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Royal discourse in Shakespeare's Henry VI - a pragmatic perspective

What is it about?

The article discusses the verbal behaviour of King Henry VI in William Shakespeare's play King Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 and 3 and how the King's language sets him out as a weak, inefficient speaker and ruler. I focus on the fact that Henry VI had immense problems protecting his image (or "face") in public interactions and had no awareness of the "political face" - every politician's desire to save face in social encounters. His linguistic inadequacy and passive behaviour cost him his crown and power. I am using for this analysis a pragmatic framework of "politeness" and "impoliteness" and "face theory".

Why is it important?

The article offers an innovative way of using language and linguistic theories for characterisation in drama.

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Urszula Kizelbach
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