SPEECH ACTS AND POLITENESS STRUCTURE IN JANE AUSTEN’S EMMA

Abstract

This study examines the realization of speech acts and politeness structures in Jane Austen’s Emma through the theoretical frameworks of pragmatics and discourse analysis.

The research investigates how Austen employs speech acts as communicative strategies to construct social relationships, reveal character intentions, and reflect class-based interactional norms within Regency society. Drawing upon speech act theory developed by John Austin and John Searle, as well as politeness theory proposed by Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson, the study analyzes representative, directive, commissive, expressive, and declarative acts in selected dialogues from the novel.

The findings indicate that Austen’s discourse reflects the sociolinguistic conventions of Regency England while simultaneously exposing the tensions embedded within class-conscious communication. The study confirms that pragmatic analysis offers valuable insight into literary discourse and highlights the significance of speech act theory and politeness theory as effective tools for interpreting character interaction and narrative meaning in nineteenth-century fiction.