AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
THERESIA SUZANA
Student Number: 994214007
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA 2007
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. – Mark twain
Barangsiapa tidak mengasihi, ia tidak mengasihi Allah, sebab Allah adalah
Kasih. 1 Yohanes 4 : 8.
This undergraduated thesis is dedicated to
My beloved parents
My beloved sister
Christ, for Their love and guidance given to me to finish this thesis. Without Them, I am
nothing and cannot finish this thesis.
Secondly, I would like to give my biggest gratitude to Dra. Enny Anggraini M.A. as my advisor. I thank her for guidance, patience, direction, and advice. I do realize
without her help, I cannot finish my thesis. I also thank to Adventina Putranti, S.S. M.Hum as my co-adviser.
My gratefulness also goes to my father and mother, Paulus Ramschie and Srie Yantari, my sister Frederika Laura Christy, for their patient, support and love. My brother in law, Daniel Weiberg, and also with their ‘angels’, Ethan and Chloe for being parts of my life.
I would also like to thank all of 99ers for being my best friends. I thank them for the best time we spent together. To Robert, Sidik, bang Reygan, Badrun, Yoma, Helen, Silvy, they give different colors to my life.
Last but not least, to my beloved soulmate Harry ‘Tembem’ Aryanto Tamtomo, for his love, patience, time, and understanding, for being my half heart, also
for being my ‘trash bin’, and shoulder to cry. I thank God for creating him to complete my life with everything he has.
Theresia Suzana
MOTTO PAGE ...iv
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ...7
A. Review of Related Studies ...7
B. Review of Related Theories ...8
1. Theories of Character and Characterization...8
2. Theories on Irony ...11
A. The Characterization of Main Character...28
1. Dr. Louise Case...28
2. Toby Summers ...32
3. Miriam Carpenter ...35
4. Rose Miles...39
B. The Ironies Seen Through the Main Character ...43
1. Verbal Ironies...43
2. Dramatic Ironies...45
3. Situational Ironies ...48
C. The Theme of the Story...52
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...56
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...59
The Novel entitled Perfectly Correct was written by Philippa Gregory in 1996. This novel tells a story about the life of Louise and her two best friends, Toby and Miriam, as the main characters. In this novel, the three best friends are described as academicians and feminists who believe that they already lived a perfect life. There are many ironies can be seen from the main characters and later on, the ironies gradually change their way of life.
In this thesis, there are three objectives. The first objective is about the description of the main characters. The second objective tries to find the ironies that can be seen through the main characters based on feminism perspective. The third objective is to reveal the theme referring to the ironies.
This thesis is a library research, therefore the data are taken from a novel written by Philippa Gregory entitled Perfectly Correct. Sources that are used in the analysis are quoted from books and websites. The approach that is used by the writer is feminist approach. The feminist approach is used as a guidance and limitation so that this thesis can consistently focus on the irony in the main characters to reveal the theme.
After analyzing this novel, it can be concluded that there are three main characters. They are Louise Case, Miriam Carpenter, and Toby Summers. Louise is a kind person, smart but has a solitary life. Miriam is a very active person, has an outpouring energy but she neglects her marriage life. Toby is an egoist person, ambitious, and also has a solitary life. There are three kinds of irony in the story. The first one is verbal irony like when Louise’s action is an irony regarding to what she says. The second one is dramatic irony like when Toby should confront Rose about his relationship with Louise and Miriam. Toby tries to deny the fact that Louise is more than a good friend while the readers know that Louise is more than his best friend. The last kind of irony is a situational irony with an example like the position of Toby Summers. He feels that he has all he needs, a wife, a mistress, and a great career path. He does not know that his competitor is only a decent farmer who he thinks quite illiterate; eventually by the end of the story, Louise choose Andrew Miles instead of Toby. The theme that can be revealed from the ironies is that a beautiful life is not always a perfect life. The story in Perfectly Correct begins with the main characters’ beautiful lives in their own version and it gradually changes when a character named Rose Miles appears in the story. After they meet Rose, their lives gradually change to a better direction. Which is shown through ironies that happen in their daily lifes.
Novel berjudul Perfectly Correct karya Philippa Gregory ditulis pada tahun 1996. Novel ini bercerita tentang kehidupan Louise dan dua sahabatnya, Toby dan Miriam sebagai tokoh utamanya. Dalam novel ini ketiga sahabat tersebut digambarkan sebagai dosen dan feminis yang percaya bahwa hidup mereka sudah sempurna. Banyak ironi-ironi yang bias dilihat dari karakter-karakter utama. Ironi tersebut secara bertahap mengubah cara hidup mereka.
Dalam tesis ini, akan ada tiga tujuan yang dirumuskan. Tujuan pertamas adalah mencari penjelasan tentang karalter datri tokoh-tokoh utama. Tujuan kedua adalah mencari ironi-ironi yang dapat ditemukan melalui tokoh-tokoh utama dilihat dari sudut pandang feminisme. Tujuan ketiga adalah mencari tema yang dapat diketahui melalui tokoh-tokoh utama dan ironi-ironi dalam Perfectly Correct.
Tesis ini adalah sebuah studi pustaka, oleh karena itu data yang diambil dari novel karya Phillipa Gregory. Sumber-sumber yang digunakan dalam analisa dikutip dari buku-buku dan halaman internet. Pendekatan yang digunakan penulis dalam membuat analisis adalah pendekatan secara feminisme. Pendekatan feminisme digunakan sebagai panduan dan batasan sehingga tesis ini secara konsisten tetap berfokus pada ironi-ironi tokoh utama sehingga dapat mengungkap tema cerita.
Setelah menganalisis novel ini, maka disimpulkan bahwa terdapat tiga tokoh utama. Mereka adalah Louise Case, Miriam Carpenter, dan Toby Summers. Louise adalah seorang baik hati, cerdas, tetapi dia kesepian. Miriam adalah seorang yang aktif, mempunyai energi yang lebih tetapi mengabaikan kehidupan pernikahannya. Toby adalah seorang egois, ambisius, dan juga kesepian. Terdapat tiga buah ironi dalam cerita Perfectly Correct. Yang pertama adalah ironi verbal, terlihat ketika perkataan Louise menjadi ironi terhadap perbuatannya. Yang kedua adalah ironi dramatis, terlihat ketika Toby harus beradu argumen tentang hubungan dia dengan Louise dan Miriam. Toby menyangkal kenyataan bahwa Louise lebih dari sekedar teman baik sedangkan pembaca mengetahui bahwa Louise memang lebih dari sekedar teman baik. Ironi terakhir adalah ironi situasi, dimana contohnya adalah kedudukan Toby Summers. Dia merasa bahwa dia sudah memiliki semua yang dia butuhkan, istri, selingkuhan, dan jenjang karir yang bagus. Dia tidak menyadari bahwa pesaingnya adalah seorang petani sederhanayang selama ini dia sangka tidak terpelajar.Pada akhir cerita, Louise lebih memilih Andrew Miles daripada Toby. Tema cerita yang dapat diungkap dari ironi adalah sebuah hidup yang indah bukanlah hidup yang sempurna. Cerita dalam perfectly Correct dimulai dari indahnya kehidupan menurut persepsi para tokoh utama dan lama kelamaan berubah sampai mereka bertemu Rose Miles. Kehadiran Rose Miles mengubah kehidupan mereka ke arah yang lebih baik.
A. Background of the Study
In this life, there are so many options or choices for most of everything. As human beings, we were quite lucky to posses intelligent and common sense to choose. In terms of sexuality and gender, some people choose to be gay, lesbian, or feminist. Sometimes some choices are not even better than the others are. For example, it is not easy for someone to declare himself or herself as a gay or as a lesbian because the choice of life that he or she made is against the common people. As the world revolved, life also changes from time to time.
In the early 20th century, the social community set a very high standard of rules on everyday life. There were not many options or choices can be made at that time, for example is the position of women in the society.
At that time, women are considered weak characters who are only allowed doing domestic routines. From time to time, things started to change for women. Women’s voices started to be heard. In the modern era, men and women are equal in terms of human right, responsibility, etc. In some cases, women can do more than men. For example, a single parent mother can work as a secretary in the morning and raise her children at the same time.
This equality between men and women also can be applied in love life. Women used to have no choice but to accept the man chosen for her by her family, but now, women can go out with any men she wishes. Based on the explanations above, the writer was intrigued to find out more about how a-so-called feminist deals her problems in everyday life. Some feminists hate men for not treating them properly but on the other hand there is a tendency that these feminists started to behave like men who make it become an irony.
To have a better understanding on this subject, the writer found a piece of work in the shape of a novel called Perfectly Correct that was written by Philippa Gregory. The novel itself brought about a story about three best friends who are involved in triangle love affairs.
works. The story itself gradually develops by the presence of another character, an old gypsy woman named Rose who started ruin everything.
Considering the complexity of the issue in the story, and the interesting ironies, the writer decide to choose this novel for the study. The writer is interested in analyzing the main characters in relation with the ironies and the theme of the story. The writer would like to focus the analysis on the main characters. To understand whom the main characters are, and how they are described or presented, will bring me into the appreciation of the work.
The main characters of Perfectly Correct become the major attention in this study because the plot of the story is focused on them and they create the ironies through their behavior and action seen from feminism perspective. Irony, according to M.H. Abrams (1981:89) means, “A difference between what is asserted and what is actually the case.” In a short story, irony is found when someone tells something that is contradictory to the fact. The existence of irony can be a great help for the reader who tries to understand this novel because irony can become a device to build a certain atmosphere, to make the reader get involved in the story. Besides, it also helps to understand the characters of the story.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the preceding paragraphs stated in the background of study, the problem will be formulated as follows.
1 How are the main characters in Gregory’s Perfectly Correct described?
2 What are the ironies reflected through the main characters in Perfectly Correct seen from feminism perspective?
3 What is the theme that can be revealed through the main characters and the ironies in Perfectly Correct?
C. Objectives of the Study
D. Definition of Terms
Some terms will be used in the study. They are explained in order to give a clearer focus in analyzing the topic. The terms that will be explained are character, irony, feminism, perspective, and theme.
The first term that will be explained is the character. According to Abrams’s Glossary of Literary Terms, “character as the person presented in a dramatic or
narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say the dialogue and by what they do (1981: 20).”
The second term that will be explained is irony. Yelland, Jones, and Easton in A Handbook to Literary Terms describes irony as “in its narrow sense is a figure of
speech in which the idea intended to be conveyed is different from, usually the opposite of, the literal of word used; in a broad sense, it is a conflict between reality and appearance (1953:100).”
Maggie Humm in her book The Dictionary of Feminism Theory described feminism as “the ideology of women’s liberation since intrinsic in all its approaches is the belief that women suffer injustice because of our sex. Feminism also incorporates various methods of analysis and theory, if feminism is taken to be the theory of the woman’s point of view.” (1990:74-75)
A. Review of Related Studies
When a work of literature is published and read by public, it might evoke some comments from its readers. Through this novel, Perfectly Correct, Philippa Gregory as the writer received some acknowledgments as well as criticisms. These show that Gregory’s works were well noticed and appreciated by common people.
Appreciations on the novel can be found as comments, such as a comment from Mike Petty from Literary Review in Perfectly Correct novel. He said that,” This novel is a side-splitting gem of a story…everyone’s beliefs are affectionately mocked (1996:p.300).”
The unknown scholar in the web page writes that Perfectly Correct is one of the best comedy reads.
Philippa Gregory's Perfectly correct stands out as one of the best comedy reads of the year, a tale of political correctness derailed, and there's a lot of comedy in Elinor Lipman's Isabel's bed, the very funny tale of a would-be writer and his famous mistress (http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Bookmark/1996/December/Beststaffreads .asp).
Perfectly Correct is a contemporary comedy novel with historical content.
The writer hopes that this study will offer something new to the readers where the writer will analyze the novel from feminism point of view or perspective instead of focusing on the historical background. In this thesis, the writer will analyze Perfectly
Correct, which deals with ironies seen from feminism point of view or perspective.
To support this analysis, the writer uses some books that are related to the theories on character, theories of irony, theories on feminism and theme.
B. Review of Related Theories
Before discuss to the next chapter, the writer would like to state the theories that is used in this study that support me in the analysis of the novel. In this part, the writer adopt several theories, which are closely related to the analysis, namely theory on feminism, theory on characterization, theory on irony and theory on theme.
1. Theories on Character and Characterization
In order to reveal the development of the main character, it is important to understand the basic theories about character and characterization. Every narrative work has a character. In An Introduction to Fiction, Stanton says that the term “character” has two meanings. It can refer to “the individuals who appear in the story and also the mixture of interests, desires, emotions, and moral principles that shapes each of these individuals” (1965: 17). Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literature mention that the term character is used to “designate the individual’s
speech and action. In other words, a character can represent human being’s actions, behaviors, and attitudes.” (1986: 81)
methods. The first method is the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action. The second is the presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader will be able to deduce the attributes of the actor from actions. The third method is representation from within a character, without comment on the character by the author of the impact of the actions and emotions on the character’s inner self.
Kenney, in How to Analyze Fiction, stated that simple characters are character that the readers can sum up the character’s personality into formula (1966:28). Round or complex characters are the characters that cannot be summed up into a single phrase; we have to remember the character in connection with a great scene. Another theory about character is stated by Perrin, in his book entitled Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, “Character is developed into static and developing character”
(1978:700). Static character does not experience changes from the beginning to the end of the story. The developing character, which also called as dynamic character, undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of his characterization, personality or out look.
Murphy’s Understanding Unseen gives more detail techniques of characterization. It mentions nine techniques of characterization used by author to describe the characters of a story (1972: 161-173). They are:
An author uses this method particularly to give the description of character face, body, and the other physical appearances.
b. Character as Seen by Another
Instead of describing a character directly, the author can describe a character trough the eyes and opinions of others.
c. Speech
The author gives the readers an insight into the character of one of the person in the book through what the person says.
d. Past life
By letting the readers learn about a character’s past life, the author can give the clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thought, through his conversation, or through the medium of another person.
e. Conversation of others
The author can also give the readers clues to a persons’ character through the conversation of other people and the things they say about her/him.
f. Reaction
The author can give the readers a clue to a person’s character by letting the readers know how that person reacts to various situations and events.
g. Direct comment
The author can give the reader direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this aspect, he/she is able to do what we cannot do in real life. The reader then is in privileged position; he has, as it were, a secret listening device plugged into the inmost thoughts of a person in his/her novel.
i. Mannerism
An author can describe a person’s mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may also tell us something about his/her character.
2. Theories on Irony
Since this is related to the second question in the problem formulation, the writer wants to state several theories of irony, according to Abram’s A Glossary of Literature Terms, irony is the root sense of dissembling, or of a difference, what is
asserted and what actually the case (1989:89) is. In Kenney’s book How to Analyze Fiction, ironies in fiction consist if discrepancy between what is stated and what is
suggested (1990:135).
In his book A Handbook to Literature, Holman stated two points about irony.
First, irony makes a contrast between the meaning intended by the speaker and the different significance seen by another. The other definition says that irony is a broad term referring to the recognition of a reality different from appearance (1989:258, 264)
which is opposite to the fact or to what is expected (1971:34).” There are three definition of irony found in Webster’s Encyclopedia Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language. The first, irony is a figure of speech in which the literal meaning
of locution is the opposite of that intended, as in the Greek sense when the locution understates the effect intended. Secondly, irony is an utterance or the use of words to express a meaning, which is different from, and often the direct opposite if the literal meaning. Thirdly, irony is a technique of indicating as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that is actually or ostensibibly stated (1989:752-753).
Furthermore, the writer wants to show two points of view in understanding the irony. Yelland, Jones, and Easton in A Handbook to Literary Terms describes irony as “in its narrow sense is a figure of speech in which the idea intended to be conveyed is different from, usually the opposite of, the literal of word used; in a broad sense, it is a conflict between reality and appearance (1953:100).”
Similar to that, Perrine (1974:215) states irony as a contrast involving discrepancy in which one terms of the contrast in some way mocks the other term. Irony can be differentiated into verbal irony, dramatic irony, irony of situation, and irony of fate or cosmic irony.
a. Verbal irony is a figurative of speech in which the opposite is said from what is intended. The difference is between what is said and what is meant.
c. Irony of situation is the discrepancy between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment or between what is and what would seem appropriate. In irony of situation, the expectation is different from reality. The discrepancy occurs when what hope is not the same as what happens.
In this study, the writer will mostly discuss Perrine’s theory. The reason of the writer for using this theory is that they are more relevant to analyze the ironies in the story. In the story itself, irony can be found in many ways, for example from the conversations between the characters, the action that the characters do, and from the choices of life that the characters choose.
3. Theories on Feminism
The piece of literary work, which is analyzed, surely can be trustworthy and brilliant if the writer adopt significant sources to support it. The relevant details are the devices that appear to backup this thesis. Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods, Jr. in their book entitled Reading and Writing about Literature state:
Except that more attention is paid to formal composition, writing about literature is not essentially different from talking about literature. In both cases, a thesis is advanced and supported by means of relevant details. (1971:99)
Based on those descriptions, it can be said that from the old days until now, women have to believe and follow what the society wants them to do as women especially as wives. They only have to obey and serve men. It seriously influences women’s psychological, even it becomes a stereotype in society. In other words, women oppression actually does not only from men but also comes from women themselves and traditional society where the stereotype exists. Women have already depressed mentally without realizing it. Further, Sargent also stated about modern feminism that developed from a position of opposition, opposition not to men as such but to the oppression of women and first by implication and then explicitly all peoples who are treated as inferior by dominant group (1984:271).
A good woman has no desire to rule where she feels it to be her duty as it is her highest pleasure, to love, honor, and obey. She submits with cheerful acquiescence to that order in the conjugal relation which god and nature have established (1984:521).
According to Viola Klein in her work, “The Historical Background of Feminism” in Women: a Feminist Perspective edited by Jo Freemen: “In every respect, harder than men’s, women were no more than one stage behind men in the social evolution. Women remained serfs after men had already outgrown the state of serfdom” (1984:520).
Gender always becomes public discussions and argumentation about gender points in the differentiation between men and women in mascuinity as feminine terms related to the historical inequality. For years, the facts prove that masculine gender holds the higher position in society than feminine gender.
Another intriguing theory about feminism as proposed by Maggie Hum in her book, a Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Feminist Literary Criticism is that in the book she explained that many critics writing what they call “feminist criticism” seems to share three basic assumptions:
b. There are sex-related writing strategies. In the 19th century socialization, and sub-ordination of middle-class women limited their access to, and means of, expression, as much as did the exclusion of working-class women from shipbuilding or public utilities as a means of employment. Men and women do use language in different ways. They often have their different vocabularies and use their vocabularies in different kind of sentences (1994:5).
c. Feminist criticism is that the tradition of literary criticism, like the economic and social tradition of which it is a part, uses masculine norms to exclude or undervalue women’s writing and scholarship. Present day feminist have learned a good deal about literary meaning from masculine critiques and from alterative critical approaches proposed by male critics (1994:6).
such as the mirroring of mothers and daughters or textual moments of mother/daughter empathy, which are undervalued in traditional criticism. Fourth is feminist criticism aims to make us act as feminist readers by creating new writing and reading collectives (1994:9-10).
Cindy Tittle Moore in her essay entitled Feminism Terminologies discuss about variety of movement in feminism. There are thirteen kinds of feminism movement that can be used in analysis.
a. Amazon Feminism
Amazon feminism is concerned about physical equality and is opposed to gender role stereotypes and discrimination against women based on assumptions that women are supposed to be, look, or behave as if they are passive, weak, and physically helpless. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html) b. Erotic Feminism
This seemed to start in Germany under the rule of Otto von Bismarck. He ruled the land with the motto "blood and iron.” In society, the man was the ultra manly man and power was patriarchal power. Some women rebelled against this, by becoming WOMAN. Eroticism became a philosophical and metaphysical. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)
c. Eco-Feminism:
to long-term consequences as a direct result of the attitudes fostered in a patriarchical/hierarchical society. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)
d. Feminazi:
This term was "invented" by the radio/TV host Rush Limbaugh. He defines a feminazi as a feminist who is trying to produce as many abortions as possible. Hence, the term "Nazi" - he sees them as trying to rid the world of a particular group of people. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)
e. Individualist, or Libertarian Feminism
Individualist feminism is based upon individualist or libertarian (minimum government or anarchocapitalist) philosophies, i.e. philosophies whose primary focus is individual autonomy, rights, liberty, independence, and diversity. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)
f. Lesbianism:
g. Liberal Feminism:
This is the variety of feminism that works within the structure of mainstream society to integrate women into that structure. Its roots stretch back to the social contract theory of government instituted by the American Revolution. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)
h. Marxist and Socialist Feminism
Marxism recognizes that women are oppressed, and attributes the oppression to the capitalist/private property system. Thus, they insist that the only way to end the oppression of women is to overthrow the capitalist system. Socialist feminism is the result of Marxism meeting radical feminism. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)
i. Material Feminism
A movement in the late 19th century to liberate women by improving their material condition. This meant taking the burden of housework and cooking off their shoulders. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)
j. Moderate Feminism:
k. Pop Feminism
It appears to be a catch-all for the bogey “man" sort of feminism that everyone loves to hate, the kind of feminism that grinds men under its heel and admits to no wrong for women. It is doubtful that such a caricature actually exists, yet many people persist in lumping all feminists into this sort of a category. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)
l. Radical Feminism:
Provides the bulwark of theoretical thought in feminism. Radical feminism provides an important foundation for the rest of "feminist flavors.” Seen by many as the "undesirable" element of feminism, Radical feminism is actually the breeding ground for many of the ideas arising from feminism; ideas which get shaped and pounded out in various ways by other (but not all) branches of feminism. (http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/feminism/terms.html)
m. Feminist Men's Movement:
4. Theories on Theme
Holman and Harmon state that theme is, “a central or dominating idea in work (1986:502).” As the central idea of the story, theme unifies the elements to forma complete and unified story. Therefore, to discover theme of the story, a comprehension of numerous elements of work is needed. Further, they say that in poetry, fiction, and drama, theme is an abstract concept made concrete through its representation in person, action, and image in the work. Generally, the form of theme in fiction is based on the reason of character’s behavior or motifs (1986:502). Stanton in
Kenney in his book How to Analyze Fiction states that theme is the total
meaning discovered by writer in the process of reading (1966:94). Moreover, he says that in discovering the themes, the reader should pay attention to the other elements in the story such as character, plot, setting, point of view, etc. He suggests that by understanding those elements more deeply we can find the themes that lie in the story Furthermore, Perrine in Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense adds that there is no prescribed method for discovering a theme but we should keep in mind the following principles:
a. Theme must be expressible in the form of statement with a subject and predicate. b. The theme must be stated as a generalization about life. In stating the theme, we
c. We must be careful not to make the generalization larger that is justified by the terms of the story. The terms like every, all, always, should be used very cautiously; terms like some, sometimes are often more accurate.
d. Theme is the central idea and unifying concept of the story. (i) It must account for all the major details of the story. (ii) The theme must not be contradicted by any detail of the story. (iii) The theme must not rely upon supposed facts-facts not actually stated that or implied by the story. The theme must exist inside and not outside the story (1978)
Baldick in his book, The Concise Oxford Dictionary Literary Terms, adds that theme is a salient abstract idea that emerges from a literary work’s treatment of its subject matter; or a topic recurring in a number of literary works. The theme of a literary work may also be announced explicitly, but more often, it emerges indirectly through the recurrence of motifs (1990:225).
C. Theoretical Framework
The purpose of this study is to be able to reveal the theme of the novel through the characters and the ironies. The theory of “character” in Stanton’s Introduction to Fiction and Holman and Harmon’s A Handbook to Literature,
The theories of irony are needed to reveal the irony in the novel. Here, the writer used Abram’s theory of Irony in a Glossary of Literary Terms, Yelland, Jones, and Easton’s in A Handbook to Literary Terms, Mary Rohberger and Samuel H. Wood Jr’s Reading and Writing about Literature, Kenney’s How to Analyze Fiction, and Perrin’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. The writer also applied theories about feminism, so that the answer of the problem formulation can be seen from a feminist perspective or point of view especially for the ironies. The theory from Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods, Jr. about feminism in Reading and Writing about Literature, Philip Rice and Patricia Waugh’s theory of feminism in Modern Literary
Theory, Sargent’s Contemporary Political Ideology, Viola Klein’s Women: A
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
As the object of the study, I use the novel written by Philippa Gregory, which is entitled Perfectly Correct. It is published in 1997 by Harper Collins Publisher in Great Britain. This novel consists of 293 pages. Perfectly Correct has been first published in 1996. One year after its first publishing in 1996, Perfectly Correct was reprinted as special promotion book exclusive to Cosmopolitan
magazine.
Regarding to her background, Philippa Gregory is not a feminist writer. Gregory went to Sussex University to study English but then she swapped her degree to history and discovered a passion for the past. After graduating, she worked in BBC Radio for two years before studying for a PhD at Edinburgh University in 18th Century Literature. The foundation of her novels remains meticulous research and historical accuracy and her books inspire many to a love of history. (http//www/philippagregory.com/background.shtml)
“Funnily enough, I wrote a novel which I planned as a contemporary comedy-Perfectly Correct-which was to have no history at all. But Lo! Into my narrative drives an old lady, who within moments introduces herself as a member of the Suffragette movement. Next thing I am in the library again, researching the suffragettes.”
(http//www.chicklit.co.uk/articles/philippa_gregory.asp)
From the quotation above, it is clear that Perfectly Correct is a contemporary comedy novel with some historical contents.
The novel itself is about Dr. Louise Case, the main character, who seems to have a perfect life. She has the right career, the right country cottage, and a commitment free relationship with Toby a fellow academician. One day, an old gipsy woman named Rose parks her rustic van in Louise’s lane and settled there. Soon, both campus and cottage are in chaos because Rose, effortlessly, disrupts everything. Louise does everything that she can think of to get rid of Rose while Toby does everything that he can think of to keep Rose stays there for he is doing a research about gipsy. With the intervention of Rose, the life of the main characters will never be the same.
B. Approach of the Study
Gregory’s Perfectly Correct tells a story about feminists and the way they handle their problems in life, therefore the writer feels that it is appropriate to use feminism approach. According to Guerin in A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, “Feminist critics study issues that once thought to be ‘outside’ the
study of literature.”
Despite their diversity, feminist critic generally agree that their goals are to expose patriarchal premises and resulting prejudices, to promote discovery and reevaluation of literature by woman, and to examine social, cultural, and psychosexual context of literature and literary criticism. Feminist critics therefore study sexual, social, and political issues once thought to be “outside” the study of literature. (1999:197)
thorough knowledge of how the main characters, the ironies, and the theme seen from a feminist point of view.
C. Method of the Study
This study was done by collecting the data from several sources and references that were suitable to do the analysis. The main data were gained by reading and taking notes. The writer also compiled data from the internet in order to gain more information, which was very useful in understanding the novel better. To answer the problem formulation, the writer applied the feminist approach and there were steps that the writer took in doing the analysis so that the writer was able to obtain the solutions to the problem formulation.
In the first step, the writer started to read the novel, Perfectly Correct, as the main data for having a good understanding of the content of the novel. While reading the novel, the writer paid more attention to the main character’s dialogues and actions. Having read the novel, the writer also read some background about Perfectly Correct for the writer could not find the criticism. These activities
would provide the writer with appropriate information about the subject. The second, to answer the first question in the problem formulation, the writer would analyze the description of the main character by applying the theory on character and characterization. In this step, by using Murphy’s theory in Understanding Unseen, each main character will be analyzed through personal description,
feminism, the writer tried to find the ironies reflected through the main characters seen from feminism perspective. The last step, Perrine’s theory on irony will be applied in this step along with some theories on feminism. The writer tried to get the theme of the novel that can be revealed through the main characters and the ironies. After finishing the analysis, I presented a conclusion for the study.
three parts. This thesis attempts to find the contribution of irony in the main characters seen from feminism perspective to reveal the theme in Gregory’s Perfectly Correct. In order to find the contribution of irony or the irony itself, it is very important to analyze the characterization of the main character for the first four parts. Each main character is analyzed in different parts. The first part describes the main characters’ characterizations. The next part or the second part relates to the second problem formulation therefore, this part explains about the ironies that reflected through the main characters in Perfectly Correct seen from feminism perspective and the last part describes about the theme that can be revealed from the main characters and the ironies.
A. The Characterization of the main Character.
1. Dr. Louise Case
Louise Case is one of the main characters in Perfectly Correct. Working as a women-studies lecturer and a writer, Louise feels that she always knows what she wants. She makes a big decision to move to a country side to live in a small cottage. Her move to the country has given her more time for herself.
Toby was agreeably surprised to find that she seemed to be spending this time personal; grooming, of which the claret toes were the latest example (p. 42).
Without her husband to worry and children to be taken care of, Louise has all the time and money to put up with her personal choice for furniture and appearance. Toby just read her essay which explained the feminist now could legitimate wear any kind of garment, adopt any sort of adornment. The old dreary dress codes of puritan drabness could be rejected. Apparently feminist could now enjoy their feminity (p. 42).
It is true that people change through time. People can change in many ways, from the way of thinking, maturity, appearance. It also happens to Louise. Not only that now she has a PhD degree, and a feminist way of thinking but Louise has definitely grown from a clueless-in-fashion person to a woman with an increasingly smart clothes. Her great taste is not only applicable for the clothes she wears but also applicable for her cottage.
Toby loves the contrast of Louise’s orderly female room. There were no frills or lace, nothing fussy, but the room had a groomed elegance like Louise herself (p. 43).
It seems that it is also one of the reasons why Toby attracted to her more than he is to Miriam, his wife. The two women have grown to completely different characters. Of the two women, Miriam is undeniably more attractive but over the years, with all of her depressing works, Miriam looks older than her thirty years. On the other hand, Louise looks more vibrant as time passes by. She can be called as a beautiful attractive woman through her appearance; moreover, her natural beauty that comes from her brain makes it more attractive, both to men and women.
only has Toby and Miriam as her best friends. As the result, Louise does not have any one to talk to around the house when Toby and Miriam are not with her.
Louise felt half-invisible, looking out of the window across the common. She would pour herself a glass of wine and got out into the garden, sit in deck chair on the front lawn and read a book, consciously trying to enjoy her solitude. Then she would turn around and look at the little cottage which seemed more lively and vital than herself (p. 34-35).
From the quotation above, it is quite obvious that reading a book can really help Louise to spend her time in cottage. Deep down in her heart, she needs a companion around the house. When one day an old gipsy woman named Rose parks her van in Louise’s orchard, Louise tries anything she can think of to get Rose out of her orchard for Louise considers it as trespassing her private property. Eventually, in her lonely days, Louise realizes that she is glad to have Rose in her orchard as her companion.
The van was rocking slightly as the old woman inside moved about, making breakfast for herself and the dog. Louise sniffed. She could smell a safe warm smell of wood smoke. She felt enormously comforted at the sight of that battered blue roof and the presence of another person nearby. She dropped back to the pillows again and fell asleep like a child that is reassured by the sound of her mother in the next room. There was after all, nothing to fear (p. 53).
him for the helps he gives her but also to reminds her of her bed time every time he passes her house like the quotation below.
“I’d love it,” Louise said. “It’s lonely here, sometimes. Especially in winter, when it gets dark so early and it’s so quiet. It would be good to have company. Some nights I put on the radio just to hear another voice, and I actually wait to hear Mr. Miles drive past at closing time. It’s ridiculous. I wait to hear the noise of his Land-Rover and then I know it’s bedtime. It would be bliss to have him here (p.113).”
Louise’s solitary life is already known by people around her like Miriam, Toby, and even Rose. Rose also aware of this situation even though she knows her not more than several days. Even though Louise does not wish for Rose to stay, what Louise does not realize is that Rose knows her even better than Miriam and Toby.
‘She’s burning up for you,’ the old woman alleged. ‘I hear her at night, all on her own. She cries into her pillow for sheer loneliness. In her silk pyjamas, in that big bed (p.92).’
2. Toby Summers
Toby Summers is Miriam’s husband and also Louise’s lover. Toby has lived with two feminists for all of his married life. Toby knows himself to be a remarkably lucky man for he has a wife and a mistress sometimes under the same roof. For Toby, there is something so exquisitely lavish about having two women under the same roof. Louise, since her move, is more precious to him than she has been before. With Miriam and Louise under his roof again, he feels wealthy as a polygamous sheikh (p.28)
He enjoyed the reassurance of knowing that his wife and his mistress were sexually available to him. Tomorrow morning, after Miriam had brought him a cup of coffee in bed and gone to work, he would make love to Louise if he felt like it. He was a fortunate man and he knew it (p. 30). From the quotation above, it is clear that Toby Summers can be categorized as a selfish person regarding to his love life. When he makes love to them, he talks to Louise (or Miriam) not only about his feelings and desires but he also inquires courteously as to their progress to the climax. Whether he is trying to please or inviting congratulations, it is impossible to say (p.44).
Louise watching the two of them from her bedroom window wondered what Toby wanted with the old woman. If it had been Miriam seeking her out then Louise would have known that she had found her a settlement place, a bed in a refugee, a council site. But Toby – Toby never did anything for anyone but himself (p.55).
make Rose stays there and gets the story he needs, then he has a plan to publish the story in a book, a definitive book on the women’s suffrage movement and the inside story of the life of Sylvia Pankhurst. He plans this without considering how about Louise’s feelings if she knows that the lady will stay a lot longer.
Ambitious is another strong point about the character of Toby Summers. As a lecturer in his mid thirty, he has a rapid growth in terms of career. Colleagues at the university feared and envied the speedy progress of his career (p.28). Unfortunately it is not enough for Toby Summers. He still has a dream to go to a more prestigious university such as Oxford or Cambridge or even the University of California in America to pursue a better career.
Ever since Toby knows Rose’s background or childhood stories and her relation with the women’s suffrage movement, he does whatever he can to keep Rose stay as long as possible. He does this to get the exclusive story on the women’s movement and the inside story of the life of Sylvia Pankhurst. He will quote extensively from her private papers, letters, and diaries.
There was a huge and growing interest in anything about the women’s movement, not just in England but worldwide. He would get a teaching post far better paid, far more prestigious than Suffix could ever offer. He could go to Cambridge, or Oxford. He leaned against the front door for a moment, hyperventilating with fantasy (p.39).
this exclusive story from Rose. He lies to her that he studies the period; he is willing to accompany Rose to buy a new dress, etc.
There is a point in every academic’s life when he or she realizes that a career in a university is as unjust as the upward struggle in any large corporation. Those that do well are as unscrupulous and ambitious as any City executive. Toby was not going to hand over the research opportunity of a life time simply because he was the wrong gender and had no interest in the topic (p.40).
Both Louise and Miriam are better prepared and better suited to interview the old woman. Miriam teaches a women’s history course in the evening class, and Louise specializes in women’s studies but Toby does not care because he is just too ambitious to give them the opportunity. Through out the story, Toby’s decision to keep the story for himself creates an irony because the situation is backfires at him.
As a lecturer, sometimes Toby can be found in a bar, sitting at a table with half a dozen students but it does not guarantee that Toby has many friends. For him, having a wife and a mistress is enough, he does not need to have many friends he only need Louise to satisfy his sexual desire. ‘Toby had no friends Colleagues at the university feared and envied the speedy progress of his career,’ (p.28) for some reason does not has friends because people in his university do not like with the progress of Toby’s career.
friendship between his wife and Louise, what he thinking is he gets what he wants. ‘But Toby – Toby never did anything for anyone but himself. ‘ (p.30)
His selfish side also contributes to his solitary life. Nobody wants to hang out or being a best friend to a selfish person. This situation makes Toby accustomed to a solitary life and he feels that he does not need any friend.
3. Miriam Carpenter
Miriam is Louise best friend and the wife of Toby Summers. Miriam teaches women’s history course at evening class and she also serves as a consultant in a women refugee for homeless women in Brighton. Miriam has an outpouring energy and care for the poor, the dispossessed and the victims of sexual violence but this situation makes a gap or a vacuum in her marriage. With all of her activities, Miriam makes her time allotment in tidy effective parcels so that she will never be late for a meeting.
Miriam never slept late anymore, she was out of practice. Her conscience would wake her from the deepest, most restful sleep and remind her of work she had left unfinished: work which never could be finished while men and women treated each other with contempt (p.82).
never has a clue about their affair. Her focus is always about her job and she thinks that Toby also a workaholic and that he does not have any time to build an affair with anyone.
As a feminist, and a counselor in a refugee camp, Miriam can be categorized as a determined person. In this case she always knows what she wants and what she believes to be right. Therefore, she always tries to assert her rights.
Louise was reluctant to let Miriam out of the door with a plate of chicken casserole, fearing that she would set a precedent and the old woman would arrive for breakfast, lunch, and dinner thereafter. But no-one could ever stop Miriam from doing what she knew to be right. Louise let her go (p.78).
From the quotation above, Louise as her best friend really knows about her determined character and as a fellow feminist, Louise really understands it. Another example that shows Miriam’s determined side is when she and Toby is about to get separates.
Miriam gave a cry of outrage and rummaged in her hand bag and dragged out her wallet. She took all the notes inside and pushed them into Toby’s hand. ‘There’s a hundred quid, give or take,’ she cried, choking with rage. ‘And that’s the last you’ll ever have from me. Of course I wouldn’t touch your pathetic salary, I’d rather starve than live off you. And of course I won’t be coming home to you. You’re an adulterous cheat and a liar and I hope whoever has your credit card takes you for every penny you have.’ She pushed him for emphasis in the chest and then finally spun him by the shoulders and thrust him out of the door and slammed it behind him (p.262).
conversation to defense himself but he makes a wrong move by accusing Miriam for using his missing credit card.
Miriam is an independent woman and after all these years, she feels that she can not and will never ask Toby for money. Miriam’s reaction toward Toby’s statement which accusing her shows her determined side where she finally decides to dump him at once.
Working as a counselor for many years, Miriam already counsels hundreds of women. She helps so many women that experience domestic harassment and have problems in their house. What she think she can get is that she can makes a difference with what she has done but the fact is she feels that she fails, all what she has done is useless.
Miriam shrugged. ‘Oh I don’t know,’ she said. ‘perhaps I’m getting old too old for it. Or perhaps it really is getting worse. When I started working at the center I genuinely believed we could make a difference. But all I do is sustain the problem. For every woman I can get rehoused there are six I have to send back to their husband to get beaten again.’ (p.70)
woman inside. She can be frustrated and she can be tired even though she seems like a restless person.
‘If you could have anything you wanted,’ she asked, invoking the old game they used to play when they were undergraduates and thought that everything was possible, ‘anything in the world, what would it be?’
Miriam put her fork on her plate and rested her chin on her hands. For a moment she does not look like Miriam, thirty years old and stuck in a rut of social work and unsocial hours. She smiled. ‘I’d buy a bike,’ she said. ‘A mountain bike with loads of fancy gears and I’d pack a bag, and I’d take the ferry to Europe and I’d bike all around the world. Everywhere it was sunny. And I’d never come home again (p.80-81).’
Louise is the only person that she can talk to, about her deepest thought, desires, and things that she can not share with Toby. After all these years as a counselor, deep down in her heart she realizes that she is physically and mentally fatigue with her job but she can not find a way to release it until one day, Andrew Miles held some kind of a rave party in his field where she can dance all night long.
‘I’m dancing off the boredom and the anxiety. I’m dancing off the responsibility and trying to get things right. I’m dancing off my dreary bloody husband and being politically correct. I’m going to be free (p.276).’
4. Rose Miles
Rose Miles is one of the most important characters in this novel. It is her presence that makes the story becomes interesting. Rose parks her van in Louise’s orchard because she knows that she is dying and it is always being her dream to die in a special place. Louise’s orchard is a very special for Rose because she was born there. That is also the reason why she keeps coming back to that place regularly every year.
Through out the story, it is apparent that Rose is a determined person. Just like Miriam, Rose is also a feminist who knows what she wants and she tries to assert it. One of examples about this is when she asks Toby to buy her a dress. She cannot find a dress that she likes in any store but she finds a beautiful dress in someone’s laundry, so she steals it.
‘There it is!’ Rose cried longingly. ‘My burial gown.’
Toby looked along the line of her pointing finger. Rose had seen through the high bolted wrought-iron garden gate of Wistley Manor to where clothes swung and blew on a rotary line. There was Mrs. Frome’s scarlet chiffon dressing gown, a gorgeous affair of layers of floaty chiffon trimmed with thick silky red ribbons and inches of ruching at the hem. ‘That’s it,’ Rose said again. ‘That’s what I want.’
Toby experimented with his light inconsequential laugh. ‘It is nice,’ he said, as one might speak to a child. ‘Now let me think! I wonder where we could find something like it!’
‘Why?’
‘So that we could get it for you…’
‘I don’t want something like it,’ Rose said reasonably. ‘I want that one (pg. 106-107).’
have the dress that she sees instead of buying a new one. Rose knows that Toby will not get her the dress that she wants; therefore, she decides to steal the dress by herself.
Rose is a very determined person but her determination can make her a stubborn person from time to time. In other words, the distinction between determined and stubborn is not that obvious for Rose. She will not listen to anyone advice, she thinks what she does is correct. It can be seen we she park her van in Louise’s orchard, she thinks what she does is not annoying Louise. Although other people suggest her to move her van, she is insisting to stay there.
The old woman looked at Andrew. ‘The bottom field where you dad kept the pigs?’ she asked. ‘I told your granddad and I told your dad I’d not stop there.’
‘Any field you like. You’re in the way for Miss Case, here,’ he said gruffly. The old woman looked quickly at Louise. ‘How am I in your way?’
‘You are not!’ Louise said quickly. ‘But it is my orchard, and you trespassing, actually.’ She felt her voice weaken. ‘It is my land, you know, and there isn’t really room for you here. (p.59)’
It has been like a ritual for Rose to stop by in that orchard since many years ago. Louise’s grandfather and her father already know about Rose’s ritual, and because of that, Rose believes that Louise should also understand about it.
is true but they try to deny their feelings. They are afraid if they admit that Rose is right then their life will change and their life will not be correct anymore.
Aside from the way Rose advises them, there are many wisdoms in what she says. She always tells them the reality or the way things should be. She tells them the reality that they do not want to know for they think their life is so perfect and correct and Rose is only a lady who disturbs it. Many evidences related to this matter can be found through out the story, like the quotation below.
‘Time you were wed,’ the old woman said determinedly. ‘Your liver can’t stand you being a bachelor much longer. And that’s the very girl for you.’ ‘She’s got a man of her own,’ Andrew objected. ‘And a job at the university.’ Rose screwed up her wrinkled face in disgust. ‘He’s a nothing! Hardly a man at all. And he does nothing for her, you take my word for it. And that job of hers is a bit of nothing too. What she needs is a good man and a couple of chavies. Then you’ll see.’
‘How d’you know he does nothing for her?’ Andrew asked curiously. ‘Have you been eavesdropping?’
‘I know what I know,’ Rose said, retreating rapidly into sibylline wisdom (p.91).
Rose already knows Andrew Miles before Louise moved to the cottage, and she knows that Andrew Miles is a descent guy. After rose gets an acquaintance with Louise, she realizes that Louise is a perfect match for Andrew Miles. The quotation above is not the only time Rose tries to convince that Louise and Andrew are meant for each other. Once, Rose also tells Louise that Andrew Miles is more suitable for her rather than Toby Summers.
The old woman spoke to Louise in a conspiratorial undertone. ‘He’s a handsome man. Any woman would be proud to have him in her bed. I can see why you like him.’
‘Andrew Miles,’ the woman said, her voice loving every syllable of his name. ‘And such a pretty farm, and owned freehold, you know. You’ve been wasting your time with that girl’s blouse Toby. If I were your age I’d be tucked up in the big feather bed in the farmhouse b’now and a couple of babies in the cot, too.’ (p. 59-60)
Louise, just like Andrew Miles, does not believe what Rose tells her and she just feels uncomfortable to hear that because for Louise, Rose is only an uninvited guest who tries to disturb her peaceful life and her privacy. Rose can give Louise such an advise, not only because she already knows Andrew Miles since a long time ago but she also knows that there is something wrong with the relationship between Toby, Miriam, and Louise. In only a couple days during her stay, she can see how Toby plays with both women’s heart and she does not like that. The quotation below shows example of how wise she is when she first talk to Miriam.
‘’Bout time you do something for yourself then,’ the old woman remarked. ‘Nine years on other people’s troubles is much too long.’
‘I enjoy my work,’ Miriam said, steadfastly smiling.
The old woman snorted. ‘Lady bountiful,’ she said spitefully. ‘You should look to what’s going on in your own backyard. It’s not very long, my dear, before you’re dead and buried and all you’ll have done is worry about other people’s troubles.’
Miriam shook her head, trying to keep the smile on her face. ‘I do make a difference,’ she said. ‘I get women rehoused, I help to change their lives.’ ‘Pot calling the kettle black,’ the old woman said churlishly. ‘You should be rehousing yourself, my girl. Change your own life.’ (p. 77-78)
deep down in her heart, she realizes that what Rose tells her is right. From the explanation above, it can be seen that Rose Miles is a nice and wise person.
B. The Ironies Seen through the Main Characters
In this part of discussion, the writer will analyze the ironies of the story seen through the main characters. According to Perrine, irony is a term with a range of meanings, all of them involving some sort of discrepancy or incongruity (1974:215). I find that there are three kinds of irony that exist in the story. The first type is verbal irony.
1. Verbal Irony
Verbal irony is a figurative of speech in which the opposite is said from what is intended. The difference is between what is said and what is meant (Perrine, 1974:215).
To begin with, Dr. Louise Case lives in a perfect little cottage in suburban where everything is just as she likes it, quiet and empty. Her life begins to change when one day a big blue van comes, parks in her orchard, and settles there. Louise’s first reaction is to call Toby Summers and asks for his help or advice about how to get rid of the van as soon as possible.
makes it becomes an irony is that instead of giving Louise an exact answer about when she will move on, Rose is asking her to fill her jug with fresh water and Louise does as she asks.
“I strode down to the end of the garden to assert my rights and found my self delivering fresh water. I shall be taking in her laundry next.”
Toby smiled. “How wonderfully surreal! Did she say when she was moving on?”
“She said absolutely nothing.”
“As long as she’s no trouble, I suppose it doesn’t matter?”
“Yes; but I don’t want her there! I can’t see out of my study window, I can’t see out of the sitting-room window (p.14).”
For someone who does not want Rose to be there and as a feminist who always asserts her own rights, Louise’s action is an irony regarding to what she says. So, although Louise says that she does not want her there but she is ready when Rose asks for her help, just like the quotation above where Louise is delivering fresh water for Rose while actually she is there to ask Rose to move on from her orchard.
Another verbal irony that can be found in Perfectly Correct is when Toby tries to find an excuse to have a time to interview Rose like what can be seen from the quotation below.
“Actually, I think I’ll pop down and have another word with your old lady. She was talking to me last night about her childhood. I was thinking, I might do a bit of oral history research on her. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. If she’s going to be here for a few days I could take the opportunity.”
As a best friend and a lover for the past nine years, Louise can be the only person besides Miriam who really knows about Toby including about his political views and his principals toward certain things. When Toby starts to find excuses to have a time to interview Rose, he does not realize that he says something that Louise knows for sure that it is not true which is about his opinion toward oral history.
In his statement, Toby says that he always wants to do a bit of oral history about Rose while Louise knows for sure that he hates oral history. It becomes an irony because Toby does not really means to make an oral history. He just wants an exclusive interview with Rose without interference from Louise so that he can publish his own book.
2. Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is the contrast between what a character says and what the reader knows to be true. In the story, this kind of irony can be found when Miriam confronts Rose in her trailer to ask her to leave.
On that day, Miriam comes to Rose’s trailer with the intention to help Louise to get rid of Rose by get her on a housing list. What she does not expect is that Rose tells her about her physical condition and that she is dying and her dream is to die in Louise orchard.
“’Bout time you did something for yourself then,” the old woman remarked. “Nine years on other people’s troubles is much too long.”
“I enjoy my work,” Miriam said, steadfastly smiling,
you’re dead and buried ands all you’ll have done is worry about other people’s trouble.”
Miriam shook her head, trying to keep the smile on her face. “I do make a difference,” she said. “I get women rehoused; I help to change their lives.” “Pot calling the kettle back,” the old woman said churlishly. “You should be rehousing yourself, my girl. Change your own life (p.77-78).”
From the quotation above, Rose is trying to make Miriam sees the reality and we can find two ironies there. This is the part where what Miriam says become an irony. She helps women who have been beaten by their partners and she counsels alcoholic women. She claims that she makes a difference for them and that she changes their lives. She does not realize that actually she is too busy with her work and it causes her own marriage in jeopardize. Instead of trying to change other people’s life, she should tries to change her own life and the other irony is the part where Miriam states that she enjoys her job.
Miriam is actually depressed in doing her job like what has been described in the Miriam’s characterization. Eight years as a counselor creates a gap in her marriage life with Toby for she doesn’t have time for him anymore and deep down in her heart she realizes that she makes no difference to those women’s life that she counsels.
Miriam put her fork on her plate and rested her chin on her hands. For a moment she did not look like Miriam, thirty years old and stuck in a rut of social work and unsocial hours. She smiled. ‘I’d buy a bike,’ she said. ‘A mountain bike with loads of fancy gears and I’d pack a bag, and I’d take the ferry to Europe and I’d bike all around the world. Everywhere it was sunny. And I’d never come home again.’
Miriam also creates another dramatic irony when she claims that she finds Andrew Miles very attractive. Miriam can be seen as a true feminist because she has been involved in feminism since in college where Miriam and Louise attend women’s defense classes, assertiveness training. After that she works at a women’s refuge and provides telephone counseling for the Rape Crisis Centre for the past eight years.
“I know a nice man when I see him,” Miriam said. “And I’d put my faith in Andrew Miles any day.”
Louise felt herself gripped with a quite unreasonable fury. If she had believed in the existence of jealousy between feminists she would have recognized this savage rage at Miriam’s sudden intimacy with Andrew Miles. Louise’s whole world was abruptly turned up side down if Miriam should find a man such as Andrew Miles attractive. Miriam who had Toby, who had been the pinnacle of Louise’s desires for nine years. It made no sense at all that Miriam, with Toby as her husband, her intellectual companion and her lover, should find Andrew Miles, an uneducated uncouth farm labourer, so extremely attractive (p.137).
The quotation above shows how Louise shocked to know that Miriam finds Andrew Miles as an attractive person. Even Louise as her best friend can not believe what she hears, not to mention that Miriam already has Toby as a husband. People think that Toby and Miriam is a perfect couple, they seem to be made for each other. Both of them are charming, well educated, and financially stable. Even Louise is jealous with Miriam for having Toby as her intellectual companion that is why it is quite unbelievable to hear that Miriam finds an uneducated farmer like Andrew Miles attractive.
who knows the real situation where Toby’s wife is Miriam and he still has an affair with Louise, Rose decides to ask him about this matter.
“Louise is our very good friend, and Miriam is my wife. It’s not a question of choosing between the two. I am married to Miriam and Louise is a dear, dear friend. These days I think everyone accepts that a man and a woman can be friends.”
Rose shook her head. “That girl needs a man,” She declared. “A man in her bed and a baby on the way. She needs some one to warm her bed at night, not a quick poke and then an empty house. And Miriam needs some fun. She looks downright miserable. And you’re the one that has brought all this about. So you’d better think carefully what you’re doing my boy. You’re bringing neither of them any good at all (p.132).”
Referring to the theory that dramatic irony is the contrast between what a character says and what the readers know to be true, it is apparent that Toby tries to deny the fact that Louise is more than a very good friend while the readers know that Louise is more than his best friend. Unfortunately, he does not know that after all these days Rose keep her eyes on them, not to mention that she lives in Louise’s orchard.
3. Situational Irony
Irony of situation is the discrepancy between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment or between what is and what would seem appropriate. In irony of situation, the expectation is different from reality. The discrepancy occurs when what one hopes is not the same as what happens.
the fact that he can conquer two feminists, Toby becomes fully aware of this situation which makes him selfish and sometimes arrogant too. “With Miriam and Louise under his roof again he felt wealthy as a polygamous sheikh (p.28)”
Unfortunately for Toby, he does not realize that his competitor is just a decent farmer who Toby and Louise think quite illiterate, Andrew Miles. Andrew Miles’ existence for Louise is nothing more than a friendly and helpful neighbor. If Louise needs any help around the house such as repairing the sink, the roof, the fence, etc; then Andrew Miles is the first person she rings. For Toby, there is nothing harmful with this situation regarding to his assumption that Andrew Miles is just an illiterate farmer. What Toby does not know is that somehow Louise perception toward Andrew Miles gradually changes and it is because of Toby’s big ego that makes him does not realize this.
“That’ll be great,” Toby agreed eagerly. He was heavier than Andrew Miles, better dressed, rounder-faced, richer all over with the smooth glossiness of a well-serviced urban man. But beside the beaky farmer he looked strangely insubstantial (p.60).”