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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly
speaking, “literature” used to describe anything from creative writing to more
technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to
works of the creative imagination, including works or poetry, drama, fiction and
non-fiction. Taylor (1981:1) states, “Literature, like the other arts, is essentially an
imaginative act of the writer’s imagination in selecting, ordering, and interpreting
life-experience”.
One of the most phenomenal literary works is play. A play is a form of
literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between
characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. According
to Wikipedia (the free Encyclopedia, internet research), plays are performed at a
variety of levels, from Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theater, to Community
theatre, as well as University or school productions.
Play is general and the subject of tragedy, comedy, and also social
problems. One of the social issues that are often discussed in a play is gender
equality. Some of plays that discuss gender issues are The Glass Menagerie, My
Antonia and Riders to the Sea.
In this paper, the writer wants to discuss about the gender equality in John
Mellington’s Riders to the Sea. This drama was written in 1904, and performed in
a play on February 25th 1904. The play is centered on the theme of family starting
with the mother of Cathleen and Nora, who is proud of her son, Bartley, rather
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finally, her daughters successfully make her proud. This play raises questions of
duty and responsibility to your other family members, and for the most part in
gender specific roles.
Gender is a social construction with important consequences in everybody
life. Social role theory proposes that the social structure is the underlying force for
the gender differences. Social role theory proposes that the sex-differentiated
behavior is driven by the division of labor between two sexes within a society.
Division of labor creates gender roles, which in turn, lead to gendered social
behavior.
Gender equality is the state in which access to rights or opportunities is
unaffected by gender. It refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and
opportunities women and men and girls and boys. Gender equality is not a
woman’s issue but should concern and fully men as well as women. Equality
between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a
precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people – centered development.
Based on the description above, the writer feels interested to make a paper
entitled A Description of Gender Found in John Mellington’s Play Riders to
the Sea.
1.2 Problems of the Study
1. What is gender role issue found in John Mellington’s play Riders to the
Sea?
2. What is gender stratification issue found in John Mellington’s play
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3. What is gender equality issue found in John Mellington’s play Riders to
the Sea?
1.3 Scope of the Study
The scope of this paper is gender role, gender stratification and gender
equality. The portrayal of the gender issues is based on interpretation of the text in
the form of selected quotations.
1.4 The Purposes of Study
The purpose of the study are :
1. To explain gender role as expressed in John Mellington’s play Riders to
the Sea.
2. To describe gender stratification in John Mellington’s play Riders to the
Sea.
3. To describe gender equality in John Mellington’s play Riders to the Sea.
1.5 Method of the Study
Since this research is focused on documented data, the research is better
known as library research. The writer will use the method of descriptive
qualitative. According to Gall (1996:28), descriptive qualitative research is used
to describe the situation or phenomenon being studied, and to conduct the aim of
description and researches may follow-up with examinations of the observation
and implications. The method of analysis is descriptive qualitative in terms of
describing the intrinsic elements as portrayed in the play Riders to the sea by John
Mellington. The writer collects some data to support the analysis, finding the
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research to the main data source which is the playscript of Riders to the Sea.
Besides, the writer also uses internet to search more information to support this
paper.
The writer of this paper will follow some procedures of the analysis. The
writer has two steps in writing this paper. First, the writer reads the script
repeatedly to make her understand about the story. And then, the writer will
collect all the key words and data and do the analysis. Then, the writer to find out
the meaning of gender equality and make the description in the play Riders to the
Sea by John Mellington’s. The last, the writer will browse data from internet to
look for the compliment sources and also to know the biography of the writer, and
then the writer make interpretation and analysis before coming to the conclusions
5 1.5.1 Chart of the Method of Research
To make the readers understand about it, the writer makes a chart of the
method of the study. Look at the chart below:
RESULT
Sources of data
1. Drama Riders to the Sea by
John Mellington
2. Some books: literary book 3. Internet
Read the drama text, classified the data and analyze.
Researcher
Conclusion
Method:
Descriptive Qualitatif
Select the text –
Interpreting - Analyzing
