1st Edition
Speech Act Theory and Shakespeare Scenes of Thanking in Shakespeare’s Plays
Speech Act Theory and Shakespeare delves deeper than linguistic ornamentation to illuminate the complex dynamics of thanking as a significant speech act in Shakespearean plays. The word “thanks” appears nearly 400 times in 37 Shakespearean plays, calling for a careful investigation of its veracity as a speech act in the 16th-century setting. This volume combines linguistic analysis to explore the various uses of thanks, focusing on key thanking scenes across a spectrum of plays, including All’s Well That Ends Well, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Timon of Athens, The Winter’s Tale, and the Henriad. Shakespeare’s works indicate the act of thanking to be more than a normal part of dialogue; it is an artistic expression fraught with pitfalls similar to those of negative speech acts. The study aims to determine what compels the characters in Shakespeare to offer thanks and evaluates Shakespeare’s accomplishment in imbuing the word “thanks” with performance quality in the theatrical sphere.
This work adds to our comprehension of Shakespearean plays and larger conversations on the challenges of language usage in theatrical and cultural settings by examining the convergence of gratitude with power dynamics, political intrigue, and interpersonal relationships, drawing on a multidisciplinary approach that includes pragmatics, philosophy, religion, and psychology.
General Introduction
Part I: Thanking in the Elizabethan World
Abstract
1.1. The Early Modern Lexicon of “Thanking”
1.2.1. Eucharist and thanksgiving
1.2.2. Performing Grace versus Saying “Thanks”
1.3. Thanking in Early Modern England: From a Learned Habit to an Institutionalised Social Norm?
1.3.1. Festive Thanking
1.4. Prayer: Spiritual Economy of Thanking
1.5. Benedicam Dominum: Singing Benefits
1.6. Thankfulness and Beneficence: A Treatise of Christian beneficence
1.7. Charitable Giving and the Thanksgiving of the Poor in Early Modern England
1.8. Urban Patronage in England and the Importance of Giving
1.9. Gift and Graceful Language
1.10. A Gentleman’s “thanks”: Images of Courtesy
1.11. Women’s Thanks: “The Churching of Women” or the “Thanksgiving of Women after Childbirth”
1.12. Gratitude and Erasmus: On Giving Thanks and Liberality
1.13. Kindness and Gratitude
Conclusion
Part II: The Art of Thanking in Shakespeare: Scene Focus
Abstract
2.1. Thanking as a Verbal and Non-Verbal Activity in Theatre
2.2. Thanks as a Politeness Sensitive Speech Event
2.3. Theories of Politeness
2.4. Politeness in Dramatic Dialogue
2.5. Thanking in Pragmatics
2.6. Thanking and Not Thanking in Shakespeare
2.7. Diplomatic Thankings in Shakespeare: A Political Super Strategy to Characters’ Empowerment
2.8. “The poorest service is repaid with thanks” The Importance of Giving when thanking is not enough the case of The Merchant of Venice
2.9. “Do so, and after two days I will discharge thee” (Tem. 1.2.): Characters Waiting for Restitution and Recompense
2.10. Excessive Giving of Thanks and Gifts: The Way to Misanthropy in Timon of Athens
2.11. “We met here both to thank and to remember” (Cor.2.2): The Role of Memory in Giving Thanks in Shakespeare’s Plays
2.12. Ceremonial Thanksgiving on the Stage: Prayer and Sacrifice in Pericles and Cymbeline
Conclusion
General Conclusion
Appendices
Biography
Chahra Beloufa is Assistant Professor of English language and literature at the Arab Open University, Saudi Arabia. She has a PhD from the University of Paul Valery. She was a researcher at The Institute of Research on the Renaissance, the Classical Age, and the Enlightenment (IRCL) working under the supervision of Prof Nathalie Vienne Guerrin.
