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Becky's Failures to Be an Ideal Woman in the Victorian Era As Seen In BECKY’S FAILURES TO BE AN IDEAL WOMAN IN THE VICTORIAN ERA AS SEEN IN THACKERAY’S VANITY FAIR AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By YOHANNES ROSEFHEL SUSILO PUTRA Student Number: 034214089 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY 2009 i ii iii You are trully a perfect lady, I will treat you like queen, I’d give you flowers every day, Not just any flowers, I will give you the most beautiful flowers in this world, I’d be your shoulder to cry on and your best friend, I’d spend every day thinking of how to make you laugh, You have the most amazing laugh, But, I’m dying anyway, If there’s a chance it’ll get you something, It’s worth it, I want you to know, Back in the past, It was never the doctors or prescriptions that kept me going, It was always you, Seeing you every day, That’s what kept me going. (Madagascar Escape 2 Africa) iv This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to 1. Jesus Christ 2. Holy Virgin Mary 3. My Patient Parents 4. My Fat Brother 5. My Beloved, one and the only Special Girl Friend 6. All My Best Friends Arround the Universe 7. The Magnificent Sanata Dharma University English Letters Lecturers v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the first place, I would like to thank Jesus Christ and Holy Virgin Mary for leading my way all the time. Their wonderful love and blessing are the greatest guidance in finishing this thesis. My big gratitude goes to Dewi Widyastuti S.Pd., M.Hum., who patiently read, re-read, re-read again, re-read re-read again and again and again my thesis. She calmly critized and give valuable guidance, corrections to me and my thesis. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to give my deepest gratitude to my beloved parents and brother. I thank them for their love, patience, understanding and all of the financial support throughout the years. To my beloved special “girl friend”, Ika, I have been blessed for having her by my side. I hope, once again she can gives me a chance and we can be together again. I owe a great deal to all my friends at Sanata Dharma University. Bayu, Nitnot, Susit, Kambing, Yeri, Boim, Cosmas, Tino, Vino, Tito, Vendus, Adi, Polak, Mbendol, Ryan, Mando, Yakubus, and many more. I am very grateful for our magnificent friendship. I thank them for being such nice friends. I really admire their sincere love to make my study full of hue and happiness. Yohannes Rosefhel Susilo Putra vi TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE…………………………………………………………………. i APPROVAL PAGE…………………………………………………………... ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE……………………………………………………….. iii MOTTO PAGE……………………………………………………………….. iv DEDICATION PAGE………………………………………………………... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………. vii ABSTRACT………………………………………………..………………….. ix ABSTRAK………………………………………………..…………………… x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: ......................…………………………….. 1 A. Background of the Study……..………………………………………. 1 B. Problem Formulation………………………………………………… 3 C. Objectives of the Study……………..………………………………… 3 CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW: ..................……………………. 5 A. Review on Related Studies………………………………………….... 5 B. Review of Related Theories……………………………………..……. 7 1. Theory on Character and Characterization…………………..… 7 2. Theory on The Concept of an Ideal Woman in The Victorian Era…………………………………………………….. 12 3. The Relation between Literature and Society……………...…… 14 C. Theoretical Framework………………………………………….…… 14 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY: ……………………………………….. 16 A. Object of the Study…………………………………………….…….. 16 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………….. 17 C. Method of the Study………………………………………………….. 18 CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS …..…….………………………………………... 20 A. The Characteristics of Becky.……………………………………..….. 20 1. Clever.…………………………………………………………...… 21 2. Talented………………………………………………………….... 25 3. Independent……………………………………………………...... 26 4. Optimistic……………………………………………………..…... 28 5. Manipulate………………………………………………………... 29 6. Hypocritical……………………………………………………….. 31 B. The Concept of an Ideal Woman in The Victorian Era……………. 34 C. Becky’s Failures to be an Ideal Woman in The Victorian Era…..… 39 1. Becky’s Failures to be an Ideal Mother…………………………. 40 2. Becky’s Failures to be an Ideal Wife……………………………. 43 3. Becky’s Failures to be an Ideal Member of Society…………….. 45 vii CHAPTER V CONCLUSION……………………………………………….. 49 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………….. 53 viii ABSTRACT YOHANNES ROSEFHEL SUSILO PUTRA. Becky’s Failures to be an Ideal Woman in The Victorian Era as seen in Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letter, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009. This study discusses William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. This novel’s setting takes place in the Victorian era. The novel tells a story about two women who have a different background. They are Amelia Sedley and Rebecca Sharp (Becky). Amelia comes from the middle upper class societies while Becky from the lower class society. Becky wants to be one of the middle or upper class society members. However in his effort to pursue her goal, becky violates the concepts of an ideal woman in the Victorian age. The purpose of this study is to answer three problems. Firstly, this study is meant to describe the characteristics of Rebecca Sharp. Secondly is to understand the concepts af an ideal English woman in the Victorian era as depicted in the novel. The last is to connect those two previous problem formulations to find out how becky fails to be an ideal woman in the Victorian age. Because this undergraduate thesis used the library research, the main source of data was taken from the novel itself, Vanity Fair. The other source was also taken from the supporting books and online information. This study also used some theories to answer the problem formulations. Those theories are the theory of character and characterization and the theory about the concept of an ideal woman in the Victorian era. The writer use the Socio-Historical Approach. The analysis’ result shows some of Becky’s characteristics. Becky’s characteristics are clever, talented, independent, optimistic, manipulative and hypocritical. The final result shows the concept of woman in the Victorian Era A woman having a sexual intercourse before married was considered having a tragedy. A woman was ready to get married if she has some qualities, like being able to sing, play a music instrument, or having a special skill in language like French or Italian. They also had to be innocent, virtuous, biddable, dutiful and ignorant of intellectual opinion. A woman in the Victorian Era should take care of their child full with love and attention. She should be able to make a comfortable home for her husband and children. Her main duty was to bear a large family and to maintain a smooth family atmosphere. The last analysis shows how Becky failed to be an ideal woman in the Victorian Era. She failed to be an ideal mother, ideal wife and ideal member of society. ix ABSTRAK YOHANNES ROSEFHEL SUSILO PUTRA. Becky’s Failures to be an Ideal Woman in The Victorian Era as seen in Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letter, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009. Skripsi ini membahas novel Vanity Fair, yang merupakan salah satu karya dari William Makepeace Thackeray. Novel ini berseting di Inggris pada masa Victorian. Novel ini menceritakan tentang dua orang wanita yang mempunyai latar belakang yang berbeda. Mereka adalah Amelia Sedley dan Rebecca Sharp (Becky). Amelia berasal dari golongan masyarakat menengah ke atas sedangkan Becky berasal dari golongan masyarakat bawah. Becky ingin menjadi anggota masyarakat golongan menengah atau atas. Tetapi dalam usahanya itu, Becky melanggar konsep-konsaep seorang wanita ideal pada masa Victorian. Tujuan dari studi ini adalah untuk menjawab tiga permasalahan utama. Pertama, studi ini dimaksudkan untuk menggambarkan tokoh Rebecca Sharp (Becky). Kedua adalah untuk mengetahui konsep-konsep seorang wanita ideal di Inggris pada masa Victoria. Ketiga adalah menghubungkan kedua rumusan masalah itu yakni untuk mengetahui apa saja kegagalan Becky untuk menjadi seorang wanita ideal pada masa Victoria. Karena skripsi ini menggunakan data kepustakaan, data utama diambil dari novel itu sendiri, Vanity Fair yang ditulis oleh William Makepeace Thackeray. Data lain diambil dari buku-buku pendukung, dan informasi dari internet. Studi ini juga menggunakan beberapa teori yang digunakan untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang ada di rumusan masalah. Teori-teori yang digunakan adalah teori tentang tokoh dan penokohan dan teori tentang konsep seorang wanita ideal pada masa Victoria. Penulis juga menggunakan pendekatan dari sudut sosial sejarah. Hasil analisis menunjukkan beberapa karakteristik dari Becky. Becky karakteristik adalah pandai, berbakat, mandiri, optimis, memanfaatkan, dan bermuka dua. Penulis juga menunjukkan konsep-konsep seorang wanita yang ideal pada masa Victorian yaitu seorang wanita yang melakukan hubungan seks sebelum menikah adalah suatu tragedi. Wanita harus mempunyai kriteria-kriteria sebelum mereka menikah, mereka harus bisa menyanyi, memainkan alat-alat musik, dapat berbicara dalam bahasa Perancis atau Italia. Seorang wanita harus tidak berdosa, berbudi luhur, patuh, penurut. Mereka juga harus merawat anak- anak mereka dengan penuh perhatian. Pada analisis yang terakhir, menunjukkan bagaimana Becky gagal untuk memenuhi konsep seorang wanita yang ideal pada masa Victorian. Becky gagal dalam menjadi seorang
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