The Reflection of Women's Roles and Marriage Culture through the Perspective of 3 Generations of Female Characters in “The Little Nyonya”

Abstract

This research aims to study the reflections of women's roles and marriage culture through the perspectives of three generations of female characters in the Chinese drama “The Little Nyonya” which tells about Peranakan society or Baba Yaya living in the Malacca area and Singapore during the 20th century, Baba Yaya is a term used for Malay and Chinese hybrid bloodlines. Baba is a masculine term and Yaya is a female term. In this research using the concepts of narrative, feminism, roles, and wedding rituals in the Baba Yaya style as a guideline for analysis.

            From the study of the reflection of women's roles and marriage culture through the perspective of 3 generations of female characters in “The Little Nyonya”, the researcher found that a first, second, and third-generation female characters have different views on marriage. The first-generation female characters believe that marriage is important. Family members provided a partner for them and a crazy marriage Baba Yaya has many strict rituals that must be practiced and adhered to as those traditions. The second-generation female characters also believe that marriage is important to women and families. Although there are conflict attitudes toward the family's mate procurement but they still don't have the courage to argue. The third-generation female characters have the courage to argue with Baba Yaya's traditional marriage such as Yaya having to prove a woman's virginity or in fact that women are only stay in home to handle household work. Women in this generation don’t pay much attention to a marriage that rely on the husband. Instead, they emphasize ​​independence, equality and build a family by their both willing.