Portrayal Of The protagonist In Kate Chopin's The Awakening And William Somerset Maugham's Mrs. Craddock.

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ABSTRACT

Pernikahan, yang merupakan salah satu tahap penting dalam kehidupan manusia, melibatkan tidak hanya aspek legal namun juga perasaan dan berbagai aspek lain. Karena pernikahan merupakan suatu hal yang kompleks, banyak orang mendapati kehidupan pernikahan mereka tidak berjalan sesuai dengan yang mereka harapkan – atau dengan kata lain, mereka mengalami ketidakpuasan dalam pernikahan.

Dalam tugas akhir ini, penulis menganalisis dua karya sastra yang mendeskripsikan bagaimana ketidakpuasan dalam pernikahan dapat mempengaruhi perubahan karakter seseorang dan pada saat yang sama mengungkapkan banyak hal tentang tekanan sosial dan ketidakadilan yang dialami wanita dalam kehidupan sosial dan pernikahan pada akhir abad 19.

Dari hasil analisis, penulis mendapati bahwa kondisi lingkungan dapat mempengaruhi reaksi seseorang terhadap tekanan sosial dan ketidakpuasan dalam pernikahan mereka. Sehubungan dengan tujuan pengarang, penulis juga menyimpulkan bahwa melalui kedua karya tersebut, pengarang bermaksud memberikan gambaran mengenai kehidupan wanita pada periode tersebut dan

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

There are many important stages in people’s life; one of them is marriage. Marriage itself is defined as “the legal relationship between a husband and wife” (Hornby 785). The definition seems to involve mostly the legal aspect of marriage, but in practice, marriage is a complex state which involves one’s feelings and many other aspects of life. Because of this complexity, people sometimes find their marriage unsatisfactory. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and William Somerset Maugham’s Mrs. Craddock are two examples of those literary works that deal with unsatisfactory marriage as an issue that contributes to the development of the characters. In their novels, both the protagonists feel that their marriage is unsatisfactory – even though it is caused by different reasons. One feels dissatisfied because she has to suppress her desires because of the marriage, while the other feels dissatisfied because her husband does not return her love – and those contribute to their change of characteristics.

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the consequences of one's actions—themes and concerns important to many later American writers” (“Kate Chopin 1851-1904”). Through The Awakening, her most notable work which once was banned because of its directness (Carey 7), she makes a great contribution to the development of feminist literature. The Awakening itself is a “scandalous book” (Carey 7), considering that the

protagonist is “a woman who not only had sexual urges and desires, but felt that it was her right to have those drives satisfied” (Carey 7) – an inappropriate subject matter to be discussed at that time. The book was banned from bookstores and public libraries (Carey 7) but it had already given a new perspective in understanding women issues.

Meanwhile, William Somerset Maugham is remembered as one of the most successful English authors in the 19th century. He was announced as “one of the first authors to make significant money from film adaptations” (“W. Somerset Maugham”) and his theatre productions were generally successful (“W. Somerset Maugham”). Besides being an author, Maugham also had many professions –

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As the novels themselves mostly talk about the contribution of the unsatisfactory marriage towards the protagonists’ characteristics, it is felt best for me to choose the character as the literary element to be discussed in this thesis, considering as well that character is one of the most basic and important parts of literary elements. Character in literature is “an author’s representation of a human

being, specifically of those inner qualities that determine how an individual reacts to various conditions or attempts to shape his or her environment” (Roberts 54). Both Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in The Awakening, and Bertha Craddock, the protagonist in Mrs. Craddock are the authors’ representation of women in the 19th century who react towards the unsatisfactory marriage and at the same time undergo a self-development. Later in the analysis, it is found that the condition in America and England in the 19th century proves to have some influences towards the results of the protagonists’ reactions. As the protagonists are the representation of real human beings, both authors create such complex and developed characters and this adds to my decision to choose character as the interesting literary element

to be discussed in this thesis.

Statement of the Problem

The problems that are going to be analysed in this thesis are: 1. How are the protagonists portrayed in the novels?

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Purpose of the Study

Based on the statement of problems above, this thesis is constructed: 1. To show how the protagonists are portrayed in the novels

2. To show the purposes of the authors in creating such characters

Method of Research

In writing this thesis, I apply the library research method to find the needed information to support the analysis. The novels are used as the primary texts, while some other criticisms and information which are taken from both books and Internet websites are used as the references to analyse the novels and draw the conclusion.

Organization of the Thesis

This thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

Having analysed Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and William Somerset Maugham’s Mrs. Craddock in the previous chapters of this thesis, I conclude that there are some similarities and differences that can be inferred from the analysis of the novels.

The first similarity is that both protagonists have the typical characteristics of the 19th century women at the beginning of each story. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Edna, the protagonist, is portrayed as a reserved, obedient, and dutiful woman, while in William Somerset Maugham’s Mrs. Craddock, Bertha, the protagonist, is portrayed as an obedient, dependent, self-possessed, and passionate woman. These are the typical characteristics which can generally describe the 19th century women.

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The third similarity is that both protagonists have similar characteristics after they experience the unsatisfactory marriage. The readers may see that both protagonists become expressive and rebellious in their own ways in spite of their different characteristics at the beginning of the story.

Apart from the similarities, there are some differences that can be inferred

from the analysis of the novels. First, the cause of the protagonists’ unsatisfactory marriage is slightly different. Edna is disappointed because her husband treats her like his possession and because she is tired of the responsibilities which are put on her shoulders as a wife and a mother. On the other hand, Bertha is disappointed with her married life because her husband cannot return her ardent love.

Second, the result of the protagonists’ rebellion towards the unsatisfactory marriage is different. Edna does not want to go back to her husband and to conform to the forced responsibility that is put on her shoulders. By deciding to commit suicide, she succeeds in getting the freedom she wants. However, Bertha goes back to her husband and conforms to the unsatisfactory marriage and the

social conventions that bind her. Even though there are changes in her characteristics, nothing is changed in general as long as she still conforms to the pressure that oppresses her.

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their peak of confidence. The society considered the conventions well-established and it was difficult for people who were settled with those social rules to change or accept new thoughts.

The third difference above then gives some influences on the fourth difference – the difference in the purpose of the authors. Chopin wanted to

encourage the readers, especially women, to fight for freedom even though there was a pressure from society, whereas Maugham wanted to portray women in the 19th century who, contradictory to Chopin’s purpose, did not have any choice but to submit to the established social conventions at that time.

During the analysing process of the novels, I find that Maugham’s portrayal of his protagonist is more life-like than Chopin’s. It has been discussed in the background of this thesis that Maugham is really good at making and describing human-like characters, which explains why his characters are so real. Moreover, Maugham himself is assumed to portray the 19th century life through his characters in Mrs. Craddock. On the other hand, Chopin describes a character

that the readers will not usually find at the specific period of time, or in other words, a character that is quite unreal to exist in the specified time. However, from a different point of view, Chopin’s protagonist boldly reflects not only a hope but also a real encouragement – an encouragement for freedom, an encouragement for gender equality, and an encouragement for the better way of life.

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also some new perspectives to consider. The novels also give real descriptions of married life – how it is conducted, how society has significant influences on it, and how the different characteristics of the people involved in it affect the married life itself. The novels teach the readers about how married life can be, and at the same time, give an important perspective that human beings have the rights to

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary texts:

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. The Awakening and Selected Stories of Kate Chopin. Ed. Barbara H. Solomon. New York: Signet Classics, 1976. 1-137.

Maugham, William Somerset. Mrs. Craddock. London: Vintage, 2000.

References:

Carey, Kay. The Awakening Notes. Lincoln: Cliffs Notes, Inc., 1980.

High, Peter B., An Outline of American Literature. London: Longman Group UK, Limited, 1986.

Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Ed. Sally Wehmeier. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

McKinney, John F. W. Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage. New York: Monarch Press, 1964.

Mish, Frederick C., et al. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2001.

Roberts, Edgar V. Writing Themes About Literature. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Inc., 1964.

Thornley, G. C., and Gwyneth Roberts. An Outline of English Literature. London: Longman Group, Limited, 1984.

Internet Websites:

Abrams, Lynn. “Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain.” BBC.co.uk. 2001. 20 Aug. 2010.

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“Kate Chopin.” Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 2010. 23 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Chopin>

“Kate Chopin 1851-1904.” eNotes.com. 2010. 20 Apr. 2010.

<http://www.enotes.com/twentieth-century-criticism/chopin-kate>

Moore, Melissa. Women’s Issues Then & Now: A Feminist Overview of the Past 2 Centuries. 2002. 20 Aug. 2010.

<http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/femhist/marriage.shtml>

Nickson, Helen. “Life of Women in the Victorian Era.” Ezine Articles. 2010. 19 Aug. 2010.

<http://ezinearticles.com/?Life-of-Women-in-the-Victorian-Era&id=2359711>

Nordquist, Richard. “William Somerset Maugham on Writing without Frills.” About.com. 2010. 21 Apr. 2010.

<http://grammar.about.com/od/advicefromthepros/a/maughamwrite.htm> “Women in the Victorian era.” Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 2010. 19 Aug.

2010.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_Victorian_era>

“W. Somerset Maugham.” Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 2010. 23 Mar. 2010.