Portrayal of The Protagonists in Carolly Erickson's 'The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette' and Kathryn Harrison's 'A Thousand Orange Trees'.
ABSTRACT
Dalam skripsi ini saya akan menganalisis sifat tokoh utama dari dua novel
yang berjudul The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette oleh Carolly Erickson dan A
Thousand Orange Trees oleh Kathryn Harrison. Masing-masing novel bertutur
tentang ratu yang menikah karena perjodohan dengan tujuan politis. Pernikahan
tersebut menyebabkan mereka pindah ke negara yang baru karena suami mereka
adalah putra mahkota dari negara lain. Mereka hidup di abad yang berbeda sehingga
menimbulkan reaksi berbeda ketika dihadapkan kepada berbagai masalah dalam
situasi yang baru.
Marie Antoinette, tokoh utama di The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette,
digambarkan mempunyai kehidupan yang mewah tetapi ia mempunyai sisi gelap
dalam hidupnya. Selain itu, novel ini menggunakan sudut pandang orang pertama
dalam bentuk buku harian untuk menceritakan kehidupan pribadi Marie Antoinette.
Tokoh utama dalam A Thousand Orange Trees, Maria Luisa, adalah seseorang
yang penurut tetapi dalam keadaan terpaksa ia menjadi orang yang cerdik dalam
menghadapi masalahnya. Novel ini disajikan dengan menggunakan sudut pandang
orang ketiga.
Dalam penulisan kedua novel tersebut, pengarang ingin menunjukkan sisi
manusiawi dari masing-masing tokoh utama. Pengarang juga menunjukkan bahwa
kekayaan dan kekuasaan bukan kunci utama dari kebahagiaan.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Method of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Organization of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CHAPTER TWO: PORTRAYAL OF THE PROTAGONIST
IN THE HIDDEN DIARY OF MARIE ANTOINETTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
CHAPTER THREE: PORTRAYAL OF THE PROTAGONIST
IN A THOUSAND ORANGE TREES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Synopsis of A Thousand Orange Trees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Biography of Carolly Erickson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Biography of Kathryn Harrison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
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APPENDICES
Synopsis of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette writes a diary which tells about her life. She is an
archduchess of Austria and becomes the queen of France because she is married to
King Louis XVI, King of France. Their marriage is arranged because of political
reasons, so there is no love between them. Because of that, Marie has an affair with
two men, Eric, her horse’s groom and Count Axel Fersen, a Swedish man.
As a queen, Marie Antoinette wishes to have an heir as soon as possible. For a
long time, there is no baby in their marriage as King Louis never touches her. Of
course in this case, Marie Antoinette is blamed by the society, although it is not her
fault but her husband’s. But finally King Louis wants to make love with Marie
Antoinette. Later, a baby girl is born. After that she gives birth to a baby boy.
Everybody worships him as if he were a god because one day he will be a successor
to the throne. However, the baby is weak and he dies in the end. It makes Marie feel
sorrowful. Soon, she is pregnant again and has a son, a healthy boy.
Marie Antoinette is blamed by the society because she spends a great amount
of money to buy personal necessities and she even spends people’s money. Later, she
realizes that it is not right to spend a lot of money. She begins to lessen her money
32
spending, but she is still blamed and chased by society. In the end, she is caught and
sentenced to death under the blade of guillotines.
Synopsis of A Thousand Orange Trees
The novel tells about the lives of two women, who are born on the same day,
but they have very different backgrounds, and they do not know each other. They are
Marie Louise de Bourbon, a niece of King Louis XIV and Francisca de Luarca, the
daughter of a Castilian silk grower.
Marie Louise is a princess from Paris who is put into an arranged marriage to
King Carlos, King of Spain. After her arrival in Spain, her name is changed into
Maria Luisa. She seems to lose her freedom after her marriage to King Carlos. Every
single aspect of her life is dictated, such as the food that she eats daily, her hair
arrangement, and the dress that she has to wear. She becomes more depressed when
she finds out that actually her husband, King Carlos is impotent. This fact really
makes her feel more frustrated because as a queen, one of her jobs is to produce an
heir, which she cannot fulfill due to her husband’s impotence. Because of that, she is
blamed by the society. Moreover, her mother-in-law really hates her. Maria feels
alone and miserable in Spain. She misses everything in France. She always wants to
come home and dreams about a thousand orange trees that grow in Versailles. After
her long struggle in Spain, at last, she is poisoned by her mother-in-law and dies.
Francisca de Luarca also experiences almost the same thing with Maria Luisa.
She is imprisoned because she falls in love with a young priest. The difference is that
Francisca is put in a real prison, while Maria Luisa is imprisoned in a palace.
33
Biography of Carolly Erickson
Carolly Erickson was born in 1943. She lives in Hawaii. She is a historical
fiction and nonfiction author. Even when she was still an undergraduate, she had a
feeling that she would be a historical writer. She received her double B.A. degree
from the University of Washington in 1963. In 1969, she had her history doctorate, a
Ph.D. in medieval history from Columbia University. It has led Erickson to a sixyear experience as a professor in a college, then as a full-time writer. Erickson
mainly writes biographies of famous people in European history. She has also taught
history for several years. She is also a distinguished historical biographer and author
of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, and several other historical books, as well
as many other prize-winning fiction and nonfiction books.
Her novels include The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette (2005), The Last Wife
of Henry VIII (2006), and The Tsarina's Daughter (2008), while her non-fiction
works include Alexandra: The Last Tsarina (2001), The Girl from Botany Bay
(2004) and Brief Lives of the English Monarchs (2007).
Sources: “Carolly Erickson (Cyclopedia of World Author)”
“Carolly Erickson, Macmillan.”
“Carolly Erickson, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.”
“To the Scaffold: The Life of Marie Antoinette (Biography)
34
Biography of Kathryn Harrison
Kathryn Harrison is an American author who was born in Los Angeles,
California on March 20, 1961. She is raised in Los Angeles by her maternal
grandparents. After getting married, she lives in New York with her husband, the
novelist and book editor Colin Harrison, whom she met in 1985 when they were
registered in the Writers' Workshop. They have three children, who were born in
1990, 1992, and 2000.
Harrison received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Art History from
Stanford University in 1982. Later, she graduated from the University of Iowa's
Writers' Workshop in 1987 with a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Harrison has published six novels, three memoirs, a travelogue, a biography,
and a book of true crime. She frequently publishes reviews in The New York Times
Book Review. She also wrote her personal essays, which appeared in Harper’s
Magazine, More Magazine, The New Yorker, O Magazine , and Vogue
She wrote a triangulation that involved her father, her mother, and herself in
the memoir The Kiss (1997), which persisted for four years and is reflected in the
plots and themes of her first three novels, published before The Kiss. While much of
her works, the essays collected in Seeking Rapture: Scenes From a Life (2003); a
second memoir, The Mother Knot (2004); and The Kiss (1997) documents her
tormented relationship with her mother, who died in 1985, she has also written
comprehensively of her maternal grandparents, both in her personal essays and in
fictionalized form, in her novels, The Binding Chair (2002) and The Seal Wife
(2002).
Source: “Kathryn Harrison”
35
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The life of a queen is not so easy as what people have in mind. Most people
deem that a queen undergoes a peaceful, happy and beautiful life. However, a queen is
also a human being who has problems like an ordinary person, even though she is rich
and has a high position in a country. Her life is not far from temptations and problems
which are also encountered by common people. Moreover, some of them even have to
experience an arranged marriage.
Arranged marriage is “a marriage arranged by someone other than the couple
getting wedded, curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had
deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world, including Europe”
(“Arranged Marriage”). Arranged marriage in a royal and aristocratic family is often
done as a political marriage. Its purpose is for political interest, which involves two
countries and will bring benefits for both countries. An arranged marriage is usually
done between a man and a woman who have a high position in the country. Since the
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couple’s marriage is arranged, it is possible that there is no love between them
because they never meet each other until they get married.
I find that there are two novels which discuss about the human side of a queen.
Both queens in the novels also experience a political marriage. The marriage causes
them to move to other countries, because their husbands are crown princes of the other
countries. They also have to face their problems there. The issue can be found in
Carolly Erickson’s The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and Kathryn Harrison’s A
Thousand Orange Trees.
Carolly Erickson is an American author of the twentieth century. Most of
Erickson’s novels are historical novels. The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette is one
example. It tells about Marie Antoinette, the archduchess of Austria. Marie
Antoinette, the protagonist of the novel, is married to Louis, the crown prince of
France. Marie always writes about her life in her diary; thus, I can learn about her
private life through her writings since the novel is written in a form of a diary.
I will also analyse Kathryn Harrison’s novel, entitled A Thousand Orange
Trees. “Harrison is a twentieth century American author who is completely at ease
with the historical material” (Davis). Harrison creates a protagonist, Maria Luisa. She
is a princess of France who is married to Carlos, the crown prince of Spain. Maria
experiences a lot of hardships in her marriage.
The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and A Thousand Orange Trees deliver
the same idea about a queen who shows not only her positive sides but also her
negative ones, so I choose to analyse the protagonists in both novels. A protagonist is
“the leading character of a drama, novel, or other literary work…a person is not
always the hero of a work, but he is always the principal and central character” (Shaw
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305). Both protagonists get married to the crown princes of other countries, move
abroad because of their marriage and they have to deal with a rigid set of new rules in
the new countries.
Despite the similar issue, both protagonists are actually rather different from
each other. Marie Antoinette in The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette lives in the
eighteenth century. She comes from Vienna and moves to France and she is fourteen
years old when she is married to Louis. While Maria Luisa, who is the protagonist in
A Thousand Orange Trees, lives in the seventeenth century. She moves to Spain from
France and she is eighteen years old when she is married to Carlos. The two
protagonists react differently to the oppressive rules and situation in the new
countries. These will help me analyse the portrayal of both protagonists.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The statements of the problem are as follows:
1. How are the protagonists portrayed in both novels?
2. What are the purposes of the authors in portraying such characters?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Based on the statement of the problems above, this study is done:
1.
To show how the protagonists are portrayed in both novels.
2.
To reveal the purposes of the authors in portraying such characters.
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METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method of this research is library research. I read Carolly Erickson’s The
Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and Kathryn Harrison’s A Thousand Oranges Trees
as primary texts. I also read several reference books and find some references and
information from the Internet. Then, I analyse the novels and draw some conclusion of
my analysis.
ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
This thesis is divided into four chapters, preceded by the Acknowledgements,
the Table of Contents, and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction. Chapter Two
is the Portrayal of the Protagonist in The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, followed
by Chapter Three, which is the Portrayal of the Protagonist in A Thousand Orange
Trees. I will conclude my analysis in Chapter Four, which is the Conclusion. The thesis
ends with the Bibliography and the Appendices, which consist of the synopsis of the
novels and the biography of the authors.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After analysing Carolly Erickson’s The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
and Kathryn Harrison’s A Thousand Orange Trees, I will end my analysis by
comparing the two of them. This conclusion consists of the similarities and
differences of the two novels. Both novels talk about a queen who acts as the
protagonist of each novel. The two of them, Marie Antoinette and Maria Luisa,
experience political marriage. This political marriage causes both of them to move to
different countries. Both authors, Erickson and Harrison, want to show the human
side of Marie and Maria. The authors also want to say that wealth and power cannot
guarantee a queen to be happy as both queens undergo difficult situations, in which
they have to adapt and struggle.
The author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, Erickson wants to show
the human aspect of Marie Antoinette, as well as the dark side of her. She is still a
human being who has flaws and strong sexual desire in her life. Erickson reveals
Marie’s characteristic through her reaction. One of the examples is when she
commits adultery with two men, Axel and Eric; Marie faces a difficult situation as
her husband, Louis, never sleeps with her.
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Since the novel is written in the form of a diary, which is in the first person
point of view, the readers will know exactly Marie’s true personal feelings, as it is
written by the first hand source. Therefore, there is no gap between the readers and
the characters in the novel, in this case Marie Antoinette, who is the protagonist and
the narrator of the diary in the novel.
Kathryn Harrison, the author of A Thousand Orange Trees, presents Maria
Luisa as a queen who suffers. As a queen, she is presented to lead an oppressive and
monotonous life. One of the examples is when Maria is not allowed to do things that
she likes. She lives in a cheerful and colorful life in France; on the other hand, she
feels oppressed when she moves to Spain. Besides, Maria’s life as a queen is not as
glamorous as what people think about a queen in general. This proves that Harrison
wants to show the human side of Maria Luisa.
One of the similarities is the characteristics of the protagonists in both novels
are told in indirect presentation. This means both authors show the readers about the
protagonist’s characteristic indirectly through their reaction, their speech and their
thought.
Another similarity is that both Marie Antoinette and Maria Luisa are round
characters. Marie is presented as a complex character seen from her positive traits
namely rebellious, brave and caring, and negative traits namely unfaithful and
extravagant. Maria Luisa is also a complex character. She is presented as a
submissive and melancholic person. However, when forced by oppressive situation,
she becomes sly.
Nevertheless, Marie Antoinette is a dynamic character that undergoes a
change in some aspect of her characteristics. Her extravagant characteristic changes
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gradually and becomes not as extravagant as she was. Different from Marie
Antoinette, Maria Luisa is a static character. I notice that her true characteristics do
not truly change as basically she remains submissive. This is the first difference
between Marie Antoinette and Maria Luisa.
The second difference is seen in Marie Antoinette’s and Maria Luisa’s
characteristics and their actions in facing their problems. Both queens have opposite
characteristics. This can be seen when they face their problems. Marie Antoinette
does not really care about the social norm. She does things that she considers good
for herself as she appreciates herself as an individual. She dares to oppose not only
her mother-in-law but also morality by committing adultery. Marie Antoinette is
portrayed as a rebellious queen. When Marie breaks the rules by visiting her ill
sister, the author, Erickson, shows the reader that Marie is not only a rebellious
person but also a caring sister. Marie is also portrayed as a brave woman. She is first
known as an extravagant queen, but at the end of the story she realizes that she
cannot live in spree and changes her attitude gradually and becomes not as
extravagant as she used to be. On the other hand, Maria Luisa is a submissive queen
who does not dare to oppose the social norm. She just accepts and obeys it, although
she has sly ideas because she is under pressure. She does not dare to be against her
mother-in-law, either. She is also portrayed as a melancholic person. Even though
she is a sly woman, she seldom uses her cleverness to solve her problems because
she is oppressed by the rules. She is tied by the rules so she gradually becomes more
and more submissive and abandons her intelligence.
The difference is also found in Erickson’s and Harrison’s way of writing both
novels. In The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, the author uses first person point
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of view which means there is no gap between the reader and the narrator, who is
Marie Antoinette, as the novel is written in the form of a diary. While in A Thousand
Orange Trees, the author, Harrison, uses third person point of view.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
References:
Hornby, A.S., A.P. Cowie, and A.C. Gimson. Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary
of Current English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974.
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, inc.,
1959.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company, 1972.
Internet Websites:
“Arranged Marriage.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2010. 22 Feb 2010.
“Carolly Erickson (Cyclopedia of World Author).” eNotes.com. 2009. 26 Aug 2009.
“Carolly Erickson.” Macmillan. 2008. 16 May 2009.
“Carolly Erickson.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2009. 7 May 2009.
“Corset.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2010. 25 Aug 2010.
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corset>
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Davis, Holly. “Kathryn Harrison, A Thousand Orange Trees. (Fourth Estate, 1995).
Reviewed by Holly Davis.” 1997. 17 Aug 2009.
“Kathryn Harrison.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2009. 7 May 2009.
Oliver, Kathy E. “Body Shaping Corsets.” EzineArticles.com. 2010. 14 Jan 2011.
“To the Scaffold: The Life of Marie Antoinette.” Barnes&Noble. 2004. 23 Aug
2009.
Primary Texts:
Erickson, Carolly. The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette. New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 2005.
Harrison, Kathryn. A Thousand Orange Trees. London: Fourth Estate, 1995.
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Maranatha Christian University
Dalam skripsi ini saya akan menganalisis sifat tokoh utama dari dua novel
yang berjudul The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette oleh Carolly Erickson dan A
Thousand Orange Trees oleh Kathryn Harrison. Masing-masing novel bertutur
tentang ratu yang menikah karena perjodohan dengan tujuan politis. Pernikahan
tersebut menyebabkan mereka pindah ke negara yang baru karena suami mereka
adalah putra mahkota dari negara lain. Mereka hidup di abad yang berbeda sehingga
menimbulkan reaksi berbeda ketika dihadapkan kepada berbagai masalah dalam
situasi yang baru.
Marie Antoinette, tokoh utama di The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette,
digambarkan mempunyai kehidupan yang mewah tetapi ia mempunyai sisi gelap
dalam hidupnya. Selain itu, novel ini menggunakan sudut pandang orang pertama
dalam bentuk buku harian untuk menceritakan kehidupan pribadi Marie Antoinette.
Tokoh utama dalam A Thousand Orange Trees, Maria Luisa, adalah seseorang
yang penurut tetapi dalam keadaan terpaksa ia menjadi orang yang cerdik dalam
menghadapi masalahnya. Novel ini disajikan dengan menggunakan sudut pandang
orang ketiga.
Dalam penulisan kedua novel tersebut, pengarang ingin menunjukkan sisi
manusiawi dari masing-masing tokoh utama. Pengarang juga menunjukkan bahwa
kekayaan dan kekuasaan bukan kunci utama dari kebahagiaan.
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Method of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Organization of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CHAPTER TWO: PORTRAYAL OF THE PROTAGONIST
IN THE HIDDEN DIARY OF MARIE ANTOINETTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
CHAPTER THREE: PORTRAYAL OF THE PROTAGONIST
IN A THOUSAND ORANGE TREES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Synopsis of A Thousand Orange Trees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Biography of Carolly Erickson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Biography of Kathryn Harrison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
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APPENDICES
Synopsis of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette writes a diary which tells about her life. She is an
archduchess of Austria and becomes the queen of France because she is married to
King Louis XVI, King of France. Their marriage is arranged because of political
reasons, so there is no love between them. Because of that, Marie has an affair with
two men, Eric, her horse’s groom and Count Axel Fersen, a Swedish man.
As a queen, Marie Antoinette wishes to have an heir as soon as possible. For a
long time, there is no baby in their marriage as King Louis never touches her. Of
course in this case, Marie Antoinette is blamed by the society, although it is not her
fault but her husband’s. But finally King Louis wants to make love with Marie
Antoinette. Later, a baby girl is born. After that she gives birth to a baby boy.
Everybody worships him as if he were a god because one day he will be a successor
to the throne. However, the baby is weak and he dies in the end. It makes Marie feel
sorrowful. Soon, she is pregnant again and has a son, a healthy boy.
Marie Antoinette is blamed by the society because she spends a great amount
of money to buy personal necessities and she even spends people’s money. Later, she
realizes that it is not right to spend a lot of money. She begins to lessen her money
32
spending, but she is still blamed and chased by society. In the end, she is caught and
sentenced to death under the blade of guillotines.
Synopsis of A Thousand Orange Trees
The novel tells about the lives of two women, who are born on the same day,
but they have very different backgrounds, and they do not know each other. They are
Marie Louise de Bourbon, a niece of King Louis XIV and Francisca de Luarca, the
daughter of a Castilian silk grower.
Marie Louise is a princess from Paris who is put into an arranged marriage to
King Carlos, King of Spain. After her arrival in Spain, her name is changed into
Maria Luisa. She seems to lose her freedom after her marriage to King Carlos. Every
single aspect of her life is dictated, such as the food that she eats daily, her hair
arrangement, and the dress that she has to wear. She becomes more depressed when
she finds out that actually her husband, King Carlos is impotent. This fact really
makes her feel more frustrated because as a queen, one of her jobs is to produce an
heir, which she cannot fulfill due to her husband’s impotence. Because of that, she is
blamed by the society. Moreover, her mother-in-law really hates her. Maria feels
alone and miserable in Spain. She misses everything in France. She always wants to
come home and dreams about a thousand orange trees that grow in Versailles. After
her long struggle in Spain, at last, she is poisoned by her mother-in-law and dies.
Francisca de Luarca also experiences almost the same thing with Maria Luisa.
She is imprisoned because she falls in love with a young priest. The difference is that
Francisca is put in a real prison, while Maria Luisa is imprisoned in a palace.
33
Biography of Carolly Erickson
Carolly Erickson was born in 1943. She lives in Hawaii. She is a historical
fiction and nonfiction author. Even when she was still an undergraduate, she had a
feeling that she would be a historical writer. She received her double B.A. degree
from the University of Washington in 1963. In 1969, she had her history doctorate, a
Ph.D. in medieval history from Columbia University. It has led Erickson to a sixyear experience as a professor in a college, then as a full-time writer. Erickson
mainly writes biographies of famous people in European history. She has also taught
history for several years. She is also a distinguished historical biographer and author
of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, and several other historical books, as well
as many other prize-winning fiction and nonfiction books.
Her novels include The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette (2005), The Last Wife
of Henry VIII (2006), and The Tsarina's Daughter (2008), while her non-fiction
works include Alexandra: The Last Tsarina (2001), The Girl from Botany Bay
(2004) and Brief Lives of the English Monarchs (2007).
Sources: “Carolly Erickson (Cyclopedia of World Author)”
“Carolly Erickson, Macmillan.”
“Carolly Erickson, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.”
“To the Scaffold: The Life of Marie Antoinette (Biography)
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Biography of Kathryn Harrison
Kathryn Harrison is an American author who was born in Los Angeles,
California on March 20, 1961. She is raised in Los Angeles by her maternal
grandparents. After getting married, she lives in New York with her husband, the
novelist and book editor Colin Harrison, whom she met in 1985 when they were
registered in the Writers' Workshop. They have three children, who were born in
1990, 1992, and 2000.
Harrison received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Art History from
Stanford University in 1982. Later, she graduated from the University of Iowa's
Writers' Workshop in 1987 with a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Harrison has published six novels, three memoirs, a travelogue, a biography,
and a book of true crime. She frequently publishes reviews in The New York Times
Book Review. She also wrote her personal essays, which appeared in Harper’s
Magazine, More Magazine, The New Yorker, O Magazine , and Vogue
She wrote a triangulation that involved her father, her mother, and herself in
the memoir The Kiss (1997), which persisted for four years and is reflected in the
plots and themes of her first three novels, published before The Kiss. While much of
her works, the essays collected in Seeking Rapture: Scenes From a Life (2003); a
second memoir, The Mother Knot (2004); and The Kiss (1997) documents her
tormented relationship with her mother, who died in 1985, she has also written
comprehensively of her maternal grandparents, both in her personal essays and in
fictionalized form, in her novels, The Binding Chair (2002) and The Seal Wife
(2002).
Source: “Kathryn Harrison”
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The life of a queen is not so easy as what people have in mind. Most people
deem that a queen undergoes a peaceful, happy and beautiful life. However, a queen is
also a human being who has problems like an ordinary person, even though she is rich
and has a high position in a country. Her life is not far from temptations and problems
which are also encountered by common people. Moreover, some of them even have to
experience an arranged marriage.
Arranged marriage is “a marriage arranged by someone other than the couple
getting wedded, curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had
deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world, including Europe”
(“Arranged Marriage”). Arranged marriage in a royal and aristocratic family is often
done as a political marriage. Its purpose is for political interest, which involves two
countries and will bring benefits for both countries. An arranged marriage is usually
done between a man and a woman who have a high position in the country. Since the
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couple’s marriage is arranged, it is possible that there is no love between them
because they never meet each other until they get married.
I find that there are two novels which discuss about the human side of a queen.
Both queens in the novels also experience a political marriage. The marriage causes
them to move to other countries, because their husbands are crown princes of the other
countries. They also have to face their problems there. The issue can be found in
Carolly Erickson’s The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and Kathryn Harrison’s A
Thousand Orange Trees.
Carolly Erickson is an American author of the twentieth century. Most of
Erickson’s novels are historical novels. The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette is one
example. It tells about Marie Antoinette, the archduchess of Austria. Marie
Antoinette, the protagonist of the novel, is married to Louis, the crown prince of
France. Marie always writes about her life in her diary; thus, I can learn about her
private life through her writings since the novel is written in a form of a diary.
I will also analyse Kathryn Harrison’s novel, entitled A Thousand Orange
Trees. “Harrison is a twentieth century American author who is completely at ease
with the historical material” (Davis). Harrison creates a protagonist, Maria Luisa. She
is a princess of France who is married to Carlos, the crown prince of Spain. Maria
experiences a lot of hardships in her marriage.
The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and A Thousand Orange Trees deliver
the same idea about a queen who shows not only her positive sides but also her
negative ones, so I choose to analyse the protagonists in both novels. A protagonist is
“the leading character of a drama, novel, or other literary work…a person is not
always the hero of a work, but he is always the principal and central character” (Shaw
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305). Both protagonists get married to the crown princes of other countries, move
abroad because of their marriage and they have to deal with a rigid set of new rules in
the new countries.
Despite the similar issue, both protagonists are actually rather different from
each other. Marie Antoinette in The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette lives in the
eighteenth century. She comes from Vienna and moves to France and she is fourteen
years old when she is married to Louis. While Maria Luisa, who is the protagonist in
A Thousand Orange Trees, lives in the seventeenth century. She moves to Spain from
France and she is eighteen years old when she is married to Carlos. The two
protagonists react differently to the oppressive rules and situation in the new
countries. These will help me analyse the portrayal of both protagonists.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The statements of the problem are as follows:
1. How are the protagonists portrayed in both novels?
2. What are the purposes of the authors in portraying such characters?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Based on the statement of the problems above, this study is done:
1.
To show how the protagonists are portrayed in both novels.
2.
To reveal the purposes of the authors in portraying such characters.
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METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method of this research is library research. I read Carolly Erickson’s The
Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and Kathryn Harrison’s A Thousand Oranges Trees
as primary texts. I also read several reference books and find some references and
information from the Internet. Then, I analyse the novels and draw some conclusion of
my analysis.
ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
This thesis is divided into four chapters, preceded by the Acknowledgements,
the Table of Contents, and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction. Chapter Two
is the Portrayal of the Protagonist in The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, followed
by Chapter Three, which is the Portrayal of the Protagonist in A Thousand Orange
Trees. I will conclude my analysis in Chapter Four, which is the Conclusion. The thesis
ends with the Bibliography and the Appendices, which consist of the synopsis of the
novels and the biography of the authors.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After analysing Carolly Erickson’s The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
and Kathryn Harrison’s A Thousand Orange Trees, I will end my analysis by
comparing the two of them. This conclusion consists of the similarities and
differences of the two novels. Both novels talk about a queen who acts as the
protagonist of each novel. The two of them, Marie Antoinette and Maria Luisa,
experience political marriage. This political marriage causes both of them to move to
different countries. Both authors, Erickson and Harrison, want to show the human
side of Marie and Maria. The authors also want to say that wealth and power cannot
guarantee a queen to be happy as both queens undergo difficult situations, in which
they have to adapt and struggle.
The author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, Erickson wants to show
the human aspect of Marie Antoinette, as well as the dark side of her. She is still a
human being who has flaws and strong sexual desire in her life. Erickson reveals
Marie’s characteristic through her reaction. One of the examples is when she
commits adultery with two men, Axel and Eric; Marie faces a difficult situation as
her husband, Louis, never sleeps with her.
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Since the novel is written in the form of a diary, which is in the first person
point of view, the readers will know exactly Marie’s true personal feelings, as it is
written by the first hand source. Therefore, there is no gap between the readers and
the characters in the novel, in this case Marie Antoinette, who is the protagonist and
the narrator of the diary in the novel.
Kathryn Harrison, the author of A Thousand Orange Trees, presents Maria
Luisa as a queen who suffers. As a queen, she is presented to lead an oppressive and
monotonous life. One of the examples is when Maria is not allowed to do things that
she likes. She lives in a cheerful and colorful life in France; on the other hand, she
feels oppressed when she moves to Spain. Besides, Maria’s life as a queen is not as
glamorous as what people think about a queen in general. This proves that Harrison
wants to show the human side of Maria Luisa.
One of the similarities is the characteristics of the protagonists in both novels
are told in indirect presentation. This means both authors show the readers about the
protagonist’s characteristic indirectly through their reaction, their speech and their
thought.
Another similarity is that both Marie Antoinette and Maria Luisa are round
characters. Marie is presented as a complex character seen from her positive traits
namely rebellious, brave and caring, and negative traits namely unfaithful and
extravagant. Maria Luisa is also a complex character. She is presented as a
submissive and melancholic person. However, when forced by oppressive situation,
she becomes sly.
Nevertheless, Marie Antoinette is a dynamic character that undergoes a
change in some aspect of her characteristics. Her extravagant characteristic changes
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gradually and becomes not as extravagant as she was. Different from Marie
Antoinette, Maria Luisa is a static character. I notice that her true characteristics do
not truly change as basically she remains submissive. This is the first difference
between Marie Antoinette and Maria Luisa.
The second difference is seen in Marie Antoinette’s and Maria Luisa’s
characteristics and their actions in facing their problems. Both queens have opposite
characteristics. This can be seen when they face their problems. Marie Antoinette
does not really care about the social norm. She does things that she considers good
for herself as she appreciates herself as an individual. She dares to oppose not only
her mother-in-law but also morality by committing adultery. Marie Antoinette is
portrayed as a rebellious queen. When Marie breaks the rules by visiting her ill
sister, the author, Erickson, shows the reader that Marie is not only a rebellious
person but also a caring sister. Marie is also portrayed as a brave woman. She is first
known as an extravagant queen, but at the end of the story she realizes that she
cannot live in spree and changes her attitude gradually and becomes not as
extravagant as she used to be. On the other hand, Maria Luisa is a submissive queen
who does not dare to oppose the social norm. She just accepts and obeys it, although
she has sly ideas because she is under pressure. She does not dare to be against her
mother-in-law, either. She is also portrayed as a melancholic person. Even though
she is a sly woman, she seldom uses her cleverness to solve her problems because
she is oppressed by the rules. She is tied by the rules so she gradually becomes more
and more submissive and abandons her intelligence.
The difference is also found in Erickson’s and Harrison’s way of writing both
novels. In The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, the author uses first person point
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of view which means there is no gap between the reader and the narrator, who is
Marie Antoinette, as the novel is written in the form of a diary. While in A Thousand
Orange Trees, the author, Harrison, uses third person point of view.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
References:
Hornby, A.S., A.P. Cowie, and A.C. Gimson. Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary
of Current English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974.
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, inc.,
1959.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company, 1972.
Internet Websites:
“Arranged Marriage.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2010. 22 Feb 2010.
“Carolly Erickson (Cyclopedia of World Author).” eNotes.com. 2009. 26 Aug 2009.
“Carolly Erickson.” Macmillan. 2008. 16 May 2009.
“Carolly Erickson.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2009. 7 May 2009.
“Corset.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2010. 25 Aug 2010.
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corset>
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Davis, Holly. “Kathryn Harrison, A Thousand Orange Trees. (Fourth Estate, 1995).
Reviewed by Holly Davis.” 1997. 17 Aug 2009.
“Kathryn Harrison.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2009. 7 May 2009.
Oliver, Kathy E. “Body Shaping Corsets.” EzineArticles.com. 2010. 14 Jan 2011.
“To the Scaffold: The Life of Marie Antoinette.” Barnes&Noble. 2004. 23 Aug
2009.
Primary Texts:
Erickson, Carolly. The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette. New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 2005.
Harrison, Kathryn. A Thousand Orange Trees. London: Fourth Estate, 1995.
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