An Analysis of Request Speech Acts in Jane Eyre: A Corpus-Based Local Grammar Approach

Abstract

Request speech acts are key elements in literary text construction, and Jane Eyre offers an ideal exemplar for their examination, with ample scope for interpretation. This study attempts to analyse the local grammatical patterns of request speech acts in Jane Eyre using a custom-built corpus. It aims to identify the types and frequencies of these patterns, to explore how different characters deploy requests, and to examine how such differences reflect the characters’ social status, personality traits, and psychological development. The findings suggest that various patterns of request speech acts exist in Jane Eyre, and the frequency of the pattern “Requestee + Hinge + Requested action” is the highest. In-depth analysis indicates that characters differ greatly in their use of request speech acts; the patterns of variation in these acts reveal not only the personality characteristics of various characters but also the novel’s core issues and the development of the storyline. This study enriches the understanding of the linguistic features of Jane Eyre, presents a fresh angle of view and approach to researching literary texts using a corpus, and offers insight into the applicability of local grammar to literary studies.