Pragmatics: Language in Use - English Essay

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Pragmatics: Language In Use - English Essay Fawlty Towers is a series of twelve television episodes taking place in a hotel in Torquay. The protagonists consist of Basil Fawlty and Sybil, his wife, who are the managers of the hotel. Manuel, who does not speak English properly since he comes from Barcelona, and Polly are both members of the staff. “A Touch of Class” is the first episode. Frustrated by the social class of his guests, Basil Fawlty places a £40 advertisement in the newspaper to try to attract a “higher class of clientele.” In this extract, Dany Brown, in a leather jacket, asks for a room for the night. Basil immediately dislikes him and tells him that there are no rooms available. However, Sybil immediately gives Mr Brown the room seven. Later, Lord Melbury, who is just the sort of client that Basil wants to attract to his hotel, appears. Nevertheless, the manager is, as usual, impatient bordering on the downright rude. He takes a phone call while he is barking out instructions to his new guest until Lord Melbury tells Basil that he does not have any first name since he is known as Lord Melbury. At that moment, Basil realises his rude behaviour and immediately slams down the phone to talk with his, so long expected, Lord Melbury. Later, Mr Brown is revealed to be in fact an undercover police officer trying to arrest the so calling Lord Melbury, who has very simply ripped Basil off. As far as the pragmatic aspect of my study is concerned, I have decided to develop the politeness aspect in this specific extract since we have a clear and obvious opposition in Basil’s behaviour depending on what person he is speaking to: a very rude and impolite language or, by contrast, a very high register of language when he learns that Melbury is in fact Lord Melbury. This contrast enables us to develop and to analyse different approaches of politeness in
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