Womens Choice of Road Taken or Not Taken: A Feminist Study of Miles Franklins My Brilliant Career
Herawaty Abbas (a*), Mardiana E. Fachry (b)

a) English Department, Hasanuddin University
Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan, Tamalanrea, Makassar 90245, Indonesia
* herawaty[at]unhas.ac.id
b0 Fishery Department, Hasanuddin University
Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan, Tamalanrea, Makassar 90245, Indonesia

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore a dilemma faced by a career woman especially in balancing her career and household responsibility. The data of this study were taken from a Australian novel written by a feminist writer, Miles Franklin. Borrowing Robert Frosts Road Not Taken poem is to make analogy to the decision the women should make. This portrait of womens problem is not only presented in a literary work but also happens in a real life of women. This study is a descriptive qualitative done through a library research by using a feminist approach. The approach is used to study the female protagonist on the way she overcomes her problems especially in balancing her career and household responsibility. The result indicates that although the female protagonist needs to empower herself by pursuing her career but naturally she is also responsible for household works. From the analysis, it is found also that women represented by the female protagonist are more capable in playing double role than men.

Keywords: career woman, household responsibility, double role

Topic: Women in leadership and decision-making roles