Social Context And Attitudinal Analysis Of Conversation Between Characters In Pride And Prejudice

Appraisal Theory was set up by James R. Martin in the early nineties of the 20th century on the basis of the framework of functional linguistics. Appraisal Theory focuses on the semantics of evaluation and studies how the writers/speakers form alliances with those who share the same views and distance themselves from those who don't. Appraisal Theory comprises three sub-systems: Attitude, Engagement and Graduation. This paper makes an analysis of the conversation between Elizabeth and Darcy in the novel Pride and Prejudice in the application of Attitude System, thus the process of the emotional change of the hero and heroine can be exposed.Levels of discourse communication in the novel will be introduced first. Conversation between characters is the last level, and it is the main tool of the characters' communication. Conversation is employed by characters to exchange information, and it can also be used to express their attitudes towards one another. Three sets of conversation extracted from Pride and Prejudice will be analyzed from the aspect of social context and Attitude System respectively. The analysis in the application of social context is made in terms of Field, Mode and Tenor, which is an overall scope of the novel. The main body of the paper is the analysis of the conversation in the application of Attitude System. Three sub-systems of Attitude (Affect, Judgment and Appreciation) act as the main tools in the analysis of three sets of conversation.