FEMINISM VALUES IN EMILY DICKINSON’S SELECTED POEMS

THESIS

Submitted to the Board Examiner

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement

For Literature Degree at English Literature Department

By:

FERA RAMADANI

AI 150296

ENGLISH LITERATURE DEPARTMENT

ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY

THE STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

SULTAN THAHA SAIFUDDIN JAMBI

2019

i

ii

iii

iv

MOTTO

Meaning:

And the believers, men and women, are protector one of another; they enjoin what

is just, and forbid the wrong, they observe regular charity, and obey Allah and His

Messenger. On them will Allah pour His Mercy; for Allah is exaltedin power,

Wise.

(Q.S At-Taubah:71).1

Artinya:

Dan orang-orang yang beriman, bahwa lelaki dan wanita, sebagian mereka

menjadi penolong bagi sebagian yang lain. Mereka menyuruh (berbuat) yang

makruf, dan mencegah dari yang munkar, melaksanakan sholat, menunaikan

zakat, dan taat kepada Allahdan Rasul-Nya. Mereka akan diberi rahmat oleh Allah

swt. Sungguh Allah Maha Perkasa lagi Maha Bijaksana

(Q.S At-Taubah:71)2

1 The Noble Qur’an. (2016). Qur’an.com Retrieved from https://www.quran.com

Accessed Date: November 9th 2019 at 10.00 PM

2 https://quran.kemenag.go.id/ Accessed Date: November 9th 2019 at 10.15 PM

https://www.quran.com/https://quran.kemenag.go.id/

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DEDICATION

In the name of Allah SWT most gracious and merciful

I thanks to Allah SWT who has blessed and strenght on me so I can accomplish

this thesis. Shalawat and salam to prophet Muhammad SAW who brought

human’s life to a better life and to a beautiful word.

This thesis writer dedicated to my beloved father and mother who have taught me

to be an full of spirit person and independent person to lead this life and to finish

this thesis in appropriate time, they have guided me and given me all that I need

from the beginning to the end of my study. I am sorry because I could not bring

that things back to you, Iam promise I will be best daughter of you have ever had.

I am also dedicated this thesis to my best sisters, my sweet brother, my cool

brothers in law, and my strong future husband that always support me in whether

conditions. No words that meaning in worldwide, and also I dedicated this thesis

to people who have never left me alone. May Allah’s blessings abound for us all.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Fristly, the writer wants to say Alhamdulillahirobbil Alamin, all the pries

belong to Allah SWT. the lord of all creatures, for his blessing from starting

session of my study until now the end of my study. And then, sholawat and salam

be upon to our massager, the son of Abdullah, Prophet Muhammad SAW for the

gaudiness and strengthens. Hopefully we will get his syafa’at later as the last day.

Secondly, the writer would like to say thanks to people who helped the writer in

writing this thesis. The writer wants to say thank to my parents and my

supervisors: Ulfatmi Azlan, SS,MA and Tira Mariana, SS,M.Hum who has

helped, guided, supported, suggested, and advised me. And also I want to say

thanks for all suggestion and supporting that help the writer in direct or indirect

cases to finish this last study program.

To accomplish this thesis, the writer had been given one great deal to many

people. So this present writer would like to say thanks for their contribution, they

are:

1. Prof. Dr. H. Suaidi, MA, Ph.D. as a rector of State Islamic University of

Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.

2. Dr. H. Fadillah, M.Pd, as the third rector of State Islamic University of

Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.

3. Prof. Dr. Maisah, M.Pd.I as the dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty.

4. Dr. Alfian, M.Ed as vice dean of academic Dr. H. M. Fadhil M.Ag as the

vice dean of finances and Dr. Raudhoh M.Pd.I as the vice dean of University

Student of Adab and Humanities Faculty.

5. The Head of English Literature Department Ulfatmi Azlan, SS., MA.

6. The Secretary of English Literature Department Dian Mukhlisa, MA.

7. All the lectures and staffs of Adab and Humanities Faculty, the

contribution and assistance during studying In UIN of Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin

Jambi.

8. The head and officers of the library of UIN and public library of Jambi

Province.

9. All of my BSI B and BSI A friend

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10. The last but not least, to my beloved parent, sister and brother who gave

supporting and love to the writer sincerely.

This thesis is far from perfection, the writer needs some critics and

suggestion, so that the writer can be better in the future. Finally, the writer hopes

this thesis will give positive contributions for readers, especially for the students

of English Literature Department of Adab and Humanities Faculty.

Jambi, November Th 2019

The writer

Fera Ramadani

AI. 150296

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ABSTRACT

Fera Ramadanni. 2019 : Feminism Values in Emily Dickinson’s Selected

Poems. The Students of English Literatur Department,

Adab and Humanities Faculty, University of Islamic

Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.

Supervisor I : Ulfatmi Azlan, SS, MA

Supervisor II : Tira Mariana, SS, M.Hum

Feminism, belief in social, economic and political equality of both sexes.

Although mostly from the west, feminism is manifested throughout the world and

represented by various institutions committed to activities in the name of woman

rights and interests. The author is interested in discussing feminism because one

of the interesting thing about feminism is that patriarchy has failed to oppress

women in science. Many female scientists have made significant discoveries and

provided knowledge with interesting new facts. The objectives of this study are:

(1) to describe the categories of feminism, (2) to find out the historical

background of poetry.

In this study , the authors use the kind of feminism by Abbott & Wallace as

major theories and Rosmarie Tong’s theories as supporting theories to answer

research problems. Author also use biographycal approuch by Wellek & Warren

to help answer the problem in this study. This research is a qualitative research

that focuses on qualitative research by Hill Way in Kaelan and uses descriptive

method by Surakhmad.

. The author found in the research that: (1) there are five kinds of feminism

values contained in Emily Dickinson’s chosen poetry, namely liberal feminism,

radikal feminism, marxis feminism, materialist feminism, and dual-system

feminism, (2) in her work, Emily tells a lot about her life and the events around

her became the connection between the background of Emily’s poetry.

Keywords : feminism, Abbott and Wallace, poetry

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ABSTRAK

Fera Ramadani, 2019 : Feminism Values in Emily Dickinson’s Selected

Poems. Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Adab dan Humaniora,

Universitas Islam Negeri Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi.

Pembimbing I : Ulfatmi Azlan, SS, MA

Pembimbing II : Tira Mariana, SS, M.Hum

Feminisme, kepercayaan pada kesetaraan sosial, ekonomi, dan politik dari

kedua jenis kelamin. Meskipun sebagian besar berasal dari Barat, feminisme

dimanifestasikan di seluruh dunia dan diwakili oleh berbagai lembaga yang

berkomitmen untuk kegiatan atas nama hak dan kepentingan perempuan. Penulis

tertarik untuk membahas feminisme karena salah satu hal menarik dari feminisme

adalah patriarki telah gagal menindas perempuan dalam sains. Banyak ilmuwan

wanita telah membuat penemuan signifikan dan memberikan ilmu pengetahuan

dengan fakta-fakta baru yang menarik. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah: (1) untuk

menguraikan kategori feminisme, (2) untuk mengetahui latar belakang sejarah

puisi.

Pada penelitian ini, penulis menggunakan jenis-jenis feminisme dari Abbott

& Wallace sebagai teori besar dan teori Rosmarie Tong sebagai teori pendukung

untuk menjawab masalah penelitian. Peneli juga menggunakan pendekan biografi

dari Wellek and Warren guna membantu menjawab masalah dalam penelitian ini.

Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif yang berfokus pada penelitian kualitatif

oleh Hill Way di Kaelan dan menggunakan metode deskriptif oleh Surakhmad.

Penulis menemukan pada penelitian bahwa: (1) ada lima jenis feminis yang

terdapat dalam puisi terpilih Emily Dickinson yaitu liberal feminis, radikal

feminis, marxis feminis, materialis feminis dan dual sistem feminis (2) dalam

hasil karya nya, Emily banyak menceritakan tentang kehidupanya dan kejadian

yang ada disekitarnya yang mana ini menjadi hubungan antara latar belakang

kehidupan Emily dengan hasil karya nya.

Kata kunci: Feminism, Abbott and Wallace, Puisi

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TABLE OF CONTENT

PAGE OF TITLE

APPROVAL ……………………………………………………............... i

LETTER OF RATIFICATION ………………………………............... ii

ORIGINAL THESIS STATEMENT…………….…………….............. iii

MOTTO ………………………………………………………................. iv

DEDICATION …………………………………………………............... v

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ……………………………………….............. vi

ABSTRACT ....…………………………………………………............... vii

ABSTRAK ……………………………………...…………….................. viii

TABLE OF CONTENT ………………………………………................ ix

ABBREVIATION……………………………………………….............. x

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Problem ………………………….................... 1

B. Formulation of the Problem ……………………..……………….. 4

C. Limitation of the Problem …………………..…………………..... 4

D. Purpose of the Problem ………………..………………………..... 5

E. Significance of the Problem ………..…………………………….. 5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Feminism Theory...………………………..……………………… 6

B. Definition of Feminism ………………..…….…………………… 6

C. History of Feminism ..……………..……………..……………… 7

D. Kinds of Feminism …………………..…………………………… 8

E. Biographical Approach …………...……………………………… 18

F. Poetry …………………………...………...............……………… 19

G. Review of Related Research ……...…………..………………….. 20

CHAPTER III: METHOD OF THE RESEARCH

A. Design of the Research ………………………………....………... 24

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B. Source of Data Collection …………...……………...……………. 25

C. Technique of Data Collection ………......………....……………… 26

D. Technique of Data Analysis ……………...…....………………….. 27

CHAPTER IV: FINDING AND ANALYSIS

A. Kinds of Feminism …………………………....….….…………… 29

B. Emily Dickinson’s Background …………....……….……………. 36

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION

A. Conclusions ……………………………………………....………. 40

B. Suggestions …………………....……………………....…………. 40

REFERENCES

APPENDIX I

APPENDIX II

APPENDIX III

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Problem

According to Wayne Shumaker3, poetry is “the idea or mind of the poets are

flowing as a media to express a certain kinds of perceptions, feelings, and

thoughts”. Poetry is one of the literary works which has characteristic. The

characteristics which make it different from another literary work. Poetry is

written in different ways. Poetry is the result of human creativity that is

manifested through the arrangement words which have meaning. Poetry is also

composed of diverse elements variety. These elements include a form of words,

shapes, patterns of rhyme, rhythm, ideas, or issues gained significance in the life

of the poet and life to be conveyed to the reader, listener, through techniques and

specific aspects. The language which uses in poetry is also different. The poem

reader cannot understand the meaning of the poem easily because every person

will have different understanding about one poem.

For poets, a poem is a media to express their feelings based on the situation,

condition, and imagination. All poets have their own characteristic in written.

Some of them usually use nature as the object of their poem. Some of them also

use love, affection, and friendship as the object. On the other hand, there are some

poets who use their life experience in their written. Whether it is good or bad

experience in their life. The poets sometimes use poem as the social criticm in the

society in that era. In this study, the researcher chooses poetry to be analyzed

because poetry is a literary work full of imagination which is very entertains.

Nowadays, there are so many poems which is written by using

discrimination and segregation as the subject because of the condition which

appears in the society. Besides, there are some women poets who write poems by

using feminism touches. For example, the image of woman in the society, the

position of women among the men, and the discriminations which occur in the

3 Shumaker. W. (1965). An Approach to Poetry. United States of America: Pretince-Hall,

Inc. Englewood. Cliffs. N. J. P.10

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women’s life. Some people try to describe that theme by using feminism

perspective.

In 19th century era, women’s activities were limited. They could not give

their opinions or reveal their feelings. In that era men in the family were the one

who had the control. Then for the daughter in the family, she must obey her father

without any conflict, she should do what the father said and asked her to do. It

means that women are passive ones and men are active since women were

considered as the second gender after the first gender which was men. This makes

women want to have equal liberty, so that they can choose anything in their lives.

By having equal liberty between men and women, women can life their live by

choosing their own decission.

After the feminist movement, in this era the situation that happened in the

nineteenth century, when the society used patriarchy system, rarely happens, the

social system in which women are inferior, today in many case women are

superior. Most women already have their freedom to choose their life, it is the era

when the gender equality exists, in which men and women are in the same

position and have the same right to express themselves. They have the same

opportunity of life, and they already have individual autonomy. Yet not all women

in this era already have the same opportunity with men. There still existing of

female descrimination. The reflection of the equality between men and women

can be found or reflected in literary works. One of the literary works that can

reflect feminism perspective in Emily Dickinson’s poem.

Emily Dickinson is one of America’s greatest and most original poets of all

time. She took definition as her province and challenged the existing definitions

of poetry and the poet’s work. Born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst,

Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson left school as a teenager, eventually living a

reclusive life on the family homestead. There, she secretly created bundles of

poetry and wrote hundreds of letters. Due to a discovery by sister Lavinia,

Dickinson's remarkable work was published after her death—on May 15, 1886, in

3

Amherst—and she is now considered one of the towering figures of American

literature.4

Talk about feminism, Dickinson’s wrote many poetry where tell about

feminism. Dickinson’s tell how it has been started from how the feminism was

formed, until the problematic on it, including pro and contra of the people in

figuring out the feminism itself. Begun by sympathy on the assumption that

women physically are weak, but everyone have the awareness and softness. In

other hand, men have stronger physic, and rationality. Based on this

consideration, it causes the division of role. Dickinson as a women try to explain

how suffering from a woman when she cannot fulfill her wishes.

This this one of the example of Emily Dickinson's poems that show the power of

her life and woman:

“I’m “wife”-I’ve finished that

That other sate-

I’m Czar-I’m “woman” now-

It’s safer so-

How odd the Girl’s life looks

Behind this soft Eclipse-

I think that Earth feel so

To folks in Heaven-now-“5

Based on the example above, "I'm wife, I’ve finished that” it showed the

woman’s difference of freedom when they are married and do not married yet. It

is not amazing if this poetry is connected to feminist. Based on these lines above,

Dickinson presents a very intricate approach to marriage. Although everybody

knows that Dickinson had not married yet, she can show how the situation of both

of them. Dickinson did not marry, but what perhaps is most poignant and really

more the issue is not her ignorance and bitterness towards the married state but

after girlhood, there is only marriage, and since she is not married. The line "it's

safer so" shows she is in flux having never been married and never having a

4 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biography.com/.amp/writer/emily-dickinson.

Accesed Date: March, 20th 2019. 01:00 PM 5 DiYanni Robert. (2006). Literature. English:McGraw-Hill Education. P.830

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biography.com/.amp/writer/emily-dickinson

4

domineering male force in her life, except her constant issue with her

religion/faith, of course, dominated by men then.

According to her biographical this poetry was made on the 19th century, the

condition where she lived did not see women as individual thinking beings, but

rather as someone who derives he identity initially from her parents and later from

her husband her poem reflects a woman's experiences of identity troubles and her

desire to free herself from the clutches of male-dominated society.

Hence, the writer would analyze this research for some reasons. Firstly, Emily

Dickinson’s poems, because Emily Dickinson was the important female poet after

Sylvia Plath in American literature. As a popular poet in American literature,

Emily Dickinson made an influence in her era. Secondly, it is important to study

feminism in order to understand the poem properly because it give us knowledge

about the struggle and power of women, and the ability of women which is can be

same event more than man.

Based on the explanation above, the writer analyzed feminism in poems entitled

Feminism Values in Emily Dickinson’s Selected Poems.

B. Formulation of the Problem

In this research, the writer formulates the problem of this research into the

following questions:

1. What are kinds of feminism portrayed in Emily Dickinson’s poems?

2. How does Emily Dickinson’s background influence her poems?

C. Limitation of the Problem

The writer limits this research on five selected poems entitled: I’m ‘Wife’,

I’ve finished that-, She rose to His requirement, Title divine- is mine!, I asked no

other thing, and Rearrange a ‘Wife’ affection! the writer focused to discuss only

on the kinds of feminism by Pamela and Claire’s theory and Emily Dickinson’s

background influence based on biographical approach Jacob Sumardjo and Saini

K. M’s theory.

5

D. Purpose of the Research

1. To find out the kind of feminism exist in Emily Dickinson’s poems

2. To find out the Emily Dickinson’s background that influence her poems

E. Significant of Research

In this research, the writer will find the feminism values in selected poems

of Emily Dickinson. The writer expects the result of this research will provide the

reader some knowledge about feminism values, the reader can know the struggle

and power of women, to inform readers about the ability of women which is can

be same event more than man, and to inform how equality of rights belongs to all

human beings so with the hope that after reading this thesis the social life can

understand that no human can become God just because their can rebuke other

people’s live.

At the end of this research, the result of this research can give contribute to

the literature field, this research will be used as the reference for other studies in

the case of feminism. Furthermore, the writer hopes this research can contribute to

the literary field, especially in the English Literature Department.

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CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Feminist Theory

1. The Definition of Feminism

Etymologically feminist comes from the word femme, meaning a female

who seeks to fight for the rights of women (plural) as a social class. In this

connection, it is necessary to distinguish between male and female (as aspects of

biological differences, as nature), masculine and feminine (as aspects of

psychological and cultural differences). In other words, male-female refers to sex,

whereas feminism is referring to sex or gender, as he and she6. Thus, feminist

objectives are a balance, gender interrelation in the broadest sense, feminists are

women's movements to reject everything that is marginalized, subordinated, and

demeaned by dominant cultures, both in politics and economics and social life in

general. Wilfred al Guerin said Feminism has often focused upon what is absent

rather than what is present, reflecting concern with the silencing and

marginalization of women in patriarchal culture, a culture organized in the favor

of men, feminism is an overtly political approach and can attack another approach

for their false assumption about women".7

In a narrower sense, that is in literature, feminism is associated with ways of

understanding literature both in terms of both production processes and

receptions. The Emancipation of women is thus one aspect in its relation to

equality of rights. In contemporary social sciences better known as the movement

of gender equality in reality only sex, as male-female is determined by nature,

biologically. In contrast, genes derived from gender and masculine-feminine are

culturally determined as a result of the reorganization of the material and

ideological superstructure. Therefore, femininity is a cultural psychological

understanding.

6 Kutha. Nyoman Ratna. (2015). Penelitian Sastra. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. P. 184. 7 Wilfred I. Guerin, et.al. (2005). A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature Fifth

Edition. New York: Oxford University Press. P.222

7

So many researchers of Feminism theory, but in this research writer will use

Pamela Abbott and Claire Wallace. Pamela Abbott and Claire Wallace say how

important education for women and the role of women in the country as educators

of children and male companions. In her book An Introduction to Sociology

Feminist Perspectives also emphasizes that women are human beings who are

entitled to basic rights as men.

2. History of Feminism

As a modern movement, early born-century feminism pioneered by Virginia

Woolf. Very rapidly, as one aspect of the contemporary cultural theory, occurred

in 1960.8 The analysis model is very diverse, highly contextual, related to social,

political, and economic aspects. Feminist is the belief that women should have an

equal right to men. In consequence, the feminist movement fights for equal rights

and opportunities for women. Feminist theory is a major branch of theory within

sociology that is distinctive for how its creators shift their analytic lens,

assumptions, and topical focus away from the male viewpoint and experience.

In early 1872, there was a major intervention by Gloria Steinem, the

doyenne of American feminism for nearly four decades, who in an incendiary

New York Time op-ed de-fending Hillary declared that “gender is probably the

most restricting force in American life” -another highly question-able

generalization.9 So many movements against the defense of women at that time

that showed this is not absolved young men from their duty to behave honorably.

Hooliganism cannot be tolerated. But we must stop seeing everything in life

through the narrow lens of gender. If women expect equal treatment in society, the

must stop asking for infantilizing special protections. With freedom comes

personal responsibility.

8 Camille Paglia.(2008) Feminism Past and Present: Ideology, Action, and Reform. Harvard

University. P.2. 9 Camille Paglia. Feminism Past and Present: Ideology, Action, and Reform. P.3

8

3. Kind of Feminist

We have identified seven feminist perspectives: liberal/reformist, marxist,

radical, dual-systems, postmodernist/post-structuralist, materialist and Black

feminist.10

1. Liberal/Reformist Feminist

Historically, liberal feminism has been concerned to argue for equal

rights for women – for women to have the same citizenship rights as men.

Equal Rights feminists have fought against laws and practices that give

rights to men and not women, or which are designed to ‘protect’ women.

Recognizing that mere formal equality is insufficient, they have also

advocated the passing of laws to outlaw discrimination against women and

to give women rights in the workplace such as maternity leave and pay.

Women, they argue, are human beings; they have the same

inalienable natural rights as men. A woman’s sex is irrelevant to her rights;

women are capable of full rationality and therefore are entitled to full human

rights. However, in Western industrial societies women are discriminated

against on the basis of sex; that is, certain restrictions are placed on women

as a group without regard to their own individual wishes, interests, abilities

and needs. Women are denied equal rights with men, and as a group are not

allowed some freedoms that men as a group are permitted to enjoy.

Furthermore, while men are judged on merit as individuals, women tend to

be judged on their accomplishments as females – that is, they are denied the

same right as men to pursue their own interests.

In sociology, liberal/reformist feminists have been concerned to

demonstrate that the observable differences between the sexes are not innate

but a result of socialization and ‘sex-role conditioning’.11

10 Abbott. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. (2005). An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist

Perspective. Routledge: London and New York. P.24 11 Abbott. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.

P.24-25

9

2. Radical Feminism

Radical feminists argue that women’s oppression is primary and

fundamental. Patriarchy, an elaborate system of male domination which

pervades all aspects of culture and social life, is seen as trans-historical. All

women are oppressed irrespective of historical, cultural, class or racial

differences. The family is seen as a key instrument of the oppression of

women, through sexual slavery and forced motherhood – through male

control of women’s bodies. Radical feminists do not, on the whole, deny

biological differences between men and women, but they challenge the

meanings given to them. Women’s oppression is seen as rooted either in

women’s biological capacity for motherhood or in the innate, biologically

determined aggression of the male, as manifested in rape.

The central tenet of radical/revolutionary feminists is that gender

inequalities are the outcome of an autonomous system of patriarchy and that

gender inequalities are the primary form of social inequality. They argue

that there has always been a sexual division of labour underpinning and

reinforcing a system of male domination. Patriarchy is a universal system in

which men dominate women. Radical feminism is primarily a revolutionary

movement for the emancipation of women. Its exponents argue that no area

of society is free from male definition, and consequently every aspect of

women’s lives currently accepted as ‘natural’ has to be questioned and new

ways of doing things found. Theory, they argue, is not a separate area of

activity, carried out by an elite, but is an integral aspect of feminist practice.

Theory arises out of practice and is continually measured against experience

and continually reformulated. The revolution, for radical feminists, begins

here and now, by women taking positive action to change their lives and to

remove oppression.

Radical and revolutionary feminism is not a unified area. There are

three major issues within it:

10

a. The relationship between feminist politics and personal sexual

conduct – a key question being whether women can continue to live

with men, or whether separation is essential;

b. Whether sex differences are biologically or socially constructed;

c. The political strategy that should be adopted – withdrawal or

revolution.

Radical feminists do, however, reject the view that women’s

subordination is anything to do with their biological inferiority. They

reject the idea that the victim (woman) is to blame. Those who do argue

for a biological explanation argue that male biology is to blame: men are

naturally aggressive and use their aggression to control women (as, for

example, in rape). Mary Daly, in Gyn/Ecology: the metaethlcs of radical

feminism (1978), documents the horrors of the ways in which men have

used aggression to control women. She cites Indian suttee, Chinese foot

binding, African genital mutilation, European witch hunts and American

gynecology as examples of ways in which men have abused women and

used violence to control them (and continue to do so).

These feminists encourage women to create a new identity for

themselves founded on ‘true’ femaleness, based in the biological nature of

women which has been distorted by patriarchy. Women are encouraged to

celebrate a new female creativity, based on sisterhood and self-

identification. They reject androgyny because they argue that the most

valuable qualities are those that are specific to women. Also, because men

dominate women even in the most intimate of relationships, women must

live separately from men. The ideal, they argue, is for women to live freed

from patriarchy, which divides and mutilates them.

Radical feminism has uncovered the ways in which even the most

intimate and personal relationships are political – that is, are power

relationships. Also they have documented the universality of patriarchal

relationships. However, they have failed to explain adequately the ways in

which women are subordinated and exploited by men. They fail to take

11

sufficient account of the different forms that patriarchal relationships have

taken in different societies. They also tend to discount the differences that

exist in the experiences of women from different social classes. Radical

feminist biological explanations, while very different from those

developed by male stream theorists, are equally reductionist and fail to

take account of ideology and culture. Also they give the opportunity for

sociobiological theories to be developed as a counter to the feminist ones –

ones that argue that women’s role as presently constituted is naturally

determined. However, not all radical feminists accept biological theories,

arguing that they are developed to justify the subordination of women and

that it is necessary to challenge the argument that there are two

biologically determined sexes.12

3. Marxist Feminism

Marxist feminism has developed out of the attempts by women to

develop Marxist theory so that it provides an adequate explanation for the

subordination and exploitation of women in capitalist societies. Marxist

feminists recognize that Marxism is inadequate as it stands and needs to be

developed in order to explain adequately why women are excluded from the

public sphere and are the main unpaid workers in the domestic sphere. They

have also had to deal with the ‘fact’ that women did not become

subordinated under capitalism but were subordinated already, and with the

strong suspicion that the overthrow of the capitalist mode of production

would not result in the emancipation of women. However, while they

recognize that the struggle between the sexes is not reducible to the class

struggle, they give primacy to the latter. For Marxist feminists the defining

feature of contemporary society is capitalism, within which women are

subject to a special form of oppression which is mainly the effect of their

exclusion from wage labour and of their role in the domestic sphere

reproducing the relations of production. That is, women’s unpaid work in

12 Abbott. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.

P.25-27

12

caring for the labour force and raising the next generation of workers

benefits capitalism and is essential to its continuation. The main beneficiary

of women’s unpaid labour is capitalism, although individual men also

benefit to some extent.

The key to women’s oppression, she suggests, is the

‘family/household’ system, a complex which includes a social structure and

a given ideology – familialism. The household is made up of a number of

people, usually biologically and legally related, who live together and share

domestic arrangements. Familial ideology defines the nuclear family as

‘naturally’ based and universal, and specifies a ‘natural’ division of labour

such that the man is seen as the provider of economic resources and the

woman as the carer and provider of unpaid domestic labour. This

family/household system is not an inevitable aspect of capitalist society but

has come to form a historically constituted element of class relations. It was

not inevitable, but emerged through a historical process in which an

ideology that maintained that a woman’s natural role is as a domestic

labourer – that is, as a wife and mother – became incorporated into capitalist

relations of production. This ideology came in part from pre-capitalist views

of a woman’s place, but mainly developed because it fitted the way in which

bourgeois family relations had become established with the emergence of

industrial capitalism. This ideology, Barrett argues, became accepted by the

organized working class in the early nineteenth century. The

family/household system became established in the mid-nineteenth century

as a result of an alliance of craft unions and capitalists, both arguing that

women should be excluded from the labour force and that man should earn a

family wage. Thus the male fight for a family wage and protective

legislation passed by the state eliminated the low-waged competition from

women in the labour market and forced women into the domestic sphere.

While the family/household system was in the short-term interests of

men, it was not in their long-term interests because it split the working class

so that working-class men and women came to have different interests. It

13

was in the long-term interests of capital because it divided the working class

and women came to provide a pool of lowly paid workers who could be

used as a flexible, disposable extra work force. Women’s oppression did not

have a material basis in the period in which it was formed but has now come

to acquire one. It has come to form an essential element in the relations of

production, in the sexual division of labour in paid work and between wage

labour and domestic labour. The oppression of women is necessary for the

reproduction of the capitalist mode of production in its present form.

The major problem with Marxist feminist theory is that it fails to

place sufficient emphasis on the ways in which men oppress women and the

ways in which men benefit from their unpaid domestic labour. While

Marxist feminists have recognized that it is necessary to allow the

importance of patriarchal relationships and how these are intertwined with

capitalism, they see them as unchanging and fail to recognize that there is no

necessary and inevitable congruence between the interests of patriarchy and

the interests of capital. Barrett, for example, fails to explain why it is in

capital’s interests to exclude cheap female labour, given its concern to

maximize profit. Marxist feminism tends to reduce explanations to the

categories of Marxist theory. It fails to take account of patriarchal

relationships in societies other than capitalist ones, nor fully to consider the

specific location of Black or Third World women. It also tends to be

abstract and far removed from the everyday experiences of women in their

relationships with men.13

4. Materialist Feminism

Women, then, according to materialist feminists, form a class in

opposition to men. Women are exploited by men and therefore all women

share common interests in opposition to those of men. Patriarchal structures

are fundamental to our form of social organization, and therefore it follows

that the main axis of differentiation in our society must be gender. While

13 Abbott. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.

P.27-30

14

housewives may differ in their standard of living because their husbands are

in different social classes, they share a common class position because they

are exploited by another class (husbands) – their domestic labour is

expropriated (taken away from them, in the same way that the goods

produced by male manual workers are taken away from them).

Materialist feminists such as Christine Delphy, Monique Wittig

(1979) and Colette Guillaumin (1995) have argued that to give birth is not a

biological process, a natural given, but a social-historical construction of

‘forced production’. They argue that it is birth that is planned and women

are socially programmed (socialized) to give birth. Women are forced to

behave in ways that are seen as natural, and this has resulted in the creation

of two discrete biological sexes, but this division falsifies the reality of

human variation – the wide variety of sexual characteristics – because an

over-gendered society has evolved. Society is structured around the belief

that there are two polar opposite sexes, male and female.

Biological theories of sex differences are social constructs which,

they argue, serve the interests of the socially dominant group. Women are a

class in themselves because the category ‘woman’ (as well as the category

‘man’) is a political and economic one, not an eternal, biological category.

What is necessary is to eliminate the sex distinction itself. Wittig argues that

Our fight aims to suppress men as a class not through a genocidal but a

political struggle. Once the class ‘men’ disappears, women as a class will

disappear as well, for there are no slaves without masters.

Because some women are appropriated and constructed as female,

all females become appropriated and designated by their female genitalia as

women. Women thereby come to form a sex–class – not a class based on

biological sex, but one where ‘sex’ operates as a signifier, acting to identify

a group constituted in the context of a social relationship of appropriation.

15

‘Sex’, however, articulates with other social relations to produce a

multiplicity of positions and overlapping categories of women.14

5. Dual-Systems Feminism

‘Socialist’ or ‘dual-systems’ feminists argue that what is necessary is

a dual analysis that articulates Marxist class theory with the feminist theory

of patriarchy: a theory that takes account of what unites all women –

oppression by men – as well as the class divisions between them. While

Marxist feminist theory continues to give primacy to class analysis, dual-

systems feminists take as their question the relationship of women to the

economic system as well as the relationship of men to women. The key

question for dual-systems feminists is the cause of male exploitation and

domination of women.

6. Postmodern Feminism

Postmodern feminists argue that it is not simply that we live in a

postmodern world – the postmodern condition – but that postmodernism is

itself a style or a way of theorising. Postmodern theory abandons

explanatory goals and argues that there is no power outside discourse

(Baudrillard, 1988). There can no longer be any attempt to describe,

analyse or explain reality in an objective or scientific way. The boundary

between theory and entertainment has broken down – theory has no

superiority over common-sense thinking. Theorising in the modern world

is play – playing with fragments, with pieces and making superficial

generalisations.

Postmodern feminists reject, then, the idea of substituting feminist

theories for malestream ones, because they reject the possibility of true

knowledge and argue that there is a multiplicity of truths. They argue

instead for the need to deconstruct truth claims and analyse the power

effects that decisions as to truth entail – to recognise that knowledge is a

part of power. It is necessary to focus on knowledge as opposed to truth,

14 Abbot. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.

P. 30-31

16

not only because there is no Truth, but because there is no reality ‘out

there’ that can be the arbiter between competing truth claims. There is no

one truth, no privileged knowledge or producers of knowledge. All

knowledge is historically and culturally specific, the product of particular

discourses. The discourses that create knowledge also create power – the

power that constitutes subjects and objects and the mechanisms whereby

subjects are subjugated. The power of the discourse depends on the extent

to which its truth claims are successful – the extent to which the

knowledge it produces is accepted as true.

B. Biographical Approach

The biographical approach is biographical criticism uses details about an

author personal life to analyze the author’s works15. It relies on autobiographies,

correspondence, and other primary materials about the author and is a form of

historical criticism. Critics doing biographical analysis carefully examine

incidents in the lives of authors and try to identify events, settings, objects,

buildings, people, etc. found in the novels with the historical source.

Wellek and Warren said the biographical approach is one of old approach,

the biographical approach is a systematic study about the creative.16 It means that

the biographical approach is one of old approach and creative activity of human

being from their imagination, develop and through to become an artist.

Social culture of the way of life of certain time periods gives the reader a

greater knowledge based on which to draw a conclusion and better to understand

the story. Discovering detail about author's life and time also provide similar ways

to further develop the idea about the story, so biographical approach explains

about the author’s, his creative, his carrier, his activity, and his personal life.17

Biographical regarded as the oldest approach. The biographic approach is a

systematic study of civic processes. The subject of the creator is regarded as the

15 Great Beddows High School.Biographical Approach. http://www.slideshare.net, P. 2. 16Wellek and Warren in Nyoman Khuta Ratna (2013).Teori, Metode dan Teknik penelitian

sastra.Pustaka Pelajar.P.56 17Jakob sumardjo dan Saini K.M.(1986). Apresiasi kesustraan.Jakarta : Gramedia.P.22

http://www.slideshare.net/

17

origin of the literary work, the meaning of a literary work thus relative to the

intentions and even the author's important documents, photographs, and even

direct interviews with authors. The literary work, in turn, is identical with the

biography, the author's claim is considered truth, the biography subordinates the

work. Therefore, the biographical approach is actually a part of historical writing,

as historiography.

C. Poetry

Poetry is the literary work that has connotation words with poetry, people

can express all their experiences. So many authors make the poetry from his

experience in his life, after reading the poetry it is not only a purpose to look for

and to enjoy the story intensively, but also usually it will be asking the question

what the significant meaning that the author wants to show through her story. The

theme of a poet can be an experience of Author life and the Author.

Poetry is one of the literary work whick has characteristic. The characteristic

which make it different from another literary work. Poetry is written in different

ways. Poetry is the result of human creativity that is manifested through the

arrangement words which have meaning. Poetry is also composed of diverse

elements variety. These elements include a form of words, shapes, patterns of

rhyme, rhythm, ideas, or issues gained significance in the life of the poet and life

to be conveyed to the reader, listener, through techniques and specific aspects.

The language which uses in poetry is also different. The poem reader can not

understand the meaning of the poem easily because every person will have

different understanding about one poem. According to Wayne Shumaker , poetry

is “the idea or mind of the poets are flowing as a media to express a certain kinds

of perceptions, feelings, and thoughts”.18

Poetry can be classified as narrative or lyric. Narrative poems are stress

story and action, and lyric poems are stress emotion and song. Each of these types

has numerous subdivisions: narrative poetry includes the epic and ballad. Lyric

18 Permatasari Indiani Eka.(2006) An analysis of feminism in Maya Angelous poem By

Using Historical and Biografical Approach.JIBS. Vol. 3, No.2, P.152

18

poetry includes the elegy and epigraph, sonnet and sestina, Aubade and

villanelle.19

D. Review of Related Literature

There are some researchers that have discussed poetry, the theme of poetry

or feminism values in poetry. Thohiriyah, a student of Kesusastraan dan Budaya

Faculty, University of Muhammadiyah Semarang, wrote a thesis entitled "The

Concept of Death in Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop for Death".20

His researched explains that Emily Dickinson utilized figurative speech to

elucidate the concept of death. In addition, the employment of figurative speech is

to illustrate what happened in the United States in the era of Puritanism. By using

the concept of semiotics theory, the analysis shows that the poem demonstrates

the passive protest over the organized religion that is being promoted by Puritan

in Massachusetts, a place where the author was born and dies. Dickinson

highlights the Puritan fierce rules which lead to female's total submission.

Beside that there is another research about poetry, Indiana Eka Permatasari ,

a student of Language and Literature Faculty, University of Malang, wrote a

thesis entitled “An Analysis Of Feminism In Maya Angelou’s Poems By Using

Historical And Biographical Approaches”.21 His research explains about

discrimination toward black woman which appears in Maya Angelou's poems.

In this case, the researcher chose three poems of Maya Angelou. Those are

"Still I Rise", "Phenomenal Woman", and "Caged Bird". In other to discover

them, the study was conducted by using feminism theory and also historical and

biographical approaches. It focuses on words, lines, and stanzas of the poems. The

research design o’f this study is a descriptive qualitative method because the

researcher does not use statistical numerical but it requires a descriptive analysis

19 DiYanni Robert.(2006). Literature.English:McGraw-Hill Education. P:682 20 Thohiriyah. (2004).The Concept of Death in Emily Dickinson’S Because I Could Not

Stop for Death. Semarang. Vol 7, No 1.P.70 21 Indiani Eka Permatasari.An Analysis of Feminism in Maya Angelous Poems by Using

Historical and Biographical Approaches. Vol 3, No 2. P.152

19

of the object. The research is conducted by descriptive qualitative because the

result of the data is word, sentence, and language.

Based on the research questions mentioned, the results of the study are as

follows. First, the researcher concludes that the dominant type of feminism in

Maya Angelou's poem is Radical Feminism because discrimination toward black

women is related to the bad history of black people. Second, the reasons for using

feminism perspective by the poet are the image of her bad life experiences. The

last result is the image of a black woman in Maya Angelou's poems which shows

the discrimination toward a woman in her era. The result of the study can be used

as a reference in the research literature itself in educational institutions and so on.

It also expected to be useful in several ways. This study gives significance to the

researcher to understand and provide more knowledge about feminism. The study

may be expected to give significance to the future researcher who conducts

studies about literature focusing on feminism or on poems or in using biographical

and historical approaches.

In another research, there are Hu Chuyan, a lecture of Language and

Literature studies, School of Foreign Languages, Northeast Petroleum Institute,

Daqing, China, wrote a thesis entitled “Eco-Feminism in Emily Dickinson’s

Poetry”.22 His research through the study of Emily Dickinson's life and her works

as well as the comments on her, the thesis is intended to find out that how Eco-

feminism influences her works and life deeply, and the perspective of

Ecofeminism in her poetry.

This thesis begins with the fundamental introduction of Emily Dickinson

and Eco-feminist criticism. Based on the former researches on Dickinson and her

poetry, this paper further discusses Dickinson's Eco-feminism, mainly exploring

Dickinson's rebellion and challenge on the religious belief, literary trends and

social tradition in the nineteenth century. After that, this thesis analyzes the

themes and styles of Dickinson's poetry from Eco-feminism. Through the Eco-

feminist reading of the themes and styles of Dickinson's poetry, Dickinson

22 H U Chunyan.(2015). Eco-Feminism in Emily Dickinson’S

Poetry.CSCanada:Canada.Vol 10, No 3. P.63.

20

research not only means to make a detailed description and analysis of her life and

poetry but also means to provide new interpretive methods and appreciating

perspectives.

In the first chapter of this essay, the writer just explain the Eco-feminism idea in a

whole way. The reflection of Eco-feminism to Dickinson's life and her poems

writing are discussed in the second and third chapters. In the last chapter, I mainly

analyze the Eco-feminist style in Dickinson's poems.

The last related research is from Dewi Artika Puspita Sari about Liberal

Feminism Values seen Through The Main Female Character in Kinberg’s Mr and

Mrs. Smith.23 In Her thesis Dewi say Feminism is a movement that bring

differences towards the way people think and act. Feminism is a movement that

has several branches all with the same focus on women’s equality. One of the

branches of feminism is liberal feminism. Liberal feminism focuses on the

freedom of women.

To find the feminism values in Jane’s character, there are two problems

formulated in this thesis. The first problem is to find out the characteristic of Jane

Smith through her characterization. The second is to identify liberal feminism

values through Jane’s Characterization. The analysis in this thesis used the

feminism approach because the aim of this thesis is to find out liberal feminism

values. As the object, Jane Smith will be analyzed through her characteristics.

Then, by looking at the characteristics, the liberal feminism values hat are

reflected through Jane’s character.

In the researh of Thohiriyah, she had talk about concept death in Emily

Dickinson’s Poem, Indiana talk about feminism also but in Maya Angelo poem,

Chuyan also talk about feminism in Emily Dickinson’s poem but only

ecofeminism values, and the last is Dewi- she had talk about feminism values too

but the object was different with the writer. Different from previous research, in

this research the writer is going to study on feminism values in poem, and in this

research, the writer will focus the analysis on the kind of the feminist value of

23 Dewi Artika Puspitasari. (2016). Liberal Feminism Values seen Through the main

Female Character in Kinberg’s Mr and Mrs. Smith. Sanata Dharma University:Yogyakarta. P.3

21

Emily Dickinson poems and correlated with her biography. The poems will be

used in this research are: I’m ‘Wife’, I’ve finished that-, She rose to His

requirement, Title divine- is mine!, I asked no other thing, and Rearrange a ‘Wife’

affection!.

22

CHAPTER III

METHOD OF RESEARCH

A. Design of Research

In this research, the writer applied qualitative descriptive method which is

suitable with the aims of this research. Qualitative research is a type of social

science research that collects and works with non-numerical data and that seeks to

interpret meaning from these data that help us undestand social life through the

study of targeted populations or places. Vibha Pathak says qualitative research is

the research that focuses on understanding a research query as a humanistic or

idealistic approach. When the researcher uses qualitative research, the researcher

uses their comprehension, experience, research that will be cover in descriptive.

Merriam in Patricia Duff’s book stated that the qualitative case study can be

defined in terms of the process of actually carrying out the investigation, the unit

of the analysis (the bounden system, the case) or the end product.24 Furthermore,

Nyoman Kutha Ratna explained that kualitatif dianggap persis sama dengan

metode pemahaman atau verstehen.25 It means that qualitative research is a way

that aims to understand the phenomenom of what is experienced by the subject of

research such as behavior, perpection, motivation, action, and others.

In this research, the writer used the qualitative method, because the

qualitative method can be defined as a problemsolving procedure investigated by

describing the state of the subject or object in the study. Methodology is a process

of the procedure used kinds of approach to find the problem and solving it. In

writing this proposal, the writer uses qualitative research and the analysis will be

explained in a descriptive way that is suitable with the aim of this research.

Bogdan and Taylor in Password and Suwandi say:

24 Patricia A. Duff. (2012). Case Study Research in Applied Linguistic.New York and

London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.P.22 25 Nyoman Kutha Ratna. (2019). Teori,Metode, dan Teknik Penelitian Sastra. Yogyakarta.

P.47

23

“Metodologi kualitatif sebagai prosedur penelitian yang menghasilkan

data deskriptif berupa kata-kata tertulis atau lisan dari orang-orang dan

perilaku yang dapat diamati”26.

It means that the qualitative method is one of the researches that produces a

descriptive in the form of written words or oral from an object. Qualitative

method deals with everything that can be counted and studied, which has an

impact on the qualitative descriptive is a way of working in the research that

emphasizes aspects of the deepening of the data. It also help the writer collecting

the data to interpret and report in order to get the result of the research. In short

descriptive method deals with everything that can be counted and studied, which

has an impact on the lives of the people it deals with. It can be concluded that the

qualitative descriptive method is a way of working in the research that emphasizes

aspects of the deepening of the data. It also helps the writer collecting the data to

interpret and report in order to get result of the research.

B. Source of Data

One of the considerations in choosing a matter of research is the availability

of the source of data. Source of data is the subject of research where the data stick.

The source of the data can be in the form of motion, human, book, narration,

script, etc. And source data in this research were:

1. Primary Data

Primary data is the data that only summer data taken from the research. The

primary data of this research are, the writer looks at the source of data from Emily

Dickinson's poems. The title of Emily Dickinson’s entitled are I’m ‘Wife’, I’ve

finished that-, She rose to His requirement, Title divine- is mine!, I asked no other

thing, and Rearrange a ‘Wife’ affection! . This five-pages poem is a poem

composed in nineteenth century. The data are taken from the book: Poems by

Emily Dickinson edited by Mabel Loomis Tood and Tw Higginson, 1901.

26 Baswori and Suwandi.(2008) Memahami Penelitian Kualitatif .Jakarta: Rineka Cipta.

P.21

24

2. Secondary Data

Secondary data is the data supporters in research. The secondary data are

from Emily Dickinson bibliography, a movie about Emily Dickinson the title is

Passion Quite, several books, and some website from the internet that relate to the

subject that can suppor this research.

C. Technique of Data Collecting

In research, there is some technique of collecting data that can use to get

information. Creswell says, "The data collection procedures in qualitative research

involve four basic types: observation, interview, documentation, and visual

image".27 Based on this research, so many techniques that can be writer use to

help the writer to find the answer of writer research.

The technique of data collecting, the writer will use the documentation

technique. According to Arikunto, “ Documentation is a method that searches data

about things or variables like notes, transcriptions, books, newspapers, magazines,

agendas, videos". 28 The technique of data collecting data will use by the writer

are

a. Find the Data

The first step that the writer does to collecting data is, the writer finds the

data. In this research, the writer finded Emily Dickinson's poems in Emily

Dickinson’s Poetry book that has edited by Mabel Loomis Tood and Tw

Higginson, year 1901.

b. Reading Repeatedly

To collecting the data, the writer read and understand whole the text of

selected poems. In this step, the writer did not read the text only once time. But

the writer read more than once in order to make sure that the writer understands

and implied meaning.

c. Marking the Data

27 Creswell, John W.(1994)Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods

Approach. the United States of America.P.148 28 Arikunto.(2009) Prosedur Penelitian: Suatu Pendekatan Praktik.Jakarta: Bumi Aksara.

P.10

25

The writer marks the important word or sentence that has feminism values in the

poems, then make a note of the data to make doing this research.

d. Identifying the Data

After the writer finding the data, write will identify and analyze all data,

after that the writer will arrange the thesis.

D. Technique of Data Analysis

After collecting the data, the writer will analyze the data. The purpose of the

technique of data analysis is to answer the formulation of the problem. The writer

will analyze and answer this research base on the problems. In the process of

analysis of the data, the writer will use a content analysis approach to finish the

feminism values of the poems. Content analysis is a research tool used to

determine the presence of certain words or concepts within text or sets of texts.

According to Nawawi:

“Metode deskriptif dapat diartikan sebagai prosedur pemecahan masalah

yang diselidiki dengan menggambarkan dan melukiskan keadaan subjek

atau objek penelitian (novel, drama, cerita pendek, puisi) pada saat

sekarang berdasarkan fakta-fakta yang tampak atau sebagaimana

adanya”.29

The quotation above explained that the descriptive method is the way to find

out the solving problem. The described method can help the writer to solve the

problem from the data. The technique of analyzing uses steps as follows:

1. Identifying

The writer identifies the data which has correlated with an object of research

and made the problem was found after collecting the data.

2. Classifying

The next step is to classify the data. Classifying is an activity to classify all

data into their categories or classification. In this research the writer classifying

some important words from poetry. The writer analyzed the data based on some

theories related to the research.

29Siswantoro. (2010).Metode Penelitian Sastra.Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pengajar. P.54

26

3. Describing

The next step in the analysis the data is describing the data. The writer

describes the data based on the research question and related the theory.

4. Analyzing

After describing, the writer analyzes the data by applying the theory and

method that is used.

5. Conclusion

The writer concludes all of the materials analyzed based on the theory after

the whole of data has been analyzing.

26

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

This chapter are consists of two part, they are findings and analysis.

Findings are as the answers of the problem statements before and then analyses

are as the explanation of findings that contains evidences and analysis.

From five selected poems entitled; I’m ‘Wife’, I’ve finished that-, She rose

to His requirement, Title divine- is mine!, I asked no other thing, and Rearrange a

‘Wife’ affection! by Emily Dickinson used as the source of data, the writer can

find five kinds of feminism based on theory by Pamela and Claire’s theory; they

are They are 9 (nine) data of Liberal/Reformist Feminism, 14 (fourteen) data of

Radical Feminism, 2 (two) line of Marxist feminism, 3 (three) data as Materialist

Feminism and 2 (two) data of Dual-System Feminism.

In this research, there are 30 data which contains kinds of feminism, there

are 6 (six) data in I’m ‘Wife’, I’ve finished that- poem, 5 (five) data in She rose to

His requirement poem, 7 (seven) data in Title divine- is mine! poem, 4 (four) data

in I asked no other thing poem, and 8 (eight) data in Rearrange a ‘Wife’ affection!

poem.

A. Kinds of Feminism Portrayed in Emily Dickinson’s Poems

It has been stated that feminism means a female who seeks to fight for the

rights of women (plural) as a social class. In the 19th century the movement for

women's emancipation took its name from the movement to abolish slavery. In the

20th century women's liberation took its name from the movements against

colonialism around the world. 21st century women's liberation has to fight to

change the world and to end the class society which created oppression and

exploitation in the first place.30 Based on theory by Pamela and Claire’s theory;

the writer found five kinds of feminism that existed in five selected poems by

30 http://socialistreview.org.uk/340/21st-century-feminism . Accesed Date: Oct, 30th 2019.

05.00 P.M

http://socialistreview.org.uk/340/21st-century-feminism

27

Emily Dickinson, they are; Liberal/Reformist Feminism, Radical Feminism,

Marxist Feminism, Materialist Feminism, and Dual-System Feminism.

1. Liberal/Reformist Feminism

Liberal/reformist feminism has been concerned to argue for equal rights for

women – for women to have the same citizenship rights as men. Equal Rights

feminists have fought against laws and practices that give rights to men and not

women, or which are designed to ‘protect’ women. Here are the analyses of

liberal/reformist feminism:

She rose to His Requirement—dropt

The Playthings of Her Life (Line 1,2. She rose to His Requirement, 732)

In the line above entitled She rose to His requirement, the poem excerpt

above is part of liberal feminism. Where the word “His Requirement” is written in

capital letters, usually “His” which is in the middle of sentence and written in

capital letters referring to God. There clearly shows gender that on the line of

poetry above, the writer implies that society at that time created a situation where

men are ‘God’. This is had an impact on woman’s dream that she had as a young

girl. In the second line, the word “Playthings” also written in capital letters which

can be interpreted as a woman’s dream before she get married, because after she

get married society deny women the same rights as men to pursue their own

interests.

It is said to be liberal feminism because liberal feminism show that observed

differences between the sexes are not innate but are the result of the socialization

and conditioning of the sexes from the moment of birth. Men and women are

treated differentially, so that this prevents women from developing their full

potential as human beings.

Other liberal feminism can be seen in the first two lines of the last stanza of

the poem entitled I’m “Wife”, I’ve finished that below:

This being comfort — then

That other kind — was pain —

28

(Line 9,10. I’m ‘Wife’. I’ve finished that, 199)

In the line above explain that a married woman bears her own burden. She

cannot share his deeper thoughts, feelings, and opinions with anymore. Only she

is aware of the thoughts, feelings and memories that are in her. In the first line, it

said that the marriage at other side will being comfort as pointing out that the

natural progression of a girl’s life from willfulness to marriage. Almost like a girl

see marriage as a shelter from pain, but pain is other kind. That pain is come from

the reality of household. How a man and a woman will unite their want. But the

problem is occasionally the one will dominate the other. In this case, we are

always seeing that the woman is the oppressed side.

I’m Czar-I’m “Woman” now-

It’s safer so-

(Line 3,4. I’m wife I’ve finished that, 199)

Line above show in Western industrial societies women are discriminated

against on the basis of sex; that is, certain restrictions are placed on women as a

group without regard to their own individual wishes, interests, abilities and

needs.31 Liberal feminism here seen in the way the societies treated the women

different as the men. The women have not their place to share everything, what

societies wants is the woman only focus of men.

2. Radical Feminism

Radical feminists argue that women’s oppression is primary and

fundamental. Patriarchy, an elaborate system of male domination which pervades

all aspects of culture and social life, is seen as trans-historical. All women are

oppressed irrespective of historical, cultural, class or racial differences. The

family is seen as a key instrument of the oppression of women, through sexual

slavery and forced motherhood – through male control of women’s bodies.32 Here

the analyses of radical feminism:

31Abbot. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.

P.25 32 Abbot. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.

P.25

29

Born — Bridalled — Shrouded —

In a Day —

(Line 10,11. Title divine-is mine, 1072)

In the poem entitled Title divine — is mine!, Born — Bridalled —

Shrouded — shows psychological death in traditional matchmaking and

termination of life. Therefore, it means of controlling a horse or draught animal

through a metal bit in its mouth. This is evokes the infamous scold’s bridle, a

medieval form of punishing unruly, garrulous women, by ‘branking’ them.

`Radical feminism also seen in the second poems entitled “I asked no other thing”

below:

I asked no other thing —

No other — was denied —

(Line 1,2. I asked no other thing, 621)

In the line above, the “thing” means asks for remains unnamed. It takes the

form of two negative statements; the ”thing” cannot be substituted for any other

thing. It denied it seems to negate the value and singularity of everything else on

offer - the “no other”. Perhaps then the “thing” is anti-conceptual and pre-

linguistic; an affective state happiness, joy, pleasure, love or a spiritual one;

blessedness, graces.

It was said before that radical feminism states that oppression of women is

the main thing. in the first poem we can see that patriarchal society really dictates

the life of a woman. starting with giving birth to a woman and getting married is

the culmination of her life before death comes. in fact, the invisible people have

actually killed their daughters since the first day of marriage. where for a woman

or feminist point of view, marriage is never a pleasant thing. because of the

dreams of their dreams after marriage. this is supported by the existence of a

second line of poetry that tells the story of a woman's dream to buy Brazil but

society refuses women to pursue their dreams.

I’m “wife”- I’ve finished that-

(Line 1. I’m wife I’ve finished that, 199)

30

I’m in line above show how position of writer. The author wants to show

that now he has become a wife, but with the word “wife” who are quoted. Is

important from the word wife a kind of meaning that the wife is an unpleasant job.

Taking girlhood is the wrong thing. Because being a girl will be better.

3. Marxist Feminism

Marxist feminism has developed out of the attempts by women to develop

Marxist theory so that it provides an adequate explanation for the subordination

and exploitation of women in capitalist societies.33 In the Emily Dickinson’s

poetry entitled Title divine — is mine!, Marxist exists. Here is the analysis of

Marxist feminism:

“My Husband” — women say —

(Line 13. Title Divine-is mine, 1072)

In this line, be interpreted as buyer or seller. It is creating transactions

images; customers who buy products, rather than men who marry women. The

poem does not only describe poetry as a form of degradation. Women are no

longer human, but as a cargo, surrender to the husband will means losing identity

as a human. This line of poetry is related to the previous line of poetry;

Born — Bridalled — Shrouded —

In a Day —

Tri Victory

(10,11,12. Title Divine-is mine, 1072)

Women are reduced to Tri Victory related to husbands, because men use

religion to marry women. Women are considered to be physiologically weaker

than men, even though they are spiritually stronger. Marxist feminism here can be

seen in way the society reject the notions of morality, justice and equal rights.

4. Materialist Feminism

Delphy argues that while sociologists have regarded occupational class

inequalities as primary, their own research demonstrate that sexual inequality is

primary and more fundamental than occupational inequality. Thus women’s

oppression cannot be regarded as secondary to, and therefore less important than,

33 Abbot. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.

p.27

31

class oppression.34 Women then according to materialist feminist, form a class in

opposition to men. Here the analyses of materialist feminism in the Emily

Dickinson’s poetry entitled I asked no other thing:

Brazil? He twirled a Button —

Without a glance my way —

(Line 5,6. I asked no other thing,621)

In the line above, word “Brazil?” is a condensing translation of

indeterminate “thing” that was asked for. Brazil is an absurd “thing” to ask for in

the context of an empirical, or even a more abstract, commercial exchange. If it

were to imaginatively entertain notion of “buying a nation”, we might observe that

nations are not bought and sold in one fell swoop but built through violent and

ongoing political struggles.

However, in this materialist feminism some feminists argue that women

have shared interests because they are all exploited and oppressed by men. In this

poetry, Dickinson might show us how the idea of a God who has what we need

corresponds to a deeply felt human desire.

Other materialist feminism can be seen in the Emily Dickinson’s poetry

entitled Title divine — is mine! Below:

Betrothed — without the swoon

(Line 6. Title Divine-is mine, 1072)

In this line of poetry, it can be interpreted that woman has her own dream.

Including in a marriage a woman even wants everything in accordance with what

is in her expectations. In this poetry also can be seen that a woman described in

the poem is trying to compare to become a heavenly bride with what is on earth.

Acute Degree-conferred on me

Empress of Calvary!

(Line 3,4. Title Divine-is mine,1072)

34 Abbot. Pamela and Wallace. Claire. An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspective.

P.30

32

In this line of poetry, it can be the woman who will make her own class.

Empress show how the women if be a leader of Calvary, the women can do the

same thing as men do. Because Calvary in here intended is a God.

Materialist feminism is shown in the line of poetry above where women

have the same interests as men but they are exploited by men. while housewives

may differ in their standard of living because their husbands are in different social

classes, they share the same class position because they are exploited by their

husbands.

5. Dual-System feminism

Dual-System is the one of feminism where women think that emancipation

will only occur if there is a division of labor classes. And the development of the

economic system and women are inseparable. There are example of dual-system

feminism in Emily Dickinsons selected poem:

If ought She missed in Her new Day,

Of Amplitude, or Awe—

(Line 5,6. She rose to his requirement,732)

The two lines of poetry above sate about how a woman experiences a

drastic change in herself before and after marriage. Shows how her dream must be

buried deep because of his demands to be a ‘wife’ resulting from patriarchal

society. There, a woman who was married does not discuss the things she is awed

by; neither does she mention her future expectation from her new life.

Dual-system feminism applies dual analysis that articulates Marxist class

theory with the feminist theory of patriarchy. Where, Marxist feminist theory

continues to give primacy to class analysis. Dual-systems feminist take as their

question the relationship of women to the economic system as well as the

relationship of men to women. This is a powerful poem of protest on the way

women were perceived by society. The poet, in an interestingly indirect way

makes her objections heard.

I offered Being — for it —

(Line 3. I asked no other thing, 621)

33

In the poetry above, it states about women who offer themselves for

something they want. The woman tries to show that she is able to be in any

position to be recognized. Encouraged by the same interest held by men, he

assumed that there should not be any disturbing differences.

But in fact, the dual-system feminism which combines the two theories is

precisely one of the theories of gender blindness and the oppression precedes

capitalism. So that it was never received well from the public about women. Dual

systems feminist is dual systems that articulates marxist class theory with the

feminist theory of patriarchy: a theory that takes account of what unites all

women-oppression by men-as well as the class divisions beteween them.

B. Emily Dickinson’s Background That Influence Her Poems

I’m “wife” — I’ve finished that —,199

I’m “wife” — I’ve finished that — is the 19th poem of Emily Dickinson.

Dickinson implies here a whole theoretic of quotation. The words of her poem

become at once hers and not hers. She invokes a social language without fully

making her its own, importing accepted usages and meaning into her text, where

she can then complicate them.

I’m “wife” — I’ve finished that —

That other state —

I’m Czar — I’m “Woman” now —

It’s safer so —

How odd the Girl’s life looks

Behind this soft Eclipse —

I think that Earth feels so

To folks in Heaven — now —

This being comfort — then

That other kind — was pain —

But why compare?

I’m “Wife”! Stop there!

(The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson)

There are several things that affect Emily Dickinson’s poems, that are:

34

1. Father-daughter Incest

The ordinal position of siblings is another factor in father-daughter incest,

with the oldest daughter receiving the highest probability of abuse. While the

ordinal position of a daughter is significant for victimization in general, it is a

decisive factor in father-daughter incest. Here, Emily Dickinson was the oldest

daughter in the Dickinson family.35 If Edward Dickinson had any inclination

toward incest, his daughter Emily would have been the victim.36 This incident had

showed in line I’m “wife” — I’ve finished that —(line 1). I’m “Wife”! Stop

there! (line 12) explain about his insecurity again, in this line Emily showed after

being a victim, a woman still has to look for her identity, and seek protection as

the people who are considered weak-who alsobstrong in line To folks in Heaven

—now —(line 8) This being comfort — then (line 9) so that no one else can

damage the right of women to continue their live.

The most powerful support for the contention that Dickinson was a victim

of sexual abuse, particularly incest, lies in an interpretation of the “Wife” poems.

The “Wife” poems are a group of six poems, in which Dickinson seems to

imagine that she is married by calling herself a wife. These poems are 199 “I’m

“wife” — I’ve finished that —”, 461 “A Wife —at Daybreak I shall be —”, 463

“I live with Him —I see His face —”, 732 “She rose to His Requirements”, 1072

“Title divine —is mine!”, and 1737 “Rearrange a ‘Wife’s’ affection! The

significance of these poems is that in trying to interpret what Emily Dickinson

may have meant by the word “wife”, the reader is forced to reevaluate Emily

Dickinson’s relationship with her father.37

2. Never Married

Based on the example above, "I'm wife, I’ve finished that” it showed the

woman’s difference of freedom when they are married and do not married yet. It

is not amazing if this poetry is connected to feminist. Based on these lines above,

Dickinson presents a very intricate approach to marriage. Although everybody

35 Biografi.com. Update: Apr 13, 2019. Accesed Date: Nov 9, 2019. 09:09 P.M 36 Hirschhorn Nobert.(2019).A Bandaged Secret: Emily Dickinson and Incest. APA

Psyc:Washington. P.1 37 Violence and Women’s Writing (1997) Creating Safe Space. England. P.101

35

knows that Dickinson had not married yet,38 she can show how the situation of

both of them. Dickinson did not marry, but what perhaps is most poignant and

really more the issue is not her ignorance and bitterness towards the married state

but after girlhood, there is only marriage, and since she is not married. The line

it's safer so (line 4) shows she is in doubt having never been married and never

having a domineering male force in her life, except her constant issue with her

religion/faith, of course, dominated by men then. I think that Earth feels so (line

7) But why compare? (line 11) this line also show Emily had doubt of wife

condition, indirectly Emily still has doubt about the depiction of being a wife

because it is not experinced directly.

According to her biographical this poetry was made on the 19th century, the

condition where she lived did not see women as individual thinking beings, but

rather as someone who derives he identity initially from her parents and later from

her husband her poem reflects a woman's experiences of identity troubles and her

desire to free herself from the clutches of male-dominated society.

It is also possible that the “wife” (line 1) poems may relay attitudes about

marriage or wifehood that she observed in other married women such as her

mother or her sister-in-law, Susan.39 Not need to get married, Emily can explain

quite well about the suffering of having a job as a wife. Therefore Emily also

believes that women do not need men while she can do everything. Like Emily

notes I take my strenght in my hands and go against the world.40

Title divine—Is mine!, 1072

Title divine-Is mine is Emily’s poem to 1072. This poem was made in the

19th century and was published by his friend Mr. Higginson.

Title divine — is mine!

The Wife — without the Sign!

38 Biografi.com. Update: Apr 13, 2019. Accesed Date: Nov 9, 2019. 09:59 P.M 39 Tw Higginson & Mabel Loomis Todd .(1901). Poems by Emily Dickinson. Little, Brown,

and Company: Boston. P.2 40 Sharequotes.com. Accesed Date: Nov 9th 2019. 10:43 PM

36

Acute Degree — conferred on me —

Empress of Calvary!

Royal — all but the Crown!

Betrothed — without the swoon

God sends us Women —

When you — hold — Garnet to Garnet —

Gold — to Gold —

Born — Bridalled — Shrouded —

In a Day —

Tri Victory

“My Husband” — women say —

Stroking the Melody —

Is this — the way?

(The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson)

1. Mr. Bowles’s Admir