Politeness Theories in Synge's Riders to the Sea

Abstract

This research tackles the play of Synge "Rider to the Sea" to find out whether the
theories of Leech (1983) and Brown and Levinson (1987) can be applied or not to this study.
The model of Leech (1983) consists of seven principles and for Brown and Levinson
(1987),it consists of two principles of politeness where one of them is positive and the other is
negative politeness.
It is hypothesed that:
1. There is a relation between the two theories.
2. Synge deals with these theories in such a way to depict his characters.
3. It is also hypothesed that every character deals with these principles in such a way to show
the events of the play.
The study concludes that there is a relation between the two theories in depicting the
characters then it shows the misery of life in the island throughout the language of the
characters.