Abstract

This thesis is an analysis of the conversational implicature in Pride and Prejudice from the perspectives of the Cooperative Principle (CP) and its four maxims. Firstly, applying pragmatic theories in the analyses of literary works is made possible through the literary review. Secondly, Grice’s CP and conversational maxims are reviewed, serving as the theoretical framework of the thesis. The main body is devoted to the case analyses. Twelve examples are selected from Pride and Prejudice. The conversations all violate CP and conversational maxims and generate implicatures. After each example, an analysis is followed. From the analyses, this thesis concludes that the characters often violate certain conversational maxims and generate implicatures. In this way, speakers successfully deliver their messages in a roundabout manner. Also, the personalities of the characters as well as the social background are reflected.

KEYWORDS:Pride and Prejudice; conversational implicature; Cooperative Principle

摘　要

本文旨在从语用学的角度用Grice的合作原则和会话准则对简•奥斯丁的小说《傲慢与偏见》中丰富的会话含义进行剖析。本文选取了《傲慢与偏见》中部分典型的对话进行分析，分析结果显示，小说人物经常违背合作原则和会话准则来制造会话含义。通过会话含义，说话人成功表达了自己的观点；同时，小说人物的性格特点及当时的社会环境也从侧面得到了反映。

关键词:《傲慢与偏见》；会话含义；合作原则

1. Introduction
Jane Austen is considered to be one of the most classic English novelists of the early 19th century and is very well-received among readers all over the world. During her lifetime, she writes six complete classic novels, among which Pride and Prejudice is widely studied by scholars at home and abroad. Scholars study Jane Austen’s language style, writing skills, her view towards marriage, etc., leaving her fictional conversations ignored comparatively, let alone the rich conversational implicatures. However, as far as I am concerned, Austen’s strongest suits lie in the creation of the characters’ conversations. “She is one of the greatest, one of the most accurate writers of dialogue of her own or any age,” as Dr. Chapman notes ( Lascelles 1955: 96 ). This thesis aims to analyze the conversational implicatures in Pride and Prejudice in details from the perspective of pragmatics, to be specific, Grice’s Cooperative Principle and related maxims.