Hedonism in Anna Cora Mowatt’s Drama Fashion

Abstract

Hedonism is closely related to pleasure, luxury lifestyle, and social status in society. In literary works, especially drama, hedonistic behavior can be reflected through characters’ dialogues, actions, and social interactions. This study aims to investigate hedonism in Fashion using Dan Weijers’s theory of six types of hedonism and to analyze how the characters reflect pleasure-seeking behavior, luxury, and material satisfaction throughout the play. This study applies a descriptive qualitative method to explore the kinds of hedonism reflected in dialogue utterances and character actions. The data were taken from dialogues and behaviors indicating pleasure-seeking, luxury, social prestige, and material satisfaction. The results show that all six types of hedonism are found in the play, namely Folk Hedonism 27%, Value/Prudential Hedonism 17%, Motivational Hedonism 13%, Normative Hedonism 10%, Egoist Hedonism 20%, and Utilitarian Hedonism 13%. Folk Hedonism is the most dominant type and is mainly reflected in Mrs. Tiffany’s behavior, who seeks luxury and social recognition without considering future consequences. Meanwhile, Value/Prudential Hedonism reflects the importance of pleasure and fashionable living, Motivational Hedonism appears through the desire to escape stress, Normative Hedonism emphasizes responsibility in seeking pleasure, Egoist Hedonism prioritizes personal happiness over others, and Utilitarian Hedonism presents social gatherings as a source of shared happiness. The study concludes that Fashion portrays hedonistic behavior as a dominant social issue, especially through the characters’ pursuit of luxury, pleasure, and social status