Women’s Perspective in Ratna Indaraswati Ibrahim’s BAJU and Katherine

Mansfield’s BLISS Short Story: Gynocriticism

Afiatul Maftuhah 170511100075
Advisor:
Dr. Masduki, M.pd
Abstract
This study discuss women’s perspective in two different literary from two
different country. For the data, the author take Ratna’s short story Baju and
Mansfield’s Bliss. Two story has been created by woman author which show their
perspective about women. The methodology that author used is compare the two
story in imagery, symbol, theme and genre. From the study conclude that in
Ratna’s Baju the main character was struggle for her pride and right while contrast
with manfield’s Bliss where the main character caged with norm.
Keywords: women’s perspective, comparative study, women author
Introduction
Literature is viewed as the windows of world cultures. It has the duty as
the agent of history that captures the world’s story into a series of beautiful
diction. Those stories are connected by the mutual link connecting each other as
the symptoms of world vision. With literature, people can learn any culture from
whole the world. To express the vision of the world through the resulting literary
works, comparative studies are needed as studies that describe the
interrelationship between two or more literary works that reveal the symptoms of
an international movement that directs us to uncover the vision of the world
through various kinds of literature. (Weisstein, 1973: 5)
Comparative literature, originally meant the comparison of literary works
from more than one national-linguistic tradition, is the study of common features
in the literature, cinema, and other forms of cultural production across national
and regional boundaries, from an intercultural, interdisciplinary and global
perspective. Two literary works from two different languages and countries are
needed in the comparative study.
 Today we have met many female writers whose works are no less than
male writers. Ratna Indraswati Ibrahim is one of them. She is famous for his short
stories that raise social themes. Today we have met many female writers whose
works are no less than male writers. Ratna Indraswati Ibrahim is one of them. She
is famous for his short stories that raise social themes. One of her Short Story is
BAJU, which told about how women struggle her right. The story was taken from
one of the scenes from the Mahabarata puppet story. The short story take scene
when Drupadi, as a wife of Pandawa, (5 brothers) struggle their right because of
the Kurawa, Pandawa’s cousins want to take of her clothes. Her husbands did not
do anything to help her, until Krishna help her. She course Kurawa in her mad.
Besides Ratna, there is also Katherine Mansfield, a woman Writer from
New Zealand. She was known as a famous author there. She was a writer of short
stories, poetry, letters, journals, and reviews, and changed the way the short story
was written in the English language. Katherine Mansfield’s first published
collection of short stories In a German Pension was received with success. One of
her stories is titled BLISS, which told about a woman who thought her marriage
life was happy and nothing wrong with her husband. She lives with happiness
until she found that her best friend has an affair with her husband. There, she
cannot do anything about that because the norm bound her.
According to that two woman writer, we know that the woman also can be
a writer with some award. It shows that not only man could be the best writer. As
Elaine Showalter in her essay “Toward a Feminist Poetics” (1979), “to construct a
female framework for the analysis of women’s literature, to develop new models
based on the study of female experience, rather than to adapt male models and
theories”. She starts to introduce the world about Gynocritics, which study
women's writing. The term Gynocritics derived from the Greek gyne, 𝛾𝜐𝜈́, means
woman. Based on that, occurs theory of literature called Gynocricism, which
emerges in the context of the second feminist wave’s recognition of sexual
difference and the specificity of women’s writing.
That issue feels so interesting. Here, this paper will discuss of woman's
perspective from two short stories BAJU by Ratna Indaraswati Ibrahim
and BLISS by Katherine Mansfield based on Gynocriticism theory. It will be a
focus on how the author explores their ideas of Imagery, symbol, themes, and
genre of the story.
DISCUSSION
A. Source of Data
BAJU by Ratna Indaraswati Ibrahim Synopsis
This story takes place in a hall where Hastinapura families gather and
greet their guests. At that time, Kurosawa and Pandavas were playing Dadu with a
bet. Pandavas continues to experience defeat so that it loses many of its assets.
Until one day, they were forced to give up their wife, Drupadi, at the stake.
Pandawa lost again, Drupadi was called to the Hall. When he arrived there,
Dursoson, one of the Kurosawa wanted to humiliate him by taking off his clothes
in front of all the audience.
Drupadi was very angry when she found out. She sadly asked for help
from her husbands. She continued to plead, but they gave no response. Drupadi
was very disappointed, the knights of her choice had not only not helped her, but
they had also insulted her by making her a bet on the gambling table. She is not a
slave or concubine, she is a Princess of a great kingdom, also a legal wife of her
husbands. No one voted for her help, not her husband, uncle or even Bhishma's
grandfather. in her desperation, she hoped that the Dewata would take her life.
Her despair turned into anger. He cursed the Kurosawa who had insulted
him. he was very angry with them, curses continued to flow from his mouth until
Krishna helped him. he made the Drupadi's clothes never end. No matter how the
Kurosawa pull it, it never ends.
BLISS by Katherine Mansfield Synopsis
This story told about Bertha Young marriage live. It take setting in early
19th century. Bertha is a cheerful and attractive thirty-year-old woman. She hopes
to be able to play in the streets, dance, to bowl a hoop, to throw things up in the
water and catch it again and everything that gives him pleasure. Unfortunately,
she lived in an era where everything for women was forbidden. The women, for
the people just have to be able to manage all the needs of the house. It is
 demanded by the norm that it cannot do anything for its pleasure, even for very
simple things.
Initially, he considered her household life to be fine. She has a handsome
and kind husband, a cute child, a house and sufficient wealth. She felt it was okay
he could not do anything he liked as long as his family was happy. It is worth the
sacrifice. She tolerated all the norms that held her back. Until she became
acquainted with one of the beautiful women who later became her best friend. She
felt they were very close, but did not know why her husband was acting so bad to
her.
At that time, she prepared a party at her house. She hopes everything will
go well. Her husband returned home on time, right when the party was about to
start. They welcomed the guests well, but her best friend was treated badly by her
husband. She did not accept it a bit and asked. Her husband only said that a
woman, her best friend, was not a good person, which of course she did not trust.
Until the end of the party, she saw her husband dropping her best friend out. She
should have been happy, but happiness was lost when she saw her husband's hand
embracing her friend's tenderly. Suddenly she realized. The woman was not
sincere friends with her, she just wanted to approach her husband. she was
immediately aware of their relationship, but she still could not do anything. At
that time, divorce was something taboo and shameful. She can only silently accept
reality.
B. Comparative Approach; Similarities and Differences
 Imagery
Imagery means to use figurative language to represent objects, actions, and ideas
in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses. there are five kinds of imager;
auditory, visual, olfactory,tactile and gustatory imagery. In Gynocriticism, how
the author used the imagery to take readers into the story is important. The woman
writer's perspective of any scene will be different from a man writer.
BAJU
In this story, Ratna use some auditory imagery to describe the characters feeling,
as in the last scene when Dursosono was taking off her clothes, and she
 condemned loudly. “Lantas “Aku bersumpah tidak akan menggulung rambutku
sebelum keramas dengan darahnya Dursosono.”
BLISS
Katherine also used auditory imagery to describe the character feeling, as in the
last scene when the party is over. She feel so despred and shows in crying” "Oh,
what is going to happen now?" she cried”
 Symbol
A symbol is literary device that contains several layers of meaning, often
concealed at first sight, and is representative of several other aspects, concepts or
traits than those that are visible in the literal translation alone. Symbol is using an
object or action that means something more than its literal meaning.
BAJU
In this story, Ratna uses Drupadi’s body to represent the women’s souls and pride.
“Mereka membuka bajuku, sepertinya aku ini budak atau pelacur. Tidak pernah
aku diperlakukan seperti ini. Tubuh perempuanku adalah ekspresi dari seluruh
jiwa ragaku.”
BLISS
In this story, Katherine used peer tree to represent her love and happiness. When,
she knows her husband was cheating, she cried while stare at it. “"Your lovely
pear tree–pear tree-peer tree!”
 Themes
The theme in a story is its underlying message, or 'big idea.' In other words, what
critical belief about life is the author trying to convey in the writing of a novel,
play, short story or poem.
BAJU
Theme in this short story is how the author, shows the important of women’s body
as their pride. It shows in scene when Drupadi ask Destrarsta, king of Hastinapura
to release her husband, but his answer just make her more humiliated. “Kurasakan
penghinaan itu sampai ke urat nadiku. Aku kira ini bukan anugerah dari Destarata.
Kurebut mimpiku sebagai perempuan.”
BLISS
 In this story, Katherine try to show us how women was treated at that time. This is
her critics about women right. Why they did not have to make their choose freely?
They just should following what the citizen believes. “Oh, is there no way you can
express it without being "drunk and disorderly"? How idiotic civilization is! Why
be given a body if you have to keep it shut up in a case like a rare, rare fiddle?”
 Genre
A genre is a category of art, music, or literature. Following are some popular
examples of genres, along with some related sub-genres. There are some genre in
literature, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, science fiction and etc. Both of BAJU and
BLISS are fiction. Both are short story which is a part of prose, so that story is not
real and also use elaborate figurative language.
CONCLUSSION
Ratna and Mansfield are famous women authors that have many works.
They work to take inspiration from women and their social conditions. Both have
their roles in Femism era. BAJU and Bliss are a short story that used women's
pride and their right to the issues. After analyzing the two short story with
Gynocriticism theory, it finds that both have similarities in using imagery to
shows the character’s feeling, similar theme; although in BLISS, the author shows
the powerless of women, while in BAJU the author shows how women maintain
her pride, and two of them are fiction, means not real but some times it could have
happened in different reasons and situation.
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