MATERIALISM Vanity Fair.docx

MATERIALISM Vanity Fair.docx

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MATERIALISMVanityFair

MaterialismRepresentedbytheFourCharactersinThackeray'sVanityFair

NanangEndrayanto

LecturerofBrawijayaUniversity

Abstract:

ThisstudyfocusesonananalysisofmaterialismrepresentedthroughcharacterisationofthemaincharactersinVanityFair.Insodoing,firstlythediscussiontriestoexploresocialbackgroundsandcharacteristicsofVictorianperiodwhenthenovelwascreated.Secondly,thediscussionattemptstoscrutinisecharacterisationofthefourcharactersthatpresumablydemonstratesVictorianmaterialismperspectives.Thirdly,theanalysisdealswithanefforttofindouttherelationshipbetweentheVanityFairandtheatmosphereoftheVictorian'stimebyexploringthefourcharacters'physicalappearance,thoughts,dialogues,andactions.Thisstudyappliesasocioculturalapproachasmainstrategyofthescrutiny.TheanalysisshowsthatsocietyinthenovelrepresentsthesocialconditioninfluencedbytheideasofVictorianmaterialism.Inaddition,theexaminationprovesthatThackeraydemonstratesthecriticismofnegativesocialphenomenaofVictorianperiodsuchassnobberies,anexhibitionofsuperiorityandfortune,theideaofluxuriouslife-style,andgreedinessinpursuingtreasures.Inshort,VanityFairisconsideredasanovelthatcoverssatiricaloftheEnglishsocialstructureatthetime.

Keywords:

materialism,Victorianperiod,socioculturalapproach

Literaturemayrepresenttheconditionofthesocietyandrevealstheauthor'sresponsetoit.Itcontainstherecordofpeople'svalues,theirthoughts,theirproblems,andtheirconflicts.Bonald（inWellekandWerren,1977:

7）assertsthatliteratureisanexpressionaboutexperiencesandviewsoflife.Novel,amongtheformsofliteraryworks,isalsoanattempttoreflectandexpresssomethingofthequalityorvalueofhumanexperienceormoraleconduct（Taylor,1984:

46）.Moreover,Stanton（1964:

3）affirmsthatnovelalsohelpsthereaderstounderstandabouthumanexperience,mostofallisaboutthelifeaswell.

ThackerayisoneoftheprominentVictoriannovelists.Heiswellknownasasatirist.Mostofhisworksaresatires,someofthemsatirizethesocietyanditscondition,whileotherssatirizeothernovelists.Originallyhecamefromawealthyfamily.HespenthischildhoodinoneofthebestofEnglishschools.Eventhoughhewaspreservedwithmoney,friends,andcomfortofeverykind,hefacedlifetimidlyanddistrustfully.Hewasalsocynicaltowardtheworldthatpreservedhimsowell.Inhismilieuhefoundshames,trickery,andvanitieseverywhere（Benton,1973:

924）.VanityFairisThackeray'sworkthatisconsideredasoneofthepopularEnglishnovelsintheVictorianperiod.Therichmovementandcolorofthepanoramaoftheearly19thcenturycapturedmakesthenovelgreatestachievement.Itsnarrativeskill,subtlecharacterization,anddescriptivepowermakethenoveloneofoutstandingnovelofitsperiod.Yet,itismuchmorethanportrayalandimaginativeanalysisofaparticularsociety;throughoutthisworkreadersaremadeoftheambivalence'sofhumanmotives（Benton,1973:

924）.

FromThackeray'spointofview（Benton,1973:

923）,theobjectiveofthisnovelisto"indicatethatpeopleareforthemostpart,foolishandselfish,alleageraftervanities."Thenoveltellsabouttheinterwovenandcontrastedstoriesoftwogirlsintheearlydecadesofthenineteenthcentury.Firstly,sheisAmeliaSedley,aquietandprettyyounggirl,whoisnotovermuchintelligent.Sheisamemberoftheprosperousmercantileclass.Secondly,sheisRebecca（Becky）Sharp,apennilessfascinatingschemer,andapoorcunningorphangirlwhoisambitious,provocativeandessentiallyamoral.Nevertheless,thecontrastsoftheircharactersarenotthesimpleonebetweenmoralgoodandevil,botharepresentedinfairandobjectivelythatcouldattractthereaders'sympathy.

METHODANDAPPROACH

Qualitativeinquiryistheresearchmethodusedintheanalysis.AccordingtoKrathwohl（2001:

5）,thismethodmakesuseofverb~descriptionstoportrayphenomena,employsinductivelogictofindaexplanation,anddevelopsanexplanationforaperceivedrelationship.Again,Burgess（InAminuddin,1990:

24）proposesthatqualitativeresearchissotflexible/fluid,descriptive,subjective,inductive,illustrative,notvalue-freeandnon-rigorous.Concerningthismethod,then,resultoftheanalysisisdescriptionoffourcharacterswhoaresupposedtoembodytheVictoria'materialism.Fordatacollection,thenovelistheprimarysourceofdata;thesecondarydataisundertakenfromthecritics'reviewaboutVanityFairtherelateddictionaryandglossaryofliteraryterms,theoreticalanalysisandsoon.

SincethereasonofexaminationistodiscovertheinfluenceofVictorianmaterialismtowardsthenovel,socio-culturalapproachisthechoseapproach.AccordingtoGrebstein（1968:

162-164）,socioculturalapproach"isusefulincaseswhereliteraryworksareconsideredasthefollowing.First,theliteraryworkscannotbefullyunderstoodapartfromthemilieuculture,orcivilizationwhereitisproduced.Everyliteraryworkistheresultofcomplexinteractionofsocialandculturalfactorsandisitselfacomplexculturalobject.Second,theideasintheliteraryworkareasessentialasitformandtechniques.Therefore,thequalityofliteraryworkinpartjcharacterizedbythequalitiesofitsideas.Third,theliteraryworksthatendurearedeeplymoralinrelationtotheculturewheretheyappearandtotheindividualreader.Theworkswillbegrandeurifitisrootedinlifeantpresentsevaluativeresponsetoit.Fourth,societyhasaneffectonliteraryworksineitherasaspecificmaterialfactororastradition,collectivespiritualandculturaltrends.Fifth,literarycriticismmustbemorethancontemplationoftheworkitself;itmustsurpassintothegeneralcultureandinturnrefresh]bothaudiencesandauthors.Sixth,thecriticisresponsibletotheliteratureofbothpastandpresent.Inthisrespect,thecritic'sworkofchoiceorreappraisalissimultaneouslytransient,unending,comparative,anddemonstratingtherelationshipoftheselectedmaterial.

CONCEPTUALFRAMEWORK

Themeaningofmaterialism,thesocialbackground,andthecharacteristicsofVictorianperiodareutilizedastheframeworkindevelopingtheanalysis.Thefirstpartconcernswiththemeaningofmaterialism,whichresultsinanoperationaldefinitionofmaterialism.Subsequently,thesecondpartdealswiththesocialbackgroundandcharacteristicsofVictorianperiod.TheawarenesstobothmattersislikelytoprovidemorevividdescriptionaboutmaterialismexposedbythecharactersinVanityFairaswellastoserveasanadequatecornerstonetobuildtheanalysis.

TheMeaningofMaterialism

TheoriginsofmaterialismasaphilosophicaldoctrineintheWesternWorldmightbetracedtopre-Socraticthinkers,andthemostremarkablewasDemocritus.Then,thetraditionwascontinuedbyEpicurus,andintheRomanworldwassustainedbyLucretiusinhisfamouspoemDeRerumNatura.DuringthemiddleagesthetriumphofChristianity,inwhichtheologicaldogmaswerelogicallyincontrarywithanyformofMaterialism,ledtoprohibitionofMaterialismasadangerousheresy.IntheRenaissanceandtheriseofmodemscience,materialismrevived.AlthoughitneverbecametheofficialrulingphilosophyinanycountryoftheWesternWorld,itspopularitywaswidespreadbroadly.Thisinfluencewasidentifiedbythediscoveriesofscienceandtheadvancementofmedicine,thegrowthofIndustrialRevolution,andespeciallybytheDarwinianhypothesisoftheevolutionofspecies（Johnston,1994:

541）.

InCollier'sEncyclopaedia（1994:

540）,materialismisdefinedas"philosophicaldoctrineaccordingtowhichallmanifestationsoflifeandmindarise,develop,andceaseaccordingtochangesintheorganizationofmatter."Thisviewmeansadenialoftheimmortalityofthesoul,theexistenceofGod,andtheruleofDestiny,asthesubjectsofthemetaphysics'achievement.Meanwhile,Shaw（1972:

232）proposesthatmaterialismis"aphilosophicaltheorythatregardsmatteranditsmovementsasconstitutingtheuniverseanddeclaresinsistsallphenomenaofwhateverkindsaretraceabletomaterialandphysicalagency."Thus,materialismgivesattentiontomaterialneeds,andconsiderations,andatthesametimeobjects,andthenitminimizes,andrejectsspiritualvalues.

Inshort,materialismisatendencytovalueandtogiveattentionmuchmoreuponmaterialneeds,self-satisfaction,andenjoymentofthepleasureoftheworld.Therefore,materialismdiscussedinthisarticlerefertotheseunderstanding,particularlytheonesthathavecloserelationswiththestoryinVanityFair.

TheSocialBackgroundandtheCharacteristicsofVictorianPeriod

ThereweretwospecificyearsmentionedasthebeginningofVictorianPeriod,thefirstwas1832basedonthepassageofthefirstReformBill,andthesecondwas1837astheyearoftheaccessionofQueenVictoria.ItextendedtothedeathofQueenVictoriain1901.TheVictorianPeriodwasmainlyarecordofreformineveryfieldofEnglishlife.Thisperiodwasalsoknownastheyearswithitssignificantevents.Itwasmainlybecausethereweremanyimportanteventsalongtheperiod,suchasthelongperiodofthehardlifeofEnglishpeople,particularlytheworkingclass.TheirsufferingwasmuchrootedastheeffectofIndustrialRevolution.

TheIndustrialRevolutionatthebeginningbroughtinitslongseriesofdepressingsocialresults,suchasbrutalworkingconditions,childlabor,andslums（Johnston,1994:

773）.Theearlyfactorieswerebuiltwithoutanyconsiderationforthehealthandcomfo