Oppression against child labor in Nineteenth Century England reflected in Elizabet Barrett Browning’s Poem The Cry of The Children: Sociological Criticism

ABSTRACT

Child labor oppression means a condition of employment under which any employee under the age of 16 years is employed by an employer with a treatment in unfair and cruel way. They are prevented from having opportunities and freedom. Even more, it can make them worried and uncomfortable. The Cry of the Children is a great example of poet reflection of social phenomena in that era. Child labor was one of the major injustices in English society when Elizabeth wrote this poem. Elizabeth brings awareness to this social injustice through her powerfully emotional and touching poem. The poem details the suffering of children and the destruction of their childhood through the labor. So, the study here confines the analysis about oppression against child labor in 19th century which reflected in the poem, The Cry of the Children by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

The research uses sociological literary criticism that examines the role of the society has in shaping literature. The types of sociological criticism can include discussions of society, of social relationships, and of historical events which might affect society during the time period of the work.

The data are taken from The Cry of the Children by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It takes some steps in collecting it, those are selecting and identifying the data related to the statement of the problems. First, what kind of oppression against child labor reflected in the poem? Second, does oppression against child labor according to the poem reflect to the real condition? Before selecting and identifying the data, the researcher read and gets understanding the whole meaning of the poem. Data Analysis is started from meaning gift of one of the prominent words each stanza, and doing interpretation and evaluation of literary works.

From the poem, the researcher found some of oppression against child labor. Those are psychological oppression and physical oppression. Psychological oppression is identical with some doubt of the child labor commonly; written in the poem that the children feel unconfortable where they work because of the length of working in oppressive condition and the doubt toward father help, and God help. Physical oppression is identical with physical defect experienced by child labor. E.g. they feel weary, pale, sunken face, death before the time and they can’t move. It is because they live in oppressive condition. Also, in the research, found some sources which said that this poem is the reflection of social life when and where the poet lives. Surely that the work is the reflection of the social phenomena when Poet wrote the poem.