A Doll House

Observation and Violation of Cooperative Principle in the Novel

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen.

Language is the medium of communication. It is a vehicle, through which our feelings, emotions, ideas and thoughts are communicated. Animals and birds too communicate. They communicate through sounds, body languages and gestures. But being human is to know a language “To be human is to use a language and gestures. But being a human is to know a person” John Angelo (2010,3) in his, Origins and Development of Language. While language is the medium of communication at the primary level, it is the medium of instruction when it comes to education. Language allows a person to think and reason out. His exploration comes out, only when he expresses in language. The most pervasive characteristic of human social interaction is 'talking'. Human language fulfill a large variety of functions. One of the functions of language is the expressive function that concentrates on the feelings and emotions. The study of language is ultimately the study of human mind. Language does not only reveal human mind but it also plays a vital role in establishing harmonious social relations. In a way, language is a social behavior.

 Linguistic behavior itself is something that is learned by each Individual, and is passed on by cultural transmission. Other kinds of functional explanation-psychological and social-are required accounting for tie successful development of rich and complex linguistic behavior pattern in the individual and in the society. Since the beginning of the 1970s, linguists have become increasingly aware of the importance of context in the interpretation of sentences. The study of the influence of context on the meaning and interpretation of sentences is called pragmatics. Conversational analysis (CA) is one of the most preferred approaches for inquiring into pragmatic phenomenon. The CA approach considers language, and in particular conversation, as a social activity. It is inductive and data-driven. Typically, the data used in CA are actual pieces of language as used by speakers. Practically, any real life linguistic exchange, from telephone conversations to internet-based chat transcripts, can be and have been studied with CA.

There seems violation in conversational analysis which often time ignored and didn’t observe. So to focus on this error and flout . Herbert Paul Grice introduced a concept The Cooperative Principle. He was born in 1913 in Birmingham, England. He was educated in Clifton College and then at Oxford University. His ideas presented through his lectures contributed largely to the study of ‘speaker meaning’ and ‘linguistic meaning. ‘The contribution of Grice to language study is of great importance in the field of pragmatics. Two of the major concepts of pragmatics, namely, Cooperative Principle and Conversational Implicature were proposed by Grice. He thought that a certain kind of cooperativeness underlies language use and so proposed the theory of cooperative principle, which lays the maxims of conversation to further the purpose of communication and to save it from failure. But sometimes people violate the maxims of cooperative principle with certain intended or implied meaning. These intended or implied meanings form the concepts of the theory of Conversational Implicature. People use language to communicate with each other, so they should be careful enough to use language in such a way that the purpose of their communication should not fail. While engaged in conversation speakers generally observe the Cooperative Principle and listeners generally assume that speakers observe the Cooperative Principle.

 If using language amounted to nothing more than putting one's thoughts into words, then understanding an utterance would be merely a matter of decoding the words uttered. No one seriously believes that, every sentence expresses an intention, and that every utterance is the declaration of that intention. Implicature is to be distinguished from Grice's (1967) conversational implicature. Through his concept of Cooperative Principle.

 "Participants should make conversational contribution such as is required ,at the stage which is occurred, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which they are exchanged" (Grice)

 People usually cooperate with each other in their daily interaction by observing rules. The cooperative principle enables one participant in a conversation to communicate on the assumption that the other participant is being cooperative. In this, the CP has the function of regulating what is said so that it contributes to some assumed illocutionary or discoursed goal(s). One can ask why the CP is needed and why it cannot be sufficient in the interpretation of the message? In fact, the CP helps to account for the relation between 'sense and force'. In order to achieve the goal indicated by encoding the message, the speaker must choose a sense, which conveys the intended force. This stage is the one at which the interpersonal rhetoric, including the CP and the PP, imposes Input constraints upon the message. Assuming that the message is correctly transferred to the hearer, the hearer must go through the parallel stage of working out the force.

 Grice’s philosophical idea that cooperativeness underlies the use of language in communication made him formulate certain maxims that are together known as the maxims of cooperative principle. They are also sometimes named as ‘Gricean maxims’. These maxims or rules of conversation are the Centre around which Grice’s theory of Cooperative Principle revolves with the view to regulate conversation. The maxims of conversation that Grice formulated are: Maxim oQuality, Maxim of Quantity, Maxim of Relation, and Maxim of Manner.

Maxim of Quality

Try to make your contribution one that is true.

 a) Do not say what you believe to be false.

 b) Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.

 By this maxim, Grice means that speakers should always provide true and valid information.

Maxim of Quantity

 a) Make your contribution as informative as is required.

 b) Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.

 In this maxim, Grice means to say that while engaged in a conversation people should always check the quantity of information that is required at a particular stage and in a particular context of communication to be cooperative.

 Maxim of Relation Be relevant.

 According to this maxim, speakers should provide information that is relevant to the topic of conversation. The information must be related to the subject matter of their communication in some way.

Maxim of Manner Be perspicuous.

a) Avoid obscurity of expression.

 b) Avoid ambiguity.

 c) Be brief.

d) Be orderly.

 This maxim states that people should not use jargon, i.e. words or sentences that have more than one meaning, etc. They should be brief enough to give a chance to the other speaker to speak, and they should always present information in an orderly manner.

1.Maxim of Quantity

 Helmer:- Is it my little lark twittering out there ?

 Nora:- yes, It is

 Helmer:- is it my squirrel busting about ?

 Nora:- Yes.

Helmer:- When did my squirrel come ?

 Nora:- Just now

 In the above conversation we can see there is quantity of maxim in the conversation. As the response is not beyond it’s requirement.

2. Maxim of Quantity

 Nora:- Are you going too, Christmas ?

Mrs Linde:- Yes, I must go and look for room

 Kroastad:- Just arrived in town ?

Nora:- Yes, today .

So, this conversations of Nora, Kroastad and Mrs Linde show the quality of manner where the speakers are very true about whatever they are saying. There is no false assertion in this conversation. So it is the best example of Maxim Of Quality.

3.Relation

 Nora:- He was very near his end

 Kroastad:- And died soon afterwards ?

Nora:- yes

 Kroastad:- Tell, me Mrs Helmer , can you by any chance remember what day your father died ? On what day of the month, I mean.

 Nora:-Papa died on the 29th of September.

 So this conversation of Nora and Kroastad has the maxim of Relation of their conversation is relevant and stick to the particular topic. As Nora is responding to what ever Kroastad is asking. Thus it make relation and relevance in their conversation..

4.Maxim of Manner

Nora:- What are you going to do

Helmer:- Look here, take this letter and go towards with it at once. Find a messenger and tell him to deliver.

 Through the above conversation, we can understand how Helmer is talking in very Orderly manner. This conversation of Nora and Helmer does not have any ambiguity and obscurity and spoken in order. So this is the example of Maxim of Manner.

These are the observations of Grace’s Four maxims of Cooperative principle. There is also violation in there Maxims. From the conversation which is given below the Violation of the four maxims will be highlighted.

Violation of Maxim.

 "A speaker can be said to "violate" a Maxim when he knows that hearer will not know the truth and will only understand the surface meaning of the words. They intentionally generate misleading implication. Maxim violation is unconstitutionally, guilty deceiving. The speaker deliberately supplies insufficient information says', that is irrelevant or ambiguous, and the hearer wrongly assumes that they are cooperating".

(Grice)

1.      Violation of Quality

NORA :Hasn’t miss Sweet tooth been breaking rules in town today ?

 NORA:- No, what makes you think that ?

 Helmer:- Hasn’t she paid a visit to the confectioner ?

 Nora:- No, I assume to Torvald

 Helmer:- Not been nibbling sweet

 Nora:- No certainly not.

Here , Violation of Quality is mentioned in this conversation because Nora is not telling the truth .She lies to Helmer because he doesn’t want her to eat that sweet. In this conversation Nora is lying which is the Violation of Quality. According to the Grice there conversation should base on truth. But here Nora is constantly lying, which is the Violation of Quality.

 The another example of Violation of Quality is,

 2. Rank:- I have often heard Mrs Linda’s bake mentioned here, I think I speeds out on the stairs, when I arrived Mrs Linda’s .

 Mrs Linda :- Yes, I go up very slowly.

3. Rank:- Nothing more than that!

 Then I suppose you have come to town to amuse yourself with your entertainments ?

Mrs Linde:- I have come to look for entertainment.

4, Nora:- You know quite well I am not. What is this ? Some one has been at the lock

Nora:- At the lock ?

 Helmer:- Yes, someone has

 Nora:-Then it must have the children

 The conversation of Rank of Mrs Linden is violation of quality, because Rank is not sure that was Mrs Linde, He is just supposing that , she was Mrs Linde. It means that he is lacking the evidence, according to Grice that is violation of Quality He is not sure what he is trying to say.

 4. Helmer :- You know quite well I am not. What is this ? Some one has been at the lock

 Nora:- At the lock ?

 Helmer:- Yes, someone has

Nora:-Then it must have the children.

 In the above conversation there is also violation of Quality because here Nora is telling the truth .To hide her letter from Helmer she lies with him. Also her response is also in negative manner. She has no relevant evidence of what she is saying. It is also the violation of Quality.

VIOLATION OF QUANTITY

 Mrs Linden:- You spent a whole year in Italy z didn’t you ?

 Nora:- Yes, it was not easy matter to get away. I can tell you it was just after Ivar born, but naturally he had to go…

 Nora:- what a relief you must feel it

 Mrs Linde:- No , indeed I only feel my life unspeakably empty. No one to live for any more. That is why I would not stand them in my life ……

Here Violation of Quantity can be observed, because there is Exaggeration in their conversation. Nora is not just responding what Mrs Linde asking only .But she adding extra information which is not required. So this the Violation of Quantity.

 VIOLATION OF RELATION

Mrs Linde :- What do you suppose brought me to town ?

 Kroastad:- Do you mean that you gave e me a thought ?

 Nora:- What are you going to do there ?

 Helmer :- Empty the letter box . It is q quite full, there will be no room to put the news paper in tomorrow morning.

Violation of Maxim, where the responder doesn’t not respond exactly what the first person is asking. There conversation is irrelevant.

Violation of Manner

 VIOLATION OF MANNER

 Mrs Linde:- But , My dear Nora, Who man be.

 Nora :- Good gracious, can’t you understand? There was no old gentleman at all, It was only something that I uses to sit there and imagine .

Nora :- what do you mean ?

Kroastad:- You will be so kind as to send that I am allowed to keep my subordinate position in the Bank.

Through this conversation, the characters are violating the maxim of manner. Because there is ambiguity in this. They are not straight forward. They are rolling with their conversation. Nora is not directly saying about her Father, instead she is responding ambiguously. The is hidden conversation, which is one of the characteristics of Violation of Manner. In our daily conversation there we have many such violation, as Grice has introduced. Number of violations depend upon the personality of the characters, as In "The Doll's House" Nora is a lying character who always lies to only for her husband, she takes loan , and commits crime , only to her husband’s life. She lies to maintain her relationship with her husband . Thus, she always seems lying. So the violation depends upon personality. On the other hand many people are very habitual to say more than what they want. They always exaggerate their conversation. Many writers use these Maxims to make their impressive and creative. If we flair a maxim, we break it in a flagrant way, so that it is all concerned that it has broken. If this happens, then it is clear that the speaker is intending the hearer to infer some extra meaning over and above what is said. So we have the character of Nora. So Grice distinguishes what he calls, sentence meaning from utterance meaning and he refers to an utterance meaning indicate through a flout as an An Implicature.

Conclusion

We do not observe such violation in our daily conversation because of out social structure. Violation of maxim mainly occurs in our informal conversation. In the formal conversation we have to be true , we have to be clear and be in order. There should not be any ambiguity I’m our formal language.