An Evaluative Analysis Of Interpersonal Meaning In Novels

Jane Austen's novels, as great treasure in the history of Literature, have aroused great interest of scholars both at home and abroad and they have studied intensively. However, few studies from the perspective of linguistics can be found up to now. This study, with the guidance of the Attitude system and Graduation system within the Appraisal theory, probes into the profound interpersonal meaning in Sense and Sensibility.The thesis selects 11 dialogues, related to the two Dashwood sisters' evaluation towards the three male protagonists, as the data for analysis. It, employing Sense and Sensibility as a case study, aims to dig out the changing attitudes of the heroines towards the three protagonists and their relationship development, proving that the Appraisal theory provides an ideal framework for analysis of novels and plays an essential role in constructing characters in novels from the perspective of linguistics, especially from lexical respect.Through the analysis and study, the major findings are as follows:(1) the usage of evaluative expressions can reflect the personality of characters in an indirect way. For example, emotional people pay attention to their inner feelings so that express more Affect items while people with sense seldom express their feelings so that speak more comparatively objective Judgment and Appreciation words and give others positive evaluations. (2) The amount of evaluative items can reflect the degree of the speaker's attitude and reveal the characters' psychological features and mental conditions, which in turn can be realized through the evaluative expressions.This study will tentatively provide a new perspective for readers to understand the novel and to appreciate Jane Austen's novels; it is also expected to be helpful for the development and the application of the Appraisal theory.