A STUDY OF CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS OF “VICTORIAN SOCIETY” AS REPRESENTED BY CHARACTERS IN JANE AUSTEN’S EMMA A Thesis Presented to the Graduate Program in English Language Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.) in English Language Studies By: Eko Budi Setiawan Student Number: 026332009 SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2007 i ii iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This is to certify that all the ideas, phrases, and sentences, unless otherwise stated, are the ideas, phrases sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands the full consequences including degree cancellation if he took somebody else’s ideas, phrases, or sentences without proper reference. Eko Budi Setiawan iv TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE …………………………………………………………………….. i Statement of Thesis Approval ...………………………………………………… ii Statement of Thesis Defense Approval ………………………………………….iii Statement of Originality ………………………………………………………… iv Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………v Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………..……… vii Abstract …………………………………………………………………………viii Abstrak ……………………………………………………………………………x CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study……...……………………………………….….1 B. Problem Limit ation……...……………………………………………….. 5 C. Problem Formulation………...………………………………………..…..5 D. Research Goals……………………………………………………….…....6 CHAPTER II : REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE, THEORETICAL REVIEW, AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A. Review of Related Literature..…..………………………………………...7 B. Theoretical Review……………………………………………………....12 1. Marxism in Literature………………………………………………....12 2. The Definition of Class………………………………………………..14 3. Frederick Jameson’s Marxism………………………………………...16 4. Victorian Era…………………………………………………………. 21 a. Victorian Era in England ………………………………………….. 21 b. The Values of Victorian Era in Emma .…………………………. 25 5. Hegemony of Victorian Era in Emma ………………………………. 25 6. Contradiction ……………………………………………………….…26 C. Theoretical Framework…..……………………………………………....29 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Subject Matter…………………………………………………………....32 B. Research Procedure……………………………………………………....33 C. Data Analysis…………………………………………………………….34 D. Research Sources………………………………………………………...34 v CHAPTER IV: THE ANALYSIS OF CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS OF “VICTORIAN SOCIETY” AS REPRESENTED BY CHARACTERS IN EMMA A. The Economic Base as the Foundation of Class Formation….…………36 1. The Dominant Class………………………………………………...…37 a. Emma Woodhouse…………………………………………...…..…38 b. Mr. George Knightley…………………………………..…….…….47 2. Class between the Dominant and Laboring Class ……………………52 3.Laboring Class………………………………………….……………...55 a. Miss Bates ……………………………………………..…………...56 b. Robert Martin………………………………………………...……..57 B. Ideology as a Means to Maintain Class Status……………….……….…60 1. The Dominant Class…………………………………………………...60 a. Emma Woodhouse ..………………………………………………..61 b. Mr. George Knightley ………….………………………………….64 2. The Laboring Class …...……………………………………………....67 a. Mr. Robert Martin …………..……………………………………...68 b. Miss. Bates …………..……………………………………………..70 C. The Class-Contestation in Emma ……….………………………………72 1. Conflicts between the Dominant and Laboring ………………………73 a. The Conflicts between Emma Woodhouse and Robert Martin……75 b. The Conflicts Between Emma Woodhouse and Miss. Bates…….... 80 2. Conflicts within the Dominant………………………………………...80 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusions………………………………………………………………86 B. Suggestion……………………………………………………………..…88 BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………….. 89 APPENDICES: 1. The Synopsis of Emma ………………..……………………………………..91 2. The Biography of Jane Austen ………………………………………………. 97 vi Acknowledgements I thank Jesus Christ for blessing me and guiding me in conducting this research. His love and guidance have helped me and motivated me to accomplish this thesis. I believe in Him because He exists in my life. Second I would like to appreciate Dr. St. Sunardi, my advisor for patiently giving me help, great and insightful ideas as well as encouragement. Then, I would also like to say much thank to Dra Sri Mulyani, M.A. and Drs. Fx. Siswadi, M.A. who have also given me comments, inputs, references and constructive encouragement in the writing process. Furthermore, I will remember all lecturers’ kindness and love at my class (the students of 2002) in ELS. I offer special thanks to B.Justisianto, Pr.Lic.Phil., the Rector of the University of Widya Mandala Madiun for pursuing a higher level of education and for your financial assistance (via APTIK) and chance for my better merit. Next, My gratitude goes to Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A., the Head of English Language Studies of Sanata Dharma University. Thanks are also due to my classmates in ELS. Their advices, jokes have been appreciated. Accordingly, my super thanks deliver to my lovely wife, Yohana and my beloved daughters, Icha and Anggie. We are the happy family and some of our dreams will come true. vii ABSTRACT EKO BUDI SETIAWAN, S.S. (2007). A Study of Class Consciousness of Victorian Society as Represented by Characters in Jane Austen’s Emma. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta. This study discusses a novel entitled Emma written by Jane Austen. Emma portrayed the lives of different classes in Victorian society through its characters. This classification of people is due to some factors such as economics, ideology, taste, hegemony and language. Each character in Emma is the representation of the classes exists in the novel. Each class member could attend the same balls without being really interfered by their different social classes. In this novel, of which the perfection of balance and style reflects the ultimate searching for elegance, everyone has her or his place, and everybody ultimately stays in it. In order to maintain their class status, each character uses different way. In doing so, there are some conflicts between and within characters. The conflicts, then, create a new atmosphere that forces each character to realize her or his class existence. The explanation above has evoked the writer’s curiosity to find out the class consciousness of Victorian society as represented by the characters in Emma. Three problems related to the topic of this thesis are: (1) How is the class- distinction of Victorian Society depicted in Emma?, (2) How do the bourgeoisie and proletariat maintain their social status in Victorian Society as represented by characters in Emma?, and (3) How is the contestation of class interest of Victorian Society in Emma? In order to answer the problems, a Marxist theory by Jameson is employed. In his theory, Jameson argues that the needed utopian ideology must be not only economic but also, indeed supremely, social and cultural. The utopian ideology needs not only plans for the egalitarian reorganization of economic production, such that people’s material needs are met, but also plans for new forms of affective and aesthetic life, such that people's emotional and spiritual needs are met. This theory is applicable in Emma, since the characters are engaged to each other not only based on the economic as a means of production, but also on the ideology, social and cultural aspects. Based on the analysis, the class formation in Emma is not only based on the economic of each character, but also based on the ideology, taste and hegemony, and language. They, altogether, form classes and influence the characters in maintaining their class status. People who possess huge economic base are the representation of the dominant class, whereas the others represent the laboring class. Because of their economic base, Emma Woodhouse and George Knightley could have comfortable lives. Therefore, they are the representation of the dominant class. On the contrary, Miss Bates and Robert Martin have hard lives and they are the representation of the laboring class. Each member of the class tries to climb their status, unexceptionally Emma Woodhouse and George viii Knightley. They act differently in order to maintain their class status. Emma Woodhouse is said to be snobbish, vain, manipulative, power-hungry, self- deluded, often indifferent to the feelings of others, and on at least one occasion scathingly cruel, whereas George Knightley was said to be a sensible gentleman. In the relation between characters, some conflicts arise between and within the members of classes. The conflicts between classes are shown by the relationship among Emma Woodhouse, Robert Martin, and Miss Bates. The conflict within class is shown through the relationship between Emma Woodhouse and George Knightley. These conflicts finally bring each character into class consciousness. ix ABSTRAK EKO BUDI SETIAWAN, S.S. (2007). A Study of Class Consciousness of Victorian Society as Represented by Characters in Jane Austen’s Emma. Yogyakarta: Program Pasca Sarjana Kajian Bahasa Ingris, Universitas Sanata Dharma , Yogyakarta. Penelitian ini mengulas sebuah novel berjudul Emma yang ditulis oleh Jane Austen. Emma menggambarkan kehidupan kelas-kelas yang ada pada masyarakat Victorian melalui karakter-karakternya. Pengkotak-kotakan masyarakat ini dikarenakan beberapa faktor seperti ekonomi, ideologi, hegemoni rasa, dan bahasa. Setiap karakter di Emma adalah perwakilan dari masing-masing kelas. Setiap anggota kelas dapat menghadiri sebuah jamuan tanpa benar-benar terganggu oleh perbedaan kelas diantara mereka. Di novel ini, yang mana kesempurnaan bentuk dan gaya merupakan tujuan akhir sebuah kemewahan, setiap orang mempunyai tempatnya masing-masing dan setiap orang tetap pada kelasnya.