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Abstract
This paper is an attempt to analyse an extract from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in terms of Grice's cooperative principle. The extract is selected from Act II/ii, 11.170219, which consists of a conversation between Hamlet and Polonius. Discourse analysis is the analysis of language in use. A discourse analyst looks at language in its context and describes it in terms of its purpose and functions in human affairs. In other words the main focus of a discourse analyst is 'context, text and function' (Cutting, 2002:2). The cooperative principle enables the speaker and the listener to convey and interpret the implications of an apparently metaphorical utterance (Grice, 1975). Cutting (2002: 34-5) has discussed the four maxims of the cooperative principle as proposed by Grice (1975), which might be observed or flouted by participants according to their purpose. By flouting a maxim, the speaker conveys more than what is said through 'implicature'. The selected extract from Hamlet has been analysed using the principles of cooperation and implicature. Hamlets speech in the selected extract can be treated as an explicit example of the violation of the four maxims of the cooperative principle. It is concluded that Hamlet accomplishes his purpose of putting on an "antic disposition" by flouting the four maxims of the cooperative principle.
Keywords-. Grice's maxims, cooperative principle, implicature, Hamlet
Introduction
Discourse analysis is the analysis of language in use. A discourse analyst looks at language in its context and describes it in terms of its purpose and functions in human affairs. Discourse analysis has become the focus of conversation analysts. They analyse a conversational text whether written or verbal within the context and evaluate its functional value. According to Cutting the main focus of a discourse analyst is 'context, text and function' (2002:2).
In his explanation of the term 'context', Cutting, referring to Peccei (1999) and Yule (1996) believes that language in context implies:
... analyzing parts of meanings that can be explained by knowledge of the physical and social world and the socio-psychological factors influencing communication as well as the knowledge of the time and place in which the words are uttered or written. (2002:2).
The meaning of an utterance is dependent on the assumed shared knowledge of the context of the speaker...