The Change Of Power Relation Of The Main-Plot Characters In King Lear: From The Perspective Of Interpersonal Function

King Lear, one of the four most renowned Shakespearean tragedies, was regarded as 'the greatest achievement'by the British critic A.C.Bradley in 20th century. Indeed, its intensive themes can always call for self-retrospections and touch every bit of one's heart whoever reads it at any time. The existing studies on King Lear home and abroad engage in many fields, such as religion, literature, politics, philosophy, linguistics, psychology and so on. Topics involved mainly are the explorations of religious ideas, discussions of feminism, reflections on politics, confusion of humanity, to name but a few.Based on the previous researches, the present thesis, taking a descriptive and explanatory research method, attempts to conduct a qualitative study under the framework of Hallidayan interpersonal meta-function, exploring power relation and its changes among the main-plot protagonists in the play King Lear by particularly probing into linguistic choices from three aspects—mood, modality and vocatives. This thesis is aimed at reflection of the change of power relation through linguistic manifestations, so as to uncover the causes of tragic effects.On the basis of its development, the main plot of this play is divided in two phases, namely, before and after the division of the kingdom. By studying and comparing the specific linguistic choices adopted by the main-plot protagonists, it is found that there are sharp contrasts in the interpersonal linguistic choices in the conversations of the two phases, which reveal changes of power relation between Lear and his daughters. Before the division of the kingdom:in terms of mood, COMMAND and QUESTION are dominant speech functions in Lear's utterances, which are of absence in those of his daughters; meanwhile, expected responses are always given by his daughters. In terms of modality, modals conveying the sense of'Obligation'and'Permission'are used by Lear while they are seldom adopted by his daughters. In terms of vocatives, endearments and honorific address terms are the prominent choices between Lear and his daughters. These findings indicate the power relation between Lear and his three daughters, in which Lear enjoys absolute priority. After the division of the kingdom:in terms of mood, there is a shrinking number of COMMAND and QUESTION in Lear's utterances; his elder daughters no longer always give expected responses, instead, they begin to adopt COMMAND and QUESTION towards him. In terms of modality, modals conveying the meaning of 'Obligation'and'Permission'occur in the utterances of Lear's elder daughters. In terms of vocatives, endearments are replaced by insulting terms, address terms are found not in line with the content of the clause being delivered. All those changes in linguistic choices indicate a reverse in the power relation between Lear and his elder daughters in which Lear is tyrannized, while the power relation between Lear and his youngest daughter remains unchanged in which Lear is still honoured.The power relation between the main-plot protagonists is a vehicle of the tragic factors that lead to the tragic ending, while its change that mirrors the disorder of society as well as humanity aggravates the tragedy.The present research indicates that the application of major linguistic devices in terms of mood, modality and vocatives not only helps to reflect the power relation among protagonists, but also serves to trace its changes. Hopefully, the deeper significance of this thesis may lie in providing an interpersonal perspective for the exploration of literary effects, and above all, its contribution to helping readers reach a better understanding and appreciation of this masterpiece.