The Impact of Domestic Violence on Women in The Drama “Behind Closed Doors” by Janet Shaw (2005)

This research is an analysis of the drama "behind closed doors" by Janet Shaw (2005).
In this study, the author aims to reveal the issue of the impact of domestic violence on women
faced by Harriet and Pearl's characters as wives who experience domestic violence by their
husbands. In this analysis, there are two impacts of domestic violence. They are mental and
physical health. The first impact that affect mental health is having abnormal behavior such
as having an imaginary friend / a fantasy man as a way to survive in the household. Having
an imaginary friend they can express all the desires they cannot get from a husband. The next
abnormal behavior found is normalizing violence by blaming Pearl and Harriet themselves
and feeling worthy of being given violence by each of their husband because they are already
in a case of depression. The second impact caused physical injuries and bruises due to
domestic violence received by women. This analysis uses the concept of "abnormal
behaviors" which is a branch of psychology proposed by Sigmund Freud and supported by
several other experts. The use of concepts based on the context of the drama and
interpretation of the text. In this analysis, the elements of drama that help reveal the impact
of domestic violence are stage direction and dialogue.