MICHAEL AS A MODERN TRAGIC HERO OF
WORDSWORTH’S “MICHAEL”: AN APPLICATION OF THE
THEORY OF MODERN TRAGEDY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
COSMAS ANDY IRIANTO BROTO Student Number: 034214049
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
MICHAEL AS A MODERN TRAGIC HERO OF
WORDSWORTH’S “MICHAEL”: AN APPLICATION OF THE
THEORY OF MODERN TRAGEDY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
COSMAS ANDY IRIANTO BROTO Student Number: 034214049
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2008
EX ME IPSA RENATA SUM
(From Myself I Reborn)
This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to
The One and Only Lord in the Kingdom of Heaven
My beloved late father
My beloved mother
My dearest little brother and sister
My dearest late little sister
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Praise to God, finally I finished my thesis. I would like to thank Jesus Christ for blessing me all my life and for guiding me in writing my undergraduate thesis.
I would like to thank Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka M. Hum, my advisor, especially for his guidance, big patience, suggestions and flexible time during the writing of my thesis. I also thank M. Luluk Artika W., S.S., my co-advisor, for reading my undergraduate thesis and giving me suggestions in order to make it better and Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum as my great examiner. And I also thank all my lecturers for their guidance and their time to share their knowledge during the years of my study, and all staffs of English Letters Department, Sanata Dharma University library for all the help.
My deepest gratitude also goes to my beloved family for supporting me in everything. I also would like to express my thanks to all of 2003 friends for accompanying and supporting me during my study. It is nice to be your friend. I dedicate special thanks to Michaella, Lintang, Mariae Bee, Lala, Nita, Tio, and “Adhi Djajan” for their special support. Last but not least, my thank goes to friends in WEDHUZ GOMBLOH Boarding House for giving me happiness and helping me in the writing process of my undergraduate thesis.
Cosmas Andy Irianto Broto
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Theory of Character and Characterization………. 9
2. Theories of Modern Tragedy………... 12
3. Theories of Modern Tragic Hero………...……. 14
C. Theoretical Framework………. 16
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ………... 17
A. Object of the Study……… 17
B. Approach of the Study………... 18
C. Method of the Study……….. 19
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ………..………... 21
A. The Description of the Main Character of the Poem “Michael”……21
B. The Contribution of the Other Characters in Developing the Main Character’s Tragedy ……….. 25
1. Isabel……… 25
2. Luke………. 27
3. Richard Bateman………. 29
C. Michael as the Modern Tragic Hero……….. 30
1. A Common Man ………..30
2. Ready to Lay Down his Life to Secure his Sense of Personal Dignity ……….32
3. Accepting the Consequence of his Total Compulsion to Evaluate Himself Justly………36
4. Having Fear for Being Displaced ………39
5. Acting against the Scheme of Things Degrading him.………….40
6. Having a Tragic Flaw………... 45
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………. 50
BIBLIOGRAPHY……….. 53
APPENDICES………. 55
A. Explication of “Michael”...………... 55
B. The Poem of “Michael”……….. 58
ABSTRACT
COSMAS ANDY IRIANTO BROTO. Michael as the Tragic Hero of Wordsworth’s “Michael”: An Application of the Theory of Modern Tragedy. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.
The kind of tragic hero always follows the tragedy which is experienced by the hero. Tragic hero appears in Greek tragedy, Shakespearean tragedy, or Modern tragedy. Tragedy is affected by the background of social status, environment, economy, even the era. Related to the statement above, this analysis will focus on a character inside the poem who becomes modern tragic hero. This character experiences tragedy which is included as modern tragedy and is influenced by the near environment, family members, economical background, and also the unrealized one by one mistake all the time.
The objectives of this study are to answer three main problems. First, this study tries to describe and analyze the main character, the main character of the poem. Second, this study tries to find and describe the influence from the other characters in developing Michael’s tragedy. This is also done to differentiate who the real tragic hero is. Third, this study tries to find how Michael fits the modern tragic hero.
This study applies the structuralism approach because it analyzes Michael’s tragedy aspects from inside or outside the poem to reveal the tragic hero of the story of the poem. This approach is used to analyze form, structure, content, element, and the outside things of the literary work. This study applies library research as the method of the study in order to collect information and analyze the problem.
The result of the analysis shows that Michael is only an old shepherd with many amazing skills. Isabel, Luke, and Richard Bateman become the ‘agent’ to fulfill Michael’s hope and the ‘agent’ of Michael’s tragedy. Michael fits the modern tragic hero categories based on the theory of Arthur Miller. First, he is only an ordinary shepherd and does not have any nobleman blood relation. Second, he is ready to lay down his life to secure his sense of personal dignity. Third, he has the consequence of his total compulsion to evaluate himself justly. Fourth, he has the fear of being displaced. Fifth, he acts against the scheme of things degrading him. Finally, he has a tragic flaw because of his unrealized mistake.
ABSTRAK
COSMAS ANDY IRIANTO BROTO. Michael as the Tragic Hero of Wordsworth’s “Michael”: An Application of the Theory of Modern Tragedy. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2008.
Jenis pahlawan tragis selalu mengikuti tragedi yang dialami pahlawannya. Tragedi dapat dipengaruhi dari latar belakang status sosial, lingkungan, ekonomi, ataupun zamannya. Pahlawan tragis muncul baik itu dalam tragedi Yunani, tragedi Shakespear, ataupun pada tragedi moderen. Berkaitan dengan pernyataan di atas, analisa ini akan dititik beratkan pada seorang tokoh cerita dalam sebuah puisi yang menjadi seorang pahlawan tragis moderen. Tokoh ini mengalami tragedi yang dipengaruhi oleh lingkungan sekitarnya, anggota keluarga, latar belakang ekonomi, dan juga kesalahan-kesalahan yang tidak disadarinya dibuat satu demi satu seiring dengan berjalannya waktu.
Tujuan-tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk menjawab tiga permasalahan utama. Pertama, studi ini mencoba untuk menggambarkan dan menganalisa Michael, tokoh utama dalam puisi. Kedua, studi ini mencoba menggambarkan dan menemukan pengaruh dari karakter-karakter lain dalam membentuk tragedi Michael. Hal ini juga dilakukan untuk membedakan siapa yang sebenarnya menjadi pahlawan tragis. Ketiga, studi ini mencoba untuk menemukan bagaimana Michael memenuhi kriteria sebagai pahlawan tagis pada tagedi moderen.
Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan strukturalisme karena menganalisa segala aspek tragedi yang dialami Michael dari berbagai segi baik dari dalam maupun di luar puisi untuk mengungkap pahlawan tragis dari cerita dalam puisi. Pendekatan ini digunakan untuk menganalisa bentuk, struktur, isi cerita, elemen, dan hal-hal di luar karya sastra ini. Studi ini juga menggunakan penelitian perpustakaan dalam mengumpulkan informasi dan menganalisa permasalahan yang ada.
Hasil analisa menunjukkan bahwa Michael hanyalah seorang gembala tua dengan kemampuan yang mengagumkan. Isabel, Luke, dan Richard Bateman menjadi ‘agen’ untuk memenuhi harapan Michael dan menjadi ‘agen’ dari tragedy Michael. Michael memenuhi kriteria sebagai pahlawan tragis pada tragedi moderen menurut teori Arthur Miller. Pertama, Michael hanyalah seorang penggembala biasa tanpa ada keturunan bangsawan. Kedua, dia siap untuk mengorbankan hidupnya untuk mengembalikan kehormatannya. Ketiga, dia mendapat akibat dari semua perbuatannya yang bisa dijadikan refleksi. Keempat, dia mempunyai ketakutan bila disingkirkan. Kelima, dia berusaha menetang semua masalah yang dihadapinya. Terakhir, dia mempunyai urutan dan kisah yang tragis yang disebabkan oleh kesalahan-kesalahan yang tidak disadarinya.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
William Wordsworth is the greatest poet of the nineteenth century. He has left sufficient pure poetry, hearth-searching and beautiful. He is one of the great poets of humanity. His poems are most human and at the same time most himself as poet. The main theme of his poem of incidents in human life is love, the workings of love, its poetry to inflict the deepest wounds and to heal the most irreparable. Love is not as passion in the narrow sense of the word but passionate affection, as seen in “Michael”. His own experience of life was by far the most important source of his ideas. “Michael” is one of Wordsworth’s great narrative poems in the last poem to enter the Lyrical Ballads. In “Michael”, he leaves the autobiographical framework almost completely behind and concerns himself. It is because the story belongs to his boyhood memory. “Michael” may have been conceived that Wordsworth thinking back his youth and composing draft for the poem of his life. “Michael” has a special importance in his life, for it marks the stage when he was led on from the pure passion for nature to feel for passion that was not his own (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 188-186).
He is concerned with the influence of natural object in the aspect in which led him to feel for the affection. Wordsworth called “Michael” as a pastoral poem. It is a poem about shepherd. Wordsworth’s shepherd lives where sheep to have to be
worked for. “Michael” is simple tale of human suffering of tragedy. The story of “Michael” touches on a kind of loss and suffering. The universal aspect of the loss suffered by Michael as the main character in the poem is a hope that has attached itself to a person and seems to die with the person. He treats humanity and nature in the same way. In here, he shows man as a part of nature.
The title Michael as the Tragic Hero of Wordsworth’s “Michael”: An Application of the Theory of Modern Tragedy is chosen to be the topic of this study in order to analyze the main character as the tragic hero of modern tragedy. The tragedy in the poem is built by the tragedy of Michael supported by other characters. The characterization in Michael successfully makes the poem a work of art, which gives dramatic life to the structure of the poem. Wordsworth establish between himself and his main character. The character and circumstances of Luke were taken from a family to who he had belonged, many years before, the house where he lived in at Town-end, along with some fields and woodlands of the eastern Shore of Grasmere (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 188-186).
Knowing the importance of Michael in the poem, I choose to focus the study on Michael that later ended in tragedy. Michael’s tragedy is a simple tale of human suffering. The poet has attempted to give a picture of a man, a strong of mind and lively sensibility, agitated by two of the most powerful affections of human hearth, the parental affection and the love of the landed property.
His life becomes miserable when his son goes to the town to work with his rich relatives there. Firstly, His reception of the news of his son’s disgrace and light does not break him physically. Then it becomes ironic. The strength that had once been his mainstay to exist, now becomes a burden to him. The potency of his parental love was earlier suggested by its power to ‘enforce’ his ‘patient mind’ to ‘acts of tenderness’; now the potency of his grief is implied by its capacity to render his physical strength meaningless. The unfinished sheepfold in desolation becomes a symbol of the ruin of a heroic life and the loss of his hopes. Thus the simple story of silent suffering and heroic fortitude deepens into truly tragic.
The life story of Michael with Michael as the ‘hero’ leads us to the Modern Tragedy in which the hero or heroine end tragically. Modern Tragedy is chosen to be the basic concept in doing the analysis because the life of Michael is as an ordinary people in modern life. Modern Tragedy focuses on the tragedy of a common man not a noble man like in Greek Tragedy (Walley, 1950: 50-59).
in the society. The hero causes the tragedy to him or to another and it is because of a mistake that sometimes is not realized (Walley, 1950: 54-59).
Further, by doing this analysis, we can prove that the theories on play also can be used in analyzing poem. The theories that are used in this study are taken from the theories on play. The writer adores William Wordsworth so much, especially the poem “Michael”. It is because the story of Michael almost the same as the writer life story. This study is also to appreciate William Wordsworth as a great poet in literary world.
B. Problem Formulation
From the background of the study stated previously, three problems can be formulated as follows:
1. How is the main character described in the poem?
2. What are the contributions of each character in leading the main character’s tragedy?
3. How does Michael fit the modern tragic hero?
C. Objectives of the Study
D. Definition on Terms 1. Modern Tragedy
According to Aristotle, tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself, in the medium of poetic language, in the manner of dramatic plot, incorporating incidents to arouse pity and fear wherewith to accomplish the catharsis of such emotion. Modern tragedy for the lay portrays the life of the person in the modern time where there is not influenced by the myth of god/goddess or the social structure (noble man). The basic difference between Modern Tragedy and Greek Tragedy is that Modern Tragedy tells about the life of common people unlike Greek tragedy tells about the life of noble people . Shakespearean Tragedy defines it as a story of exceptional calamity ( great misfortune and misery) leading to the death of a man in high estate or the story of human actions producing exceptional calamity and ending in the death of such a man (Walley, 1950: 54-59).
2. Tragic Hero
she loves. The hero is fated to have a tragic ending where god contributes to the downfall of the hero (Walley, 1950: 54-59).
A.C Bradley defines the word tragic hero in the sense of Shakespearean Tragedy as a person of high estate or having greatness more than common people who experiences suffer conducting to his death by his own action (Walley, 1950: 54-59).
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
There are many opinions of critics to Wordsworth’s “Michael”. Graham Hough gave opinion about the theme of “Michael” which is love of father for his son. It is told in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) of a rather stiff simplicity and much of it is straight narrative so unelaborated that it treads on the verge of the prosaic. He said that the effect of “Michael” is not immediate. It is more prolonged acquaintance with the poem reveals it as the most characteristic Wordsworthian achievement. A poem where a long familiar emotion, that has been absorbed into the personality and is no longer clamorous or importunate, is evenly diffused throughout (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 191).
R.O.C Winkler had opinion on the plot of “Michael”, especially the influence of nature. He stated that in “Michael”, nature is something outside the human situation. According to him, Michael as the main character in the poem is part of the natural world himself, and the strength of his body and mind, the birth, growth, and bereavement of his love for Luke, are all enforced in terms of his work among the things of nature. The old man’s feelings with the natural world around him, there is no scope for turning to nature for consolation. The natural word simply endures and the only support that Michael has for his suffering is endurance (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 192).
Geoffrey H. Hartman said that the story of “Michael” touches on a kind of loss and suffering which occurs in some form to everyone. The changes wrought by the industrial revolution are only the occasional cause for the disaster. The universal aspect of the loss suffered by Michael is of a hope which has attached itself to a person and seems to die with the person. He also had opinion with the nature in “Michael”. He said that the nature was essential to human actions and meditations. His picture of the old man is not simply of suffering or muted despair, but of natural resilience and the habit of fortitude. He clearly shows the symbol or the evidence of Michael’s tragedy through his opinion:
“Though we are told about the seven years in connection with Michael’s unfinished labors at the sheepfold, there are remains his persistence which suggest an immemorial covenant between man and the land. Michael does not hasten the end and abides his times without abandoning the land even in imagination. Michael dies as he has lined: In the eye of nature. Yet Michael is not an obsolete possibility of the human spirit: the covenant that holds the mind of man to the earth springs only such as him” (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 192-193).
industrial revolution as the significant aspect in Michael’s tragedy are deeply analyzed.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories of Character and Characterization
“Michael” is a kind of blank verse poetry which is the standard medium of English Drama and also a kind of narrative poetry. Narrative poetry is the poetry which the main purpose is to tell a story. The poem of “Michael” has setting, character, plot, and climax as the elements of narrative poetry. It also contains a series of scene in dramatic form which is narrated (Levin, 1960: 131-144). This poem uses non-participant point of view which is omniscient. The narrator relates what the characters do or think. The omniscient narrator can at any time enter the mind of any or all of the characters. The narrator is also neutral. Where the narrator recounts deeds and thoughts but does not judge (Barnet, 1988: 50-52).
E.M Forster divides character into two terms, flat character and round character. Flat character is build around ‘single idea or quality’ and is presented without much individualizing detail, and therefore can be fairly adequately described in a single phrase or sentence. Round character is complex in temperament and motivation and is presented with subtle particularity (Abrams, 1981: 20).
Koesnosoebroto divided character into two kinds, major or main character and minor character. Main character is the most important character in the story. Minor character is character of less important than those the main. The main character needs other character to make the story more convincing an lifelike (Koesnosoebroto, 1988: 67)
Characterization is the process by which an author or a playwright creates a character. Characterization in literature is the presentation of the attitudes and behaviors of imaginary persons in order to make them credible to the author’s audience. According to Encyclopedia Americana: International Edition, Vol: 6, characterization is a unique feature of such fictional forms as the short story, novel, drama, and narrative poetry (Library of Congress Cataloging Data, 1995: 291).
emotional and intellectual, which precede action. Moral decision differentiates characters because the choices they make when facing moral crises show whether they are selfish, hypocritical, or person of integrity (Bracket, 1974: 39-40)
Hugh Holman and William Harmon in A Handbook to Literature state that characterization is divided into three fundamental ways. The first is the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in an introduction or more often throughout the development of the story that is illustrated by actions. The second is the presentation of the character in action with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader will be able to reduce the attributes of the actor from action. The third is the presentation from within a character, without comment on the character by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the character’s inner self, with the expectations that the reader will come to a clear understanding of the attributes of the characters. The three fundamental methods are the basic terms for the author to give characterization toward the characters in the story to be understood by the reader (Holman and Harmon, 1986: 81-83).
Characterization will always be a part of character. Characterization as the part of character is the way an author characterize his or her work. From the theories on character and characterization the writer could conclude that character is a person presented in literary works that has his or her own personalities.
2. Theories of Modern Tragedy
There are many concepts that try to explain the definition or the meaning of tragedy. A tragedy is an unhappy and painful situation which involves death (Kernan 1963: 163). Kernan states that a tragic hero is a person in the rest of his life denies the world around him, but he knows he has to achieve in order to fulfill himself, and he persists in his search while more ordinary men giving in. He commits himself to some curse, which creates conflict with forces whose existence he has not suspected. Therefore, he stumbles forward into his suffering, and at the end he usually achieves something of value by his struggle.
The basic difference between Modern Tragedy and Greek Tragedy is that Modern Tragedy tells about the life of common people unlike Greek tragedy tells about the life of noble people. In the Greek Tragedy god has an essential role of the tragedy. The hero of the Greek Tragedy is fated to have a tragic ending where god contributes to the downfall of the hero. Shakespearean Tragedy defines it as a story of exceptional calamity (great misfortune and misery) leading to the death of a man in high estate or the story of human actions producing exceptional calamity and ending in the death of such a man (Walley, 1950: 54-59).
In modern time, the tragedy pictures more complex live and ideas. The theory of Aristotle has been rejected by many critics. In The Tragic Fallacy, Joseph Wood Krutch says that tragedy is not the imitation of noble action, for indeed, no one knows what a noble action is or not such a thing as nobility exists in nature apart from the mind of man. As matter of fact, a tragedy is essentially as expression, not of despair but of triumph over despair and of confidence in the value of human life (Levin, 1960: 164).
“Michael” is considered as a modern tragedy for the play portrays the life in the exact time. It is because modern tragedy tells about the life of common people unlike Greek tragedy tells about the life of noble people influenced by the role of god and otherwise Shakespearean Tragedy defines it as a story of exceptional calamity (great misfortune and misery) leading to the death of a man in high estate because of his own action (Walley, 1950:54-59).
Michael is just a shepherd or a common man. The tragedy of Michael is also because the influence of the society and environment. That is why in the analysis the writer uses the theories of modern tragedy.
3. Theories of Modern Tragic Hero
In Greek tragedy, Aristotle defined the main character of a tragedy is the protagonist or the tragic hero, who through some flaw in his character brings death or destruction upon himself or upon someone he/she loves. He said that the tragic heroes usually from illustrious families and he is not an ordinary man. The tragic hero must be someone who is highly renowned and prosperous. In Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy, he is usually a king or prince. In Shakespearean tragedy, it also concerns with a person, leaders of the state, or a member of great houses, who quarrels of public movement (Levin, 1960: 134-151).
other human beings. Most tragic heroes are males. The tragic hero usually goes beyond the standards to which reasonable people adhere; he does some fearful deed which ultimately destroys him (Barnet, 1988: 741).
Arthur Miller states that tragedy is the disaster inherent in being torn away from each person which has chosen image of self and position and that tragedy results when the character’s environment denies the fulfillment of this self-concept. According to Miller, the tragic hero of modern tragedy is the person with the underlying struggle is that of the individual attempting to gain his ‘rightful’ position in his society. Tragic man, then placed in a universe of irreconcilables, acting in a situation in which he is both innocent and guilty, and peculiarly sensitive to the ‘cursed spite’ of his condition, suffers. Tragic man viewed in his social and moral relationship (Levin, 1960: 171-178).
Miller states that a modern tragic hero has the categories that must be followed. The categories are:
1. The subject must be a common man. He is not a king or a prince. The common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings are.
2. The subject must be ready to lay down his life to secure his sense of personal dignity. The tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character that is ready to lay down his life, if needed be, to secure one thing his sense of personal dignity.
3. The consequence of his total compulsion to evaluate himself justly. The
4. The subject must have fear of being displaced.
5. The subject acts against the scheme of things degrading him.
6. The subject must have tragic flaw, a failing that is not peculiar to grand or elevated characters. Nor it is necessarily a weakness (Levin, 1960: 171-178).
C. Theoretical Framework
This study is to solve the problems formulation stated before. There are several theories used to solve the problem formulation. To solve the first problem, the theory of character and characterization are used. This is needed to find and describe the characters in the poem. It is also used in understanding the characteristic of each character because the writer of the poem using various expressions to build the characterization.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The study deals with the poem “Michael” written by William Wordsworth. The poem was written at Town-end, Grasmere, in 1800. The poem consists of 21 stanzas and 482 lines (Mukherjef and Rajender, 2000: 173-183).
“Michael” is one of Wordsworth’s great narrative poems in the last poem to enter the Lyrical Ballads. It is one of Wordsworth’s great narrative poems. In “Michael”, he leaves the autobiographical framework almost completely behind and concerns himself. In the poem Wordsworth creates four characters. They are Michael, Isabel, Luke, and Richard Bateman.
In this study, the writer focuses on the characters, especially Michael as the main character in the poem. Michael is just a shepherd in Grasmere Vale. He is a man with strong mind and lively sensibility. He has a wife, Isabel, and a son, Luke. He teaches everything to Luke with perfect parental affection. His life becomes miserable when his son goes to the town to work with his rich relative there, Richard Bateman. He makes an unrealized mistake which leads his family into tragedy. The strength which had once been his mainstay becomes a burden to him.
B. Approach of the Study
In doing this analysis, the writer uses structuralism in order to analyze the tragedy of the main character in the poem in revealing the tragic hero of the poem. The writer uses the structuralism approach because it refers to the form, structure, theory of tragedy and tragic hero, and the outside things of the literary work.
Guerin in A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature said that structuralism is the study to detect the recurrent pattern not just in the particular work but also throughout literature. Perhaps it is revealing something about the way the human mind works (1979: 282).
According to Peter Barry in Beginning Theory (2002: 39-60), narratology is a branch of structuralism although it has achieved a certain independence from its parent. The essence of structuralism is the belief that things can not be understood in isolation-they have to be seen in the context of the larger structures they are part of. It follows from this that meaning or significance is not a kind of core or essence inside things: rather, meaning is always outside. Structuralism approach takes you further and further away from the text and into large and comparatively abstract question of genre, history, and philosophy. This emphasizes on the intrinsic and also extra-textual features in the analysis of literature.
Structuralism is used because this study will discuss the character as the theory of drama (tragedy and tragic hero) with reference to the genre or to its place in the development of the genre. It deals with the tragedy of social life in the industrial revolution in London.
C. Method of the Study
The writer applied a library research as the method of the study. This method is collecting data by reading some books that is useful for the analysis. Two kinds of sources are used to support the study. The primary source was taken from Wordsworth poem “Michael”. The secondary sources were taken from some books and information from internet browsing.
Doing the analysis, the writer took a few steps. Firstly, the writer read the work thoroughly and also interpreted the characters of the work. After the writer read the poem, some tragedy of the characters was found. The tragedy that happened to Michael as the main character was very attractive. This made the writer interested to have a character study in the play to analyze the main character in this poem.
Secondly, the writer decided the topic of the thesis and formulated the problem formulation as the base of the thesis.
the structure of the poem. It is also used to find another relation with the theory on modern tragedy and another “outside” aspect (industrialism).
After that, the theories and the approach were used in the analysis to analyze the whole work from the first line till the end. After analyzing the characters and the tragedy, the writer searches the tragic hero revealed from the analysis. The tragic hero is revealed from the tragedy of the main character which is supported by other (minor) characters.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
A. The Description of the Main Character of the Poem “Michael”
Michael is the main character in the poem. The character of Michael is described in two conditions, when he was a boy and when he is old.
As a boy, he is not a clever or smart boy. He is lazy to study. He loves to live freely with the nature.
“… while I was yet a boy
careless of books, yet having felt the power of nature , by the gentle agency
Of natural objects, led me on to feel
For passions that were not my own, and think” (Stanza 1, lines 27-31).
After that, Michael is described as an old man. He is a shepherd in Grasmere Vale. He lives near the forest. He is described as a strong man and has a keen mind. He is prompt, stout of heart, and strong of limb. He has the ability to watch the shepherd better than the others. He can know everything which will happen by noticing the nature. He is a cheerful person and so lively. He is kind and skillful as a shepherd. He has many experiences as a shepherd, joy and fear. He has a big responsibility as a shepherd. He can be said as the friend of nature. His age is around eighties.
“Upon the forest-side in Grasmere Vale, thee dwelt a shepherd, Michael was his
name… the pleasure which there is in life itself” (Stanza 2, lines 40-77).
Inside those lines, there are more specific descriptions of Michael. Many of his characteristics reflect the economical power. It is shown by his ability and instinct as a skillful shepherd which can make him prosperous. He is better than the other shepherd and this gives him more ‘natural capital’ to be rich as a shepherd.
“his mind was keen,
Intense, and frugal, apt for all affairs,
And in his Shepherd's calling he was prompt And watchful more than ordinary men.” (Stanza 2, lines 44-47).
Michael's stout heart may signify one of his minds, which is clearly that of a successful businessperson: "apt for all affairs." He has the capacity to solve many problems and he has the creativity and ideas to control many shepherds’ ‘affairs’. His mind is able to read its ancestral lands like a text but Michael is neither a nature poet, nor a natural theologian, nor a naturalist. He is very close to the nature. Nature is his friend, teacher, master, father, and his worker. The nature is his pleasure and absolutely his life.
“grossly that man errs, who should suppose
That the green Valleys, and the Streams and Rocks, Were things indifferent to the Shepherd's thoughts” (Stanza 2, lines 62-65).
shows his continuity responsibility to the animal that he saves. He take cares them, seeks them when they are lost, and saves them when they are in trouble. He acts not only as a master or an ordinary shepherd, but also as a hero for the animal.
“So many incidents upon his mind
Of hardship, skill of courage, joy or fear; Which, like a book, preserved the memory the dumb animals, whom he had sav'd, Had fed or shelter'd, linking to such acts, So grateful in themselves, the certainty Of honorable gains.”
(Stanza 2, lines 68-73).
He has a wife that is 20 years younger than him. Her name is Isabel. Although he is eighties, Isabel is his first and only wife. It is like a ‘late marriage’ for a man. It is a proof that love is unlimited. From the marriage, he has a son that he loved much, more than anything else. His name is Luke.
“His helpmate was commonly matron… of house or field.”
(Stanza 3, lines 79-109).
can also be derived from his habit. He usually works till the evening where the old lamp which accompanies the family can be seen from far.
“To deem that he was old,-in shepherd’s phrase, With one foot in the grave.”
(Stanza 2, lines 89-90).
“There by the light of this old lamp they sate,” (Stanza 3, line 124).
Michael also has an old style. His life is with ancient style of a shepherd which is not colorful and monotonous. It happened before the coming of his wife and his son. His life concerns with the nature not with the style of the common people. He cannot be noticed with what happened in the actual culture events, but he cares with the actual nature events in his environment so much.
“Down from the ceiling, by the chimney’s edge, That in our ancient uncouth country style With huge and black projection overbrowed Large space beneath, as duly as the light” (Stanza 3, lines 110-113).
Michael is a hard worker. He does anything for his family. He always tries to do the best he can do. This is also as the habit of his family. Michael usually works from morning till late in the evening. When at home in the night, he still does something useful and he helps his wife.
“Living a life of an eager industry…” (Stanza 3, line 122).
for Michael. He has a ‘raw material’ that is needed to be formed. Since the birth of Luke, he teaches everything that he knew to him. He is the parent which has the responsibility. Luke is the center of his life. Luke is his life. Michael put a big hope on Luke.
“The shepherd, if he loved himself, must need have loved his helpmate; but to Michael’s hearth, this son of his old age yet more dear.”
(Stanza 4, lines 141-143).
B. The Contributions of the Other Characters in Developing the Main Character’s Tragedy
1. Isabel
Isabel is Michael’s wife. She is younger than him. She is a good woman, a good wife for Michael.
“His helpmate was a comely matron, old-
Though younger than himself full twenty years. She was a woman of a stirring life,
Whose heart was in her house…” (Stanza 3, lines 88-82).
them. She also gives another color in Michael’s life. She comes as a new thing in his life although later it becomes a tragedy because of the late meeting.
“Of day grew dim the Housewife hung a lamp, An aged utensil, when ha performed
Service beyond all others of its kind. Early at evening did it burn-and late” (Stanza 3, lines 114-117).
Isabel gives Luke as a beautiful present for him in the beginning. The presence of her and Luke do not be treated well by Michael in the actual environment. She gives Luke as hopes but also as an object of Michel’s obsession. Luke will be the successor of Michael. She also does not think of Luke’s education because she also works too much.
“Nor cheerful, yet with objects and with hopes, Living a life of eager industry”
(Stanza 4, lines 121-122).
She is a good wife for Michael because she does everything to please him and this is not good. Michael becomes the object of her love but he does not show love as that much to her. This is also an unrealized mistake that is never touched by Isabel. She does not ask for the responsibility of treating her. Michael earns much more care with Luke and nature than with her. In running the family life, she has bigger role.
story. She also thinks shortly and has an equal comparison between Luke and Richard.
“Thee thoughts, and many others of like sort, Passed quickly through the mind of Isabel, And her face brightened..”
(Stanza 12, lines 271-273).
Actually she realizes the tragedy which will happen because of her instinct as a mother and a woman. She realizes that Michael will die without of Luke near present. She does not reveal it to Michael but only to Luke. It is also unrealized mistake because Luke also does nothing with this warning.
“And when they rose at morning she could see That all his hopes were gone. That day at noon She said to Luke, while they two by themselves Were sitting at the door, ‘Thou must not go: We have no other Child but thee to lose, None to remember-do not go away, For if thou leave thy father he will die.’ (Stanza 14, lines 292-301).
2. Luke
Luke is Michael’s only son. His presence is very worthy for Michael but his presence is also late. He comes when Michael is already very old.
“An only Child, who had been born to them When Michael, telling o’er his years, began To deem that he was old,-in shepherd’s phrase, With one fot in the grave.”
(Stanza 3, lines 87-90).
tough as Michael in front of nature, but not in front of the actual world in the city. He is the copy of Michael as a shepherd. His journey to London is for Michael. This leads Michael to the tragedy of the family. Indirectly, Luke’s fault is from Michael. The one that should be blamed is Michael. He sends him and gives him the way to London by promoting him to Richard Bateman. Luke also considers this too easy and he becomes too much proud. He only thinks of his success that he will get.
“Nor was there at that time on English land A prouder heart than Luke’s..”
(Stanza 15, lines 314-315).
All of them are Luke’s personal events that lead the family into tragedy. In the end, he takes an evil way in order to be successful as soon as possible to make his father happy. This is then becomes a fault because of the background that he has. His father always teaches him to be honest. If he faces the industrial life, Michael should teach him many tricks to solve many industrial work problems.
In the city then he takes an evil way to get the success instantly and this destroys him and the family. His shame feeling makes him runaway from his mistake because no one can help him.
“…Meantime Luke began
3. Richard Bateman
He is Michael’s relatives in London. He is a successful businessman. He leads Michael to his tragedy by receiving Luke as his employee.
“…We have, thou know’st,
Another kinsman-he will be our friend In this distress. He is a prosperous man, Thriving in trade-and Luke to him shall go, And with his kinsman’s help and his own thrift He quickly will repair this loss…”
(Stanza 11, lines 247-252).
All Michel’s backgrounds are attached in Luke. The background of Michael is not the same as Richard’s background. Michael’s life is running because of the nature, but Richard is a poor boy who becomes rich because of the industrial work in the city. Michael never sends Luke in formal school. He sends him to nature. Business needs knowledge to explore nature. Richard also does not prepare Luke to face the industrial works.
He accepts him ‘raw’ and never develops him. Luke is just a young foolish boy from village who should face the cruel industrial works. He has the promises to success Luke. He does not have the responsibility of his failed.
“with kind assurances that he would do His utmost for the welfare of the Boy;
To which, requests were added, that forthwith He might be sent to him..”
C. Michael as the Modern Tragic Hero
According to Arthur Miller in Tragedy and the Common Man, the tragic hero has six categories that must be followed. Michael as the main character in Michael fits the pattern that Miller consciously develops (Levin, 1960: 171-180).
1. A common man
Michael is not a king or a prince, he is an ordinary man, and he is just a shepherd. He is a shepherd in Grasmere Vale. In the middle of the society, he also does not have a power to control the society. He does not have any governmental occupation. He is only famous as a skillful shepherd, a local village shepherd. He has the ability to watch shepherd better than the others. He is the picture of a man, of a strong mind and lively sensibility, agitated by two of the most powerful affections of the human hearth, the parental affection, and the love of the property, landed property. He is very close to the nature. He is a friend of nature. He has a wife and a son.
“Upon the forest-side in Grasmere Vale, there dwelt a shepherd, Michael was his name…
the pleasure which there is in life itself” (Stanza 2, lines 40-77).
remember the Abraham story in the bible, Luke plays as Isaac; and the role of Abraham, with all of the pathos attaching to the need to make an anguished choice. Michael's speeches upon learning of the "forfeiture" are revealing. After identifying his God as the God of Genesis by proclaiming, "`And in the open sunshine of God's love / Have we all lived,'" Michael identifies himself with that God as the cause and source of that "sunshine," stating that "the sun itself / Has scarcely been more diligent than I."
“I have been toiling more than seventy years, And in the open sunshine of God’s love Have we all lived; yet if these fields of ours Should pass into a stranger’s hand, I think That I could not lie quiet in my grave. Our lot is a hard lot; the sun himself Has scarcely been more diligent than I; And I have lived to be a fool at last To my own family“
(Stanza 10, lines 228-236).
"Our Luke shall leave us, Isabel; the land Shall not go from us, and it shall be free, He shall possess it free as is the wind That passes over it."
(Stanza 11, lines 254-57).
Michael's speech then gives way to tragic irony on the monstrous thing at the end. In that statement, he has the power to decide and the power to control his own family. These all are because the land is as his family ‘identity’ as an ordinary people to survive in the neighborhood or his community. He acts like that he is a king, Isabel is his queen, and Luke is their prince. He likes a king who sends his prince to war to save the patrimonial land. Michael wants the land still belongs to them.
Those lines then becomes true at the end because Luke, "driven at last”. Luke does leave, and the land does not "go from" Michael and Isabel and also does not belong to Luke. Michael and Isabel are buried in it. The land is free of their control He is seeking a hiding-place across the seas" that is, driven to board a sailing vessel to the New World in order to remain free by evading his creditor .He does not posses the land anymore. He stands in a land as wind up "free as is the wind."
2. Ready to Lay Down His Life to Secure His Sense of Personal Dignity “Old Michael, while he was a babe in arms,
In the beginning of Luke’s life, he is prepared by Michael to become his successor as a shepherd. He is the best shepherd, a man of ‘honorable occupation’ in his neighborhood. He loves his son so much and does everything for him, even doing a “female service” for him. He acts as a woman, if necessary, to take care Luke. He usually take cares animal. This can be the cause that the masculine side of Michael still has a soft side. Everything is done to create his hope in the future in Luke.
“And left, the couple neither gay perhaps Nor cheerful, yet with objects and with hopes, Living a life of eager industry.”
(Stanza 4, lines 120-122).
All the members of Michael’s family are so hard working that they have earned an almost proverbial reputation for their incessant work. They have earned a legendary reputation for living with utmost frugality and economy. Michael uses almost his life to do a hard work. Since he was a child, he take cares the animal and the land. He uses almost his whole life to become closer to the nature. When he is married, he still works hard and does not use his time to take a rest and enjoys his life. He still works and works from the morning until the night. He does not use his time to seek luck in the city but every time he deals with the nature. Then this becomes ironic because although he and his family work hard but they do not have a lot of money. They do not have enough saving to pay the debt. They do not have enough goods to sell except the land.
The presence of Luke makes him work harder and harder. Everything is done to prepare Luke as Michael’s success hope even many accidents or injury sometimes happens again.
When Michael comes to know that he may be forced to sell some of his fields, so that they will not be passed on to his son, all the life is drained out of him. He even will not be in peace when he dies. His proud, his dignity, his honor, and everything will be loss.
“And in the open sunshine of God’s love Have we all lived; yet if these fields of ours Should pass into a stranger’s hand, I think That I could not lie quiet in my grave. Our lot is a hard lot; the sun himself Has scarcely been more diligent than I; And I have lived to be a fool at last To my own family…”
(Stanza 10, lines 229-236).
Although he has to pay the debt because of his brother’s problem, but he shows his dignity by forgiving him and wants to pay the debt. He also shows that he is a gentleman by not denying that he is ‘an evil man’ because of the act in the past. He shows his responsibility by paying the debt. He has to do that, but he does not want to sacrifice the land.
“An evil man
The financial failure of Michael's nephew, "a man of an industrious life and ample means," causes the man to default on a covenant of sorts: a contract of guarantee. This default in its turn means that Michael must either, under the terms of the secured note that he has executed, or he must find some way of raising a large amount of money quickly to prevent the "forfeiture."
Michael’s hope to save the land is Luke. He then has an idea to pay the debt from Luke’s occupation.
"Our Luke shall leave us, Isabel; the land Shall not go from us, and it shall be free, He shall possess it free as is the wind That passes over it."
(Stanza 11, lines 243-247).
Michael’s struggle is that he is attempting to make Luke, his son, becomes a successful person in London, and not only becomes a shepherd like him. He does everything and he sacrifices everything to make it. Sending Luke to London is the same as sending Michael’s heart far from his body.
3. The Consequence of His Total Compulsion to Evaluate Himself Justly “ His days had not been passed in singleness.
His Helpmate was a comely matron, old— Though younger than himself full twenty years” (Stanza 3, lines 87-90).
Michael then marries, but actually, he is too old. This can become the consequence because he cares with his land more than everything. This marriage then becomes a tragedy for the whole family. His wife then can be seen stronger than Michael because she is much younger. Michael evaluates himself that he is not as strong as the nature. He confesses that his wife, Isabel, works more hard than he does. He also confesses that he is a fool at last and not a good man. He realizes that it is because of his past. When he was a boy, he was lazy to study and he was not a clever or smart boy. He only loves to live freely with the nature. As the result, he realizes that he makes a false choice.
He also confesses that in the past he had a debt to his nephew and he was now called upon to discharge the debt. This bad news stunned the family and damped all the hopes they had cherished.
“From day to day, to Michael’s ear there came Distressful tidings. Long before the time
Of which I speak, the Shepherd had been bound In surety for his brother’s son, a man
His responsibility to his brother then becomes a big burden for him and his family also becomes the victim of his contract with his brother. Michael and his family now get the consequence to pay the debt. This is something ironic because Isabel and Luke actually keep in touch with the charge indirectly. Isabel and Luke as the part of the family instantly get the responsibility. This is something that out side their minds. Michael as the main person in that debt case becomes stressed and panic. It is actually not only about the future of his brother but also his future and his family.
“And I have lived to be a fool at last to my own family. An evil man
that was, and made an evil choice if he were false to us; and , if he were not false, there were ten thousand to whom loss like this Had been sorrow, I forgive him;- but
‘Twere better to be dumb than to talk thus” (Stanza 10, lines 235-241).
It seems that he can forgive his brother easily. Although the burden is very big, he still has a gentle heart as a good brother. The harder consequence is that Michael has to “sacrifice” his only son to pay the debt by sending him to London. This is the only instant way to solve his problem. Michael is not strong enough like when he was young. He also does not have any rich relatives who can give him a lot of loan. He does not have any other capital or asset which can save him.
“Meantime Luke began
To slacken in his duty; and, at length, He in the dissolute city gave himself To evil courses: ignominy and shame Fell on him, so that he was driven at last To seek a hiding-place beyond the seas.” (Stanza 19, lines 442-447).
Luke’s evil act then makes Luke seeking a hiding-place across the seas sailing vessel to the New World in order to remain free by evading his creditors. Luke is taught to be a gentleman in front of the nature but his act is very embarrassing. He runs away and it shows that all the education that he has got is useless. He shows his weakness and proves that he is not a gentle man. It is very different with Michael. Luke does not show his responsibility as Michael’s dearest son. This makes him lost his family and his patrimonial land. Michael lost his son, his land, his life, and everything. Those big consequences are very tragic. It is started by the loss of physical strength of Michael.
“Years after he had heard this heavy news. His bodily frame had been from youth to age Of an unusual strength”
(Stanza 20, lines 453-455).
The soul is killed by Luke’s act. His body can breath but he has empty soul. He has no hope and he has no more goals in his life.
“There, by the Sheepfold, sometimes was he seen Sitting alone, or with his faithful Dog,
Then old, beside him, lying at his feet.
The length of full seven years, from time to time, He at the building of this Sheepfold wrought, And left the work unfinished when he died. Three years, or little more, did Isabel
Survive her Husband: at her death the estate Was sold, and went into a stranger’s hand’’ (Stanza 21, lines 467-475).
Loneliness comes and attacks him until his death. No one or nothing can secure his dying heart. The unfinished sheepfold remains the tragedy of Michael. It reflects a great hope which is never perfectly finished. It becomes a symbol of the ruin of a heroic life.
Michael dies with his tragic heroic life and then Isabel dies in a short time after him. The land, which is defended by his life, then goes to stranger hand. The story of Michael’s patrimonial land is end in his failure.
4. Having Fear for Being Displaced
“The Shepherd’s sole resource to sell at once A portion of his patrimonial fields.
Such was his first resolve; he thought again, And his heart failed him. ‘Isabel,’ said he, Two evenings after he had heard the news, ‘I have been toiling more than seventy years, And in the open sunshine of God’s love Have we all lived; yet if these fields of ours Should pass into a stranger’s hand, I think That I could not lie quiet in my grave.” (Stanza 10, lines 228-232).
Michael is very famous in his neighborhood as a successful shepherd. If the land goes away from him, it will be very ironic. The land also reflects his dignity and his honor in the society.
The land is also very important for the continuous generation of Michael‘s family from the past until to the future. Losing the land means to lose the generation’s symbol. The generations will loss “the monument” of the family. To keep the patrimonial land becomes his responsibility to his ancestors. If he losses to take care, he also losses his proud and his dignity to his ancestor. He is afraid but he is also too old to do something incredible to safe the land. Then he sends Luke to do the work to safe the land and his dignity.
5. Acting Against the Scheme of Things Degrading Him “His days had not been passed in singleness.
His Helpmate was a comely matron, old— Though younger than himself full twenty years.” (Stanza 3, lines 78-80).
against the scheme which is bringing him to death by marriages. His marriage with Isabel makes him “reborn”. Although he is very old, he gets the new life. He then gets “the new reason” to still alive. He gets a new hope o beautiful thing in rest of his life.
He is also doing unusual thing by marries a very younger wife which is likely better to be his daughter. This is also can be something that is planned by Michael to continuous the history of his family by giving him a son.
“An only Child, who had been born to them When Michael, telling o’er his years, began To deem that he was old,—in shepherd’s phrase, With one foot in the grave.”
(Stanza 3, lines 87-90).
Although he is very old, but Michael has a brave heart to born a son. In his old age he can die every time in an uncertain time and condition. If he dies quickly, the future of his family can be uncertain. Michael acts again this scheme by the born of Luke. With Luke he can attach his dream and continue the future of the family.
The existence of his family in the world still can be continued in Luke. It is also something that is risky because he was too old when bears Luke. The future of Luke also can be lack of his father accompaniment.
“Our Luke shall leave us, Isabel; the land Shall not go from us, and it shall be free; He shall possess it, free as is the wind That passes over it”
Michael has to pay the debt. The fact is that Michael does not have anything that can be sold except his land to cover the debt. In the other side, he does not want to lose his patrimonial land. He is against this scheme by sending Luke to the city to get the money to pay the debt. It is because Michael wants Luke to posses the land. He wants the continuity of his family story still exist. The only way is Luke because Michael is too old to do a lot of things to get money quickly.
“And thus resumed:—‘Well, Isabel! this scheme These two days, has been meat and drink to me. Far more than we have lost is left us yet.” (Stanza 12, lines 274-276).
The scheme of sending Luke to the city is celebrated by Michael with meat and drink. It is like a farewell party. The condition of the family economic is very bad, but Michael still not saves the capital that he has well. He attaches to much hope for Luke. He makes a celebration before “the war”.
In those lines, Michael also has considered that in the future he can lose everything. This celebration can be held because he considers that he may not see Luke again. This celebration is to celebrate Michael’s biggest lost, Luke. It also can be used by Michael to cover his sadness and his fear when loosing Luke. It is been the ‘Last Supper’ for Michael’s family.
Michael has a little passion to pay the debt. If he can, he will get money soon. He realizes that he is too old but he thinks that Luke can do it well. He is forcing Luke too much to get the money soon. He does not think the process that is needed. This acts then makes Luke also wants to get the money soon by taking the evil way.
He does not against his old age but he is against Luke’s young age. In Luke’s young age, Michael “makes” him as a “money machine” for the family. He does not think about his education for him. He creates him as a village shepherd but he wants him as soon as possible as a “money machine” in the city.
“Thou must not go:
We have no other Child but thee to lose, None to remember—do not go away, For if thou leave thy Father he will die.” (Stanza 14, lines 295-298).
Isabel realizes that Michael will be very sad if Luke is far from him. Michael also realizes this but he more cares with the land. He knows that his life will be miserable when Luke goes to the town to work which the rich relatives there. He has no way out except that. Sending Luke is the best thing because Michael is too old to save the land. Luke still goes away although his mother has told him that it will kill his father. This is the perfect ‘scheme’ to save the land but this is also the perfect ‘scheme’ that murders his father.
“To build a Sheepfold; and, before he heard The tidings of his melancholy loss,
For this same purpose he had gathered up A heap of stones, which by the streamlet’s edge Lay thrown together, ready for the work.” (Stanza 16, lines 324-328).
Michael’s aim to build the sheepfold is that he wants to make Luke always remember with everything about the family. He tells all about the past. By the sheepfold, he wants him to follow the noble tradition of the forefathers. Also in the sheepfold, he asks Luke to lay the cornerstone as a covenant between them.
By the memory of the sheepfold, Michael wants to prevent Luke from many evil ways. He wants to against every evil way that will attack him and Luke. The sheepfold becomes “the bridge” between them to remember each other. Michael will not lose the memory of Luke although he will be far from him.
“It looks as if it never could endure
Another Master. Heaven forgive me, Luke, If I judge ill for thee, but it seems good That thou shouldst go.’
(Stanza 16, lines 380-382).
He chooses to send Luke and then he take cares the land by his own hand. He also makes a new sheepfold to keep the memory of Luke. He does this to save the family and the land. He has a hard principal about the land. He also shows his arrogant by telling that the land can not receive another master.
“Meantime Luke began
To slacken in his duty; and, at length, He in the dissolute city gave himself To evil courses: ignominy and shame Fell on him, so that he was driven at last To seek a hiding-place beyond the seas.” (Stanza 11, lines 242-247).
Michael lives in a village outside London. Industrial work needs well knowledge and smart person. Michael educates everything about nature to Luke in order to make Luke become a successful person in London. It is Michael’s unrealized mistake.
The industrial life needs a formal educated people. It is right that because of his education, Luke becomes the best shepherd but not a successful person in the industrial revolution. Michael treats Luke with his best but Luke is not prepared to face the industrial job. As the result, Luke takes an evil way in London and it leads to the family’s tragedy.
6. Having a Tragic Flaw
poem, especially for Michael is due to the love for Luke and his unrealized mistakes. William Wordsworth makes some preview in the lines in the first stanza.
“You will suppose that with an upright path Your feet must struggle; in such bold ascent” (Stanza 1, lines 3-4).
By these lines, there is described that there is a mistake. Something that is unpredictable. The right thing with the right way is not always giving a good result the story oh Michael is just like that. He has the right capital, the right guidance, but end in the wrong event.
This is a preview explanation of Michael’s tragedy that is given by Wordsworth in the beginning of the poem.
“The mountains have all opened out themselves, And made a hidden valley of their own”
(Stanza 1, lines 7-8).
Everything has the risk and everything has the barrier. Mountain is something which is very high but beyond, inside and besides that, the mountain also has the valley. In this story, the city where Luke is working is just like the mountain. The city offers many precious things but also keeps the risk of destruction, “the deep valley of the world”. The mountain, for Michael himself, is also a prison. The mountain makes him can not see the outside world. He is trapped in the “valley” of his life.
“For passions that were not my own, and think (At random and imperfectly indeed)
Michael tries to reach something that is outside him. He uses his son to get the advantage from the glamour of the city. It is then becomes a “boomerang” for his family.
The tragic flaw is started when he receives the news from his brother. He ever made an agreement with his brother in the past. Then the misfortune overtakes his brother business. Michael then is called to pay the debt. This news makes him loss his hopes. He does not want to sell his land to pay the charge. The only way out is by sending Luke to earn money in the city. This is the only choice because Michael feels too old.
“Long before the time
Of which I speak, the Shepherd had been bound In surety for his brother’s son, a man
Of an industrious life, and ample means; But unforeseen misfortunes suddenly Had prest upon him; and old Michael now Was summoned to discharge the forfeiture, A grievous penalty, but little less
Than half his substance. This unlooked-for claim, At the first hearing, for a moment took
More hope out of his life than he supposed That any old man ever could have lost.
As soon as he had armed himself with strength To look his troubles in the face, it seemed The Shepherd’s sole resource to sell at once A portion of his patrimonial fields.”
(Stanza 10, lines 209-224).
dilemma. Michael is also clever by making a new sheepfold to keep the memories of Luke.
He makes the choice to “sacrifice” his son to pay the debt, better then he loses the land soon. This choice then leads him into his family tragedy. Michael forces Luke too much to get a lot of money soon. This is a force that makes Luke taking an evil way in the city. Luke’s mentality is not strong enough to face the hard way of industrial life.
“Meantime Luke began
To slacken in his duty; and, at length, He in the dissolute city gave himself To evil courses: ignominy and shame Fell on him, so that he was driven at last To seek a hiding-place beyond the seas.” (Stanza 11, lines 244-247).
However, it is found out that his work is unfinished when he dies. The unfinished sheepfold in desolation becomes a symbol of the ruin of a heroic life and the loss of his hopes. It is also a ruin of a man mistake which lead into tragedy. It is a ruin of an effect of a man principal to continue the family heritage. Thus are the simple stories of silent suffering and heroic fortitude deepens into truly tragic.
“He at the building of this sheep-fold wrought, and left the work unfinished when he died“ (Stanza 21, lines 471-472).
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
The analysis on Michael is focused on the main character on the story of the poem as a modern tragic hero. Besides focusing on the main character, the other characters, which make Michael as the tragic hero, are also analyzed as the elements of the tragedy. In making a character study, the writer is using the theory on character and characterization. The theory on tragedy and modern tragic hero is used especially to analyze Michael as the main character and also the tragic hero of the modern tragedy in the poem.
Michael is described as an old shepherd in Grasmere Vale. He is a strong man and skillful in shepherd case. He is closest to the nature more than everyone there. He has a wife who is 20 years younger than him. Her name is Isabel. She is a good woman, diligent, and loves Michael so much. They have a son which his name is Luke. Luke can be said as the copy of Michael. He is also skillful in shepherd case and he is also a friend of the nature. He goes to the city for work to pay the debt that has to be paid by Michael or they will lose the patrimonial land. In the city then Luke takes an evil way that makes him runs away to another land. The other character in the poem is Richard Bateman. He is Michael’s relatives in London and he is a successful businessman. He is the person who take care Luke in the city.
The analysis proves that Michael, the main character in Wordsworth’s poem “Michael”, fits the modern tragic hero’s categories, which is stated by Arthur Miller
in Tragedy and the Common Man (Levin, 1960: 171-180). Michael is an ordinary man without any blood relation with any noble man. He is only a shepherd in a little isolated village but he is very important for his family. He has a big struggle to defense the patrimonial land. He likes a king who defenses his kingdom.
He is ready to lay down his life to secure his sense of personal dignity. He sends Luke to the city to save the land and the family. Luke is his dearest son and everything in his life. Luke actually is his life. Actually he can not far from Luke but he does this as the only way because he is too old.
He has the consequence of his total compulsion to evaluate himself justly. He has an agreement with his brother and then he has to pay the debt. He has to sell the land but he will die because of that. Michael confesses that he is false and makes a big mistake in the past. He is late to realize that. Then he sends Luke that he has been prepared to be a shepherd to work in the city. As the result, Luke takes an evil way and the land is lost. Then Michael and Isabel also died because of that.
He has the fear of being displaced. Because he has to pay the debt he has to sell his patrimonial land. He is afraid to do that because the heritage of his family will be lost. The loss of the land also makes him loses the dignity and proud around his social environment.
to avoid selling the land. He thinks that this is the way to save everything in his life and he will not lose anything.
