1.1 The Purpose of the Study
Pragmatics is a discipline that has undergone rapid development in recent years.Its influence is felt in many fields of study，for example，semiotics，linguistics and even anthropology.The term“Pragmatics”was first given，in 1938，by a philosopher Charles Morris in his Foundations of the Theory of Signs.Ever since then many philosophers and linguists have made great efforts to develop it.In 1977，with the initiation of Journal of Pragmatics，Pragmatics began to see the sight as an independent discipline.But Pragmatics being a specialized and mature branch of study must owe to two later events.In 1983，the first textbook in this field，Pragmatics，written by S.C.Levinson，was published.And then the year of 1986 witnessed the foundation of International Pragmatics Society.Ever since then many philosophers and linguists have made great efforts to develop it and people are paying more and more attention to core theories such as Austin-Searle speech act theory，Grice's theory ConversationalImplicature and other theories concerning conversational analysis.
After J.L.Austin's famous work How to Do Things with Words，which makes it clear that when people speak or write something，i.e.when they use languages，they perform certain intended actions，and they do things purposefully in contexts，pragmatics has focused on the conditions that permit speakers and writers to“achieve what they want to achieve by bringing about certain modifications in the behavior，knowledge，attitudes or beliefs of others”.It studies what language-users mean，rather than what their language means；it studies the rules and principles that determine their use oflanguage，rather than the rules oflanguage itself；and it studies what makes some uses of language more appropriate than others in certain situations.The development in pragmatics gradually makes scholars of many fields other than pragmatics come to the awareness of the significance of pragmatics to the development of their own specific disciplines.
Levinson points out pragmatics with philosophy as the basis will gradually make room for the experiencefounded research which features introspective materials.In other words，conceptual analysis will be replaced by careful and painstaking inductive work based on observation and experience.（Suo，2000，p.185）That is to say，pragmatics is to be refined from masses of conversational materials and with experience as the foundation.One of the most traditional applications of linguistics into literature lies in style and language.On the one hand，literary works can serve as a good supply oflanguage materials for linguistics；on the other hand，linguistic theories and research further facilitate our understanding of literary works.Nowadays，the application of linguistics into literature stands as one of the most active and original fields in literary research.With the development of pragmatics，the converging of the two has risen to a new height，thus hastening the appearance of a new marginal discipline—Literary Pragmatics.Many a scholar has proceeded deep and theoretical study on this application.In her Toward a Speech Act Theory of Literary Discourse，Mary Louise Pratt put forward a convincing argument that literary language is different in no way from ordinary language，and，of course，theories used in the latter case can also be possible in literary criticism.
There is no valid reason to assume that language stops being itself when it enters a literary work...it is both possible and necessary to develop a unified theory of discourse which allows us to talk about literature in the same terms we use to talk about all the other things people do with language.（Pratt，1977，p.98）
Nevertheless，in actual text analysis，only study on drama and poetry can find this kind of application.Few people once explored a specific literary work，especially novel，from the perspective of Speech Act Theory.Since we claim that literature，as a specific use of language，is not opposite to other kinds of usages of language，then we have every reason to analyze language in a novel with the help of SAT.What's more，as a major theory in pragmatics，SAT is also a very important theory whose guiding function in practice should not be underestimated.It holds that all utterances are performances of actions，i.e.saying something is doing something.It focuses on the exact meaning of an utterance in specific contexts，what the language-user intends to do by uttering or writing a sentence，and the communicative effect of that utterance.Prominent figures in this field include J.L.Austin and J.R.Searle，whose works clearly tell us that to acquire a full understanding of the meaning of utterances in certain context，analysis ofthe sentence structure and its semantic analysis are far from enough.We have to resort to speech act analysis of the utterances to take into full consideration the speaker or writer's real intention and the effect the language-user wants to achieve，or rather，the“illocutionary force”and the“perlocutionary force”ofthe utterances.
Though pragmatics began to emerge just 20 years ago，Jane Austen had achieved a great command in maneuvering various pragmatic techniques in favor of contents，so that，under the mask of an easy-going and happy tone，we can feel clearly their deep-rooted cultural deposit and penetrating philosophical thinking about daily life.We can't help exclaiming Jane Austen really deserves the name of a master in pragmatics.A detailed study on this literary heritage also proves that SAT will be applied into literature in a wider sense and in a more convincing manner.
Jane Austen wrote and completed six novels：Sense and Sensibility（1811），Pride and Prejudice（1813），Mansfield Park（1814），Emma（1815），Northanger Abbey（1818）and Persuasion（1818）.The most striking thing about Jane Austen and her novels is her seeming obliviousness to the big social and political upheavals in the outside world of her time，as one would naturally surmise from her realistic pictures of the small circle of landed gentry in provincial England leading their apparently tranquil lives.But in all her novels，the theme of the predominant money considerations in love and marriage shows the author's sharp insight into the very essence of the aristocratic bourgeois English society of her time—the primary importance of cash nexus.It is her all-pervading satire on her characters，usually conveyed with irony thought sometimes with forgiving humor，that makes Austen's novels still ofinterest to us today.
Not only being one of the most outstanding realist writers in the 19th century，Jane Austen was also an excellent master in pragmatics.After appreciating and tasting her artistic language，we will find it hard to forget various artistic enjoyment and psychological shock resulting from her unrivalled usage of pragmatic techniques.Virginia Woolf，a renown English woman writer，thought Jane Austen as“a perfect women artist”（Woolf，1986，p.126）and once said of Austen，“Of all great writers she is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness.”（Zhu，1984b，p.67）Edmund Wilson，a famous American literary critic，held that the past 100 years had experienced several revolutions in reading taste，which exerted a great influence on almost all writers with only Shakespeare and Jane Austen as exceptions.（Zhu，1985a，p.136）What he said is not too much at all.The six books ofAusten，having stood as a test of more than ten decades，obtained an all-round popularity with readers of every generation.Her novels pressed us to read them again and again，making us bursting into laughter incessantly.The implications were so far from their literal meanings that we are sure to obtain new feelings and deeper understanding after every reading.All these make it feasible to study the unique style from the perspective of SAT.
However，many a scholar focuses on the ideological content ofAusten novels，instead of her artistic language，let alone an extensive and systematic research with the employment of SAT.Since Austen herself paid so much attention to her refined language，we have no reason to neglect it in studying.On the contrary，great importance should be attached to it and a careful analysis must be proceeded，too.So，ifwe can analyze the use ofAusten's language in light of SAT，not only can Austen's artistic language be enriched，but also it is possible for us to acquire a deeper and more thorough understanding of Austen，so as to walk nearer to her.
The theme of Sense and Sensibility，love and marriage，was extremely commonplace.For those writers pursuing popular topics，such a choice carried with it nothing but vulgarity.Though important a theme is，a successful literary works lies basically in its artistic techniques.The French revolution，a hot theme in Austen's time，once attracted numerous writers，but how many works with this theme remain popular nowadays？While Sense and Sensibility，in great demand upon its circulation，still boasts thousands of readers today.Consequently，the theme is not a decisive factor in criticizing literary works.
Many critics consider the novel a satire，which，in general terms，is a literary work that uses irony and humor to expose human or social faults.Here，Austen does not tear down country life or folk；rather，she directs the reader's gaze to some of the human imperfections that threaten the virtues of her culture.Through its vivid characters，Sense and Sensibility contrasts many human qualities：depth and superficiality；honesty and dishonesty；pride and humility；independence and servile compliance；selfishness and generosity.Most importantly，Austen contrasts weak，dense people with those who have the maturity to recognize their own foibles.It is the latter group that the writer sees as the moral leaders of her society.
In 1870，Richard Simpson firstly suggested irony as the center of Austen novels，holding she made an extensive and subtle criticism on life by means of satire.After that，there are an immense number of volumes about Austen criticism，but researchers are accustomed to focusing on the ideological and literary nature of her works.Few articles concentrate on her artistic language.Pragmatics being a new branch of science，its application in literary criticism is comparatively later than other disciplines.In the 1990s，only two articles among what is collected expounded on the language in Sense and Sensibility from the perspective ofpragmatics.The shortcoming was that insufficient examples were provided and the theoretical frame was confined within a certain field of pragmatics.Due to the multitude of language material，this thesis has adopted SAT and made a tentative analysis on the language materials in Sense and Sensibility.Through this paper，I aim to prove that various ironic speech acts in this book can find convincing illustrations with SAT as the background，affirming that the use of SAT in literary criticism and appreciation has a solid theoretical foundation and is practically feasible.