Dramatic Conflicts Presentation of The Merchant of Venice in Discourse Structure

摘要

From the point of view of conversation analysis, this thesis tries to elucidate the dramatic conflict of The Merchant of Venice which is the classic masterpiece of Shakespeare. Selecting two scenes in the first show (in the Venice court) of fourth act, via three-section discourse structure theory in discourse mode, starting with distribution, type and pattern of supporting move and challenge move, and with the help of pragmatics and sociolinguistics theories, this thesis gives linguistic explanation to its dramatic conflicts. Analysis shows that significance of drama not only depends on the content of characters' talking, but also relates to communicative system of discourse. Discourse analysis will help to give well-founded linguistic interpretations to drama, so as to build the dramatic criticism on a relatively objective and reproducible foundation. Analysis also shows that Western Discourse Theory can also be used for appreciation of dramatic works.