Functional Stylistic Analysis Of Female Characters In Sense And Sensibility

Systemic-functional Grammar established by Halliday,one of the main schools of linguistics,is widely used in the field of discourse analysis.In this thesis the theory is applied to analyze the personality characteristics of the main female characters in Sense and Sensibility.Sense and Sensibility is the first novel by Jane Austen,a British female writer,which reflects the marital status of rural women in the British society dominated by patriarchy in the 19 th century.This novel created two female images full of personality and charm ― Elinor and Marianne.Elinor is mature and prudent,and is the representative of "reason";Marianne is romantic and passionate,and is the symbol of "emotion".Based on the theoretical basis of ideational metafunction and interpersonal metafunction in functional stylistics,this thesis uses the methods of data statistics and inductive analysis to analyzes the personality characteristics of Elinor and Marianne,the main characters in Sense and Sensibility,from two aspects: transitivity system(corresponding to ideational metafunction)and interpersonal relationship system(corresponding to interpersonal metafunction).By means of data statistics and descriptive analysis,Elinor and Marianne’s character traits are summarized as follows:1.Elinor’s personality characteristics.From the perspective of functional stylistics,in Sense and Sensibility,in the process of describing Elinor,a lot of material processes,low-value and medium-value modal verbs,and declarative sentences are used,while less interrogative sentences and imperative sentences are applied,which reflects Elinor’s three personality characteristics: rationality,meticulous logic,and strong sense of responsibility,which is synonymous with "sense".2.Marianne’s personality characteristics.In the process of describing Marianne,more relational processes and mental processes,a high proportion of high-value modal verbs,and a relatively high ratio of interrogative sentences and imperative sentences are applied,which reflects Marianne’s three personality characteristics:directness,assertiveness and attaching importance to family affection.The characteristics of directness and assertiveness highlight Marianne’s feminist thought.The analysis of the personality characteristics of the main female characters in reason and emotion mainly through two aspects from the perspective of functional stylistics has a certain reference significance for the study of other literary works.