Abstract

  Irony, as a ubiquitous linguistic phenomenon in daily verbal communication, is used widely in contemporary popular television shows, the network writing, and literature works. The study of irony has a long history and it is prevalent in modern life and penetrates deeply in the society. However, due to the discrepancy among different comprehension of the concept of irony, various researches are proposed, and the theoretical study of irony still lack of exact subject, which definitely does not conform to the actual important status of irony.
This thesis reveals three dimensions of irony---verbal irony, situational irony and dramatic irony, and analyzes the characters in the Vanity Fair. The author analyzes two heroines’ personalities and destinies in these three aspects. This thesis attempts to help people to better understand the specific embodiments about irony in the critical literature works even in the modern media and daily conversation. And the author suggests that this experience could be applied to other ironic novels, and calls on a more thorough research of this novel as well as other ironic novels with these three points.

Keywords: irony; Vanity Fair; three dimensions

摘要

反讽，作为日常交流的一种普遍的语言现象，被广泛的运用于当代流行的电视节目，网络写作，或者文学作品。反讽的研究，历史悠久，并贯穿于现代生活，深入渗透进社会土壤中。但是，由于古往今来大量研究提出，而对反讽概念的理解莫衷一是，同时反讽的理论研究仍缺乏准确的主体来体现其真实的重要地位。
   本论文揭示了反讽的三个维度，即言语反讽，语境反讽和戏剧反讽，同时在《名利场》中用于分析人物。作者用这三个方面来分析名著中的两个女主人公的性格和命运。本论文试图帮助人们去更好的理解反讽在批判文学甚至现代媒体及日常对话中的具体体现。同时，作者建议该方式可以运用在其它反讽小说中，并呼吁用这三个角度来进一步深入分析该小说及其它反讽小说。

关键词：反讽；《名利场》；三个维度