Flouting of Grice’s Conversational Maxims by

Women in Some Selected Plays: A Pragmatic Study

:By
Summer Mohammed Fadhil

:Supervised by
Dr. Bushra Ni’ma Rashid

Studied by: Dalya Qais Abood

Presented for discussion in lecture 7: The Cooperative Principles
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Problem

The study attempts to investigate the following questions:

1.Which is the most maxim flouted and why?

2.Are women aware of each other, linguistically, and how is that allowing
them to cooperate with each other?

3.Do they try to seek power over the other linguistically? In order to
provide an answer to this question, speech acts theory is going to be
involved in the analysis.

1.2The Aims

The present study aims at:

1.Investigating and identifying the instances where flouting Grice’s

conversational maxims are and the reason behind their flouting. The ones
whose speech are investigated are British women vs. American ones.
2.Identifying the speech acts performed via flouting Grice’s conversational
maxims in order to highlight whether any face-threatening acts occur
within the course of both plays or not.
3.Highlighting whether the feminist movement has changed women’s
understanding of themselves and the way they behave linguistically with
each other.

1.3 The Hypotheses

It is hypothesized that:

1. Implicatures are one of the main contributing keys that encourage

speakers in holding interesting and friendly attempts of communication
and interaction.

2. Women love to share the details of their lives. Therefore, they flout the
maxim of quantity more in comparison with the other maxims.
3. Women sometimes prefer to indirectly convey their messages rather
than simply saying what they mean in a direct way.

4.Women, during the second wave of feminism, are more aware of

themselves as women and as working identities in the society. Therefore
they attempt to prove their existence among men through their confidence
when taking part in conversations and refusing to be subordinate members
in the society.

1.4 The Procedures

The steps followed in carrying out the present study are:

1.Presenting a theoretical background on the concept of “implicature”

2. Discussing the most appealing ideas on women’s speech proposed by

both British and American linguists.

3.Examining Brown and Levinson’s model of analysis as well as Grice’s.

4.Applying the proposed models with some modifications through the

analysis of the floutings of Grice’s conversational maxims in both
Wasserstien’s Uncommon Women and Others and Churchill’s Top Girls.

1.5 The Limits

1. It is concerned with flouting Grice’s conversational maxims and

identifying the speech acts performed when flouting them.

2. It investigates two plays: an American vs. a British one. The American

one is by Wendy Wasserstien entitled Uncommon Women and Others
(1977) and the British one is by Caryl Churchill entitled Top Girls (1982).

1.6 The Significance

1. It contributes to achieving a better understanding of women’s

speech in terms of creating implicatures.
 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

The present chapter is a theoretical survey providing a background to the

present investigation. What is introduced first is the term “pragmatics”
supporting it with definitions by different linguists. Furthermore, a number
of approaches to pragmatics are discussed starting with Speech Acts
Theory (henceforth SAT), and ending up with the Relevance Theory
(henceforth RT).

The present chapter shows the importance of pragmatics in terms of

studying language. It further illustrates the main theories of pragmatics
involved in describing how language is functioned in everyday
communication and interaction. Most importantly, it illustrates how
language can express different types of underlined meanings whether
through implicating or using indirect speech acts. Thus, such theories
explained in the present chapter exist for the sake of making interaction
and communication more understandable. It further elaborates why
speakers seek to employ certain linguistic devices in their speech.

Additionally, the researcher discusses Brown and Levinson’s ideas in

terms of their Politeness Principle (henceforth PP) which is associated
with the concept of ‘face’. Finally, RT is sufficiently discussed after which
the researcher closes up this chapter and moves on to chapter three.

CHAPTER THREE

3.1 DATA COLLECTION

The present chapter is divided into five sections. The first section tackles
women’s speech and how it is influenced and shaped due to stereotypes.
Such stereotypes are laid down by different cultures to serve a specific
purpose. Then, several studies related to British and American women’s
speech are discussed. The first one is conducted by Trudgill (1972) which
is concerned with British women. The second one is conducted by Lakoff
(1975) who proposes the Dominance Theory. The third one, on the other
hand, is conducted by Tannen (1992) who proposes the Difference
Theory. Finally, a fourth view is introduced which contradicts all the
previously mentioned studies. It simply asserts that the outcome of
women’s speech is influenced by only two important factors which are the
context and the task being performed.

The second section includes previous studies which are related, in

one way or another, to the present study. The third section, on the other
hand, deals with the model of analysis which ends up by introducing an
eclectic model to be followed in the analysis.

The fourth section introduces the British playwright Caryl

Churchill. It discusses Churchill’s style of writing, previous works, and the
themes discussed through her plays. Most importantly, her play to be
analyzed which is Top Girls is introduced and briefly discussed.

As for the fifth section, it introduces the American playwright

Wendy Wasserstein. It discusses Wasserstein’s style of writing and the
themes she was interested in. It also lists some of her recognized works
which she was rewarded for. And hence, her play Uncommon Women and
Others is introduced and briefly summarized.

3.2 Women: Stereotypes and Their Speech

Most of humans’ linguistic behaviors are interwoven with stereotypes laid

down according to the history of language use and the society itself. Some
may be exaggerated more than others for specific reasons. Reasons that
may contribute in reflecting the image of individuals from any sex
category, such as (fe)males.

One may start to question: what are stereotypes? What are the stereotypes
related to women, their speech, and their role in society? And why such
stereotypes even exist in the first place or what are the reasons lying
behind the existence of such stereotypes?

Stereotypes are cognitive structures consisted of “beliefs that people have

about individuals based on their membership in social groups” (Brehm &
Kassin, 1996: 122).
Many studies such as the ones conducted by Lakoff (1975); Tannen
(1990), and Holmes (1999) and many others have been concerned with
women’s speech. Many others such as Trudgill (1975) have included
men’s speech in order to make a comparison with women’s speech.
However, since this study is concerned only with women’s speech, then
the “men” part of such studies will be overlooked.

One of those studies is conducted by Trudgill (1972) who investigates the

speech of a group of women in Britain. Through his study, Trudgill
notices that British women tend to excessively use standard forms of
language when they are participating in conversations. Women in Britain,
contrary to those examined by Lakoff in the United States of America,
have been identified as being sensitively aware of their position in society.
Therefore they tend to be aware of their language as well since it reflects
their image and status and contributes in the way they are observed by
other members of the society.

3.3 Review of Previous Studies

3.3.1 Male and Female Spoken Language Differences: Stereotypes

and Evidence (1979)

Male and female speech has been observed and is said to differ in terms of
their form, topic, content and use. The researcher Adelaide Hass provides
empirical evidence of females’ speech to be more of a supportive,
expressive and polite one compared to males’. In addition to that, the
topics of females’ speech tend to be related to home and family issues.
They further use words and expressions in implying their feelings,
expressing evaluation over an object or a situation or anything else, or
even in expressing their psychological status.

3.3.2 Relevance, Flouting Maxims and the Cooperative Principle in

Selected Modern English Dramatic Texts (2002)

Hassan Hadi Hassan Al-Umawi aims to support the claim that utterances
should not be taken literally but rather must be contextualized. However,
the main aim remains that which focuses on Grice’s four conversational
maxims and how they are flouted on some occasions for the purpose of
communication.
3.3.3 Do Speakers and Listeners Observe the Gricean Maxim of
Quantity? (2006)
It is a study conducted by Paul E. Engelhardt, Karl G.D. Bailey and
Fernanda Ferreira who, in three experiments, examine the extent to which
native speakers are sensitive to the maxim of quantity.
The first experiment is concerned with production. It shows how
speakers over-describe almost one third of the time. The second one is
concerned with recognition. It shows how listeners do not judge over-
descriptions to be any worse than concise expressions. While the third one
uses the Visual World Paradigm to assess listeners’ moment-by-moment
interpretations of over-described utterances. As for the last experiment, it
reveals that over-descriptions trigger eye movements that can be
interpreted as indicating confusion. The researchers conclude that speakers
and hearers are moderately Gricean in their adherence to the maxim of
quantity.

3.3.4 Violating and Flouting the Cooperative Principle in Some

Selected Short Stories (2015)

3.3.5 Violation of Quantity Maxim in Jane Austen’s Pride and

Prejudice (2015)

A study conducted by Asst. Prof. Bushra Ni’ma Rashid (PhD.). The study
aims to investigate how the maxim of quantity is intentionally violated for
various reasons. Reasons that contribute in conveying different messages
implicated in what is said. For example, Mrs. Bennet, who is a female
character in Pride and Prejudice, keeps violating the quantity maxim to
highlight the beauty of her daughter, to impress her husband with Mr.
Bengley’s fortune, and to criticize other characters involved in the novel.
3.4 Models of Analysis
One of the main reasons lying behind the choice of using indirect speech
acts is that of politeness. It can thus be reflected by the use of multiple
strategies suggested by different linguists; Brown and Levinson’s, Labov’s
and Lakoff’s.
It is important to hold the following idea in mind. If women’s subordinate
position in society allowed them to behave linguistically as Trudgill
(1972) and Lakoff (1975) mentioned earlier, what will differ in their
language when they hold important positions in society and will no longer
be subordinate? In other words, does the feminist movement contribute
greatly in any possible change to the better in their speech? Moreover, are
they more constrained due to the new responsibilities and types of new
freedom they are allowed to exercise and what is expected from them to
achieve?
3.4.1 Grice’s Model of Analysis
According to Grice (1975) if any of the conversational maxims are
not observed for the purpose of implicating a message, then the not
observed maxim is flouted.

Flouting

Quantity Maxim Quality Maxim Relation Maxim Manner Maxim

Results in: Results in: Results in: Results in:

- Being more - Saying what is - Irrelevant - Obscurity of

than informative. false. statement(s). expression.
- Being less than - Saying what - Ambiguity.
informative. lacks adequate -Not brief.
evidence to -Not orderly.
prove.
(figure 3. 1)
3.4.2 Brown and Levinson’s Model of Analysis

Flouting

Quantity Maxim Quality Maxim Relation Maxim Manner Maxim

Results in: Results in: Results in: Results in:

-Understatements. - Irony. - Change of -Ambiguity.

-Overstatements. - Metaphor. topic. - Vagueness.
-Tautology. -RQ. - Ellipsis.

(figure 3.2)

3.4.3 The Eclectic Model

It gathers the elements found in the analysis from both models shown in
figures (3.1) and (3.2).

Flouting

Quantity Maxim Quality Maxim Relation Maxim Manner Maxim

Results in: Results in: Results in: Results in:
-Being more than - Irony. - Change of - Ellipsis.
informative. - RQ. topic. - Not brief.
-Being less than - Irrelevant
informative. statements.

Figure (3.3): The Eclectic Model of Analysis

3.5 Caryl Churchill: A British Playwright

Caryl Churchill is a British playwright who was born on September 3rd,

1938 in London. Churchill studied English Literature in Oxford
University where her interest in drama grew enormously strong. She
produced three plays before receiving her degree in 1960 which strongly
reflects her interest in drama.

3.5.1 Top Girls (1982)

The play is concerned with the 1980’s feminism and shows how women
loses their humanity “in order to attain power in a male-dominated
environment” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015: Int.). That is, they lose
their humanity as they seek liberation with financial and professional
success.

Top Girls examines women’s role in society at the 1980s and what costs
women to be successful. It further questions whether women can manage
their life by balancing between having a successful career and being
successful wives and mothers. The play is set in the early 1980s in Britain.
The way Churchill examines women, who attempted to be successful at
that time, made her use multiple number of female characters. Each one of
them represents different images of women. Some are even represent
historical female characters. Marlene, on the other hand, differs greatly
from the other characters who represent women from history. This contrast
reflects the different representation of women, their behavior and roles in
society. Marlene’s character will reflect how women at the 1980s tried to
break away from their customary/expected behavior. The variation of
characters also serves in exploring the different aspects concerning the
social achievements of women (Wikipedia, 2015: Int.).

3.6 Wendy Wasserstein: An American Playwright

Wendy Wasserstein is an American playwright who was born on
October 17, 1950 in New York. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke
College and the Yale School of Drama (Encyclopedia, 2015:
Int.).Wasserstein wrote several plays through which she became known
for being a playwright.

3.6.1 Uncommon Women and Others (1977)

It is a play about a group of twenty-seven year-old-women (alumnae) who

attended Mount Holyoke College in the early 1970s. A time that witnessed
a social change in terms of young women and the new possibilities open
for them in building up their future. Uncommon Women and Others traces
women’s frustration and choices concerning the options open to them after
their graduation (eNotes, 2015: Int.).

3.7 Comparison Between the Two Plays

William C. Boles makes a comparison between Wasserstein’s Uncommon

Women and Others and Churchill’s Top Girls. He concludes that both
plays consist of all-female casts. The reason behind excluding male
characters from both plays is because both playwrights want to show how
a female community would be as well as women’s potentiality in it.

CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 Preliminary Remarks
The present chapter focuses on analyzing Churchill’s Top Girls and
Wasserstein’s Uncommon Women and Others. At first, the researcher
wanted to include all acts and scenes of both plays in order to have more
authenticity in the analysis. However, it was found that by adopting such
an approach, the analysis would be time and effort consuming.

Accordingly and for the sake of maintaining balance with the other
chapters, only two scenes from each play have been selected to be
analyzed with great scrutiny.

The analysis is presented in the form of tables. Each table consists of four
columns. Starting from left to right, the first one shows the page number
where the text analyzed can be found in the original text of the play. The
second column is where the selected text analyzed can be found. The third
one shows the type of maxim(s) flouted in the selected text provided in
column two. Finally, the fourth one is where explanations are illustrated to
why the text in column two are instances of maxim flouting.

4.2 Uncommon Women and Others

Pa. The maxim

Text Reasons of flouting
N. flouted
1 1
9 You too Samantha. You Relation Holly expresses her surprise
cut your hair. towards Samantha’s different
look. By doing so, she places
the attention of conversation
to Samantha’s new hair-look.
9 Yeah, 1I didn’t want to look 1
Quality Samantha, ironically, intended
like Jean Shrimpton (irony) to mean that she does not want
anymore. to look as beautiful as
Shrimpton whom is an English
model and actress known for
her beauty.
9 I don’t know. 1I’m here on a 1
Relation Kate by flouting the maxim of
2
women and law conference. Quality quantity, desires to tell her
1 & 2
Very grown-up huh? 3I (RQ) friends how far she has
3
am now the young Quantity reached in terms of her
spokesperson at all the (more than personal accomplishments. As
obligatory boring occasions. informative) when she flouts the maxim of
relation, she attempts to
impress them as to what she
has become.
1 1
9 How’s Robert? Relation Holly attempts to shift to
another topic of conversation.
9 Oh, he’s fine. 1He was just 1Quantity Samantha provides Robert’s
1
cast in a T.V. pilot. He (more than latest news through which she
plays the male ingénue and informative) becomes more than
he’s worried ’cause his and manner informative.
hairline is receding. (not brief)

10 Holly, I forgot to tell you.
Rita’s coming down from
1
Vermont. She told
Samantha she had a six-year
itch to see us all again.
10 Muffy wrote me and said
that Rita was so fat at her
wedding that she couldn’t
even walk down the aisle.
1
She had to be lowered to
the altar by a crane. 1I don’t
believe that.
4.3 Top Girls
Pa.
Text
N.
1 Well, it’s a step. It makes
for a party. 1I haven’t time
for a holiday. 1I’d like to go
somewhere exotic like you
but I can’t get away. 1 & 2I
don’t know how you could
bear to leave Hawaii. 2I’d
like to lie in the sun forever,
except of course I can’t bear
sitting still.
1 I sent for my sister Hennie
to come and join me. 1I said,
Hennie we’ll live here
forever and help the natives.
1 & 2
You can buy two
sirloins of beef for what a
pound of chops costs in
Edinburgh. And Hennie
wrote back, the dear, that
yes, she would come to
1
Quantity Kate changes the subject and
(more than attempts to tell the girls that
informative) Rita misses them therefore she
will come to visit.
1
Quantity Samantha provides a lot of
(more than details to provide a full
informative) pictures of Rita’s state.
The maxim
Reasons of flouting
flouted
1
Relation Marlene first says how her
promotion deserves a party to
2
Quantity be held with friends.
(more than Then she starts expressing her
informative) need to go on to a vacation but
the constant movement she is
used to because of work stops
her from going to place to
enjoy herself such as Hawaii.
1
Quantity Isabella thought of settling
(more than down with her sister, Hennie,
informative) and starts explaining her idea
and manner of settlement with all its
(not brief) details to Marlene.
But when her sister approves
2
Relation to join her, Isabella becomes
honest and tells her not to
since life, where Hennie was,
is better for her than in
 Hawaii if I wished, but I Hawaii.
said she had far better stay
where she was. 1Hennie was
suited to life in Tobermory.
2 Hennie was happy. She was 1Relation Isabella first talks about her
good. 1I did miss its face, and quantity sister Hennie being happy.
my own pet. But I couldn’t (more than Then she shifts to talk about
stay in Scotland. I loathed informative) her pet, which lives in
the constant murk. Scotland, and how much she
misses it. She also mentions
why she left Scotland.
1
2 One night my father Quantity Nijo speaks of how men can
proposed three rounds of (more than get drunk when having more
three cups, which was informative) drinks than normal. The
normal, 1and then the example she provides is the
Emperor should have said Emperor whom she used to be
three rounds of three cups, in his favor.
but he said three rounds of
nine cups, so you can
imagine…

4.4 Assessment of Grice’s Conversational Maxims in the Two Plays

In this section, an assessment will be given in terms of the maxims

flouted in both of the selected plays. In order to facilitate the evaluation
process, statistics will be given in the form of tables.

Uncommon Women
Maxim
Number and Others – Total Percentage
Type
Usage
Quantity 67 38%
1
Quality 10 6%
2
Relation 61 34%
3
Manner 39 22%
4
 Maxim Flouting in Uncommon Women and Others: Usage and
Percentage

Max
im Maxim Top Girls – Total
Number Percentage
Type Usage
Quantity 265 60%
1
Quality 7 2%
2
Relation 114 26%
3
Manner 49 12%
4
Flouting in Top Girls: Usage and Percentage

Chapter Five

Conclusions

1. American and British women tend to flout Grice’s conversational

maxims by exploiting them.
2. The researcher finds that the most maxims flouted in both plays, for
the purpose of generating implicatures, are the maxims of quantity and
relation.
3. When it comes to flouting the maxim of quantity, both American
and British women provide overstatements and very little understatements.
The reason why they provide overstatements is to implicate an idea about
mutual friends, situations they’ve been through, and to express sentimental
issues to describe their disappointment in life and the people they know.
4. As for the maxim of quality, they tend to flout it in order to be
funny to maintain a sense of humour. However, sometimes they try to
prove a certain idea in an ironical sense to lessen the threat towards the
listener’s positive and/or negative face.
5. At other times, the maxim of relation is intended to be flouted to
shift the topic of conversation in order to avoid expressing their
disturbance towards the person the speaker is communicating with. They
avoid talking about a specific topic and show their interest to talk about
more important subjects than the one suggested. This case has been
observed with American women.
6. As for the maxim of manner, it is flouted when the speakers provide
more information than required to the point that they are not brief! The
reason why they are, at most times, not brief is because they want to prove
that they hold the correct opinions as well as defending themselves and
their opinions. However, sometimes they attempt to be brief but it
becomes too brief to the point that they produce elliptic expressions
because it is the simplest way of conversing.
7. Through both plays, one can conclude that the feminist movement
has made women take a stand for what they believe in. They do not hold
the same subordinate positions as the ones they used to hold prior to the
feminist movement. They are the leaders of themselves and this is
reflected through their decision to be responsible for themselves and not
dependent on men. Even when they deal with strangers, they stand as
being strong and full of self-confidence on the outer surface of their
personalities. This definitely concludes that women did change due to the
feminist movement not only in terms of their personalities but also in
terms of how they linguistically behave with their friends, family and
strangers.

References

Cook, G. (1989). Discourse. Oxford University Press.

Cruse, D. A. (2006). A glossary of semantics and pragmatics. Edinburgh
University Press.

Crystal, D. (2011). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. John Wiley

& Sons.

Cutting, J. (2005). Pragmatics and Discourse. Routledge.

Gazdar, G. (1979). Pragmatics. John Benjamin .

Griffiths, P., & Firm, P. (2006). An introduction to English semantics and

pragmatics. Edinburgh University Press.

https://www.academia.edu/23017967/
Modern_Theatre_Guides_Caryl_Churchills_Top_Girls

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/
498843.Uncommon_Women_and_Others

Leech, G. N. (2014). Principles of pragmatics. Routledge, Taylor &

Francis Group.

Leech, G. N. (2014). Principles of pragmatics. Routledge, Taylor &

Francis Group.

Marmaridou, S. S. A. (2000). Pragmatic meaning and cognition. John

Benjamins.

Searle, J. R., Kiefer, F., & Bierwisch, M. (1980). Speech Act Theory and
Pragmatics. Springer Netherlands.

Verschueren, J., & Bertuccelli-Papi, M. (1987). The Pragmatic

Perspective. John Benjamins Publishing.

Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.