Abstract: Downton Abbey is an acclaimed British costume drama which was first aired on ITV (Independent Television) in 2010. The story portrays the various entanglements and frictions of Lord Grantham’s family caused by property inheritance problems, presenting the lives of both British aristocrats and their servants under the strict hierarchy. The dowager countess lady Violet is the mother of Earl of Grantham who is often sharp-tongued, but shows the wisdom of getting insight into the nature of life with her humorous discourse which represents the typical communicative style of British aristocracy. Based on the Cooperation Principle, this paper tends to analyze lady Violet’s personalities revealed by her conversations in the drama so that audiences could have a better understanding and appreciation of the plot, the theme and values this drama passes to us through the role she plays in the family.

Key words: Downton Abbey; Violet; Cooperative Principle; personalities; conversation

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Grice’s Cooperative Principle-2

2.1 The Cooperative Principle and its Maxims-2

2.2 Violation of the Maxims and the Conversational Implicature-3

3. Violet Crawly--- A Well-respected Witty Old Lady-5

3.1 A Representative of English Aristocracy-5

3.2 The Guardian of the Family-8

4. A Revelation of Violet Crawlwy’s Personalities by Violating CP in Conversations-11

4.1 Keen and Humorous-12

4.2 Conservative and Arrogant-14

4.3 Holistic and Tolerant-17

4.4 Philanthropic and Benevolent-20

5. Conclusion-23

References-24