Social life can be understood as a set of human interactions with their surrounding environment. This dynamic is portrayed in the Indonesian films Gadis Kretek and Rara Mendut, which lend themselves to analysis using the theoretical framework of literary sociology. In this context, Ian Watt outlines three central dimensions of literary sociology: (a) the social context of the author, (b) literature as a reflection of social life, and (c) the social function of literature. This study focuses specifically on the second dimension—literature as a reflection of society—by analyzing the depiction of social life in Gadis Kretek and Rara Mendut. A sociological approach is employed to examine how these works of audiovisual literature relate to societal realities and social structures. The primary data sources are the films Gadis Kretek and Rara Mendut, while the data themselves consist of relevant linguistic and visual elements (words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and images) that reflect aspects of social life. Data collection is carried out using documentation and note-taking techniques, and the data analysis is conducted using a descriptive qualitative method. The findings show that Gadis Kretek and Rara Mendut each present different types of social issues. First, the social background of Gadis Kretek reflects Indonesian society in the mid-20th century, particularly within the male-dominated kretek cigarette industry that relegated women to the status of low-wage laborers. The film presents the dynamics of kretek business competition in Central Java during the post-independence period, emphasizing the socio-economic realities of that era. Second, the social setting of Rara Mendut portrays the Javanese society under the rule of the Islamic Mataram Kingdom, led by Sultan Agung. Rara Mendut is a beautiful young woman from a coastal village in Pati, Central Java, whose beauty becomes the subject of public attention and leads to her being pursued by aristocrats seeking to marry her, often for political and personal gain. Both films illustrate representations of resistance by Javanese women against forced marriage through the characters Dasiyah and Rara Mendut. These portrayals explore and elaborate on different forms of resistance to patriarchal authority and arranged unions. In Gadis Kretek, Dasiyah’s resistance to an arranged marriage orchestrated by her parents reflects a broader defiance of patriarchal social structures. By refusing to submit to her family's wishes and remaining loyal to her beloved Soeraja, Dasiyah asserts herself as an autonomous subject. Her decision symbolizes resistance to cultural norms that treat women as tools within family-based socio-economic strategies and affirms the importance of personal agency in gender relations within Javanese society. In Rara Mendut, the protagonist resists forced marriage in the context of her status as a war captive, refusing to become a nobleman's concubine. Instead, she chooses an independent path by working as a kretek vendor, even though it requires her to pay high taxes and face systemic constraints. Her actions demonstrate a commitment to selfreliance and the assertion of personal dignity despite institutionalized gender oppression. When she learned that her lover, Pranacitra, had been killed in a conflict with the authorities, Rara Mendut was enraged and stabbed herself with a keris (a dagger) in protest, ultimately leading to her death. Rara Mendut ultimately emerges as a symbolicfigure of emotional resistance against a system that denies the existence and autonomyof women as independent subjects.

Gadis Kretek, Rara Mendut, Ian Watt, literary sociology, forced marriage