THE INFLUENCE OF HEDONISM IN SOCIALITE COMMUNITY TOWARD THE MAIN CHARACTER JENNY HUMPHREY IN CECILY VON ZIEGESAR’S GOSSIP GIRL AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fullfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By YUNIAR EKA RISTI Student Number : 06 4214 007 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2010 THE INFLUENCE OF HEDONISM IN SOCIALITE COMMUNITY TOWARD THE MAIN CHARACTER JENNY HUMPHREY IN CECILY VON ZIEGESAR’S GOSSIP GIRL AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS Presented as Partial Fullfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters By YUNIAR EKA RISTI Student Number : 06 4214 007 ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2010 i I received nothing I wanted, but I received everything I need from God v This Undergraduate Thesis is dedicated to Jesus Christ My beloved parents My brother My lovely friends vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank Jesus Christ, my God, best friend and savior. I am nothing without Him. He has blessed and granted me everything I need and given me nice family and friends around me. I realize that this thesis would not have been completed without all helps from Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum. Without his help and guidance, I would be stuck. I also thank my co advisor Modesta Luluk Artika Windrasti, S.S, for reading and correcting my thesis. I also express my gratitude to all English lecturers and staffs for their great role during my time in this faculty. This thesis is dedicated to my beloved parents who have fulfilled anything and given me support. I know their love and understanding have always been my greatest support. And I would like to thank my brother for his support. My gratitude also goes to all my friends, Lucy, San San, Nana, Juli, Esther, Atom, Dhika, Vina, Elok, Marcel, Arum, Sella, Denal, and all my friends in English Letters Department 2006 class A. I am blessed for all the time we shared. We have been through good and bad times together. Thanks for motivating, making me extremely happy during this time. I also would like to thank Whisnu, Yuanita, Yokhe, Yokhe, Nur, Ongky, Antoni, thanks for being my friends and giving the greatest support and experience of life. My days would be boring without them all. I vii will not forget their kindness to me. I thank them for giving me the best days I have ever had. They are the gifts God sent to me in passing my beautiful life. Last but not least, I wish to thank everybody who also plays an important part in my life that I could not mention here one by one. I appreciate every single support, understanding and attention given to me. Thank them and God bless them all. Yuniar Eka Risti viii TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE……………………………...………………………………….............i APPROVAL PAGE………………………………………………………………….ii ACCEPTANCE PAGE……………………………………………………………..iii LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI……………….…….iv MOTTO PAGE……………………………………………………………................v DEDICATION PAGE………………………………………………….…….….….vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………….….….….……..vii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………….……..ix ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………..…..……xi ABSTRAK……………………………………………………………………..……xii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study………………………………………………….1 B. Problem Formulation……………………………………...………………4 C. Objectives of the Study……………………………………………………4 D. Definition of Terms..……………………………...........................………5 CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW……………………………………….7 A. Review of Related Studies………………………………………………...7 B. Review of Related Theories……………………………………………...11 1. Theory of Character and Characterization…………………………...11 2. Hedonism in United States of America……………………...………14 3. Socialites Community…………………………………………..……18 C. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………..……22 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY…………………………………………...….25 A. Object of the Study……………………………………………………....25 B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………...……26 C. Method of the Study……………………………………………………..26 CHAPTE IV ANALYSIS………….……………………………………………...28 A. The Description of Jenny’s Character………………………….………..28 B. The Hedonism in Socialites Community Presented in Gossip Girl……..32 a. Serena van der Woodsen…………………………………………….33 b. Blair Waldrof…………………………………………………….…..39 c. Chuck Bass…………………………………………..………………42 C. The Influence of Hedonism in Socialites Community toward the Main Character Jenny Humphrey……………..……………………………….45 a. Hedonism Changes Jenny’s Appearance…………………………….45 ix b. Hedonism Changes Jenny’s Lifestyle………………………………..47 c. Hedonism Changes Jenny’s Trait……..……………………………..52 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION……………………………………………..……...55 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………......……58 APPENDICES…………………..………………………………...………………..59 Appendix 1. The Summary of Gossip Girl………………..…………………59 Appendix 2. The Biography of Cecily von Ziegesar……………………….61 x ABSTRACT Yuniar Eka Risti (2010): The Influence of Hedonism in Socialite Community toward the Main Character Jenny Humphrey in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl.Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University. This thesis deals with the literary work of Cecily von Ziegesar entitled Gossip Girl. The writer is interested to choose Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl because it gives the writer picture of society in United States of America. It also gives a learning that a person in society can give impact toward someone. The writer finds that the society, a major community in the society can influence someone’s appearance, life style and even the trait. Socialite community really exists in United States of America. And Jenny Humphrey who is not a socialite is influenced by them. This novel pictures the impact of the existence the socialite community toward Jenny. This thesis applied a library research to answer three questions that are represented in the problem formulation. They are (1) how Jenny’s character is described, (2) how the hedonism in socialite community is presented in that story and (3) how the hedonism in socialite community influences Jenny Humphrey. To accomplish this analysis, the socio culture and psychological approaches are applied to know further about the society and the effect toward the main character is several aspects such as the appearance, life style and trait. Jenny as one of the main character in the novel is influenced by her society. And the society is dominated by socialite community that gives influence toward Jenny’s trait. And Jenny is trying hard to fit with the society which is high class, wealthy, and hedonistic. This analysis explores the major characters using theory of characterization. The descriptions of the socialite characters and their lives are the answers in the second problem formulation. And how the life of socialite characters influence Jenny Humphrey is discussed in the last analysis. And as the result of the analysis is the influence of the socialite community toward Jenny Humphrey can not be concluded because the impacts are not stated directly. The impact in Jenny is only superficially. It can be seen in the next books because this book has another series. xi ABSTRAK Yuniar Eka Risti (2010): The Influence of Hedonism in Socialite Community toward the Main Character Jenny Humphrey in Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl.Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma. Skripsi ini mengetengahkan karya sastra dari Cecily von Ziegesar berjudul Gossip Girl. Penulis tertarik memilih Gossip Girl karya Ziegesar karena karya ini memberi gambaran tentang masyarakat di Amerika. Selain itu, karya ini juga memberikan pelajaran bahwa orang dalam masyarakat dapat memberikan dampak terhadap orang lain. Penulis juga menemukan bahwa komunitas sosialita yang mendominasi di novel tersebut dapat mempengaruhi karakter, gaya hidup bahkan sifat seseorang. Komunitas sosialita benar benar ada di Amerika. Dan Jenny Humphrey yang bukan seorang sosialita terpengaruh oleh komunitas tersebut. Novel ini mengisahkan dampak dari keberadaan dari komunitas sosialita tersebut terhadap Jenny. Skripsi ini adalah studi analitis yang menggunakan penelitian kepustakaan untuk menjawab tiga pertanyaan dalam batasan masalah. Pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut adalah (1) bagaimana karakter Jenny digambarkan, (2) bagaimana hedonisme di komunitas sosialita digambarkan di cerita tersebut dan (3) bagaimana hedonisme di komunitas sosialita mempengaruhi Jenny Humphrey. Pendekatan sosial budaya dan psikologi di gunakan sehubungan dengan analisa novel yang berkaitan dengan keadaan masyarakat dan dampak di beberapa aspek terhadap tokoh utama seperti penampilan, gaya hidup dan sifat.Jenny adalah satu satunya karakter yang terpengaruh oleh keadaan masyarakatnya. Dan masyarakat yang mendominasi adalah komunitas sosialita yang memberikan pengaruh terhadap sifat Jenny. Jenny berusaha mencocokkan diri dengan orang orang yang berkelas tinggi, kaya, dan hedonis. Analisis tesis mengungkapkan tokoh-tokoh utama menggunakan teori karakter. Penggambaran karater sosialita dan hidup mereka merupakan jawaban dari rumusan masalah yang kedua. Dan penggambaran karakter sosialita yang mempengaruhi Jenny dibahas dalam analisi yang terakhir. Dan pada akhir analisis, belum dapat disimpulkan dampak komunitas sosialita terhadap diri Jenny karena perubahan yang di alami Jenny hanya perubahan di luar. Dan perubahan perubahan yang lain akan tampak di serial buku selanjutnya. xii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Life is complicated and full of problems.