FEMINISM VALUES IN EMILY DICKINSON’S SELECTED POEMS
THESIS
Submitted to the Board Examiner In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement
For Literature Degree at English Literature Department
By:
FERA RAMADANI AI 150296
ENGLISH LITERATURE DEPARTMENT ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY
THE STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SULTAN THAHA SAIFUDDIN JAMBI
2019
i
ii
iii
iv MOTTO
Meaning:
And the believers, men and women, are protector one of another; they enjoin what is just, and forbid the wrong, they observe regular charity, and obey Allah and His Messenger. On them will Allah pour His Mercy; for Allah is exaltedin power, Wise.
(Q.S At-Taubah:71).1
Artinya:
Dan orang-orang yang beriman, bahwa lelaki dan wanita, sebagian mereka menjadi penolong bagi sebagian yang lain. Mereka menyuruh (berbuat) yang makruf, dan mencegah dari yang munkar, melaksanakan sholat, menunaikan zakat, dan taat kepada Allahdan Rasul-Nya. Mereka akan diberi rahmat oleh Allah swt. Sungguh Allah Maha Perkasa lagi Maha Bijaksana
(Q.S At-Taubah:71)2
1 The Noble Qur’an. (2016). Qur’an.com Retrieved from https://www.quran.com Accessed Date: November 9th 2019 at 10.00 PM
2 https://quran.kemenag.go.id/ Accessed Date: November 9th 2019 at 10.15 PM
v DEDICATION
In the name of Allah SWT most gracious and merciful
I thanks to Allah SWT who has blessed and strenght on me so I can accomplish this thesis. Shalawat and salam to prophet Muhammad SAW who brought
human’s life to a better life and to a beautiful word.
This thesis writer dedicated to my beloved father and mother who have taught me to be an full of spirit person and independent person to lead this life and to finish
this thesis in appropriate time, they have guided me and given me all that I need from the beginning to the end of my study. I am sorry because I could not bring that things back to you, Iam promise I will be best daughter of you have ever had.
I am also dedicated this thesis to my best sisters, my sweet brother, my cool brothers in law, and my strong future husband that always support me in whether conditions. No words that meaning in worldwide, and also I dedicated this thesis to people who have never left me alone. May Allah’s blessings abound for us all.
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Fristly, the writer wants to say Alhamdulillahirobbil Alamin, all the pries belong to Allah SWT. the lord of all creatures, for his blessing from starting session of my study until now the end of my study. And then, sholawat and salam be upon to our massager, the son of Abdullah, Prophet Muhammad SAW for the gaudiness and strengthens. Hopefully we will get his syafa’at later as the last day.
Secondly, the writer would like to say thanks to people who helped the writer in writing this thesis. The writer wants to say thank to my parents and my supervisors: Ulfatmi Azlan, SS,MA and Tira Mariana, SS,M.Hum who has helped, guided, supported, suggested, and advised me. And also I want to say thanks for all suggestion and supporting that help the writer in direct or indirect cases to finish this last study program.
To accomplish this thesis, the writer had been given one great deal to many people. So this present writer would like to say thanks for their contribution, they are:
1. Prof. Dr. H. Suaidi, MA, Ph.D. as a rector of State Islamic University of Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.
2. Dr. H. Fadillah, M.Pd, as the third rector of State Islamic University of Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.
3. Prof. Dr. Maisah, M.Pd.I as the dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty.
4. Dr. Alfian, M.Ed as vice dean of academic Dr. H. M. Fadhil M.Ag as the vice dean of finances and Dr. Raudhoh M.Pd.I as the vice dean of University Student of Adab and Humanities Faculty.
5. The Head of English Literature Department Ulfatmi Azlan, SS., MA.
6. The Secretary of English Literature Department Dian Mukhlisa, MA.
7. All the lectures and staffs of Adab and Humanities Faculty, the contribution and assistance during studying In UIN of Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.
8. The head and officers of the library of UIN and public library of Jambi Province.
9. All of my BSI B and BSI A friend
vii
10. The last but not least, to my beloved parent, sister and brother who gave supporting and love to the writer sincerely.
This thesis is far from perfection, the writer needs some critics and suggestion, so that the writer can be better in the future. Finally, the writer hopes this thesis will give positive contributions for readers, especially for the students of English Literature Department of Adab and Humanities Faculty.
Jambi, November Th 2019 The writer
Fera Ramadani AI. 150296
viii ABSTRACT
Fera Ramadanni. 2019 : Feminism Values in Emily Dickinson’s Selected Poems. The Students of English Literatur Department, Adab and Humanities Faculty, University of Islamic Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.
Supervisor I : Ulfatmi Azlan, SS, MA Supervisor II : Tira Mariana, SS, M.Hum
Feminism, belief in social, economic and political equality of both sexes.
Although mostly from the west, feminism is manifested throughout the world and represented by various institutions committed to activities in the name of woman rights and interests. The author is interested in discussing feminism because one of the interesting thing about feminism is that patriarchy has failed to oppress women in science. Many female scientists have made significant discoveries and provided knowledge with interesting new facts. The objectives of this study are:
(1) to describe the categories of feminism, (2) to find out the historical background of poetry.
In this study , the authors use the kind of feminism by Abbott & Wallace as major theories and Rosmarie Tong’s theories as supporting theories to answer research problems. Author also use biographycal approuch by Wellek & Warren to help answer the problem in this study. This research is a qualitative research that focuses on qualitative research by Hill Way in Kaelan and uses descriptive method by Surakhmad.
. The author found in the research that: (1) there are five kinds of feminism values contained in Emily Dickinson’s chosen poetry, namely liberal feminism, radikal feminism, marxis feminism, materialist feminism, and dual-system feminism, (2) in her work, Emily tells a lot about her life and the events around her became the connection between the background of Emily’s poetry.
Keywords : feminism, Abbott and Wallace, poetry
ix ABSTRAK
Fera Ramadani, 2019 : Feminism Values in Emily Dickinson’s Selected Poems. Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Adab dan Humaniora, Universitas Islam Negeri Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.
Pembimbing I : Ulfatmi Azlan, SS, MA Pembimbing II : Tira Mariana, SS, M.Hum
Feminisme, kepercayaan pada kesetaraan sosial, ekonomi, dan politik dari kedua jenis kelamin. Meskipun sebagian besar berasal dari Barat, feminisme dimanifestasikan di seluruh dunia dan diwakili oleh berbagai lembaga yang berkomitmen untuk kegiatan atas nama hak dan kepentingan perempuan. Penulis tertarik untuk membahas feminisme karena salah satu hal menarik dari feminisme adalah patriarki telah gagal menindas perempuan dalam sains. Banyak ilmuwan wanita telah membuat penemuan signifikan dan memberikan ilmu pengetahuan dengan fakta-fakta baru yang menarik. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah: (1) untuk menguraikan kategori feminisme, (2) untuk mengetahui latar belakang sejarah puisi.
Pada penelitian ini, penulis menggunakan jenis-jenis feminisme dari Abbott
& Wallace sebagai teori besar dan teori Rosmarie Tong sebagai teori pendukung untuk menjawab masalah penelitian. Peneli juga menggunakan pendekan biografi dari Wellek and Warren guna membantu menjawab masalah dalam penelitian ini.
Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif yang berfokus pada penelitian kualitatif oleh Hill Way di Kaelan dan menggunakan metode deskriptif oleh Surakhmad.
Penulis menemukan pada penelitian bahwa: (1) ada lima jenis feminis yang terdapat dalam puisi terpilih Emily Dickinson yaitu liberal feminis, radikal feminis, marxis feminis, materialis feminis dan dual sistem feminis (2) dalam hasil karya nya, Emily banyak menceritakan tentang kehidupanya dan kejadian yang ada disekitarnya yang mana ini menjadi hubungan antara latar belakang kehidupan Emily dengan hasil karya nya.
Kata kunci: Feminism, Abbott and Wallace, Puisi
x
TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE OF TITLE
APPROVAL ………... i
LETTER OF RATIFICATION ………... ii
ORIGINAL THESIS STATEMENT……….………... iii
MOTTO ………... iv
DEDICATION ………... v
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ………... vi
ABSTRACT ....………... vii
ABSTRAK ………...………... viii
TABLE OF CONTENT ………... ix
ABBREVIATION………... x
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Problem ………... 1
B. Formulation of the Problem ………..……….. 4
C. Limitation of the Problem ………..………... 4
D. Purpose of the Problem ………..………... 5
E. Significance of the Problem ………..……….. 5
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A. Feminism Theory...………..……… 6
B. Definition of Feminism ………..…….……… 6
C. History of Feminism ..………..………..……… 7
D. Kinds of Feminism ………..……… 8
E. Biographical Approach …………...……… 18
F. Poetry ………...………...……… 19
G. Review of Related Research ……...…………..……….. 20
CHAPTER III: METHOD OF THE RESEARCH A. Design of the Research ………....………... 24
xi
B. Source of Data Collection …………...………...………. 25 C. Technique of Data Collection ………...………....……… 26 D. Technique of Data Analysis ………...…....……….. 27 CHAPTER IV: FINDING AND ANALYSIS
A. Kinds of Feminism ………....….….……… 29 B. Emily Dickinson’s Background …………....……….………. 36 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION
A. Conclusions ………....………. 40
B. Suggestions ………....………....…………. 40 REFERENCES
APPENDIX I APPENDIX II APPENDIX III
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Problem
According to Wayne Shumaker3, poetry is “the idea or mind of the poets are flowing as a media to express a certain kinds of perceptions, feelings, and thoughts”. Poetry is one of the literary works which has characteristic. The characteristics which make it different from another literary work. Poetry is written in different ways. Poetry is the result of human creativity that is manifested through the arrangement words which have meaning. Poetry is also composed of diverse elements variety. These elements include a form of words, shapes, patterns of rhyme, rhythm, ideas, or issues gained significance in the life of the poet and life to be conveyed to the reader, listener, through techniques and specific aspects. The language which uses in poetry is also different. The poem reader cannot understand the meaning of the poem easily because every person will have different understanding about one poem.
For poets, a poem is a media to express their feelings based on the situation, condition, and imagination. All poets have their own characteristic in written.
Some of them usually use nature as the object of their poem. Some of them also use love, affection, and friendship as the object. On the other hand, there are some poets who use their life experience in their written. Whether it is good or bad experience in their life. The poets sometimes use poem as the social criticm in the society in that era. In this study, the researcher chooses poetry to be analyzed because poetry is a literary work full of imagination which is very entertains.
Nowadays, there are so many poems which is written by using discrimination and segregation as the subject because of the condition which appears in the society. Besides, there are some women poets who write poems by using feminism touches. For example, the image of woman in the society, the position of women among the men, and the discriminations which occur in the
3 Shumaker. W. (1965). An Approach to Poetry. United States of America: Pretince-Hall, Inc. Englewood. Cliffs. N. J. P.10
2 women’s life. Some people try to describe that theme by using feminism
perspective.
In 19th century era, women’s activities were limited. They could not give their opinions or reveal their feelings. In that era men in the family were the one who had the control. Then for the daughter in the family, she must obey her father without any conflict, she should do what the father said and asked her to do. It means that women are passive ones and men are active since women were considered as the second gender after the first gender which was men. This makes women want to have equal liberty, so that they can choose anything in their lives.
By having equal liberty between men and women, women can life their live by choosing their own decission.
After the feminist movement, in this era the situation that happened in the nineteenth century, when the society used patriarchy system, rarely happens, the social system in which women are inferior, today in many case women are superior. Most women already have their freedom to choose their life, it is the era when the gender equality exists, in which men and women are in the same position and have the same right to express themselves. They have the same opportunity of life, and they already have individual autonomy. Yet not all women in this era already have the same opportunity with men. There still existing of female descrimination. The reflection of the equality between men and women can be found or reflected in literary works. One of the literary works that can reflect feminism perspective in Emily Dickinson’s poem.
Emily Dickinson is one of America’s greatest and most original poets of all time. She took definition as her province and challenged the existing definitions of poetry and the poet’s work. Born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson left school as a teenager, eventually living a reclusive life on the family homestead. There, she secretly created bundles of poetry and wrote hundreds of letters. Due to a discovery by sister Lavinia, Dickinson's remarkable work was published after her death—on May 15, 1886, in
3 Amherst—and she is now considered one of the towering figures of American
literature.4
Talk about feminism, Dickinson’s wrote many poetry where tell about feminism. Dickinson’s tell how it has been started from how the feminism was formed, until the problematic on it, including pro and contra of the people in figuring out the feminism itself. Begun by sympathy on the assumption that women physically are weak, but everyone have the awareness and softness. In other hand, men have stronger physic, and rationality. Based on this consideration, it causes the division of role. Dickinson as a women try to explain how suffering from a woman when she cannot fulfill her wishes.
This this one of the example of Emily Dickinson's poems that show the power of her life and woman:
“I’m “wife”-I’ve finished that That other sate-
I’m Czar-I’m “woman” now- It’s safer so-
How odd the Girl’s life looks Behind this soft Eclipse-
I think that Earth feel so To folks in Heaven-now-“5
Based on the example above, "I'm wife, I’ve finished that” it showed the woman’s difference of freedom when they are married and do not married yet. It is not amazing if this poetry is connected to feminist. Based on these lines above, Dickinson presents a very intricate approach to marriage. Although everybody knows that Dickinson had not married yet, she can show how the situation of both of them. Dickinson did not marry, but what perhaps is most poignant and really more the issue is not her ignorance and bitterness towards the married state but after girlhood, there is only marriage, and since she is not married. The line "it's safer so" shows she is in flux having never been married and never having a
4 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biography.com/.amp/writer/emily-dickinson.
Accesed Date: March, 20th 2019. 01:00 PM
5 DiYanni Robert. (2006). Literature. English:McGraw-Hill Education. P.830
4 domineering male force in her life, except her constant issue with her
religion/faith, of course, dominated by men then.
According to her biographical this poetry was made on the 19th century, the condition where she lived did not see women as individual thinking beings, but rather as someone who derives he identity initially from her parents and later from her husband her poem reflects a woman's experiences of identity troubles and her desire to free herself from the clutches of male-dominated society.
Hence, the writer would analyze this research for some reasons. Firstly, Emily Dickinson’s poems, because Emily Dickinson was the important female poet after Sylvia Plath in American literature. As a popular poet in American literature, Emily Dickinson made an influence in her era. Secondly, it is important to study feminism in order to understand the poem properly because it give us knowledge about the struggle and power of women, and the ability of women which is can be same event more than man.
Based on the explanation above, the writer analyzed feminism in poems entitled Feminism Values in Emily Dickinson’s Selected Poems.
B. Formulation of the Problem
In this research, the writer formulates the problem of this research into the following questions:
1. What are kinds of feminism portrayed in Emily Dickinson’s poems?
2. How does Emily Dickinson’s background influence her poems?
C. Limitation of the Problem
The writer limits this research on five selected poems entitled: I’m ‘Wife’, I’ve finished that-, She rose to His requirement, Title divine- is mine!, I asked no other thing, and Rearrange a ‘Wife’ affection! the writer focused to discuss only on the kinds of feminism by Pamela and Claire’s theory and Emily Dickinson’s background influence based on biographical approach Jacob Sumardjo and Saini K. M’s theory.
5 D. Purpose of the Research
1. To find out the kind of feminism exist in Emily Dickinson’s poems 2. To find out the Emily Dickinson’s background that influence her poems
E. Significant of Research
In this research, the writer will find the feminism values in selected poems of Emily Dickinson. The writer expects the result of this research will provide the reader some knowledge about feminism values, the reader can know the struggle and power of women, to inform readers about the ability of women which is can be same event more than man, and to inform how equality of rights belongs to all human beings so with the hope that after reading this thesis the social life can understand that no human can become God just because their can rebuke other people’s live.
At the end of this research, the result of this research can give contribute to the literature field, this research will be used as the reference for other studies in the case of feminism. Furthermore, the writer hopes this research can contribute to the literary field, especially in the English Literature Department.
6 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Feminist Theory
1. The Definition of Feminism
Etymologically feminist comes from the word femme, meaning a female who seeks to fight for the rights of women (plural) as a social class. In this connection, it is necessary to distinguish between male and female (as aspects of biological differences, as nature), masculine and feminine (as aspects of psychological and cultural differences). In other words, male-female refers to sex, whereas feminism is referring to sex or gender, as he and she6. Thus, feminist objectives are a balance, gender interrelation in the broadest sense, feminists are women's movements to reject everything that is marginalized, subordinated, and demeaned by dominant cultures, both in politics and economics and social life in general. Wilfred al Guerin said Feminism has often focused upon what is absent rather than what is present, reflecting concern with the silencing and marginalization of women in patriarchal culture, a culture organized in the favor of men, feminism is an overtly political approach and can attack another approach for their false assumption about women".7
In a narrower sense, that is in literature, feminism is associated with ways of understanding literature both in terms of both production processes and receptions. The Emancipation of women is thus one aspect in its relation to equality of rights. In contemporary social sciences better known as the movement of gender equality in reality only sex, as male-female is determined by nature, biologically. In contrast, genes derived from gender and masculine-feminine are culturally determined as a result of the reorganization of the material and ideological superstructure. Therefore, femininity is a cultural psychological understanding.
6 Kutha. Nyoman Ratna. (2015). Penelitian Sastra. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. P. 184.
7 Wilfred I. Guerin, et.al. (2005). A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature Fifth Edition. New York: Oxford University Press. P.222
7 So many researchers of Feminism theory, but in this research writer will use
Pamela Abbott and Claire Wallace. Pamela Abbott and Claire Wallace say how important education for women and the role of women in the country as educators of children and male companions. In her book An Introduction to Sociology Feminist Perspectives also emphasizes that women are human beings who are entitled to basic rights as men.
2. History of Feminism
As a modern movement, early born-century feminism pioneered by Virginia Woolf. Very rapidly, as one aspect of the contemporary cultural theory, occurred in 1960.8 The analysis model is very diverse, highly contextual, related to social, political, and economic aspects. Feminist is the belief that women should have an equal right to men. In consequence, the feminist movement fights for equal rights and opportunities for women. Feminist theory is a major branch of theory within sociology that is distinctive for how its creators shift their analytic lens, assumptions, and topical focus away from the male viewpoint and experience.
In early 1872, there was a major intervention by Gloria Steinem, the doyenne of American feminism for nearly four decades, who in an incendiary New York Time op-ed de-fending Hillary declared that “gender is probably the most restricting force in American life” -another highly question-able generalization.9 So many movements against the defense of women at that time that showed this is not absolved young men from their duty to behave honorably.
Hooliganism cannot be tolerated. But we must stop seeing everything in life through the narrow lens of gender. If women expect equal treatment in society, the must stop asking for infantilizing special protections. With freedom comes personal responsibility.
8 Camille Paglia.(2008) Feminism Past and Present: Ideology, Action, and Reform. Harvard University. P.2.
9 Camille Paglia. Feminism Past and Present: Ideology, Action, and Reform. P.3
8 3. Kind of Feminist
We have identified seven feminist perspectives: liberal/reformist, marxist, radical, dual-systems, postmodernist/post-structuralist, materialist and Black feminist.10
1. Liberal/Reformist Feminist
Historically, liberal feminism has been concerned to argue for equal rights for women – for women to have the same citizenship rights as men.
Equal Rights feminists have fought against laws and practices that give rights to men and not women, or which are designed to ‘protect’ women.
Recognizing that mere formal equality is insufficient, they have also advocated the passing of laws to outlaw discrimination against women and to give women rights in the workplace such as maternity leave and pay.
Women, they argue, are human beings; they have the same inalienable natural rights as men. A woman’s sex is irrelevant to her rights;
women are capable of full rationality and therefore are entitled to full human rights. However, in Western industrial societies women are discriminated against on the basis of sex; that is, certain restrictions are placed on women as a group without regard to their own individual wishes, interests, abilities and needs. Women are denied equal rights with men, and as a group are not allowed some freedoms that men as a group are permitted to enjoy.
Furthermore, while men are judged on merit as individuals, women tend to be judged on their accomplishments as females – that is, they are denied the same right as men to pursue their own interests.
In sociology, liberal/reformist feminists have been concerned to demonstrate that the observable differences between the sexes are not innate but a result of socialization and ‘sex-role conditioning’.11
10 Abbott. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. (2005). An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective. Routledge: London and New York. P.24
11 Abbott. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.
P.24-25
9 2. Radical Feminism
Radical feminists argue that women’s oppression is primary and fundamental. Patriarchy, an elaborate system of male domination which pervades all aspects of culture and social life, is seen as trans-historical. All women are oppressed irrespective of historical, cultural, class or racial differences. The family is seen as a key instrument of the oppression of women, through sexual slavery and forced motherhood – through male control of women’s bodies. Radical feminists do not, on the whole, deny biological differences between men and women, but they challenge the meanings given to them. Women’s oppression is seen as rooted either in women’s biological capacity for motherhood or in the innate, biologically determined aggression of the male, as manifested in rape.
The central tenet of radical/revolutionary feminists is that gender inequalities are the outcome of an autonomous system of patriarchy and that gender inequalities are the primary form of social inequality. They argue that there has always been a sexual division of labour underpinning and reinforcing a system of male domination. Patriarchy is a universal system in which men dominate women. Radical feminism is primarily a revolutionary movement for the emancipation of women. Its exponents argue that no area of society is free from male definition, and consequently every aspect of women’s lives currently accepted as ‘natural’ has to be questioned and new ways of doing things found. Theory, they argue, is not a separate area of activity, carried out by an elite, but is an integral aspect of feminist practice.
Theory arises out of practice and is continually measured against experience and continually reformulated. The revolution, for radical feminists, begins here and now, by women taking positive action to change their lives and to remove oppression.
Radical and revolutionary feminism is not a unified area. There are three major issues within it:
10 a. The relationship between feminist politics and personal sexual
conduct – a key question being whether women can continue to live with men, or whether separation is essential;
b. Whether sex differences are biologically or socially constructed;
c. The political strategy that should be adopted – withdrawal or revolution.
Radical feminists do, however, reject the view that women’s subordination is anything to do with their biological inferiority. They reject the idea that the victim (woman) is to blame. Those who do argue for a biological explanation argue that male biology is to blame: men are naturally aggressive and use their aggression to control women (as, for example, in rape). Mary Daly, in Gyn/Ecology: the metaethlcs of radical feminism (1978), documents the horrors of the ways in which men have used aggression to control women. She cites Indian suttee, Chinese foot binding, African genital mutilation, European witch hunts and American gynecology as examples of ways in which men have abused women and used violence to control them (and continue to do so).
These feminists encourage women to create a new identity for themselves founded on ‘true’ femaleness, based in the biological nature of women which has been distorted by patriarchy. Women are encouraged to celebrate a new female creativity, based on sisterhood and self- identification. They reject androgyny because they argue that the most valuable qualities are those that are specific to women. Also, because men dominate women even in the most intimate of relationships, women must live separately from men. The ideal, they argue, is for women to live freed from patriarchy, which divides and mutilates them.
Radical feminism has uncovered the ways in which even the most intimate and personal relationships are political – that is, are power relationships. Also they have documented the universality of patriarchal relationships. However, they have failed to explain adequately the ways in which women are subordinated and exploited by men. They fail to take
11 sufficient account of the different forms that patriarchal relationships have
taken in different societies. They also tend to discount the differences that exist in the experiences of women from different social classes. Radical feminist biological explanations, while very different from those developed by male stream theorists, are equally reductionist and fail to take account of ideology and culture. Also they give the opportunity for sociobiological theories to be developed as a counter to the feminist ones – ones that argue that women’s role as presently constituted is naturally determined. However, not all radical feminists accept biological theories, arguing that they are developed to justify the subordination of women and that it is necessary to challenge the argument that there are two biologically determined sexes.12
3. Marxist Feminism
Marxist feminism has developed out of the attempts by women to develop Marxist theory so that it provides an adequate explanation for the subordination and exploitation of women in capitalist societies. Marxist feminists recognize that Marxism is inadequate as it stands and needs to be developed in order to explain adequately why women are excluded from the public sphere and are the main unpaid workers in the domestic sphere. They have also had to deal with the ‘fact’ that women did not become subordinated under capitalism but were subordinated already, and with the strong suspicion that the overthrow of the capitalist mode of production would not result in the emancipation of women. However, while they recognize that the struggle between the sexes is not reducible to the class struggle, they give primacy to the latter. For Marxist feminists the defining feature of contemporary society is capitalism, within which women are subject to a special form of oppression which is mainly the effect of their exclusion from wage labour and of their role in the domestic sphere reproducing the relations of production. That is, women’s unpaid work in
12 Abbott. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.
P.25-27
12 caring for the labour force and raising the next generation of workers
benefits capitalism and is essential to its continuation. The main beneficiary of women’s unpaid labour is capitalism, although individual men also benefit to some extent.
The key to women’s oppression, she suggests, is the
‘family/household’ system, a complex which includes a social structure and a given ideology – familialism. The household is made up of a number of people, usually biologically and legally related, who live together and share domestic arrangements. Familial ideology defines the nuclear family as
‘naturally’ based and universal, and specifies a ‘natural’ division of labour such that the man is seen as the provider of economic resources and the woman as the carer and provider of unpaid domestic labour. This family/household system is not an inevitable aspect of capitalist society but has come to form a historically constituted element of class relations. It was not inevitable, but emerged through a historical process in which an ideology that maintained that a woman’s natural role is as a domestic labourer – that is, as a wife and mother – became incorporated into capitalist relations of production. This ideology came in part from pre-capitalist views of a woman’s place, but mainly developed because it fitted the way in which bourgeois family relations had become established with the emergence of industrial capitalism. This ideology, Barrett argues, became accepted by the organized working class in the early nineteenth century. The family/household system became established in the mid-nineteenth century as a result of an alliance of craft unions and capitalists, both arguing that women should be excluded from the labour force and that man should earn a family wage. Thus the male fight for a family wage and protective legislation passed by the state eliminated the low-waged competition from women in the labour market and forced women into the domestic sphere.
While the family/household system was in the short-term interests of men, it was not in their long-term interests because it split the working class so that working-class men and women came to have different interests. It
13 was in the long-term interests of capital because it divided the working class
and women came to provide a pool of lowly paid workers who could be used as a flexible, disposable extra work force. Women’s oppression did not have a material basis in the period in which it was formed but has now come to acquire one. It has come to form an essential element in the relations of production, in the sexual division of labour in paid work and between wage labour and domestic labour. The oppression of women is necessary for the reproduction of the capitalist mode of production in its present form.
The major problem with Marxist feminist theory is that it fails to place sufficient emphasis on the ways in which men oppress women and the ways in which men benefit from their unpaid domestic labour. While Marxist feminists have recognized that it is necessary to allow the importance of patriarchal relationships and how these are intertwined with capitalism, they see them as unchanging and fail to recognize that there is no necessary and inevitable congruence between the interests of patriarchy and the interests of capital. Barrett, for example, fails to explain why it is in capital’s interests to exclude cheap female labour, given its concern to maximize profit. Marxist feminism tends to reduce explanations to the categories of Marxist theory. It fails to take account of patriarchal relationships in societies other than capitalist ones, nor fully to consider the specific location of Black or Third World women. It also tends to be abstract and far removed from the everyday experiences of women in their relationships with men.13
4. Materialist Feminism
Women, then, according to materialist feminists, form a class in opposition to men. Women are exploited by men and therefore all women share common interests in opposition to those of men. Patriarchal structures are fundamental to our form of social organization, and therefore it follows that the main axis of differentiation in our society must be gender. While
13 Abbott. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.
P.27-30
14 housewives may differ in their standard of living because their husbands are
in different social classes, they share a common class position because they are exploited by another class (husbands) – their domestic labour is expropriated (taken away from them, in the same way that the goods produced by male manual workers are taken away from them).
Materialist feminists such as Christine Delphy, Monique Wittig (1979) and Colette Guillaumin (1995) have argued that to give birth is not a biological process, a natural given, but a social-historical construction of
‘forced production’. They argue that it is birth that is planned and women are socially programmed (socialized) to give birth. Women are forced to behave in ways that are seen as natural, and this has resulted in the creation of two discrete biological sexes, but this division falsifies the reality of human variation – the wide variety of sexual characteristics – because an over-gendered society has evolved. Society is structured around the belief that there are two polar opposite sexes, male and female.
Biological theories of sex differences are social constructs which, they argue, serve the interests of the socially dominant group. Women are a class in themselves because the category ‘woman’ (as well as the category
‘man’) is a political and economic one, not an eternal, biological category.
What is necessary is to eliminate the sex distinction itself. Wittig argues that Our fight aims to suppress men as a class not through a genocidal but a political struggle. Once the class ‘men’ disappears, women as a class will disappear as well, for there are no slaves without masters.
Because some women are appropriated and constructed as female, all females become appropriated and designated by their female genitalia as women. Women thereby come to form a sex–class – not a class based on biological sex, but one where ‘sex’ operates as a signifier, acting to identify a group constituted in the context of a social relationship of appropriation.
15
‘Sex’, however, articulates with other social relations to produce a multiplicity of positions and overlapping categories of women.14
5. Dual-Systems Feminism
‘Socialist’ or ‘dual-systems’ feminists argue that what is necessary is a dual analysis that articulates Marxist class theory with the feminist theory of patriarchy: a theory that takes account of what unites all women – oppression by men – as well as the class divisions between them. While Marxist feminist theory continues to give primacy to class analysis, dual- systems feminists take as their question the relationship of women to the economic system as well as the relationship of men to women. The key question for dual-systems feminists is the cause of male exploitation and domination of women.
6. Postmodern Feminism
Postmodern feminists argue that it is not simply that we live in a postmodern world – the postmodern condition – but that postmodernism is itself a style or a way of theorising. Postmodern theory abandons explanatory goals and argues that there is no power outside discourse (Baudrillard, 1988). There can no longer be any attempt to describe, analyse or explain reality in an objective or scientific way. The boundary between theory and entertainment has broken down – theory has no superiority over common-sense thinking. Theorising in the modern world is play – playing with fragments, with pieces and making superficial generalisations.
Postmodern feminists reject, then, the idea of substituting feminist theories for malestream ones, because they reject the possibility of true knowledge and argue that there is a multiplicity of truths. They argue instead for the need to deconstruct truth claims and analyse the power effects that decisions as to truth entail – to recognise that knowledge is a part of power. It is necessary to focus on knowledge as opposed to truth,
14 Abbot. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.
P. 30-31
16 not only because there is no Truth, but because there is no reality ‘out
there’ that can be the arbiter between competing truth claims. There is no one truth, no privileged knowledge or producers of knowledge. All knowledge is historically and culturally specific, the product of particular discourses. The discourses that create knowledge also create power – the power that constitutes subjects and objects and the mechanisms whereby subjects are subjugated. The power of the discourse depends on the extent to which its truth claims are successful – the extent to which the knowledge it produces is accepted as true.
B. Biographical Approach
The biographical approach is biographical criticism uses details about an author personal life to analyze the author’s works15. It relies on autobiographies, correspondence, and other primary materials about the author and is a form of historical criticism. Critics doing biographical analysis carefully examine incidents in the lives of authors and try to identify events, settings, objects, buildings, people, etc. found in the novels with the historical source.
Wellek and Warren said the biographical approach is one of old approach, the biographical approach is a systematic study about the creative.16 It means that the biographical approach is one of old approach and creative activity of human being from their imagination, develop and through to become an artist.
Social culture of the way of life of certain time periods gives the reader a greater knowledge based on which to draw a conclusion and better to understand the story. Discovering detail about author's life and time also provide similar ways to further develop the idea about the story, so biographical approach explains about the author’s, his creative, his carrier, his activity, and his personal life.17
Biographical regarded as the oldest approach. The biographic approach is a systematic study of civic processes. The subject of the creator is regarded as the
15 Great Beddows High School.Biographical Approach. http://www.slideshare.net, P. 2.
16Wellek and Warren in Nyoman Khuta Ratna (2013).Teori, Metode dan Teknik penelitian sastra.Pustaka Pelajar.P.56
17Jakob sumardjo dan Saini K.M.(1986). Apresiasi kesustraan.Jakarta : Gramedia.P.22
17 origin of the literary work, the meaning of a literary work thus relative to the
intentions and even the author's important documents, photographs, and even direct interviews with authors. The literary work, in turn, is identical with the biography, the author's claim is considered truth, the biography subordinates the work. Therefore, the biographical approach is actually a part of historical writing, as historiography.
C. Poetry
Poetry is the literary work that has connotation words with poetry, people can express all their experiences. So many authors make the poetry from his experience in his life, after reading the poetry it is not only a purpose to look for and to enjoy the story intensively, but also usually it will be asking the question what the significant meaning that the author wants to show through her story. The theme of a poet can be an experience of Author life and the Author.
Poetry is one of the literary work whick has characteristic. The characteristic which make it different from another literary work. Poetry is written in different ways. Poetry is the result of human creativity that is manifested through the arrangement words which have meaning. Poetry is also composed of diverse elements variety. These elements include a form of words, shapes, patterns of rhyme, rhythm, ideas, or issues gained significance in the life of the poet and life to be conveyed to the reader, listener, through techniques and specific aspects.
The language which uses in poetry is also different. The poem reader can not understand the meaning of the poem easily because every person will have different understanding about one poem. According to Wayne Shumaker , poetry is “the idea or mind of the poets are flowing as a media to express a certain kinds of perceptions, feelings, and thoughts”.18
Poetry can be classified as narrative or lyric. Narrative poems are stress story and action, and lyric poems are stress emotion and song. Each of these types has numerous subdivisions: narrative poetry includes the epic and ballad. Lyric
18 Permatasari Indiani Eka.(2006) An analysis of feminism in Maya Angelous poem By Using Historical and Biografical Approach.JIBS. Vol. 3, No.2, P.152
18 poetry includes the elegy and epigraph, sonnet and sestina, Aubade and
villanelle.19
D. Review of Related Literature
There are some researchers that have discussed poetry, the theme of poetry or feminism values in poetry. Thohiriyah, a student of Kesusastraan dan Budaya Faculty, University of Muhammadiyah Semarang, wrote a thesis entitled "The Concept of Death in Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop for Death".20 His researched explains that Emily Dickinson utilized figurative speech to elucidate the concept of death. In addition, the employment of figurative speech is to illustrate what happened in the United States in the era of Puritanism. By using the concept of semiotics theory, the analysis shows that the poem demonstrates the passive protest over the organized religion that is being promoted by Puritan in Massachusetts, a place where the author was born and dies. Dickinson highlights the Puritan fierce rules which lead to female's total submission.
Beside that there is another research about poetry, Indiana Eka Permatasari , a student of Language and Literature Faculty, University of Malang, wrote a thesis entitled “An Analysis Of Feminism In Maya Angelou’s Poems By Using Historical And Biographical Approaches”.21 His research explains about discrimination toward black woman which appears in Maya Angelou's poems.
In this case, the researcher chose three poems of Maya Angelou. Those are
"Still I Rise", "Phenomenal Woman", and "Caged Bird". In other to discover them, the study was conducted by using feminism theory and also historical and biographical approaches. It focuses on words, lines, and stanzas of the poems. The research design o’f this study is a descriptive qualitative method because the researcher does not use statistical numerical but it requires a descriptive analysis
19 DiYanni Robert.(2006). Literature.English:McGraw-Hill Education. P:682
20 Thohiriyah. (2004).The Concept of Death in Emily Dickinson’S Because I Could Not Stop for Death. Semarang. Vol 7, No 1.P.70
21 Indiani Eka Permatasari.An Analysis of Feminism in Maya Angelous Poems by Using Historical and Biographical Approaches. Vol 3, No 2. P.152
19 of the object. The research is conducted by descriptive qualitative because the
result of the data is word, sentence, and language.
Based on the research questions mentioned, the results of the study are as follows. First, the researcher concludes that the dominant type of feminism in Maya Angelou's poem is Radical Feminism because discrimination toward black women is related to the bad history of black people. Second, the reasons for using feminism perspective by the poet are the image of her bad life experiences. The last result is the image of a black woman in Maya Angelou's poems which shows the discrimination toward a woman in her era. The result of the study can be used as a reference in the research literature itself in educational institutions and so on.
It also expected to be useful in several ways. This study gives significance to the researcher to understand and provide more knowledge about feminism. The study may be expected to give significance to the future researcher who conducts studies about literature focusing on feminism or on poems or in using biographical and historical approaches.
In another research, there are Hu Chuyan, a lecture of Language and Literature studies, School of Foreign Languages, Northeast Petroleum Institute, Daqing, China, wrote a thesis entitled “Eco-Feminism in Emily Dickinson’s Poetry”.22 His research through the study of Emily Dickinson's life and her works as well as the comments on her, the thesis is intended to find out that how Eco- feminism influences her works and life deeply, and the perspective of Ecofeminism in her poetry.
This thesis begins with the fundamental introduction of Emily Dickinson and Eco-feminist criticism. Based on the former researches on Dickinson and her poetry, this paper further discusses Dickinson's Eco-feminism, mainly exploring Dickinson's rebellion and challenge on the religious belief, literary trends and social tradition in the nineteenth century. After that, this thesis analyzes the themes and styles of Dickinson's poetry from Eco-feminism. Through the Eco- feminist reading of the themes and styles of Dickinson's poetry, Dickinson
22 H U Chunyan.(2015). Eco-Feminism in Emily Dickinson’S Poetry.CSCanada:Canada.Vol 10, No 3. P.63.
20 research not only means to make a detailed description and analysis of her life and
poetry but also means to provide new interpretive methods and appreciating perspectives.
In the first chapter of this essay, the writer just explain the Eco-feminism idea in a whole way. The reflection of Eco-feminism to Dickinson's life and her poems writing are discussed in the second and third chapters. In the last chapter, I mainly analyze the Eco-feminist style in Dickinson's poems.
The last related research is from Dewi Artika Puspita Sari about Liberal Feminism Values seen Through The Main Female Character in Kinberg’s Mr and Mrs. Smith.23 In Her thesis Dewi say Feminism is a movement that bring differences towards the way people think and act. Feminism is a movement that has several branches all with the same focus on women’s equality. One of the branches of feminism is liberal feminism. Liberal feminism focuses on the freedom of women.
To find the feminism values in Jane’s character, there are two problems formulated in this thesis. The first problem is to find out the characteristic of Jane Smith through her characterization. The second is to identify liberal feminism values through Jane’s Characterization. The analysis in this thesis used the feminism approach because the aim of this thesis is to find out liberal feminism values. As the object, Jane Smith will be analyzed through her characteristics.
Then, by looking at the characteristics, the liberal feminism values hat are reflected through Jane’s character.
In the researh of Thohiriyah, she had talk about concept death in Emily Dickinson’s Poem, Indiana talk about feminism also but in Maya Angelo poem, Chuyan also talk about feminism in Emily Dickinson’s poem but only ecofeminism values, and the last is Dewi- she had talk about feminism values too but the object was different with the writer. Different from previous research, in this research the writer is going to study on feminism values in poem, and in this research, the writer will focus the analysis on the kind of the feminist value of
23 Dewi Artika Puspitasari. (2016). Liberal Feminism Values seen Through the main Female Character in Kinberg’s Mr and Mrs. Smith. Sanata Dharma University:Yogyakarta. P.3
21 Emily Dickinson poems and correlated with her biography. The poems will be
used in this research are: I’m ‘Wife’, I’ve finished that-, She rose to His requirement, Title divine- is mine!, I asked no other thing, and Rearrange a ‘Wife’
affection!.
22 CHAPTER III
METHOD OF RESEARCH
A. Design of Research
In this research, the writer applied qualitative descriptive method which is suitable with the aims of this research. Qualitative research is a type of social science research that collects and works with non-numerical data and that seeks to interpret meaning from these data that help us undestand social life through the study of targeted populations or places. Vibha Pathak says qualitative research is the research that focuses on understanding a research query as a humanistic or idealistic approach. When the researcher uses qualitative research, the researcher uses their comprehension, experience, research that will be cover in descriptive.
Merriam in Patricia Duff’s book stated that the qualitative case study can be defined in terms of the process of actually carrying out the investigation, the unit of the analysis (the bounden system, the case) or the end product.24 Furthermore, Nyoman Kutha Ratna explained that kualitatif dianggap persis sama dengan metode pemahaman atau verstehen.25 It means that qualitative research is a way that aims to understand the phenomenom of what is experienced by the subject of research such as behavior, perpection, motivation, action, and others.
In this research, the writer used the qualitative method, because the qualitative method can be defined as a problemsolving procedure investigated by describing the state of the subject or object in the study. Methodology is a process of the procedure used kinds of approach to find the problem and solving it. In writing this proposal, the writer uses qualitative research and the analysis will be explained in a descriptive way that is suitable with the aim of this research.
Bogdan and Taylor in Password and Suwandi say:
24 Patricia A. Duff. (2012). Case Study Research in Applied Linguistic.New York and London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.P.22
25 Nyoman Kutha Ratna. (2019). Teori,Metode, dan Teknik Penelitian Sastra. Yogyakarta.
P.47
23
“Metodologi kualitatif sebagai prosedur penelitian yang menghasilkan data deskriptif berupa kata-kata tertulis atau lisan dari orang-orang dan perilaku yang dapat diamati”26.
It means that the qualitative method is one of the researches that produces a descriptive in the form of written words or oral from an object. Qualitative method deals with everything that can be counted and studied, which has an impact on the qualitative descriptive is a way of working in the research that emphasizes aspects of the deepening of the data. It also help the writer collecting the data to interpret and report in order to get the result of the research. In short descriptive method deals with everything that can be counted and studied, which has an impact on the lives of the people it deals with. It can be concluded that the qualitative descriptive method is a way of working in the research that emphasizes aspects of the deepening of the data. It also helps the writer collecting the data to interpret and report in order to get result of the research.
B. Source of Data
One of the considerations in choosing a matter of research is the availability of the source of data. Source of data is the subject of research where the data stick.
The source of the data can be in the form of motion, human, book, narration, script, etc. And source data in this research were:
1. Primary Data
Primary data is the data that only summer data taken from the research. The primary data of this research are, the writer looks at the source of data from Emily Dickinson's poems. The title of Emily Dickinson’s entitled are I’m ‘Wife’, I’ve finished that-, She rose to His requirement, Title divine- is mine!, I asked no other thing, and Rearrange a ‘Wife’ affection! . This five-pages poem is a poem composed in nineteenth century. The data are taken from the book: Poems by Emily Dickinson edited by Mabel Loomis Tood and Tw Higginson, 1901.
26 Baswori and Suwandi.(2008) Memahami Penelitian Kualitatif .Jakarta: Rineka Cipta.
P.21
24 2. Secondary Data
Secondary data is the data supporters in research. The secondary data are from Emily Dickinson bibliography, a movie about Emily Dickinson the title is Passion Quite, several books, and some website from the internet that relate to the subject that can suppor this research.
C. Technique of Data Collecting
In research, there is some technique of collecting data that can use to get information. Creswell says, "The data collection procedures in qualitative research involve four basic types: observation, interview, documentation, and visual image".27 Based on this research, so many techniques that can be writer use to help the writer to find the answer of writer research.
The technique of data collecting, the writer will use the documentation technique. According to Arikunto, “ Documentation is a method that searches data about things or variables like notes, transcriptions, books, newspapers, magazines, agendas, videos". 28 The technique of data collecting data will use by the writer are
a. Find the Data
The first step that the writer does to collecting data is, the writer finds the data. In this research, the writer finded Emily Dickinson's poems in Emily Dickinson’s Poetry book that has edited by Mabel Loomis Tood and Tw Higginson, year 1901.
b. Reading Repeatedly
To collecting the data, the writer read and understand whole the text of selected poems. In this step, the writer did not read the text only once time. But the writer read more than once in order to make sure that the writer understands and implied meaning.
c. Marking the Data
27 Creswell, John W.(1994)Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approach. the United States of America.P.148
28 Arikunto.(2009) Prosedur Penelitian: Suatu Pendekatan Praktik.Jakarta: Bumi Aksara.
P.10
25 The writer marks the important word or sentence that has feminism values in the
poems, then make a note of the data to make doing this research.
d. Identifying the Data
After the writer finding the data, write will identify and analyze all data, after that the writer will arrange the thesis.
D. Technique of Data Analysis
After collecting the data, the writer will analyze the data. The purpose of the technique of data analysis is to answer the formulation of the problem. The writer will analyze and answer this research base on the problems. In the process of analysis of the data, the writer will use a content analysis approach to finish the feminism values of the poems. Content analysis is a research tool used to determine the presence of certain words or concepts within text or sets of texts.
According to Nawawi:
“Metode deskriptif dapat diartikan sebagai prosedur pemecahan masalah yang diselidiki dengan menggambarkan dan melukiskan keadaan subjek atau objek penelitian (novel, drama, cerita pendek, puisi) pada saat sekarang berdasarkan fakta-fakta yang tampak atau sebagaimana adanya”.29
The quotation above explained that the descriptive method is the way to find out the solving problem. The described method can help the writer to solve the problem from the data. The technique of analyzing uses steps as follows:
1. Identifying
The writer identifies the data which has correlated with an object of research and made the problem was found after collecting the data.
2. Classifying
The next step is to classify the data. Classifying is an activity to classify all data into their categories or classification. In this research the writer classifying some important words from poetry. The writer analyzed the data based on some theories related to the research.
29Siswantoro. (2010).Metode Penelitian Sastra.Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pengajar. P.54
26 3. Describing
The next step in the analysis the data is describing the data. The writer describes the data based on the research question and related the theory.
4. Analyzing
After describing, the writer analyzes the data by applying the theory and method that is used.
5. Conclusion
The writer concludes all of the materials analyzed based on the theory after the whole of data has been analyzing.
26 CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
This chapter are consists of two part, they are findings and analysis.
Findings are as the answers of the problem statements before and then analyses are as the explanation of findings that contains evidences and analysis.
From five selected poems entitled; I’m ‘Wife’, I’ve finished that-, She rose to His requirement, Title divine- is mine!, I asked no other thing, and Rearrange a
‘Wife’ affection! by Emily Dickinson used as the source of data, the writer can find five kinds of feminism based on theory by Pamela and Claire’s theory; they are They are 9 (nine) data of Liberal/Reformist Feminism, 14 (fourteen) data of Radical Feminism, 2 (two) line of Marxist feminism, 3 (three) data as Materialist Feminism and 2 (two) data of Dual-System Feminism.
In this research, there are 30 data which contains kinds of feminism, there are 6 (six) data in I’m ‘Wife’, I’ve finished that- poem, 5 (five) data in She rose to His requirement poem, 7 (seven) data in Title divine- is mine! poem, 4 (four) data in I asked no other thing poem, and 8 (eight) data in Rearrange a ‘Wife’ affection!
poem.
A. Kinds of Feminism Portrayed in Emily Dickinson’s Poems
It has been stated that feminism means a female who seeks to fight for the rights of women (plural) as a social class. In the 19th century the movement for women's emancipation took its name from the movement to abolish slavery. In the 20th century women's liberation took its name from the movements against colonialism around the world. 21st century women's liberation has to fight to change the world and to end the class society which created oppression and exploitation in the first place.30 Based on theory by Pamela and Claire’s theory;
the writer found five kinds of feminism that existed in five selected poems by
30 http://socialistreview.org.uk/340/21st-century-feminism . Accesed Date: Oct, 30th 2019.
05.00 P.M
27 Emily Dickinson, they are; Liberal/Reformist Feminism, Radical Feminism,
Marxist Feminism, Materialist Feminism, and Dual-System Feminism.
1. Liberal/Reformist Feminism
Liberal/reformist feminism has been concerned to argue for equal rights for women – for women to have the same citizenship rights as men. Equal Rights feminists have fought against laws and practices that give rights to men and not women, or which are designed to ‘protect’ women. Here are the analyses of liberal/reformist feminism:
She rose to His Requirement—dropt The Playthings of Her Life
(Line 1,2. She rose to His Requirement, 732)
In the line above entitled She rose to His requirement, the poem excerpt above is part of liberal feminism. Where the word “His Requirement” is written in capital letters, usually “His” which is in the middle of sentence and written in capital letters referring to God. There clearly shows gender that on the line of poetry above, the writer implies that society at that time created a situation where men are ‘God’. This is had an impact on woman’s dream that she had as a young girl. In the second line, the word “Playthings” also written in capital letters which can be interpreted as a woman’s dream before she get married, because after she get married society deny women the same rights as men to pursue their own interests.
It is said to be liberal feminism because liberal feminism show that observed differences between the sexes are not innate but are the result of the socialization and conditioning of the sexes from the moment of birth. Men and women are treated differentially, so that this prevents women from developing their full potential as human beings.
Other liberal feminism can be seen in the first two lines of the last stanza of the poem entitled I’m “Wife”, I’ve finished that below:
This being comfort — then That other kind — was pain —
