The Analysis of Theme Through Portrayal of The Protagonist in Anne Bronte's 'Agnes Grey'.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Dalam tugas akhir ini, saya menganalisis tema dari sebuah novel yang

ditulis oleh Anne Bronte dengan judul Agnes Grey. Novel ini merupakan novel

drama yang menceritakan seorang perempuan yang memutuskan untuk bekerja

sebagai seorang pengasuh anak. Saya akan menganalisis tema yang disampaikan

melalui tokoh utama.

Anne Bronte menggambarkan Agnes Grey sebagai seseorang yang

memiliki sikap positif. Sikap positif itu diantaranya adalah gigih, pekerja keras,

peduli, dan sabar. Melalui sikap posotifnya tersebut Agnes mendapatkan kepuasan

dan kebahagiaan di dalam hidupnya.

Dari penggambaran tokoh utama tersebut sangat jelas bahwa pengarang

mampu menyampaikan jalan ceritanya secara menarik. Dimana novel ini juga

dapat menginspirasi dan layak bagi para pembaca. Maka dari itu dapat saya

simpulkan bahwa tema dari novel ini adalah “Dengan memiliki sikap positif,

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APPENDICES

Synopsis of Agnes Grey

Agnes Grey is a novel about a young woman, Agnes Grey, who lives in

northern England. Her family gets impoverished after her father loses some

money in an ill-advised investment. She and her sister decide to work in order to

help their parents financially. Agnes' sister starts making some money by selling

her drawings. Agnes herself tries to help by becoming a governess, although at

first her mother does not let her work.

At first, she gets a position at Wellwood House to work for the

Bloomfields. The Bloomfield children are hateful creatures, so spoiled and

disobedient. When Agnes works there, she has to make the children become good

children. She is somehow also expected to teach them good manner. Finally, she

resigns from the Bloomfields after working for them for a year.

Later, Agnes looks for another job. This time, she gets a position as a

governess again in the Murray family. She teaches Rosalie and Matilda Murray.

Both are teenage girls with selfish personality. They fight a lot and they

sometimes are difficult to handle.

At the end of the story, when Agnes’s father passes away, she decides to

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mother and sister. She later gets married to Mr. Weston, the new curate in Horton,

whom Agnes meets when working for the Murrays. They live happily.

Biography of Anne Bronte

Anne Bronte was a British novelist and poet. She was born in the village

of Thornton, Bradford, Yorkshire County, England, on 17 January 1820. She was

the youngest child of Maria Branwell and Reverend Patrick Bronte. She had five

siblings: Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Patrick Branwell, and Emily. For her

education, Anne largely studied at home, including music and drawing. Later, she

began more formal studies at Roe Head School. In 1839 Anne was looking for a

teaching position and she began to work as a governess.

In her life, Anne wrote some poems and novels. First she wrote

well-known poems Verses by Lady Geralda (1836), Alexander and Zenobia (1837) and

the others poems with her sister Emily Bronte. She also wrote some novels. Her

first novel Agnes Grey was published by Thomas Cautley Newby in July 1847. In

July 1848 Anne completed her second novel TheTenant of Wildfell Hall.

In January 1849 Anne was diagnosed with tuberculosis. On 28th May

1849 Anne Bronte died at the age of 29 at Scarborough. She was buried in St

Mary's churchyard on Castle Hill overlooking the sea.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Experience often becomes inspiration for many authors in writing (Wellek,

Warren). One of them is Anne Bronte, a British novelist and poet who belongs to

the Victorian period. She is also the youngest member of the Bronte family. Anne

has contributed some of her works to literary world. Her contribution includes 21

poems that she wrote with her sister, Emily Bronte and also two novels; The

Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) and Agnes Grey (1847), her most well-known

work. Agnes Grey is a novel which is based on her experience as a governess.

This novel has gained many positive reviews because it is less gothic or dark, and

is very realistic. The novel becomes very realistic because Anne has written the

novel based on her own experience as a governess through the experience of the

protagonist of this novel, Agnes Grey. Thus, I have chosen Agnes Grey to be

analyzed in my thesis.

Agnes Grey is a novel about a young woman, Agnes, who lives in

Northern England. She is determined to work as governess to help her family’s

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families she works for and while doing so, she faces many problems. However,

she finally manages to overcome all of her problems and gets a happy ending

because of her positive attitudes towards life.

As the protagonist’s characteristics are inspiring, I am going to analyze the

theme through the portrayal of the protagonist. From the characteristics, we can

get the theme. Theme is the “central and unifying concept of the story” (Perrine

108). In Agnes Grey the theme is the main message of the novel which the author

reveals through the protagonist’s characteristics.

Statement of the Problem

The problems I am going to discuss are:

1. What is the theme in the novel?

2. How does the portrayal of the protagonist help in revealing the theme?

Purpose of the Study

Based on the statements of the problem, the purposes of the study are as

follows:

1. To show the theme in the novel.

2. To show how the portrayal of the protagonist helps in revealing the theme.

Method of Research

I use library research in writing my thesis. First I read Agnes Grey as the

primary texts. I also read a couple of books and compile some data from the

Internet so as to support my analysis of theme through the portrayal of the

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Organization of the Thesis

This thesis consists of three chapters, preceded by the Table of Contents,

and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists of the

Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study,

the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two is the

Analysis of the Theme through the Portrayal of the Protagonist of Anne Bronte’s

Agnes Grey. Chapter Three is the Conclusion, followed by the Bibliography and

the Appendices, which contain the Synopsis of the Novel and the Biography of

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

Having analyzed Anne Bronte’s Agnes Grey in the previous chapter, I

would draw some conclusion of my analysis. In this novel, Anne Bronte portrays

the protagonist Agnes Grey as a persistent, hard-working, caring, and patient

young woman.

Her being persistent can be seen when her family gets financial problems

and then she insists on helping her family by becoming a governess. She also tries

to find another family after her resigning from the Bloomfields. From her being

persistent, she can get happiness because finally she can work as a governess, and

thus help her family; even after resigning from the Bloomfields, she can work as a

governess again.

Agnes’ being a hard-working person can be seen when she works in the

Bloomfields and the Murrays. She has to face naughty children and make some

progress on them. Her hard-working gives her satisfaction. She really does her job

well as she puts a lot of efforts to manage the children in spite of the fact that she

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Agnes’ being a caring person can be seen when she is willing to read the

Bible to her friend who has a problem with her eyes. It can also be seen when she

has to resign from her job due to her father’s death and decides to live with her

mother. Her being caring brings her happiness because she can serve other people

and feels satisfied to find her mother in good health.

Besides, Agnes’ being patient can be seen from her reaction to the

Bloomfields children’s annoying behavior and when she has to hold her temper in

dealing with the two young ladies who are growing up. Later her patience can

gain positive respect, which gives satisfaction and happiness to her.

From the above description, I can conclude that Anne Bronte has given a

clear picture of the protagonist, Agnes Grey. Agnes is portrayed as a life-like

character. She meets with difficult situations and she responds to them by having

positive attitudes. Bronte has also skillfully delivered her message through the

portrayal of Agnes Grey. Thus, it is obvious that the portrayal of the protagonist is

of great help in revealing the theme of the novel: By having positive attitudes, one

will gain satisfaction and happiness.

The theme itself is universal. It means that it is applicable to the present

situation and to people anywhere. I myself can learn that positive attitudes are

needed in order to overcome difficulties. Moreover, I also believe that positive

attitudes will bring satisfaction and happiness in my life. In my opinion, one

should think and act positively in response to difficult situations one often faces.

Having read the novel Agnes Grey, I also notice that Anne Bronte has

presented the story interestingly. As the novel is based on her experience, she

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face difficulties in holding naughty children, difficult-to-learn children, young

ladies with annoying manner, and negative comments from the parents, to name

but a few. Bronte also gives solution to overcome those kinds of difficult

situation, represented by the protagonist’s positive attitudes. I find this novel

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary text:

Bronte, Anne. Agnes Grey. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited. 1998.

Print.

References:

“Caring”. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. New York: Oxford University

Press. 7th ed. 2005. Print.

“Hard-working”. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. New York: Oxford

University Press. 7th ed. 2005. Print.

Ockerbloom, Mary Mark. “A Celebration of Woman Writers”. Anne Brontë

(1820-1849). 1998. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.

“Patient”. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. New York: Oxford University

Press. 7th ed. 2005. Print.

Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. 4th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace

Jovanovich. 1995. Print.

“Persistent”. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. New York: Oxford