Ika Novitasari, 2250407009 (2011) Victorian Snobbery as seen in Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance. Under Graduates thesis, Universitas Negeri Semarang.

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Abstract

This final project is about snobbery in the Victorian era in the drama A Woman of No Importance. The aims of the study are to analyze the snobbery that is shown in the drama and also to find out the impact of snobbery that is revealed in the Victorian era. I used sociology of literature approach to prove that literature, particularly drama, can be used to portray the culture and society of the people in the time of its creation. The main source of the study was the script of the drama. The data taken from the script were in the form of dialogues. The data were collected by reading the script, and then I tried to identify the data that relate to the statement of problems. After identifying all the data, I inventoried and classified the dialogues into a table. The next step was selecting the data to answer the statements of problem. From the finding and interpretation, I concluded that the snobbery exists within the characters in the drama A Woman of No Importance. This condition could not be separated from the previous condition in which Victorian were facing Industrial Revolution. The snobbery itself is derived from their values as the manifestation of the characters’ action and attitudes. The values of snobbery are dandyism, hypocrisy, arrogance, and snobbishness. The snobbery in each character is different from one another. The character of Lord Illingworth expresses his snobbery through his dandyism and exaggerated sense of his own importance without any consideration with the others. The character of Lady Caroline is the most snobbish character. She expresses her snobbery through her sharp tongue, she is one who will not tolerate the invasion of rank and privilege by those she considers to be less worthy, and Mrs. Allonby exposes her snobbery as a hypocritical lady, she speaks about marriage and men without any consideration. Hopefully this study is useful for those who are keen on drama. Moreover, I wish the study can encourage the students of English Literature to conduct other studies about snobbery which is revealed in literature.

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