely. The author can also give us a
clue to a person’s character by letting us to know how that person reacts to various
situations and events (1972: 168).
g.
Direct Comment
The author can describe or comments on a person’s character directly
(1972: 170). This method gives direct explanation of the character briefly and
clearly.
h.
Thought
It is the way to know a person’s character through what a character is
thinking about (1972: 171). The author guides reader to know what the person’s
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mind is, and what the person’s feeling is. And sometimes he can tell about the
mind of different character in the novel.
i.
Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerism or habits which may also
tell us something about his character (1972: 173). The habits or the attitudes that
the person has are also the clue in observing the character closely.
2.
Feminism
Feminism is a common term that most people have already known but not
yet understand about. Feminism is a belief in the principle that women should
have the same rights and opportunities (legal, political, social, and economic) as
men, therefore the basic movement of feminism are against some actions that
violating woman such as: oppression, discrimination, stereotyping, and domestic
violence (http//www.feministissue.com).
Feminism according to Maggie Humm in her book The Dictionary of
Feminist Theory states that ‘feminism is the ideology of women’s liberation since
intrinsic in all its approaches is the belief that women suffer injustice because of
the sex’ (Humm, 1990: 74) regarding the biological characteristics, societies claim
that women are weak. This opinion brings the assumption that women are the
second class in the society, and less valuable than men. Under this broad
umbrella, various feminism offer differing analysis of the causes, or means, of
female oppression. Still in her book Maggie Humm states that ‘feminism is a term
used by cultural and essentialist feminism to describe the ideology of female
superiority. (Humm, 1990: 73).
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13
Bressler in his writing Literary Critics, An Introduction to Theory and
Practice said that a feminist critic examines the traditional literary canon. It
discovers an array of male dominances and prejudices that supported Beavoir and
Millet’s assertion that males considered the female “the other”. Canon: Women
were sex maniacs, goddess of beauty, mindless entities, or old spinster. Related to
his statement it can be seen that a literary can be functional as a determine gender
and it becomes a wrong justification to portray women.
Since this research discusses about some feminist aspects, the writer
relates it to the opinion of some feminist aspects. A feminist can be recognized
through their characteristics as Maggie Humm defined in her book, The
Dictionary of Feminist Theory. There is domination; Humm says that Domination
is the power of one group or individual over another group or individual. Thus,
the writer relates domination to authority because a person who dominates other
must have an authority. It refers to Consolidated Webster Encyclopaedic
Dictionary a Library of Essential Knowledge; it states that domination has same
meaning with the exercise of control in ruling, or an arbitrary authority. As
Maggie Humm states in her Dictionary of feminist theory, ‘authority is
institutionalized power whose use usually goes unquestioned because authority
regarded as routine. Feminist writers provide alternative etymologies of women’s
word, which can represent women’s power (Humm, 1990: 14). In her book The
Dictionary of Feminist Theory, Humm states that ‘Radical feminist believes that
male domination is grounded on men’s universal control over women’s bodies
and women’s sexual and procreative, which will only end when woman achieve
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
14
sexual and procreative self-determination’ (Humm, 1990: 55). Moreover, Humm
states that Liberal feminism believes that male dominance can be overcome by
rational argument because it is rooted from their irrational prejudice. Therefore, it
can be said that women’s dominant character is needed and it must be a
significant characteristic of a feminist to break the domination of man.
Autonomy is also one of feminist characteristics. According to Maggie
Humm, in her book, The Dictionary of Feminist Theory ‘autonomy is basic to the
liberal concepts of freedom and equality and this aspect provides one of
liberalism’s main arguments for limiting the power of the state. Feminism places
autonomy as a struggle concept in the context of sexual politics’ (Humm, 1990:
14). Another characteristic that indicates feminism is Criticism. Feminist criticism
analyses the discourse and its ideology and culture with a woman-cantered
perspective. Humm states that ‘criticism is feminist if it critique existing
disciplines, traditional paradigm about women, nature or social roles, or
documents such work by others, from the point of view of women’. (Humm,
1990: 40).
Liberal is also one of feminist characteristics. Humm states that ‘the
liberation of women is the chief goal of feminist theory. Contemporary women’s
liberation, or feminist action, is consciously revolutionary. It breaks with
reformism, it is internationalist and it simultaneously attacks the state, cultural
ideology and the economy’. (Humm, 1990: 119). Liberation relates to the
pleasure, which is described by Humm in her book The Dictionary of Feminist
Theory ‘as an important part of feminist theory because the meaning of pleasure is
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
15
a site of contradiction bisected by class, race, and sexual preference’. (Humm,
1990: 165). Moreover, in her book, she states that Radical Feminism claims that
women need the pleasure in the positive possibilities. It is to explore their own
body, sensuality, human connection and the infantile and non-rationale (Humm,
1990: 165)
Since this thesis discusses a feminist attitude, the writer relates it to the
opinion of some feminists who has their own attitude as a woman. Mary
Wollstonecraft, who is the author of a vindication of the right of women (1792)
which is compiled in Bressler’s book entitled Literary Criticism, an Introduction
to Theory and Practice, states that ‘Women must stand up for their rights and not
allow their male-dominated society to define what it means to be a woman.
Women themselves must take the lead and articulate that they are and what role
they will play in society most importantly, they must reject the patriarchal
assumption that women are inferior to men’. (Wollstonecraft, 1994: 181).
Virginia Woolf has her own attitude as a woman, which states in
Bressler’s entitled Literary Criticism, An Introduction of Theory and Practice.
She says that women must reject this social construct and establish their own
identity. Women must challenge the prevailing, false cultural notions concerning
their gender identity and develop female discourse that will accurately portray
their relationship in the world of reality’ and not ‘to the world of men’. (Woolf,
1994: 182).
Meanwhile, Simone de Beavoir, in Bressler’s book Literary Critics, An
Introduction to Theory and Practice states that ‘woman must break the bonds of
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
16
her patriarchal society and define herself if she wishes to become a significant
human being in her own right and defy male classification as the other’. (Beavoir,
1994: 182). Moreover, Beavoir states that ‘Women see themselves as autonomous
being. Women, she maintains, must reject the social construct that men are the
subject or the absolute and that women are ‘the other’. (Beavoir, 1990: 182).
Anna Fioravanti quotes Simone De Beavoir’s statement in her Review on
Lady Roxana, she states that ‘one is not born a woman: one becomes a woman.
No biological, psychological or economic destiny can determine how the human
female
will
appear
in
the
society’.
(http/:www.thefword.uk.org/review/books/roxana.live). It means that a woman is
the female human who is created by society. Then, a woman will establish her
own identity and defined herself to play her role in the society based on her life’s
experience.
In this thesis, the writer focuses on the feminist aspects as reflected in the
Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers, which is related with marriage. In Maggie
Humm’s book, The Dictionary of Feminist Theory Radical Feminist states:
“Marriage is as a form of compulsory heterosexuality whose main aim is
to control women’s sexuality by trying her to her husband. This combined
with men’s control over women’s labour in house work, makes marriage
the central source of women’s oppression under patriarchy”. (Humm,
1990: 128)
Humm also defines marriage as “the institution traditionally provides
women with a social identity” (1990: 127). She also explains some aspects on
marriage. First, it is the site where categories of gender are reproduced. Second, it
is the site of sexual division of labour and women’s subordination. Third, it is the
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17
model for other social institution of sexual norm. She also reveals that sociologist
and historians suggest marriage as “a simple social contract” which is closely
related with the reproduction of children (Humm, 1990: 128).
Related to the marriage, Bressler states that women must reject that
marriage is their ultimate goal to financially support and dependent to husband.
Also women must reject the idea that women are mindless, weepy, passive, and
helpless that needs a man to rescue them and make their life is meaningful
(Bressler, 1994: 180). Therefore, it can be said that marriage becomes a
significant course in the feminist context. It becomes a symbol of one of the
source of women’s oppression.
Friedrich Engels in The Origins of Family, Private Property and the State
(Whelehan, 1995: 46) assumes that “women independently acquire class status by
virtue of the same economic determinants as men, but also infers that all women
are proletarianized within marriage – where male power is regarded as analogues
to that of the bourgeoisie.” It is seen that marriage has made woman’s position
becoming lower than man though both may have same economic position.
Further, Engels states that family represents a capitalist system of relations in
microcosm, and it is assumed that once class is abolished, so sexual inequality
will disappear. In this way woman’s particular experience of oppression is
absorbed and obscured under a description of class antagonism, with a result that
sex oppression has in effect been invisible. (Whelehan, 1995: 47)
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18
C. Theoretical Framework
The theories which the writer has explained above are used to help the
analysis of this study. In this section, the writer would like to explain the reason
why the theories are needed and how the writer uses those theories in the analysis
of this study.
The first analysis aims to describe the main female character of The
Buccaneers. Those characters are Virginia, Annabelle, Conchita, Lizzie and
Mabel. Thus, the writer uses the theory of character by Abrams, Blair, and
Harvey, and theory of characterization by Murphy, theory of Feminism by Humm,
Whelehan and Engels. The theory of character is used to find out whether
Virginia, Annabelle, Conchita and Lizzie are main characters who are having flat
or round character. Meanwhile, the theory of characterization is used to analyze
the description of Virginia, Annabelle, Conchita, Lizzie and Mabel’s characters.
Moreover, the theory of Feminism is used to analyze the idea of Feminism
embedded on the characters of Virginia, Annabelle, Conchita, Lizzie, and Mabel.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
Object of the Study
The object of this study is a literary work written by Edith Wharton
entitled The Buccaneers. When Edith Wharton died in 1937, she had completed
three fourths of The Buccaneers, which was published in its unfinished form the
next year. Fifty-six years later, Marion Mainwaring, who assisted R. W. B. Lewis
in researching his prize-winning biography of Wharton, completed the narrative
along lines Wharton had lived to finish it, it might have been her masterpieces. It
is hardly that, but it is a skilled and thoughtful entertainment with an
uncharacteristically romantic ending. Set in the 1870’s it deals with the clash of
cultures when Americans marry Europeans. (http://www.enotes.com/buccaneerssalem/buccaneers).
The version that the writer’s had studied published by Penguin Group, it is
published in Penguin Books in 1994. The novel consists of 359 pages, and 29
chapters. The novel talks about the daughters of three socially aspiring American
families, the St. Georges, Elmsworths, and Clossons, who are not altogether
accepted by the wealthy society of Saratoga and New York, go to England, where
their free spiritedness, beauty, and their father’s money are irresistible to
aristocrats who need an infusion of American cash to maintain their noble houses
and lands. Conchita Closson marries unhappily and takes a lover, Virginia St.
George and Lizzy Elmsworth eventually makes satisfactory marriages. The
narrative gradually focuses on the youngest of the daughters, Nan St. George
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20
(Annabel St. George), who marries the Duke of Tintagel in a moment of mutually
mistaken sentiment. Neither turns out to be what the other hoped for, as the new
duchess finds her constrained by the duke’s expectations. Nan finds that her true
soul mate is the intellectual Guy Thwarte, while her former English governess,
Laura Testvalley, a cousin of Dante Gabriel Rosetti, has an abortive romance with
Thwarte’s father.
The Buccaneers is about five young American women-Virginia (Jinny)
and Annabel (Nan) St. George, Conchita Closson, Lizzie and Mabel Elmsworth
who live in Saratoga, New York, Disappointed in their attempt to crash New York
society, the energetic buccaneers decide to conquer London and marry into
nobility with help from a clever governess, Laura Testvalley. Up until this part of
the story, the writer wonders that the main characters of the story are. Those five
girls and the governess Laura Testvalley seem to be the main characters since they
shop up many times. When the marriage between Nan St. George and Ushant, The
Duke of Tintagel took place, the writer realized that Nan and her governess,
Laura, are the main characters of the story since the other girls are not mentioned
as much as later in the novel. Nan is only eighteen when she marries Ushant. Nan
does not know anything concerning a duchess’s duty. In other words, she has not
found yet her own identity, not until she meets Guy Thwarte, a man she has met
before she marries Ushant, for second time. From that time on, she realizes what
she really needs and desires. Nan needs to be herself, not as Annabel Tintagel, and
she can do that only when she is with Guy, even they come from different social
backgrounds. Nan grows up in the ordinary family who does not have any nobility
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
21
background, even though her father is a millionaire, while Guy grows up with the
nobility backgrounds. Their love does not affect difference backgrounds they had,
and finally, their love breaks the rule of London’s traditional society, that is filing
for a divorce from Ushant.
Approach of the Study
To have vivid conclusion of the study, the writer needs an appropriate
approach. The approach leads the writer to have a fair analysis on the topic
discussed. To understand the idea of this study, it is applied feminism approach.
Feminism approach is an approach that is different from the other
approaches that have been examined, feminist literary criticism is often a political
attack upon other modes of criticism and theory, and its social orientation moves
beyond traditional literary criticism. In its diversity feminism concerns with the
marginalization of all women, that it is, being neglected to a secondary position
(Guerin, 1979: 196).
The feminist approach guides the study to find that literature can be
functional as determines gender, some feminists stress gender differences, others
believe that entire concept of female difference is to understand the novel and the
messages especially the woman oppression in marriage issue that are reflected in
the novel through characters representation. Through the application of this
feminist approach, it can be analysed the character of the main female character in
the novel as feminist who struggle for women equality. It can also be seen that the
main female character’s attitude toward marriage represent their feminist attitude.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
22
That is the reason why feminism approach is thought to fit perfectly well in
analysing the novel, because it only focuses on the women advocacy to the
marginalization of women..
Method of the Study
This study is grouped into library research. Through library research the
writer can study some theories that can be useful to analyse the literary works. In
analyzing the work, the writer uses primary and secondary sources. The primary
sources is Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers itself. The writer also uses some
books which support the analysis as secondary sources, such as Murphy’s
Understanding Unseen, Guerin’s A Handbook of Critical Approaches to
Literature.
The writer applied some steps to conduct the study. The first step was that
the writer chose the novel which would be analysed in this study. Thus, after
several times of discussion with the writer’s lecturer, the writer decided to choose
Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers as the primary sources of the study.
The next step was reading and re-reading the novel. Though the novel was
very difficult to be understood, the writer still read and re-read for several times.
The writer also underlined sentences in the novel which related to the focus of the
study. In doing so, the writer really hoped that the writer could understand the
content of the novel better.
Then, the writer started to think about the topic which would be discussed
in the study. In the writer’s opinion, this was the hardest part from the procedures.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
23
It was because the writer had so many ideas in mind and it made the writer
difficult to decide which one to be analyzed.
The next step was that the writer collected the references which related to
the study. The references were books related to the study and criticism on the
novel. The writer also used the Internet to get information related to the study.
Then, the writer found the approach which was suitable to the study. The writer
decided to use the theory of Feminism by Maggie Humm, Imelda Whelehan, and
Friedrich Engels.
The next step was that the writer answered the questions in the problem
formulation. First, the writer described the characters of Conchita Closson,
Virginia St. George, Annabel (Nan) St. George, Lizzy Elmsworth and Mabel
Elsmworth. The descriptions of these characters helped the writer in answering
the second question in the problem formulation, which was to describe the idea of
Feminism.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
Based on the problem formulation, the writer analyzes the description of
the main female characters in Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers. Those main
female characters are Virginia St. George, Annabel St. George, Conchita
Clossons, Lizzy Elmsworth, and Mabel Elmsworth. After analyzing the
description of the main female characters, the writer discusses the idea of
Feminism as reflected by the five main female characters.
A. Description of Main Female Characters
1. Virginia St. George
Virginia St. George is self-confidence, and clever. Below are the
discussions of her character.
a. Self Confidence
Virginia St. George is a beautiful young girl. Her beauty is reflected in the
novel as follows: ‘As regards hair and complexion, there could be no doubt;
Virginia, all rose and pearl, with sheaves of full fair hair heaped above her low
forehead, was as pure and luminous as an apple blossom.’ (p. 7). The citation
shows Virginia’s kind of beauty. Her beauty is described like a worthy pearl and it
is pure and luminous like an apple blossom. Her beauty makes her mother, Mrs.
St. George, feels proud. It is seen in from her thought of comparing her neighbor’s
daughter with Virginia; ‘Week after week, day after day, the anxious mother had
gone over Miss Elmsworth’s points, comparing them one by one with Virginia’s.’
24
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
25
(p. 7). Mrs. St. George thought on comparing Virginia physical attribute with
other young girls results Virginia as the most beautiful girl in the area.
The other thought of Virginia’s beauty is coming from Virginia’s own
sister, Annabel St. George’s thought. It is seen from the novel that; ‘Nan St.
George (Annabel St. George), at sixteen, was at the culminating phase of a
passionate admiration for her elder sister. Virginia was all that her junior longed
to be: perfectly beautiful, …’ (p. 10). Above shows that Annabel St. George is
admiring Virginia, she wants to be like Virginia whom she thinks as perfectly
beautiful.
Virginia St. George has a high self-confidence. She is able to cope all
problems she has faced with her self-confidence. Even when she has to talk with
Lord Brightlingsea who is everybody known as a high temper person. Her selfconfidence is seen when she introduces herself and her sister, Annabel. It is seen
as follows. “You’re Lord Brightlingsea, aren’t you? I’m Miss St. George, and this
is my sister Annabel,” the young lady said, in a tone that was fearless without
being familiar. (p. 128). Above shows Virginia’s fearless introduction to Lord
Brightlingsea. She has already heard about Lord Brightlingsea before.
Other opinion that Virginia St. George is having self-confidence character
is coming from Annabel St. George. It is said in the novel that; ‘… in spite of her
sense of Virginia’s superiority – her beauty, her ease, her self-confidence – Nan
sometimes felt a shamefaced pity for her.” (p. 132).
b. Clever
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
26
Virginia St. George is clever. Her cleverness brings her success to marry
Lord Seadown. When in fact she has a rivalry, her rival is Lizzy Elmsworth. Lord
Seadown is charmed with t
THE IDEA OF FEMINISM
AS REFLECTED BY THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERS
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE BUCCANNEERS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
WHENI SRI REZEQI
Student Number: 004214124
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2008
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE IDEA OF FEMINISM
AS REFLECTED BY THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERS
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE BUCCANNEERS
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
WHENI SRI REZEQI
Student Number: 004214124
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2008
i
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
THE IDEA OF FEMINISM
AS REFLECTED BY THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERS
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE BUCCANNEERS
By
WHENI SRI REZEQI
Student Number: 004214124
Approved by
Dewi Widyastuti, S.pd. M. Hum
Advisor
July 17, 2008
Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum.
Co-Advisor
July 17, 2008
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
THE IDEA OF FEMINISM
AS REFLECTED BY THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERS
IN EDITH WHARTON’S THE BUCCANNEERS
By
WHENI SRI REZEQI
Student Number: 004214124
Defended before the Board of Examiners
On July 28 , 2008
and Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name
Signatures
Chairman
: Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A.
________________
Secretary
: Drs, Hirmawan Widjanarka M.Hum.
________________
Member
: Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum.
________________
Member
: Drs, Hirmawan Widjanarka M.Hum.
________________
Member
: Maria Ananta, S.S., M.Ed.
________________
Yogyakarta, August 27 , 2008
Faculty of Letters
Sanata Dharma University
Dean,
Dr. Isodarus Praptomo Baryadi, M. Hum.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
So, verily with every difficulty, there is relief
(Al Insyirah: 5)
iv
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to:
My late generous father
&
My tough beloved mother
v
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, praise be to Allah Who is praised in all languages, worshipped at all
times, Whose knowledge encompasses all places, and Whose attention is never
distracted from anything. Alhamdulillah, I finally accomplish my undergraduate
thesis. I thank to Allah Swt for His endless blessing.
Second, I would like to underscore my indebtedness to my former advisors
Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji, M.Hum, and Maria Ananta, S.S., M.Ed for their
guidance, and assistance. I would like to express my deepest gratitude for my
major sponsor Dewi Widyastuti, SP.d.,M.Hum who has helped me patiently
through my writing process of this thesis. My heartfelt appreciation goes to Drs.
Hirmawan Widjanarka, M.Hum, who has checked my undergraduate thesis and
gave me many valuable suggestions. I also thank to all lecturers and staff in
English Letters Departement Sanata Dharma University.
Third, I would like to thank all the people I love. My deepest gratitude
goes to my late father, Burhan Mansur and my mother, Tati Wasiatun who
always prays for my success continuously. No words can ever be good enough to
describe how much I adore them. I also thank to my husband who never stops
loving me and also to my cute little son who always cheers my days up.
Finally, I am grateful to my dearest friends, especially Wahyu Mukti
Kusumaningtias who always gives me support and has sent me the novel and
Lilik Jonet Pranowo for being a helpful friend, and thank to all my other dear
friends who have helped me in many ways, which I cannot mention one by one
due to space limitation.
Wheni Sri Rezeqi
vi
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................ i
APPROVAL PAGE ............................................................................... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ......................................................................... iii
MOTTO PAGE......................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION PAGE............................................................................... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................... vii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................. viii
ABSTRAK ................................................................................................. ix
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1
A. Background of the Study ............................................................ 1
B. Problem Formulation................................................................... 3
C. Objectives of the Study.............................................................. 3
D. Definition of Terms.................................................................... 4
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW .......................................
A. Review of Related Studies ....................................................
B. Review of Related Theories....................................................
1. Theory of Character and Characterization..................
2. Theory of Feminism...................................................
C. Theoretical Framework .........................................................
5
5
6
6
11
14
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY.........................................................
A. Object of the Study ...............................................................
B. Approach of the Study............................................................
C. Method of the Study................................................................
16
16
18
19
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS...................................................................... 21
A. Description of Main Female Characters................................... 21
B. The Idea of Feminism................................................................ 28
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION................................................................ 47
BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................... 51
APPENDIX…………………………………………………………….... 52
vii
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
WHENI SRI REZEQI. The Idea of Feminism as Reflected by the Main Female
Characters in Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers. Yogyakarta: Department of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.
ABSTRACT
This thesis discusses the idea of feminism, which is found in Edith
Wharton’s The Buccaneers. This study deals with the main female characters and
the idea of feminism can be revealed from those main characters.
This thesis proposes two problems to be analyzed, first the characteristics
of main female characters, and second how they reflect the idea of Feminism.
The method of research applied in this study is library research. The writer
collects the data from books, journal, and Internet that contain supporting data.
They are analyzed by employing theory of character and Feminism approach. The
theory of Feminism by Maggie Humm is applied to describe the idea of Feminism
as reflected by the main female characters.
The result of the analysis is that the characters of the main female
characters such as Virginia St.George who is beautiful, confidence, and clever;
Annabel St George is ignorant, shy, merciful, and childish; Conchita is plain;
Lizzy Elmsworth is ambitious and controlled. Annabel St George mostly reflects
the idea of Feminism. Feminism sees women as being held down as a result of
their unequal standing in both working place and the domestic sphere. Marriage is
all seen as ways in which women are exploited by a patriarchal system that
devalues women and the substantial work that they do. Annabel St. George did
not differentiate her class status. Though she is a duchess, she did not make a long
distance gap between her and her people. She did something that most of the
aristocracy prefers not to do, such as chatting with the lower class and helping
them by giving attention to them. Annabel felt sorry to those people who
depended solely on his husband. The idea of Feminism is reflected on Annabel’s
thought of being attentive to the poor people though it means that she must oppose
her husband. She dares to break British Aristocracy rules for being equal with her
husband and get freedom from doing merciful activities.
viii
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
WHENI SRI REZEQI. The Idea of Feminism as Reflected by the Main Female
Characters in Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra
Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.
ABSTRAK
Skripsi ini membahas tentang Feminism yang ada di dalam novel karya
Edith Wharton berjudul the Buccaneers. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meneliti
dan menjawab permasalahan yang didasarkan pada rumusan masalah.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah meneliti karakteristik karakter utama
wanita dari cerita dan menemukan bagaimana ide Feminisme dicerminkan oleh
karakter-karekter tersebut.
Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah studi kepustakaan. Penulis
mengumpulkan data dari buku, jurnal dan Internet. Data-data tersebut dianalisis
dengan menerapkan teori karakter dan karakterisasi, serta Teori Feminisme. Teori
Feminisme dari Maggie Humm digunakan untuk menguraikan ide Feminisme
yang dicerminkan oleh para karakter utama wanita. Sedangkan obyek dari skripsi
ini adalah novel karya Edith Wharton yang berjudul the Buccaneers.
Hasil analisis dari karakter utama wanita antara lain adalah, Virginia St
George adalah seorang wanita yang cantik, percaya diri, dan pandai; Annabel St
George apatis,pemalu, kekanak- kanakan dan murah hati; Conchita Closson
sederhana; Lizzy Elmsworth penuh pertimbangan dan ambisius. Ide feminisme
sebagian besar dicerminkan oleh Annabel St George. Feminisme memandang
wanita sebagai obyek yang ditekan kedudukannya, baik dalam lingkungan kerja
maupun dalam kehidupan perkawinan. Dalam kehidupan perkawinan, wanita
diatur oleh sistem patriarkal yang merendahkan martabat serta peran penting
wanita. Annabel St George tidak pernah membedakan status. Meskipun dia adalah
seorang bangsawan, dia tidakmembuat jarak dengan orang-orang yang memiliki
status dibawahnya. Dia melakukan hal- hal yang tidak disukai kaum bangsawan.
Anabel bersimpati kepada orang- orang yang bekerja pada suaminya. Dia berani
menetang aturan bangsawan Inggris agar dia tetap sejajar serta mendapatkan
kebebasan melakukan aktivitas sosial.
ix
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
On these recent days, in a modern world, socially, sexual differences are
still used to justify societies in which one sex or the other has been restricted to
significantly inferior and secondary roles. While there are non-physical
differences between men and women, there is little agreement as to what those
differences are. The United Nation had concluded that women often experience a
"glass ceiling" and that there are no societies in which women enjoy the same
opportunities as men. (http.//www.unitednation.org). The term "glass ceiling"
describes the process by which women are barred from promotion by means of an
invisible barrier. In Indonesia, female often experience problems which often lead
to dismissals, underachievement, difficulty in finding a job, social isolation, and,
occasionally, violent attacks against them.
Many feminists (as well as some non-feminists) view the sexual
objectification of women as one of the main ways in which women are
subordinated in a sexist society. In their view, the objectification of women
involves disregarding personal abilities and capabilities, and focusing instead on
attributes relevant to women's role as sexual partners, such as physical
attractiveness, sex appeal, and submissiveness
Many cases of woman’s abuses still happen. Domestic violence, rape,
discrimination are the evidences of underestimating woman and violence of
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woman’s right. Woman is having similar right and equality as man. It has become
a general assumption that woman is still considered as weak, powerless, and
marginal. This situation is especially happened in Indonesia, where woman has
become an object of violence.
Kristieva says that woman is characterized by absence, lack, and
negativity. She is casted only as the mirror in which man sees himself reflected;
woman is only allowed to know woman as man sees her. However, it is true that
in a society, women are always in some sense of the second sex, the subordination
of men. Their common characteristics are being assistants of men. Women have
been subordinated to men in certain key of status, mobility and public leadership
(Quoted in Sim, 2001: 285).
Nonetheless, female inequality can be defined as a state where women are
universally subordinate to men, where men are dominant due to their participation
in public life and their downgrading of women to the domestic area. There is
violence against women, underestimating, and degrading women self-esteem.
Women feel that they are powerless, and suffer from injustice because of their sex
(gender). Since she is a woman, she is treated differently.
Kristieva also believes that from a social perspective it is not surprising
that women in men dominated culture develop symptoms of powerlessness such
as depression and low self-esteem. Women are identical with domestic function;
they have no chance to develop their own life since raising husband and children.
To see this phenomenon, women struggle to liberate their selves to reach equal
opportunity and recognition.
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3
The Buccaneers is a novel written by Edith Wharton in 1938. Edith
Wharton herself is considered as a female writer with prominent ability to portray
tragedies of her characters that failed in overcoming the hardship of fate and
nature. The Buccaneers becomes her last novel due to her death. It is Wharton’s
last and unfinished novel. The words ‘last’ and ‘unfinished’ novel sparked the
writer’s curiosity. The writer wants to know whether the novel has been
completed sufficiently to form a significant and interesting book. The writer finds
it interesting because one of the main female characters, Annabel St.George, is a
dynamic girl. Therefore, she experiences many things in her life, both happy and
sad ones. Annabel’s boyfriend, Guy Thwarte is also a romantic guy. Those
elements make this novel become interesting and worth reading. Marion
Mainwaring, who completed the novel, is every bit as qualified as Edith Wharton.
Mainwaring completed chapter XXIX through chapter XLI.
Edith Newbold Jones Wharton was born in New York, N.Y., into a
wealthy and socially prominent family. Wharton gained first success with her
book The House of Mirth (1905), a story of a beautiful but poor woman, who tries
to survive in the pitiless New York City. Among Wharton’s most famous novels
is The Age of Innocent (1920), which was filmed in 1993. While Wharton’s other
major works includes the long tale Ethan Frome (1991) which was set in
impoverished rural New England (www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wharton.htm).
The reason why the writer chooses the novel- The Buccaneers- is because
it contains a story of the values and morals held by fashionable society at that
particular time, when it was considered more important to marry for social
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4
position than for romantic love. The novel is also a poignant example of art
imitating life, since one of the storylines closely resembles the real story of the illfated marriage of heiress and Aristocratic gentlemen. Besides, the theme of the
story can be related to the idea of Feminism.
B.
Problem Formulation
Considering the background of the study has been explained above, there are
two problems which are formulated as follows.
1. What are the characteristics of main female characters on Edith Wharton’s
The Buccaneers?
2. How are the ideas of feminism reflected by the main female characters of
Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers?
C. Objectives of the Study
The study is intended to analyse and to answer the problems in a clear
description. Based on the problem formulation mentioned above, the objectives of
the study are firstly is to examine the characteristics of main female characters of
the novel, and to find out how the idea of Feminism as reflected by these
characters.
D. Definition of Terms
In this part, the writer assumes that it is important to clarify the meaning of
significant and important terms that are used in this study. The reason is to give
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
5
the right focus on the meaning of the significant and important terms for the
readers.
1. Character
According to Kennedy in An Introduction to Fiction (1983: 5), character is
defined as an extended verbal representation of human being, the inner self that
determines thought, speech, and behaviour. Through dialogue, action, and
commentary, authors capture some of the interactions of the characters who are
worth caring about, rooting for, and even loving.
Main character according to Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction (1965:
17) refers to “a character who is relevant to every event in the story; usually the
events cause some changes either in him as in our attitude toward him.”
2. Feminism
According to Goodman (1996: X), the term Feminist is defined as a person
who has recognition of the historical and cultural subordination of women (the
only world-wide majority to be treated as a minority), and resolve to resist the
oppression and subordination of woman.
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is review on related
studies, which consists of some comments and criticism on the novel. Secondly,
review on related theories, which consist of all theories that are used. The last part
is theoretical framework, which shows the application of all the theories in
analysing the study.
A. Review of Related Studies
The writer finds criticism and comment on Edith Wharton’s other work,
Ethan Frome written by Dr. Kinnicutt. He describes Wharton’s novel as follows:
“Ethan Frome was a classic that will be read and re-read with pleasure and
instructions,” and was astonished at what she had been able to do in the midst of
her ‘pressing anxieties’. (Lewis, 1985: 310)
In The Edith Wharton Society, Abby Werlock who has given great
commitment on Edith Wharton works calls Edith Wharton as one of the major
figures in American literary history. He says that as an author of more than 40
volumes – novels, poetry, non-fiction, Edith Wharton presented intriguing insights
into American experience. Her upbringing provided her insights on the upper
class, while her sense of humour and polished prose produced fiction that
appealed to a large audience. Further, Werlock argues that Wharton, as a naturally
gifted storyteller, wrote novels and short fiction notable for their vividness, satire,
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7
irony, and wit. Her complex characters and subtly delivered point of view make
the reading of Wharton’s fiction both challenging and rewarding, while her own
life illustrates the difficulties that a woman of her era had to surmount to find selfrealization (http://www.wsu.edu/-campbelld/wharton/bio.htm)
B. Review of Related Theories
The theories that the writer uses in this study are theory of Marxist
Feminism and theory of character and characterization.
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Blair in Better Reading II: Literature, states that a character is a
description of figures in the story which includes the descriptions of professions,
statements, dialogues and thoughts. The purpose is to describe what the character
is like such as his behaviour and how he lives to the readers (1948: 52-54).
Through real life, descriptions of a person’s character can be considered as
something unique and separable from all other identities. Further, through his or
her literary works, an author is free to create and to present his or her fictional
character in the works, such as his appearance, his personality and what problem
he might face. It is different from the real life, which is need unique description of
characters as unique ones like in the real life and discusses them as independent
entities, the novel as one of literary works itself consists of simple description of
characters that is got from the real people (Harvey, 1968:31).
E. M Foster in his book Aspects of the novels (1974:47 – 48) classifies
characters into two types: flat and round characters. There are two advantages is
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
8
that the flat character is recognizable by the reader’s emotional eye, not the visual
eye, whenever the flat character comes into the story. His second advantage is that
the readers can remember the flat character afterwards, since the circumstances do
not have to change the flat character. The second type of character is round
character. Foster states that the reader cannot express the round character into
simple phrase. The events happen in the story have the connection with the round
character.
In A Glossary of Literary Term (1981: 20-21), Abrams gives the definition
of character as:
The person presented in dramatic or narrative work, which are interpreted
by the reader as being endowed with moral and disposition qualities that
are expressed in what they say (the dialogue) and what they do (action).
Character is an imaginative person that inhabits a story. A character is an
important feature of fiction. Moreover, to interpret the character that is presented
in a dramatic or narrative work, the readers can interpret character’s moral and
indifference qualities through what they say and they do. A character’s motivation
is constituted from “the grounds in a character’s temperament and moral nature
for his speech and actions” (Abrams, 1981: 20). Meanwhile, an action of a
character must not only be motivated, but must also be consistent with the
behavioural traits. It means that, a character that is in the dramatic or narrative
work must be consistent with the behavioural traits or the habitual of the society.
Reading for characters is much more complex and ambiguous than
gearing for plot. Readers usually demand that the characters are easily identified
and labelled as good or bad. For the main character, the readers usually demand
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
9
that the main character must be an attractive person. He or she, at least, is good
looking, kind, honest, and perhaps generous. Those demands come from the idea
that the story is not a vehicle for understanding but material from a daydream.
Abrams also said that physical appearances, emotional, and moral qualities
describe character and characterization in dramatic or narrative work. The
emotional, a person’s qualities of mind and moral qualities are shown in the way
they speak, think, and act. Because of the motivation and development, the
character may have a self-change gradually through times.
Character is imaginary person who is involved in a story. Character is
distinguished into two, namely the major and minor character. The major
characters are those who become the focus in the story from the beginning to the
end. The content of the story is highlighted to this character’s experience.
Whereas the minor characters are those who appear in certain setting, just
necessarily to become the background of the major characters. (Kenney, 1983:45).
According to Holman and Harmon (1986: 81), through the characters there
will be found the presence of moral uprightness, and the simpler notion of the
presence creatures in art that is seem to be human beings of one sort of another. It
means that a character is a story can be an imitation of human presented as a brief
descriptive sketch of an individual who is representative of some definite quality.
Thus, character has important roles in a literary work. They lead the readers to
find out the content, the plot, or the theme of the work through their dialogues and
actions.
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10
Theory of characterization is needed to help in analysing the main female
character of The Buccaneers. The theory proposed by Murphy in Understanding
Unseen (1972: 161-173). According to Murphy, there are nine kinds of
characterization. They are personal descriptions, character as seen by another,
speech, past life, conversation of others, reactions, direct comment, thoughts, and
mannerism.
a.
Personal Descriptions
The author can describe a person’s appearance and clothes (1972: 161).
This characterization deals with physical appearance such as face, body, the facial
expression or the outfits she or he wears. It is important because each character
has specific appearance in the novel or play.
b.
Character as seen by another
The second characterization is character as seen by another (1972: 162).
Through this characterization, the author can describe the character through the
eyes and opinion of another. The author also gives the reader the impressions and
the sense such as impression of shape, cleanliness, firmness, smoothness and
color, and the sense of strangeness and mystery.
c.
Speech
A person’s character is known through her style in speaking or the way
she talks to other people and the way she gives opinion. The author can give an
insight to the character of one of the persons in the story through what that person
says (1972: 164). Here the author gives the reader some clues in analyzing the
character through the character’s conversation or opinion.
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11
d.
Past Life
By letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life, the author
can gives a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character (1972:
166). The author guides the reader to know more about the past life of the
character in order to get some ideas about the shape of character’s thought,
behavior, and action.
e.
Conversation of others
The fifth characterization is conversation of others. The author gives the
reader clues to a person’s character through the conversation of other characters
and the things they say about him (1972: 167).
f.
Reactions
It is the way to understand a person’s character by seeing at how the
person in the story reacts to various situations and events in his life. It gives some
views to the reader to watch the character closely. The author can also give us a
clue to a person’s character by letting us to know how that person reacts to various
situations and events (1972: 168).
g.
Direct Comment
The author can describe or comments on a person’s character directly
(1972: 170). This method gives direct explanation of the character briefly and
clearly.
h.
Thought
It is the way to know a person’s character through what a character is
thinking about (1972: 171). The author guides reader to know what the person’s
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12
mind is, and what the person’s feeling is. And sometimes he can tell about the
mind of different character in the novel.
i.
Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerism or habits which may also
tell us something about his character (1972: 173). The habits or the attitudes that
the person has are also the clue in observing the character closely.
2.
Feminism
Feminism is a common term that most people have already known but not
yet understand about. Feminism is a belief in the principle that women should
have the same rights and opportunities (legal, political, social, and economic) as
men, therefore the basic movement of feminism are against some actions that
violating woman such as: oppression, discrimination, stereotyping, and domestic
violence (http//www.feministissue.com).
Feminism according to Maggie Humm in her book The Dictionary of
Feminist Theory states that ‘feminism is the ideology of women’s liberation since
intrinsic in all its approaches is the belief that women suffer injustice because of
the sex’ (Humm, 1990: 74) regarding the biological characteristics, societies claim
that women are weak. This opinion brings the assumption that women are the
second class in the society, and less valuable than men. Under this broad
umbrella, various feminism offer differing analysis of the causes, or means, of
female oppression. Still in her book Maggie Humm states that ‘feminism is a term
used by cultural and essentialist feminism to describe the ideology of female
superiority. (Humm, 1990: 73).
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13
Bressler in his writing Literary Critics, An Introduction to Theory and
Practice said that a feminist critic examines the traditional literary canon. It
discovers an array of male dominances and prejudices that supported Beavoir and
Millet’s assertion that males considered the female “the other”. Canon: Women
were sex maniacs, goddess of beauty, mindless entities, or old spinster. Related to
his statement it can be seen that a literary can be functional as a determine gender
and it becomes a wrong justification to portray women.
Since this research discusses about some feminist aspects, the writer
relates it to the opinion of some feminist aspects. A feminist can be recognized
through their characteristics as Maggie Humm defined in her book, The
Dictionary of Feminist Theory. There is domination; Humm says that Domination
is the power of one group or individual over another group or individual. Thus,
the writer relates domination to authority because a person who dominates other
must have an authority. It refers to Consolidated Webster Encyclopaedic
Dictionary a Library of Essential Knowledge; it states that domination has same
meaning with the exercise of control in ruling, or an arbitrary authority. As
Maggie Humm states in her Dictionary of feminist theory, ‘authority is
institutionalized power whose use usually goes unquestioned because authority
regarded as routine. Feminist writers provide alternative etymologies of women’s
word, which can represent women’s power (Humm, 1990: 14). In her book The
Dictionary of Feminist Theory, Humm states that ‘Radical feminist believes that
male domination is grounded on men’s universal control over women’s bodies
and women’s sexual and procreative, which will only end when woman achieve
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14
sexual and procreative self-determination’ (Humm, 1990: 55). Moreover, Humm
states that Liberal feminism believes that male dominance can be overcome by
rational argument because it is rooted from their irrational prejudice. Therefore, it
can be said that women’s dominant character is needed and it must be a
significant characteristic of a feminist to break the domination of man.
Autonomy is also one of feminist characteristics. According to Maggie
Humm, in her book, The Dictionary of Feminist Theory ‘autonomy is basic to the
liberal concepts of freedom and equality and this aspect provides one of
liberalism’s main arguments for limiting the power of the state. Feminism places
autonomy as a struggle concept in the context of sexual politics’ (Humm, 1990:
14). Another characteristic that indicates feminism is Criticism. Feminist criticism
analyses the discourse and its ideology and culture with a woman-cantered
perspective. Humm states that ‘criticism is feminist if it critique existing
disciplines, traditional paradigm about women, nature or social roles, or
documents such work by others, from the point of view of women’. (Humm,
1990: 40).
Liberal is also one of feminist characteristics. Humm states that ‘the
liberation of women is the chief goal of feminist theory. Contemporary women’s
liberation, or feminist action, is consciously revolutionary. It breaks with
reformism, it is internationalist and it simultaneously attacks the state, cultural
ideology and the economy’. (Humm, 1990: 119). Liberation relates to the
pleasure, which is described by Humm in her book The Dictionary of Feminist
Theory ‘as an important part of feminist theory because the meaning of pleasure is
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15
a site of contradiction bisected by class, race, and sexual preference’. (Humm,
1990: 165). Moreover, in her book, she states that Radical Feminism claims that
women need the pleasure in the positive possibilities. It is to explore their own
body, sensuality, human connection and the infantile and non-rationale (Humm,
1990: 165)
Since this thesis discusses a feminist attitude, the writer relates it to the
opinion of some feminists who has their own attitude as a woman. Mary
Wollstonecraft, who is the author of a vindication of the right of women (1792)
which is compiled in Bressler’s book entitled Literary Criticism, an Introduction
to Theory and Practice, states that ‘Women must stand up for their rights and not
allow their male-dominated society to define what it means to be a woman.
Women themselves must take the lead and articulate that they are and what role
they will play in society most importantly, they must reject the patriarchal
assumption that women are inferior to men’. (Wollstonecraft, 1994: 181).
Virginia Woolf has her own attitude as a woman, which states in
Bressler’s entitled Literary Criticism, An Introduction of Theory and Practice.
She says that women must reject this social construct and establish their own
identity. Women must challenge the prevailing, false cultural notions concerning
their gender identity and develop female discourse that will accurately portray
their relationship in the world of reality’ and not ‘to the world of men’. (Woolf,
1994: 182).
Meanwhile, Simone de Beavoir, in Bressler’s book Literary Critics, An
Introduction to Theory and Practice states that ‘woman must break the bonds of
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16
her patriarchal society and define herself if she wishes to become a significant
human being in her own right and defy male classification as the other’. (Beavoir,
1994: 182). Moreover, Beavoir states that ‘Women see themselves as autonomous
being. Women, she maintains, must reject the social construct that men are the
subject or the absolute and that women are ‘the other’. (Beavoir, 1990: 182).
Anna Fioravanti quotes Simone De Beavoir’s statement in her Review on
Lady Roxana, she states that ‘one is not born a woman: one becomes a woman.
No biological, psychological or economic destiny can determine how the human
female
will
appear
in
the
society’.
(http/:www.thefword.uk.org/review/books/roxana.live). It means that a woman is
the female human who is created by society. Then, a woman will establish her
own identity and defined herself to play her role in the society based on her life’s
experience.
In this thesis, the writer focuses on the feminist aspects as reflected in the
Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers, which is related with marriage. In Maggie
Humm’s book, The Dictionary of Feminist Theory Radical Feminist states:
“Marriage is as a form of compulsory heterosexuality whose main aim is
to control women’s sexuality by trying her to her husband. This combined
with men’s control over women’s labour in house work, makes marriage
the central source of women’s oppression under patriarchy”. (Humm,
1990: 128)
Humm also defines marriage as “the institution traditionally provides
women with a social identity” (1990: 127). She also explains some aspects on
marriage. First, it is the site where categories of gender are reproduced. Second, it
is the site of sexual division of labour and women’s subordination. Third, it is the
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17
model for other social institution of sexual norm. She also reveals that sociologist
and historians suggest marriage as “a simple social contract” which is closely
related with the reproduction of children (Humm, 1990: 128).
Related to the marriage, Bressler states that women must reject that
marriage is their ultimate goal to financially support and dependent to husband.
Also women must reject the idea that women are mindless, weepy, passive, and
helpless that needs a man to rescue them and make their life is meaningful
(Bressler, 1994: 180). Therefore, it can be said that marriage becomes a
significant course in the feminist context. It becomes a symbol of one of the
source of women’s oppression.
Friedrich Engels in The Origins of Family, Private Property and the State
(Whelehan, 1995: 46) assumes that “women independently acquire class status by
virtue of the same economic determinants as men, but also infers that all women
are proletarianized within marriage – where male power is regarded as analogues
to that of the bourgeoisie.” It is seen that marriage has made woman’s position
becoming lower than man though both may have same economic position.
Further, Engels states that family represents a capitalist system of relations in
microcosm, and it is assumed that once class is abolished, so sexual inequality
will disappear. In this way woman’s particular experience of oppression is
absorbed and obscured under a description of class antagonism, with a result that
sex oppression has in effect been invisible. (Whelehan, 1995: 47)
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18
C. Theoretical Framework
The theories which the writer has explained above are used to help the
analysis of this study. In this section, the writer would like to explain the reason
why the theories are needed and how the writer uses those theories in the analysis
of this study.
The first analysis aims to describe the main female character of The
Buccaneers. Those characters are Virginia, Annabelle, Conchita, Lizzie and
Mabel. Thus, the writer uses the theory of character by Abrams, Blair, and
Harvey, and theory of characterization by Murphy, theory of Feminism by Humm,
Whelehan and Engels. The theory of character is used to find out whether
Virginia, Annabelle, Conchita and Lizzie are main characters who are having flat
or round character. Meanwhile, the theory of characterization is used to analyze
the description of Virginia, Annabelle, Conchita, Lizzie and Mabel’s characters.
Moreover, the theory of Feminism is used to analyze the idea of Feminism
embedded on the characters of Virginia, Annabelle, Conchita, Lizzie, and Mabel.
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
Object of the Study
The object of this study is a literary work written by Edith Wharton
entitled The Buccaneers. When Edith Wharton died in 1937, she had completed
three fourths of The Buccaneers, which was published in its unfinished form the
next year. Fifty-six years later, Marion Mainwaring, who assisted R. W. B. Lewis
in researching his prize-winning biography of Wharton, completed the narrative
along lines Wharton had lived to finish it, it might have been her masterpieces. It
is hardly that, but it is a skilled and thoughtful entertainment with an
uncharacteristically romantic ending. Set in the 1870’s it deals with the clash of
cultures when Americans marry Europeans. (http://www.enotes.com/buccaneerssalem/buccaneers).
The version that the writer’s had studied published by Penguin Group, it is
published in Penguin Books in 1994. The novel consists of 359 pages, and 29
chapters. The novel talks about the daughters of three socially aspiring American
families, the St. Georges, Elmsworths, and Clossons, who are not altogether
accepted by the wealthy society of Saratoga and New York, go to England, where
their free spiritedness, beauty, and their father’s money are irresistible to
aristocrats who need an infusion of American cash to maintain their noble houses
and lands. Conchita Closson marries unhappily and takes a lover, Virginia St.
George and Lizzy Elmsworth eventually makes satisfactory marriages. The
narrative gradually focuses on the youngest of the daughters, Nan St. George
19
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20
(Annabel St. George), who marries the Duke of Tintagel in a moment of mutually
mistaken sentiment. Neither turns out to be what the other hoped for, as the new
duchess finds her constrained by the duke’s expectations. Nan finds that her true
soul mate is the intellectual Guy Thwarte, while her former English governess,
Laura Testvalley, a cousin of Dante Gabriel Rosetti, has an abortive romance with
Thwarte’s father.
The Buccaneers is about five young American women-Virginia (Jinny)
and Annabel (Nan) St. George, Conchita Closson, Lizzie and Mabel Elmsworth
who live in Saratoga, New York, Disappointed in their attempt to crash New York
society, the energetic buccaneers decide to conquer London and marry into
nobility with help from a clever governess, Laura Testvalley. Up until this part of
the story, the writer wonders that the main characters of the story are. Those five
girls and the governess Laura Testvalley seem to be the main characters since they
shop up many times. When the marriage between Nan St. George and Ushant, The
Duke of Tintagel took place, the writer realized that Nan and her governess,
Laura, are the main characters of the story since the other girls are not mentioned
as much as later in the novel. Nan is only eighteen when she marries Ushant. Nan
does not know anything concerning a duchess’s duty. In other words, she has not
found yet her own identity, not until she meets Guy Thwarte, a man she has met
before she marries Ushant, for second time. From that time on, she realizes what
she really needs and desires. Nan needs to be herself, not as Annabel Tintagel, and
she can do that only when she is with Guy, even they come from different social
backgrounds. Nan grows up in the ordinary family who does not have any nobility
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21
background, even though her father is a millionaire, while Guy grows up with the
nobility backgrounds. Their love does not affect difference backgrounds they had,
and finally, their love breaks the rule of London’s traditional society, that is filing
for a divorce from Ushant.
Approach of the Study
To have vivid conclusion of the study, the writer needs an appropriate
approach. The approach leads the writer to have a fair analysis on the topic
discussed. To understand the idea of this study, it is applied feminism approach.
Feminism approach is an approach that is different from the other
approaches that have been examined, feminist literary criticism is often a political
attack upon other modes of criticism and theory, and its social orientation moves
beyond traditional literary criticism. In its diversity feminism concerns with the
marginalization of all women, that it is, being neglected to a secondary position
(Guerin, 1979: 196).
The feminist approach guides the study to find that literature can be
functional as determines gender, some feminists stress gender differences, others
believe that entire concept of female difference is to understand the novel and the
messages especially the woman oppression in marriage issue that are reflected in
the novel through characters representation. Through the application of this
feminist approach, it can be analysed the character of the main female character in
the novel as feminist who struggle for women equality. It can also be seen that the
main female character’s attitude toward marriage represent their feminist attitude.
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That is the reason why feminism approach is thought to fit perfectly well in
analysing the novel, because it only focuses on the women advocacy to the
marginalization of women..
Method of the Study
This study is grouped into library research. Through library research the
writer can study some theories that can be useful to analyse the literary works. In
analyzing the work, the writer uses primary and secondary sources. The primary
sources is Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers itself. The writer also uses some
books which support the analysis as secondary sources, such as Murphy’s
Understanding Unseen, Guerin’s A Handbook of Critical Approaches to
Literature.
The writer applied some steps to conduct the study. The first step was that
the writer chose the novel which would be analysed in this study. Thus, after
several times of discussion with the writer’s lecturer, the writer decided to choose
Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers as the primary sources of the study.
The next step was reading and re-reading the novel. Though the novel was
very difficult to be understood, the writer still read and re-read for several times.
The writer also underlined sentences in the novel which related to the focus of the
study. In doing so, the writer really hoped that the writer could understand the
content of the novel better.
Then, the writer started to think about the topic which would be discussed
in the study. In the writer’s opinion, this was the hardest part from the procedures.
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It was because the writer had so many ideas in mind and it made the writer
difficult to decide which one to be analyzed.
The next step was that the writer collected the references which related to
the study. The references were books related to the study and criticism on the
novel. The writer also used the Internet to get information related to the study.
Then, the writer found the approach which was suitable to the study. The writer
decided to use the theory of Feminism by Maggie Humm, Imelda Whelehan, and
Friedrich Engels.
The next step was that the writer answered the questions in the problem
formulation. First, the writer described the characters of Conchita Closson,
Virginia St. George, Annabel (Nan) St. George, Lizzy Elmsworth and Mabel
Elsmworth. The descriptions of these characters helped the writer in answering
the second question in the problem formulation, which was to describe the idea of
Feminism.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
Based on the problem formulation, the writer analyzes the description of
the main female characters in Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers. Those main
female characters are Virginia St. George, Annabel St. George, Conchita
Clossons, Lizzy Elmsworth, and Mabel Elmsworth. After analyzing the
description of the main female characters, the writer discusses the idea of
Feminism as reflected by the five main female characters.
A. Description of Main Female Characters
1. Virginia St. George
Virginia St. George is self-confidence, and clever. Below are the
discussions of her character.
a. Self Confidence
Virginia St. George is a beautiful young girl. Her beauty is reflected in the
novel as follows: ‘As regards hair and complexion, there could be no doubt;
Virginia, all rose and pearl, with sheaves of full fair hair heaped above her low
forehead, was as pure and luminous as an apple blossom.’ (p. 7). The citation
shows Virginia’s kind of beauty. Her beauty is described like a worthy pearl and it
is pure and luminous like an apple blossom. Her beauty makes her mother, Mrs.
St. George, feels proud. It is seen in from her thought of comparing her neighbor’s
daughter with Virginia; ‘Week after week, day after day, the anxious mother had
gone over Miss Elmsworth’s points, comparing them one by one with Virginia’s.’
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(p. 7). Mrs. St. George thought on comparing Virginia physical attribute with
other young girls results Virginia as the most beautiful girl in the area.
The other thought of Virginia’s beauty is coming from Virginia’s own
sister, Annabel St. George’s thought. It is seen from the novel that; ‘Nan St.
George (Annabel St. George), at sixteen, was at the culminating phase of a
passionate admiration for her elder sister. Virginia was all that her junior longed
to be: perfectly beautiful, …’ (p. 10). Above shows that Annabel St. George is
admiring Virginia, she wants to be like Virginia whom she thinks as perfectly
beautiful.
Virginia St. George has a high self-confidence. She is able to cope all
problems she has faced with her self-confidence. Even when she has to talk with
Lord Brightlingsea who is everybody known as a high temper person. Her selfconfidence is seen when she introduces herself and her sister, Annabel. It is seen
as follows. “You’re Lord Brightlingsea, aren’t you? I’m Miss St. George, and this
is my sister Annabel,” the young lady said, in a tone that was fearless without
being familiar. (p. 128). Above shows Virginia’s fearless introduction to Lord
Brightlingsea. She has already heard about Lord Brightlingsea before.
Other opinion that Virginia St. George is having self-confidence character
is coming from Annabel St. George. It is said in the novel that; ‘… in spite of her
sense of Virginia’s superiority – her beauty, her ease, her self-confidence – Nan
sometimes felt a shamefaced pity for her.” (p. 132).
b. Clever
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Virginia St. George is clever. Her cleverness brings her success to marry
Lord Seadown. When in fact she has a rivalry, her rival is Lizzy Elmsworth. Lord
Seadown is charmed with t