A Tentative Pragmastylistic Study Of Robert Browning’s Dramatic Monologue

The thesis conducts a tentative pragmastylistic study of Robert Browning’s dramaticmonologues mainly based on the framework of Leech’s and Brown and Levinson’spoliteness principles, aiming at further examination of the applicability of the twopoliteness theories to literary discourse as a complementary part of the "tool kit" ofstylistics. The thesis also finds the pragmastylistic approach fruitful in providing a morecomprehensive literary appreciation of Browning’s dramatic monologue.The study demonstrates the feasibility of a pragmastylistic approach to the analysis of linesin dramatic monologue by presenting a comparison between the verbal interactions indrama, dramatic monologue, and poetry, through which it finds out the characterizationand interpersonal relationships in the dramatic monologues require interpretation from apragmatic perspective rather than a traditional poetic stylistic approach. The researchingscope and major tasks of the application of the pragmastylistic approach to dramaticmonologue have laid theoretical foundation for detailed case studies on four of Browning’sdramatic monologues ’My Last Duchess’,’The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed’sChurch’,’Andrea del Sarto’, and ’A Woman’s Last Word’.The politeness principle is considered to be an appropriate theoretical framework for theanalysis of the speech acts performed in the poems. Certain degree of "explanatoryadequacy" can be achieved by both investigation of the observance and non-observance ofLeech’s politeness maxims and close analysis of the different types of FTAs in the poems.The study recognizes Brown and Levinson’s approach as a more scientific tool for theinterpretation of the characterization and verbal interactions in dramatic monologuescompared with Leech’s approach.This tentative study helps to further explore the literary value of the dramatic monologue,verify the possible interpretations and complement the achievements of literary criticism.