Irony In Pride And Prejudice-Based On Speech Act Theory

Speech Act Theory is one of the most important theories in pragmatic field. It has gone through nearly half a century since 1950s. The form of this theoretical system gave pragmatics a great push forward. Because of its importance, this theory has gradually become a research focus at home and abroad, and was applied into literary criticism.Pride and Prejudice is the representative work of British woman writer Jane Austen. Irony is the dominant feature in this novel. The author presents us various vivid characters through witty and humorous dialogues, conversations and languages. At the meantime, she uses irony technically and makes it a unique feature of her writing style.This thesis reviews previous theoretical research on irony from both literary and linguistic perspectives to analyze the relationship between irony and Speech Act Theory; elaborates former scholars'literary criticism and research on Austen's irony, as well as the theoretical research on irony in Pride and Prejudice; and finally makes a specific analysis on irony in Pride and Prejudice on the basis of Speech Act Theory.From previous studies on Austen's irony, it is easy to find that most studies focused on the author or ideological content. However, languages in the novel cannot be neglected, for language is the carrier of ideology. Therefore, it is necessary to make a study on the author's language techniques.In the light of the studies mentioned above, the author makes a case study on irony in Pride and Prejudice on the basis of Speech Act Theory.