A Study On The Interpersonal Meaning Of The Portrait Of A Lady:from The Perspective Of Functional Grammar

The interpersonal meaning refers to the interpersonal, changeable, and negotiable meaning in the use of language. This term originates from Halliday’s Systemic-Functional Grammar. In accordance with Halliday’s research, language has three metafunctions:the ideational function, the interpersonal function, and the textual function. As one of the three metafunctions, the interpersonal function means that language can be used to express one’s view about the world, to establish relationships with others, to influence others’behavior, and even to change the world. In other words, language has the function of expressing the speaker’s identity, status, attitude, motivation, etc. And now, the interpersonal function of language has attracted more and more attention of researchers in the field of literary and linguistic studies.According to Halliday’s Systemic-Functional Grammar, the interpersonal function of language is realized through mood and modality systems at the lexico-grammatical level. The mood system, consisting of Subject and Finite, reflects the interaction of interlocutors; the modality system is the intermediate degree between the positive and the negative, expressing the speaker’s attitude and judgment. With the development of discourse analysis and literary critics. Systemic-Functional Grammar has been more and more used in analyzing literary works. Within the theory framework of interpersonal meaning in Halliday’s Functional Grammar, the thesis, by adopting qualitative and quantitative approaches, aims to study the interpersonal meaning realized through mood and modality in the dialogues between Isabel and three male characters in the novel The Portrait of a Lady. In terms of mood, this thesis mainly analyzes the number and types of clauses, the most frequent subject choice, and modal adjuncts used by these characters so as to reveal the interaction between the characters, their social status, identity, and attitude. As for modality, this thesis mainly studies the characters’use of modal operators which reflects the development of their relationships and their personalities.By analysis, this thesis concluded as follows: In terms of mood system:in the dialogue between Isabel and Lord Warburton, Lord Warburton plays a dominate role. He utters many more clauses than Isabel, which reflects that he makes good preparations for the proposal. He controls the dialogue, which is corresponding to his high social status. The first person pronoun "I" is the most frequent subject used by both characters. Lord Warburton tries to show his love for Isabel, and Isabel tries to find an appropriate way to refuse the proposal. Lord Warburton uses many mood adjuncts to strengthen the effect of his proposal, and these mood adjuncts facilitate their interaction and push forward the plot.In the dialogue between Isabel and Caspar Goodwood, Isabel controls the dialogue. The talk exchange between them is more natural, which reflects the speakers have equal social status."I" is the most frequent subject. Caspar Goodwood makes a second proposal to Isabel and states that he would like to give Isabel sufficient time to experience life. But Isabel tries to express her unwillingness to get married. Compared with Isabel, Caspar Goodwood uses less mood adjuncts, which demonstrates that his language is of simplicity and directness and he is a person of frankness.In the dialogue between Isabel and Osmond. Osmond dominates the dialogue by initiating the dialogue. Osmond uses declaratives to express that he wishes Isabel to promote the marriage between Lord Warburton and Pansy. Isabel doesn’t want to enrage Osmond, and she doesn’t wish to violate Pansy’s willingness as well. At the end of the dialogue. Osmond uses an imperative which reflects his commanding personality. This pushes the dialogue into a quarrel and makes their relation tenser."I" is used by them as the subject of clauses to express their views and positions, while "Lord Warburton" is the second most frequently used subject, which reflects Lord Warburton is the focus of their argument. Isabel uses more mood adjuncts to strengthen the effect of her language, which indicates her being cautious and discreet.In terms of modality system:in the three dialogues, modal operators with median value are the most used by characters, which shows there is no striking power difference between them. In the dialogue between Isabel and Lord Warburton. Lord Warburton uses many modal operators with median value to shorten the distance between him and Isabel. And the use of modal operators with high value demonstrates Lord Warburton has a high social status and he usually talks confidently and assertively. In the dialogue between Isabel and Caspar Goodwood, besides the use of modal operators with median value, both characters use many modal operators with low value, which shows that they try to talk in a mild way so as to soften their relationship. In the dialogue between Isabel and Osmond, both characters use a lot of modal operators with median value in order not to irritate each other. But with the development of the dialogue, Osmond loses patience and issues a command by using a modal operator with high value, which reveals his strong controlling desire and finally the relation between them becomes tenser.Through the study of interpersonal meaning of the dialogues in The Portrait of a Lady, this thesis tests the feasibility of Halliday’s Functional Grammar in the analysis of literary discourse, especially in the analysis of novels, strengthens the understanding of the interpersonal function and also improves people’s appreciation of the main characters’personalities, statuses and their relationships in The Portrait of a Lady. Besides, the thesis provides a new approach for the teaching of the English novel The Portrait of a Lady.