On the Personalities of Elizabeth and Darcy and the Transformation of Their Relationship in Pride and Prejudice through Cooperative Principle

呂穎

【Abstract】Conversation forms the basic pattern of communication among human beings. It not only conveys the content of exchange， but also suggests the personalities of speakers and reveals the relationship between speakers and hearers in an effective way. Analyzing conversation proves to be of considerable value to appreciate literature works. This paper aims to analyze the personalities of Elizabeth and Darcy and the transformation of their relationship in Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of cooperative principle.

【Key words】Conversation； Pride and Prejudice； Cooperative Principle

I. Introduction

Literary language is deemed as a specific pattern of language and it does not contradict with the ordinary language. Therefore， what can be employed to analyze ordinary language can also be applied to the analysis of literary works. And it is an efficient approach to study language in English literary works by virtue of discourse such as cooperative principle. Cooperative principle is not only an essential component of pragmatics but also an effective method employed in discourse analysis. Since character depiction is the central task of novel writing and well-designed characters language plays an effective role in vividly portraying the personality of characters， analyzing the conversation among characters could effectively decode the personalities of characters and even trace the transformation of their feelings. This paper analyzes the personalities of Elizabeth and Darcy and the transformation of their relationship from the perspective of cooperative principle.

II. Analyzing the personalities and transformation of relationship of Elizabeth and Darcy through the violations of cooperative principles

2.1 Violation of quantity maxim

The maxim of quantity demands that speakers should be informative. When the speaker offers more or less information than the situation requires， he violates the maxim of quantity.

The conversation happens between Darcy and his good friend Mr. Bingley reveals this point. The latter attempts to introduce Elizabeth to Darcy. In response to Mr. Bingleys request， Mr. Darcy answered in a detailed way. But there is no doubt that he gave too much information than that is required， which， to some extent， demonstrates his frankness， arrogance and self-conceit. And what he said also implies that he does not have a crush on Elizabeth at this moment. His remark on Elizabeth，undoubtedly， lays foundation for her prejudice against him.

2.2 Violation of quality maxim

When a speaker says something that is false or for which he lacks adequate evidence， he flouts the maxim of quality.

When Darcy could not control his own affection toward Elizabeth and confided her his love for her， Elizabeth held a deep prejudice right now due to the bad impression he left on her and the misleading information revealed by Mr. Wickham.

Elizabeth severely condemned Mr. Darcy for causing so much misfortune to Mr. Wickham whom she believed to be a good gentleman and toward whom she bestowed her sincere sympathy without identify whether what Mr. Wickham told was true. This implies that Elizabeth is emotional and sympathetic. Clearly， in this stage， Darcy was attracted by the charm of Elizabeth and fell in love with her. However， along with her previous prejudice， Elizabeth mislead Darcy further by the words of Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr. Wickham， especially the latter. And their conversation pushed the novel to a climax.

2.3 Violation of relation maxim

The violation of the maxim of relation is exploited by making a response which is completely irrelevant to the subject or the goal of the conversation. But on the condition that the speaker is cooperative， it is necessary to deduce the implicature of the conversation.

Lady Catherine went to Elizabeths house with definite purposes that she must figure out whether Elizabeth has engaged with Darcy on one hand and if not， she will successfully force Elizabeth to make a promise that she will never enter into the engagement with Darcy on the other hand. However， when she arrived the house， she mentioned several irrelevant things such as commenting on the park. And before she got straight to the point， she trumpeted her own character and belittled Elizabeths at the same time. This obviously violates the maxim of relation. And the image of arrogant， selfish， mean， pompous Lady Catherine is vividly depicted. Elizabeths reply demonstrates that she is an independent， intelligent girl with high self respect. In the face of the unreasonable requirement of Lady Catherine， she resolutely refuses to give a definite answer that satisfies Lady Catherine despite her higher social class and large fortune.

However， that reason that Elizabeth rejected Lady Catherines request not only lies in the fact that what Lady Catherine has said offends and intrudes her privacy but also because her attitude toward Darcy experienced a thorough change after learning that she misunderstood Darcy and it is Darcy who helped her family out of her youngest sisters elopement scandal. Her appreciation to him is from the bottom of her heart and there may be also some admiration and affection mixed in it which she herself may not detect.

2.4 Violation of manner maxim

The maxim of manner is flouted by speaking redundantly， disorderly or unclearly. Instead of employing commonly-used conversational style to provide concise information in terms of language itself， the speaker tends to talk like a book and in a roundabout way.

Elizabeth： ... I can no longer help thanking（1）you for your unexampled kindness to my poor sister... I have been most anxious to acknowledge（2） to you how gratefully I feel it... I should not have merely my own gratitude（3） to express.

Mr. Darcy： I am sorry（4）， exceedingly sorry（5） that ...

Elizabeth： ... Let me thank you again and again（6）， ...

Mr. Darcy： If you will thank me， let it be yourself alone（7）. That the wish of giving happiness to you（8）， might add force to the other inducements which led me on...Much as I respect them， I thought only of you（9）.

（1）， （2）， （3） and （6） all demonstrate the same meaning， but here it occurred four times， causing the repetition of meaning which violates the maxim of manner. It is through these repetitions that we can sense the sincerity of Elizabeth. She eradicated the prior prejudice and expressed her appreciation to Darcy， indicating not only that she is a grateful person who is not afraid of confronting and rectifying mistakes， but also that she has totally changed her attitude toward Darcy.

The violation of the maxim of manner， to a certain degree， strengthens the expression of feeling of the characters.

III. Conclusion

As demonstrated above， cooperative principle can be exploited to analyze and appreciate literal works. And the deliberate violations of its four maxims often achieves somehow artistic and expressive effects. This paper analyses the personalities of Elizabeth and Darcy by virtue of this. Whats more， their relationship just underwent four stages of transformation， and this is especially explicit when it comes to Elizabeth feeling toward Darcy， from the original slight prejudice to the deep misunderstanding， to the realization of her own fault and the regret for what she had done to Darcy， mixed with delicate adoration， then to the heart-felt love. Undoubtedly， such kind of analysis facilitates a better and clearer understanding of the whole novel.

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