THE STRENGTH AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MAIN CHARACTER IN SHAPING THE THEME OF SPLIT PERSONALITY OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE IN STEVENSON'S NOVEL

Abstract

This research was a descriptive study that was intended to describe the strength of the main character in shaping the theme of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Theme is one of the important aspects in a novel. Character as a major important element of the story, has a direct relation to the theme. The reader will be able to find out the theme of a novel by understanding what the character does, says or thinks. The research problems were: 1) what are the characteristics of the main character which changed his good personality into bad personality; 2) what are the strengths of the main character for shaping the theme of the main character; 3) what is the theme of the novel; 4) and is there any influence of the strength and characteristics in shaping the theme of the story. The type of data was qualitative data. The data were in the form of inferences taken from the utterances, dialogues and descriptions related to the strengths and characteristics of the main character. The data were analyzed by using Roulton's theory fin Koesnosubroto, 1988:120) The research results indicated that theft. were 12 eharacteristics'or fhe main character namely: he was 'a good lobkitig Man a rich man, an honorable man. a good doctor, not a perfect man, obstinate, an ambitious man, proud of himself, introvert, an unsteady man, reckless and careless, a cruel man. The strengths of the main character was the role of Dr. Jekyll'S charactenstics in shaping the theme of the story; the theme of the novel was a person, Dr. Henry Jekyll, with an ambition of separating his identity, but he destroyed his good personality with his own ambition because he could not control it. So, the result showed that there was a strong relationship between the character's characteristics and the theme.