ELEMENTS OF ARISTOTELIAN TRAGEDY IN RUSSELL MULCAHY’S (2009) PRAYER FOR BOBBY
A THESIS
by:
Student Number: 08.80.0008 Sylvia Witanoko.
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SOEGIJAPRANATA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
SEMARANG
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ELEMENTS OF ARISTOTELIAN TRAGEDY IN RUSSELL MULCAHY’S (2009) PRAYER FOR BOBBY
A Thesis Presented as Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Sastra Degree in the English Department
By
2013 Sylvia Witanoko. Student Number: 08.80.0008
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME FACULTY OF LETTERS
ii A THESIS ON
ELEMENTS OF ARISTOTELIAN TRAGEDY IN RUSSELL MULCAHY’S (2009) PRAYER FOR BOBBY
By:
Sylvia Witanoko. Student Number: 08.80.0008
Approved by,
B. Retang Wohangara, SS., M. Hum. March 14, 2013 Major Sponsor
GM. Adhyanggono, SS., M.A. Co-Sponsor
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A thesis defended in front of the Board of Examiners on March 14, 2013 and declared acceptable
Chairperson (major) : B. Retang Wohangara, SS., M. Hum. ………
Secretary (co) : GM. Adhyanggono, SS., M. A. ………
Member (examiner) : Heny Hartono, SS., M. Pd. ………
Semarang, 14 March 2013 Faculty of Letters
Soegijapranata Catholic University Dean,
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
iv MOTTO
Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy.
-Anonim-
Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and
one chance to do all the things you want to do.
-Anonim-
No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure,
especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God… and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education
that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.
-Orson F. Whitney-
Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, love the people who treat you right and foget about the ones who don’t.
And believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance – take it.
If it changes your life – let it. Nobody said that it would be easy. They just promised it would be worth it.
-Anonim-v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In this opportunity, I would like to thank all of the people who have helped me in the process of making this thesis. First of all, I would like to give thanks to God for always giving me good health so that I could stay up late to finish this thesis without being sick in the morning. God’s blessing is very powerful and wonderful. During the making of this thesis, God helped me by giving me a lot of wonderful people around me, people who always gave me the courage to finish this thesis. I believe that it is God’s intervention that has helped me to get all the ideas for this thesis. Thank you, Jesus, for every little thing that You have given to me; loving family, helpful and loyal friends, and guidance through all the obstacles during the making of this thesis.
I also would like to thank to all people that have encouraged and supported me in accomplishing this thesis, I dedicate my gratitude to:
1. My major sponsor, B. Retang Wohangara, SS., M. Hum. , thank you for giving me some of your time for consultation and also replying my text. Your suggestion for my thesis is very useful and it has broadened my horizon. Your patience when you explained my mistakes is indeed very helpful. Thank you, Sir, for all of your support, kindness, guidance, and patience.
2. My co-major, GM. Adhyanggono, SS., M. A., thank for all of your suggestions and supports. Most of all for your patience when I came to ask which theory that I had to use and in the end I always changed the theory that I wanted to use. Thank you, Sir for your patience and suggestion. I found it very useful for my thesis.
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you only became my major sponsor for a short time but you always supported me all the time so that I could finish this thesis. Thank you, Mom for giving me the advice and ideas for my thesis.
4. All of the lecturers in the Faculty of Letters, Soegijapranata Catholic University, thank you for knowledge you all have shared with me during my study in this faculty. Thank you for all the hospitality that makes this faculty feels like home to me. In my opinion, each member in the Faculty of Letters Unika Soegijapranata is very close to each other, between lecturers and students, lecturers and the staffs, as well as the staffs and the students.
5. My beloved little family, Mamah, Papah, Ku Cipto, and Ku Giok:
Mah, thank you for all courage that you gave to me on the phone every night. It is the source of my strength during my difficult times. I know you have struggled everyday to pay my university fee and I really appreciate it very much. I hope I can make you proud by finishing this thesis, graduating soon and getting a good job in the future. It is your love that makes me able to reach this stage of life and it is your prayer that protects me from all the evil. You are the best mother for me, because you have taught me to be the person who I am today.
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Ku Cipto and Ku Giok, both of you are the best uncles for me. You always care for me, always remind me to study well and always support me every time we meet. Ku Cipto, I hope I can make you proud by fulfilling this thesis. For Ku Giok, I really wish that you could come to my graduation but God already decided to take you with Him before you saw me graduate. I dedicate my gratitude to both of you. Thank you for being kind and loving uncles all these times.
6. My best friends that have helped me a lot to finish this thesis, Maria and Karina. Thanks a lot for both of you. I don’t know how long I had to revise my grammar without your help. Thank you for Maria who was always willing to accompany me when I had to go to campus to have a consultation and every little thing that you did to support me. Thank you for Karina for your help and also for the ways we support each other to accomplish our theses. Both of you are important for me. Thank you for giving me such wonderful and memorable memories for more than 4 years.
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These words would never be enough to express all of my gratitude to all of the people above. Without all of you I could not finish this thesis. So once again, I do thank you from the very bottom of my heart. God bless you all.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE OF TITLE ... i
PAGE OF APPROVAL ... ii
BOARD OF EXAMINERS ... iii
MOTTO ... iv
1.4. Problem Formulation ... 5
1.5. Objective of the Study ... 5
1.6. Significance of the Study... 5
1.7. Definition of Terms ... 6
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ... 8
2.1. Aristotelian’s Theory of Tragedy ... 8
2.2. Tragic Hero... 9
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 17
3.1. Method of Data Collection ... 17
3.1.1. Collecting Data ... 18
3.1.2. Procedure ... 18
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CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ... 20
4.1. Nemesis ... 20
4.2. Hubris ... 23
4.3. Hamartia... 28
4.4. Anagnorisis... 35
4.5. Peripeteia ... 40
4.6. Catharsis ... 43
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 45
xi ABSTRACT
The material of this study is the Prayer for Bobby movie. This movie tells a story about a mother who has a homosexual son and how she struggles to change her son’s homosexuality. This movie can be considered a tragedy movie because of the existences of tragic hero and six elements of tragedy. That is why the writer will analyze the movie using Aristotelian theory of tragedy. The analysis will only focus on the tragic hero or the mother, Mary Griffith. There are six elements of tragedy that appears in the character of tragic hero. The writer analyzes each element that appears in the movie in detail. Besides that the writer also analyzes how far the cinematography in this movie supports the elements of tragedy itself, especially from the kinds of shots that are used in the movie. The purpose of this study is to show whether this movie can be categorized as a tragic movie or not by focusing more on one character, Mary Griffith. At the end of this study, the writer concludes that this movie has a tragic hero, Mary Griffith, and the tragic hero itself contains all of the tragic elements.
xii ABSTRAK
Subjek dari penelitian ini adalah film Prayer for Bobby. Film ini mengisahkan seorang ibu yang memiliki seorang anak homoseksual, dan bagaimana dia berusaha untuk mengubah kehomoseksualan anaknya tersebut. Film ini bisa dianggap sebagai film tragedi karena keberadaan tragic hero dan enam element tragedi dalam film ini. Karena dari itu penulis akan menganalisa film ini menggunakan teori tragedi oleh Aristotle. Analisa hanya akan berfokus pada tragic hero atau tokoh ibu, Mary Griffith. Ada enam elemen tragedi yang terkandung dalam tokoh tragic hero. Penulis akan menganalisa setiap elemen yang muncul dalam film secara detil. Selain itu penulis juga akan menganalisa seberapa jauh sinematografi dalam film ini mendukung elemen-elemen tragedi itu sendiri, khususnya dari jenis pengambilan adegan yang digunakan dalam film. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menunjukan apakah film ini dapat dikategorikan kedalam film tragedi atau tidak dengan berfokus pada satu tokoh, Mary Griffith. Pada akhir dari penelitian ini, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa film ini memiliki tragic hero, Mary Griffith, dan tragic hero itu sendiri mengandung semua elemen tragedi.