TheAnalysisofChapterOneofPrideandPrejudice-2019年精选文档

1、The Analysis of Chapter One of Pride and Prejudice【】 This paper ， based on the material processes and relational processes ， aims to analysis the deep meaning of chapter one of Pride and Prejudice. The relevant theories will come first in this paper. I will then analyze this extract from three aspec

2、ts ： the analysis of the objective plane of narration， the analysis of Mrs.Bennet s discourse and the analysis of Mr. Bennet sdiscourse.0 IntroductionGenerally speaking ， every author of the literary works wants to express an additional meaning besides the surface meaning which can often be observed

3、 by the commonr eaders. However， it is not easy for all the commonr eaders to find out the deep meaning of the literary works. Weh ave had many methods to help these readers， such as introducing thebackground of the works ， the writing style of the author and the experience of the author， etc. There

4、 also existmany people who use the linguistic knowledge to analyze. Wea ll know that linguistic is about the study of language.The language in literary works is employed by the authors deliberately and linguists can use different kinds of linguistic knowledge to study how the language comes together

5、. This is a great help for linguists. Now we can analyze the literary works with the help of transitivity system of Functional Grammar. Nevertheless ， in this paper ， because of the character of the material ， we only use two processes of the transitivity system. I will begin with the relevant theor

6、ies and will then embark on the analysis of chapter one of Pride and Prejudice via the material and relational processes.1 The Relevant TheoryIn Functional Grammar ， Halliday believes that language has three meta-functions ： ideational function ， interpersonal function and textual function. Ideation

7、al function is also called experience function it refers a way in which people expresses their different kinds experience of the real world( including the mental world) (胡壮麟，1987). Ideational function also has three sub-systems ： transitivity ， voice and polarity. Amongt hese ， it is the transitivit

8、y that could reflect the ideational function mostly ， because it can reflect all kinds which things are experienced including the state and the relation. From this ， it can decide the different type and structure of a clause （周晓康， 1999） .The transitivity system construes the world of experience into

9、 a manageable set of process. There are six processes in the transitivitysystem ： material processes ，mental processes ， relational processes ， verbal processes ， behavioral processes and existential processes. What is the status ofa process ， as set up in the grammarof the clause ？ The framework is

10、 very simple； it makessense to very young children ， who are learning their mother tongue. A process consists， in principle ， of threecomponents：i. the process itself；ii. participants in the process；iii. circumstances associated with the process （Halliday ， 2000 ：106-107）.In this paper ， I will intr

11、oduce the material and relational processes in detail.1.1 Material Processesa）Tom kicked the ball.In a ）， Tom is explicitly the performer of the action described by the process kicked . Therefore ， welabel Tom as Actor. The ball is directed at by Tom and is labeled asGoal.In every material process，

12、there must be an Actor ina clause even if it may be elliptical.However， there maynot be a Goal in every clause. For an instance：b) Dont smoke her please.c) The boy broke the window.d) The boy has run.In b)， there isn t the Actor. However， we can infer the Actor is you. So it is the clause which is n

13、on-Actor but the Actor is omitted. But in d)， the Goal really isn t in the clause. Whether there is a Goal in a clause depends on the verb is transitive or intransitive according to the traditional grammar.This is only a brief introduction of material processes. Next， I will embark on the knowledge

14、of relational processes briefly.1.2 Relational ProcessesRelational processes are the processes of being. It contains three types： Intensive processes ，Circumstantial processes and Possessive processes. Each of these comes into two distinct modes ：i ) attributivea is an attribute of x.ii ) identifyin

15、g a is the identity of x.1.2.1 Intensive ProcessesA. AttributeIn the attributive mode， an entity has some qualityascribed or attributed to it. Structurally ， we label this quality the ATTRIBUTE ， and the entity to which it is ascribed is the CARRIER (Halliday ， 2000 ：120) . For examples ：e) Alice is

16、 very clever.f) Tom is a teacher.Wec an interpret clause e) as Alice is a membero f the class of the clever ones. So does the clause f ). It means Tom is a member of the class of teachers.B.IdentifyingIn the identifying mode， something has an identityassigned to it. What this means is that one entit

17、y is being used to identify another ：x is identified by a or a servers to define the identify of x. Structurally welabel the x-element ， that which it to be identified ， as the IDENTIFID， and the a-element ， that which servers as identify ， as the IDENTIIER (Halliday ， 2000：122). Forexamples ：g) Ali

18、ce is the wise girl.( Alice is theidentified ；the wise girl is identifier.)h) Tom is the good teacher.( Tomis theidentified ；the good teacher is identifier.)Both Alice and the wise girl refer to the same person. The wise girl is only a new expression of Alice. In the attributive mode ， we use identi

19、fier to specify the identified.1.2.2 Possessive ProcessesIn the possessive type ， the relationship between the two terms in one of ownership ； one entity possesses another. The processes can be realized by the verbbe， own，contain ， include ， convolve ， comprise. For instances ：i) The piano is Peters

20、.j) This pencil is mine.In these two sentences ，the piano and the pencil are the entities which are possessed ；the Peter s and mine are the possessors ( Halliday 2000，胡壮麟 1987).2 The Analysis of chapter one2.1 The brief introduction of this novelPride and Prejudice ， is the story of a young girl who

21、 rejects an offer of marriage because the young nobleman who makes it has been rude to her family. It is a very thin plot ， but around it the authors has woven vivid pictures of the everyday life of simple country society. Through the description of the daily talks and doings of young men and woman，

22、 the author paints their characteristics （刘炳善， 1993）.The extract describes the dialogue between Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet. From their discourses， the readers canget a brief imagination of this couple. In their dialogue ， they can also mention some persons， such as Mr. Bingleyand their daughters. No

23、w I will analyze chapter one via material and relational processes.2.2 The Analysis of the objective plane of narrationIn the objective plane of narration， the authoremploys 9 relational processes that the processes of being. The relational processes regularly introduce the time，characters and the a

24、ffair ； play an indispensable part of a novel. This is the first chapter of this story so the author mainly wants to introduce the information of the characters.Amongt hese 9 relational processes ， thesingle man who appears firstly in this novel is used as theCarrier for twice. These two processes a

25、re employed to introduce the background of this man who is in the possession of a good fortune. So Mrs. Bennet wants to marry one of her five daughters with him. The novel then begins to develop its plot.In the last paragraph of this chapter， Mr. Bennet isalso brought into consideration as Carrier f

26、or once while Mrs. Bennet for three times. For instances：1) She was a woman of mean understanding 2) she was discontented From these two processes ， we can easily infer what kind of woman Mrs. Bennet. She is an unsatisfied， stupid andgreedy woman.There are also some relational processes that show us

27、the real situation of that period in this story. For examples ：3) It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possessions of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.4) this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surroundings families.5) The business of her life was to get her da

28、ughtersmarried.The above examples bring truth for twice. One is as attribute ； the other is as carrier . No matter what it is ， the author wants to illustrate that in that period the biggest business of a girl is to marry a rich man. If it is so ， it is the most fortunate thing for her. And this sit

29、uation reflects that as a man who owns fortune has a wider choice of his wife ， because the decision making power is in his hand. Therefore， from the first chapterthe readers can get more information than the surface meaning. And they can have a brief notion of the characters of this novel.2.3 The A

30、nalysis of Mrs. Bennets discourseIn Mrs. Bennet discourse， there are 22 materialprocesses amongt he 55 processes. It is explicit to see that the number of material processes occupies 40% of the whole processes. It leaves hints to the readers that narrator Mrs. Bennet seems to convey her information

31、objectively. There must be many happenings or doings that Mrs. Bennet wants to transfer to Mr. Bennet.There are only 22 material processes in Mrs. Bennets discourse and Mr. Bingley is involved into her discoursefor 8 times. For 4 timeshe is considered as the Actorand as the Goal for 4 times. However

32、， in her discourse ，there is hardly a process about herself. That s to say Mrs. Bennet focuses more attention on Mr. Bingley s happenings or doings as the later words： taken ， came down， comesvisit ， take. These verbs obviously reflect that Mrs.Bennet shows more interests in Mr. Binleys track all th

33、e time.For instances ：6) that he comes down on Mondayin a chaise and 7) as soon as he comes.8) when he comes into the neighborhood 9) he chooses of the girls.Because this affair concerns her daughters marriage ， Mrs. Bennet doesnt let off any tact. The information that concerns when Mr. Bingley arri

34、ved and how he arrived all doesnt escape from her eyes. We can see that how Mrs. Bennet expects one of her daughters could marry him.Comparing with Mr. Bingley acting as Actor for 4 times ， he plays the part as Goal for 4 times. The analysis is presented as follows ：10) you must visit him 11) and se

35、e Mr. Bingley 12) since you will not visit them ( referring to the Mr. Bingleys )in all the above instances ， the repetition of the verbs visit shows us that Mrs. Bennet wants to seek connections with Mr. Bingley. As soon as Mr. Bingley arrives at the place where Mr. Bennets live， Mrs. Bennethas mad

36、e a plan to make Mr. Bingley love one of her daughters. It seems that Mr. Bingley has become her pray.In Mrs. Bennets discourse ， the author also mentioned another two names besides Bennet. That is Sir William and Lady Lucas which play the part as Actor. The author also narrates theirdoings as the l

37、ater verbs： go，visit . This shows the fact that not only the Mrs. Bennet intends to marry her daughter to Mr. Bingley but other families. All of them wager on this single man of large fortune. From this ， we can know there will be a competition between them and it will be a quite fierce competition.

38、Mrs. Bennet s attitude towards Mr. Bennet contains 8 material processes among which Mr. Bennet is brought to be considered as Actor for 7 times. This indicates that Mrs. Bennet wants Mr. Bennet to do something with Mr. Bingley. In her words ， except Mr. Bingley ， Mr. Bennet takes mostpart of her dis

39、course.The analysis of material processes is as follows13) you must visit him 14) go and see Mr. Bingley.15) you must go.16) you will do no such thing17) But you are always giving her the reference.18) since you will not visit them.Look at the verbs must visit ， go and see， must go，visit . How desir

40、able Mrs. Bennet wants to seekrelationship with Mr. Bingley. And she doesnt leave anyroom for Mr. Bennet. It seems that Mr. Bennethas no choicebut follows her orders to visit Mr. Bingley. However， wecan also infer that womena re still inferiorto man or manplays more effective way than women in the s

41、ociety.Therefore ， no matter how eager Mrs. Bennet desires to visit Mr. Bingley ， she still needs the help of Mr. Bennet. It seems that the determi ned power is in Mr. Bennets hands. However， if Mrs. Bennet talks to Mr. Bennet about this every moment can Mr. Bennet still sticks his opinion？ AtMrs.la

42、st ， Mr. Bennet must surrender and visit Mr. Bingley although it is not his real attention.Bennet s attitude towards Mr. Bingley contains 9 relational processes. According to Halliday ， the English operates with three main types we have talked above. In Mrs. Bennets words ， she mentioned the possess

43、ive processes for 3 times. The three possessive processes all take Mr.Bingley as the owner. For instances：19) who has taken it ？20) that Netherfield is taken by a young man.21) that he is to take possessionIn all above instances ， we can infer that Mr. Bingley is a man who owns a great of f ortune.

44、Although it doesn t mention the name ， it implies that it is Mr. Bingley obviously. For Mrs. Bennet ， she only takes fancy to this character of Mr. Bingley. In her discourse ， she has never intended to find out what kind of person Mr. Bingley is or whether he is fit for her daughters. She doesnt eve

45、nmention his name. As long as the man is rich and he is single ， everything is OK. The sole thing in her mind is that she will try her best to marry one of her five daughters to him.Besides mentioning Mr. Bingley ， Mrs. Bennet also talks about one of her daughters ， Elizabeth ， the heroine of thisno

46、vel. For examples ：22) she is not half so handsome as Jane nor half so good-humored as LydiaThis reflects that in Mrs. Bennet eyes， Elizabeth isneither beautiful nor good-humored. She doesn t thinkElizabeth is a good girl according to her criteria.However， Mr. Bennet shows a different opinion to his

47、 wife and I will discuss it in detail later.2.4 The Analysis of Mr. Bennet s discourseIn this extract， Mr. Bennet makes a choice of 28processes ， in which there are 11 relational processes and 6 material processes.In the relational processes he employs， he uses7attribute processes. In Hallidays opin

48、ion ， attributeprocesses is to identify something. Amongt hese 7 attribute processes ， Mr. Bingley plays the part as identified for three times and Mr. Bennet s daughter for once. For example：23) What is his name ？24) Is he married or single？25) Is that his design in settling here？26) th ey are all

49、silly and ignorant like othergirlsThe first three clauses are interrogative sentences.Mrs. Bennet wants to know the detail information of Mr.Bingley. Before Mr. Bingley asks the name of Mr. Bingley，Mrs. Bennet has never mentioned it. From this aspect， wecan see what Mrs. Bennet interests is the only

50、 fact that the man owns much fortune. However ， whats his name or whether he is married or not， she doesn t care. Ats fortunebeginning of their dialogue ， she talks about how rich the man is constantly even without telling her husband his name. Sharply contrast with his wife ， Mr. Bennet is much cal

51、mer.Although his wife has talked about Mr. Bingleyis still the name offor many times ， what he asks firstlythis man. This indicatesthatMr. Bennet doesnt show anyinterest to Mr. Bingley wealth. For his daughtersto is the man himselfmarriage ， what he pays more attention but not how much property he o

52、wns. This kind of hischaracter is absolutely different from his wife. This also implies their marriage is not happy. However， Mr. Bennetalso has a correct idea of his daughter. He thinkstheyare all silly and ignorant like other girls. As a father ， we cant imagine he could take such an evaluation of

53、 hisdaughters. However， this reflects Mr. Bennet is a man who is practical and realistic. But he mentions a daughter whom we have mentioned above- Elizabeth. He thinks that she is different from other girls. Mr. Bennet uses possessive processes to show this daughter whom he is proud of. For an insta

54、nce ：27) but Lizzy ( the nickname ofElizabeth ) has something more of quickness than her sisters.For Elizabeth ， Mr. Bennet thinks she is cleverer than her sisters. In my view ， according to Mr. Bennets words， he implies Elizabeth is girl who has her own ideas. She is not likes other girls who are c

55、hasing for the money all day. This indicates that she needs a man who knows appropriating her to accompany in all her life. At this point ， the author doesnt write much about Elizabeth. Dont forget it isthe first chapter of this novel. If she writes too more，the novel will not be so attractive. She

56、may wants to leave much more space for readers to imagine.In Mr. Bennet s discourse ， the material processes shows that Mr. Bennet really doesnt want tovisit Mr.Bingley himself. He usesyou as the Actor for 4timesamong the 6 material processes. For example ：28) You and the girls may go.29) or you may send them by themselves.30) you will get over itIt is easily to con