CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study Coming
into the earth of fiction, on the whole, is similarly coming into the earth of boundless imagination, including
novel. Due to the characteristic that is
purely imaginative; novel is not intended to be, and is not, judged by the
usual standards of truth and falsity
(Steinmann and Willen, 1967: 119).
Henceforth, Steinmann and Willen
(1967: 119) explain that novel is one form
of literature which accommodates these factors; narrative, descriptive and dialogue. Novel also must arrange itself with
style, tone, plot, characters, and point
of view. What makes difference between novel and the other shorter fiction, such as novella and short-story, is that novel
can develop scene, setting, and time span
at leisure; it can also afford false starts, digressions, and misplace
characters.
In addition, some novels are
emphasized on its descriptive factor to achieve certain sense, for example, while others are
not. The point is that to choose some factors
to be emphasized or not is solely authors personal choice.
On the other hand, Peck and Coyle
(1947: 102) put forward different perspective
in defining novel. As literary genre, novel is a composition or work which employs both intrinsic and extrinsic
factors. They notice that novel is the authors
means to introduce their idea they want to address to the readers, the idea of reforming certain social standard, for instance.
Some characters within the novel chosen
by the authors become an effective means to deliver their idea. Yet, Peck and Coyle then add, It is too simple to
say that the important thing about novel is the idea the author preach, just as it is too simple to say that a
writer such as Dickens is a novelist with
a social purpose who writes to reform society. Such an attitude mentioned above is because the feeling that a story must
have a point and purpose.
Unlike Peck and Coyle, Barnet
(2006; 562), suggests different view. By opposing novel to roman and epic, Barnet
states that novel does not tell marvelous happenings, provides splendid castle and
enchanted forest as the romance do, but it
tells the reality. Due to the fact that the word novel comes from Italian meaning
a little new thing, and is related to the French word meaning gives us news,
thus, the reality intended is that the current human problem or as Hawthorne say actualities.
Finally, whatever definition
given by authors or literary critics the point is that novel is a literary fiction by which,
plot, setting, point of view, and style are engaged to establish the form of the story
within the novel intrinsically, while the idea carried in the novel is generally
extrinsic factor and of course varies from writer to writer. Shortly, novel is formed by
both its intrinsic and extrinsic element.
Furthermore, the two elements always relate to a certain condition where and when the author of the novel lives.
If we trace the history of
English novel, looking into the ancient period for instance, especially before the
seventeenth-century England, the word novel always relates to epic, romance, or even short
fiction, such as short-story. Indeed, before
the classical age of fiction coming to England, exactly introduced in the Renaissance by Shakespeares novel and the
contemporaries Thomas Nashe, English
people preferred merely reading fiction rather than comparing whether the fiction they read were included to novel or
not. The fact that English people knew novel,
then they were able to distinguish it from other literary genres, is exactly by
this last hundred years (Steinmann and
Willen, 1967: 121).
Among literary genres, in
addition, novel is the most popular work recognized throughout English society,
especially after the coming of Shakespeare (Steinmann and Willen, 1967: 121). However,
although there are earlier novels, the
history of English novel really begins with the publication of the Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe in 1719. One of
excellent reason put forward by Peck and
Coyle (1986: 102) is that novel is a form of literature which always looks at people
in society. It means that even though novels are written in various senses and themes, they show their persistently
concerns with regular people and their problems.
By the fact that novels always
concern with human problems, English people
perceive being helped very much to gain any information about their ruler, political system, or even the society where
they find themselves. Clark (1958: 7) argues
that the authors of novel in the mid ninetieth deliberately blurred between the real situation and characters the authors
create in their novel, hence the literary classifications of history or biography and
novel are seemingly inappropriate anymore.
Novel, therefore, was apparently to be such historical recorder that provides several events about actual life.
Hence, it is plausible that English society around 1880s treated novel as a book that
provides complete historical events.
Based on the previous
perspective, the writer of this thesis is going to link the actual events in the society and their
politicians behavior in 1880s England with Mark Twains The Prince and the Pauper.
The researcher of this thesis
assumes that Mark Twains The Prince and the
Pauper, according to the writer of this thesis, is his exertion to explain
English proper condition around 1880s to
all over society throughout England mainland.
This assumption comes to the
writer of this thesis when he attempts to relate several characters experiences within the
novel into the actual condition of England when the novel was written. Indeed,
there have been historical events in England
around 1880s, exactly in Victoria's government; under Disraeli's ministry, England conducted the monetary
reformation (called as Reform Bill) for the first time, over years later she
conducted the second "Reform Bill" under Gladstone, and the most historical one is that
England's replacement of old governmental
system (aristocracy) toward democracy, and the last mentioned one was the most eventful in English governmental
reformation history since Englands
independence declaration (Lakoff, 1903: 433-436).
According to Brinton (1903; 433),
Queen Victoria was the longest ruler in
England mainland (1837-1901). By the end of her long period of government, England had changed rapidly to be modern
government; by separating the Crown and
the Government assemblies. With this powers separation, Queen Victoria was
finally the most not absolute power. Brinton later argues that according to Bagehot that The Crown was now largely
decorative. On that decorative post, held for most the century (1837-1901) by
Queen Victoria, who has given her name
to an age and culture, were centered the patriotic emotions of loyal British subject. The consequence of the change is that
Real power lies in the legislative branch,
in the early nineteenth century by no means directly representative of the masses.
Smith (1961; 505) in addition,
argues that it is important to notice that there have been two historical milestones in
England which suggested Englands transition; the first was Gladstones
liberalism (1868-1874), and the second was Disraelis conservatism (1874-1886). These were
the name of both party and ideology.
These two parties, too, ascertained subsequently England political history even up to this day. In addition, both
of them have their own political ways,
which is called political ideology, and political constituencies. Then, Smith (1961; 505) defines conservatism as the belief
that the old and established ways of doing things are best and the fear that
any sort of change is likely to turn out for the worse, while liberalism is of course the
opposite or reverse of conservatism.
However, even though
ideologically different, they actually did not have much difference in their area of partys
struggle. Thus, Brinton (1903; 437) in that case argues, Even more important
than the fact that the Liberals and Conservatives each held together as parties whose members could
sink differences in a common party
action is the fact that both parties had a wide area of mutual agreement above and beyond party. To put it quite
baldly, there wasnt much difference between the Conservatism and the Liberals.
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