Women’s Power …
WOMEN'S POWER BEHIND THE MASK OF
PASSIVITY REFLECTED IN PEARL S.
BUCK’SIMPERIALWOMAN
Faiqah
(English Language Education Program of IAIN STS Jambi)
Abstract : Penelitian ini menganalisa tentang citraan wanita
yang di sajikan dalam novelImperial Womankarya Pearl S
Buck. Berdasarkan data yang di dapat dari novel initerdapat
isu feminis; yaitu pergerakan wanita secara terselubung,
dengan kata lainmemamfaatkan kedudukan wanita yang
secara stereotype sebagai pihak yanglemah untuk
membuktikan kekuatan yang ada di dalam jiwa seorang
wanita. Carapenggambaran wanita di dalam novel ini sangat
menarik karena berasal dari sudutpandang penulis wanita.
Penulis juga menggunakan teori oposisi biner ” Patriachal
Binary Thought”yang di kemukakan oleh Helen Cixous.
Penulis menggunakan novelImperial Womansebagai sumber
data utama dan sumber data lainnya yang berasal dari
buku,internet, artikel dan sumber lain yang menunjang
penelitian. Setelah menganalisa novel ini, penulis
menyimpulkan bahwa cara penulisankarya sastra antara
penulis wanita dan penulis pria berbeda .Selain itu
tidakselamanya wanita itu di posisikan sebagai pihak yang
lemah seperti yang dikemukakan ole helen cixous. Jadi dapat
di simpulkan bahwa oposisi binar yang disampaikan oleh
Cixous tidak terbukti di novel ini.
INTRODUCTION
Women’s passivity is often considered as a weakness by many
circles offeminists, but in fact, this matter is considered as a virtue and
natural value bypatriarchal system. In essence, there are other hidden
aspects behind the matter ofwomen passivity that are left unrevealed and
unseen.
This research is conducted because various hidden aspects behind
women’spassivity in Pearl S. Buck’sImperial Womenare remaining
uncovered and difficult todecipher. Therefore, a profound literary
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Reflective; Vo. 3, Tahun 2012
research is urgently needed. The writerchooses Pearl S. Buck’sImperial
Womenas the object of this research because thisnovel implies the other
sides of woman passivity that are concerned with variousconcealed
aspects behind the mask of passivity, therefore this novel is
veryappropriate for this research.
The writer chooses the topic women’s power behind the mask of
passivity; thewriter finds many researches that analyzed about feminist,
but most of them talkabout the women’s movement and how they break
through the rule suppose to getthe equality between man and woman, but
in this research the writer finds somethinginteresting because the main
character doesn’t do any movement directly (showpassive act explicitly)
but she uses “her inferior” (from patriarchal point of view)become her
strengths to get the equality, moreover to be superior that men.
Another reason, the writer wants to show that passivity is not
alwaysdescribed as the weak or inferior side, but it can uses as the tricky
strategy to get theequality between men and women. It is described
inImperial Woman,whereYehonala or Tzu Shi successes in arranging
many strategies inside her passivity somen can’t oppress her anymore.
METHOD
There are three steps in conducting this research. First step
iscollecting the data. In collecting data, the writer conducts library
research. A Novelby Pearl S. Buck, title imperial Womanand also the
biography of Pearl S Buck Ischosen as the primary sources of this
research, from the sources the writer takes any data about the women’s
struggle toward patriarchal system. And some data asthe supporting data
such as: article or theory, the writer gets from websites.
The second steps is Analyzing the data, the writer uses qualitative
data in theform of words, statements and paragraph. As the steps the
writer has to read thenovel first to get any evident that related with the
research. After that the writer triesto find out the relationship between the
content of the novel with the Biography of theauthor to get the
correlation between the novel and the background of the authorbecause
in this study the writer uses expressive approach.
The last step is presenting the data; the writer will use descriptive
method. So, thewriter will write a report or thesis by describing the result
of this research indescriptive way. In analyzingImperial Woman, the
writer uses expressive approach, it meansthe writer not only analyze what
we get from the text but also the writer will analyzethe feeling and the
thought of the author. As Abrams stated in his book entitled:TheMirror
on the Lamp: Romantic Theory and Critical Tradition:
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Women’s Power …
A work of art is essentially the internal made external, resulting
from acreative process operating under the impulse of feeling,
and embodyingthe combined product of the author perception,
thoughts, and feelings.The primary source and subject matter of
literary work, therefore, arethe attributes and actions of the
author’s own mind; or if aspect of theexternal world, then these
only as they are converted from fact toliterary work by the
feelings and operations of the author’s mind.(2001:2)
The writer uses expressive theory because the author of this novel
is awoman, so the writer wants to show that woman in writing the novel
is influenced bythe background of the author’s life. Since many years
ago, women always assume as the inferior one. Women haveno right to
choose what she wants, all of their life have been arranged by their
man,women life under patriarchal system. Where man always be the
superior and haveright to control women.
Furthermore, Women began to against patriarchal system, they do
somemovement to take their right as a human back. They want the
equality of gender in allaspects. That’s why the feminist literary criticism
appears. The definition of feministliterary criticism According to Guerin
in his book entitleda handbook of CriticalApproaches to Literaturereveals
that:
“Feminist literary criticism is a kind of feminist movement
which analyzesliterary works which deals with a woman as a
subject. Feminist literary criticstry to explain how power
imbalances due to gender in a given culture arereflected in or
challenged by literary text (1999:197)
To make this research more relevant and applicable with the title,
the writeruses another feminist theory that is conducted by Helen Cixous.
Helen wants toshow us about the stereotype of women in patriarchal
point of view that can beshown by the social construction about the
women. Cixous stated in Sorties, HelenCixous with herPatriarchal
Binary Thoughtgives binary Opposition men/women.
‘Where is she?’
Activity/passivity
Sun/Moon
Culture/Nature
Day/night
Father/Mother
Head/Heart
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Reflective; Vo. 3, Tahun 2012
Intelligible/Sensitive
Logos/Pathos
(2000:264)
This binary opposition can be analyzed as a hierarchy where the
feminine side isalways seen as the negative and powerless instance.
Man as active agent andwoman as the passive agent. It will have the
same perception with anotherstereotype of men/women, such as
strong/weak, masculine/feminine,rational/irrational, or useful/useless.
So with this theory we can analyze theposition of woman in the novel
that is analyzed by me , is it suitable with Cixoustheory or not.
FINDINGS
Pearl S. Buck as the writer ofImperial Womanis feminist figure so
it isreflected in her works. Helen Cixous wants to show us about the
stereotype ofwomen in patriarchal point of view that can be shown by the
social constructionabout the women. There is binary opposition that
served by cixous and womanalways in part of inferior, some of the are;
Active/passivity; Sun/moon; Head/heart.
Active vs. Passivity
In patriarchal point of view woman always being passive. Woman
justdeserves what man said without any right to against it. But in this
novel we can foundthat passive doesn’t mean do nothing but in this novel
Buck create a woman’scharacter Yehonala who used her fate as the
passive person to tricky man, to coverthe goals that she wants to get. And
after analyzing the novel, we can classifyYehonala as theactiveagent.
Slowly, as though indifferent, she obeyed. In decency, in
modesty,in all that she had been taught, a virgin does not fix her
eyeshigher than a man’s breast. Upon the emperor she should not
lookhigher than his knees. But Yehonala looked full into his face.
(1).
Sun vs. Moon
Sun is symbol of warm and conquers the world. That’s a man in
Patriarchalbinary thought. And on the other hand moon that always show
loneliness and dark.But in this novel Buck describe Man as the weak or
the moon agent and they arecontrolled by woman. It also reflects Buck
as the author who live independece, andshe never satisfy her life with
man in marriage, as we know Buck marriage forseveral times.
“Inside that vast chamber she sat upon a chair near the
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Women’s Power …
window towait until the emperor woke. What had been
done. She knew nowwhat this man was, a weak and fitful
being, possessed by lust offlesh. When he was defeated he
wept upon her breast. This, thiswas the son of heaven! (30)
The emperor is under control of Yehonala and also her mother, so
we can judge thatthe emperor just his camouflage, and just the honorable
but in fact he is nothing
Head vs. Heart
Head identics with logic. We often heard that “men use his logic,
and womenuse their heart”. But in this novel, the writer found that the
emperor is more sensitivethan Yehonala and how this man in easily
under controlled of his desire. And in theother hand, Yehonala that we
found the woman with spirit to learn about anything,poetry, painting and
also strategies in war (26).
She is different from other women, where another just wait in
silently for theemperor, but Yehonala does it her strategy. One of her
strategy is try to be close withthe Emperor’s mother.
“Ah,” the dowager mother cried,” and I sat here thinking
ofsweet melons
And wishing for one and you come at the very moment!”
“Let my bid a eunuch hang it in one of Northern wells to
cool it,”Yehonala said.
“Save half of it,” the Dowager Mother commanded, when
she hadeaten as much as she could. “When my son comes to
the presenthimself this evening as he always does before I
sleep, I will give it tohim but it is to stay here beside me or
one of those eunuchs willsnatch it.”
“Let me” Yehonala said. (22)
From the quotation we will know she is not using her heart in
facing her life. But sheis full of strategies that come from her head. And
she has proofed that she issuccess in reaching her goal because of the
strategies that she has arranged andher willingness to sacrifice her
personal problem (Love).
So after we analyze three points of “Patriarchal Binary
Thought”, the writertake the summarize that Cixous theory didn’t
applicable in this novel, because wesee in this novel woman’s
position is better than a man. Woman can be active, bea sun and also
thought with her head, “ She doesnot separate herself as mandoes,
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Reflective; Vo. 3, Tahun 2012
now flesh, now mind, now heart. She is three in one, a trinity
completeandunified.” (110) From the quotation we can show Tzu Shi
is not a feeling’swoman but she use fourth of that. She is a balancing
woman
CONCLUSION
After analyzing that novel, the writer can concludes that the
novelImperialWomanthat is written by Pearl S. Buck contains some
feminist issue that becomethe main analysis of the writer. In this novel
the writer found the great powerinside the woman, how woman’s
strategies behind her softness and also herpoliteness.
“Patriachal Binary Thought” theory that is proposed by Helen
Cixousanalyzes that woman’s position as the active woman or take the
right side of thediagram more clearly. It also bring us to one conclusion
that Buck has didDeconstruction with her female character. So that from
this literary works we can seethe strong figure of woman that hide in the
mask of her passivity and also proved thatwhat Cixous stated is not
always true. Because in analyzeImperial Woman, thewriter finds positive
image of woman. So it means Patriachal Binary Opposition is
notapplicable to this literary work.
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Women’s Power …
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