3.3.1 Macro Ironic Speech Acts
Before macro ironic speech acts，let's first take a look at macro speech acts：
“The notion of a speech act，or that of illocutionary force，also seems to apply to utterances consisting of a sequence of sentences，viz.of a whole discourse or conversation.That is，we may utter several sentences and thereby，at least at a more global level，accomplish one speech act.We may promise，warn，state，congratulate or accuse by uttering a whole discourse.Typically so，even，in conventional or institutional cases such as laws，contracts，statements，honorific addresses，stories，indictments，defenses，advertisements or scholarly paper.In such cases，then，it is assumed that we accomplish what may be called a macro-speech-act.
It will be assumed that the notion of macro-speechact is necessary in order to understand the cognitive processes involved in the planning，execution，control，interpretation，and other processing of discourse and speech acts in communicative interaction”.
“It is assumed that the meaning of a discourse should be characterized at two levels，that is，the sentences and their linear，pairwise connections on the one hand，and the discourse，or fragments of it，taken as a whole，on the other hand.These accounts thus differentiate between a local or micro-level and a global or macrolevel of analysis.There are several linguistic，semiotic and cognitive reasons for this theoretical distinction.First of all，semantic macro-structures make explicit the important intuitive notion of topic of discourse：they specify what a discourse，as a whole，is about，in a non-trivial way，i.e.not by a simple enumeration of the In brief，macro speech acts in this book consist of two parts：literal narration and structural narration.Through literal narration，Austen showed her contempt and helplessness for abnormal marriage and social relations.Structural narration is also called dramatic narration，meaning to arrange the plots in a dramatic manner.In addition to literal narration，Austen also employed structural narration to express her philosophical meditation about the relationship between individuals and reality.She was expert in comparing different stages of a character，transforming the serious and misery into comedy，and concealing her deep pondering within the intricate plots.
It is well known that Sense and Sensibility featured its irony，which made it rank among one of the greatest world classics.With an ironic tone，Austen related how young girls found their ideal husbands，attacking the prevailing ridiculous sense of value.So Austen's macro speech acts in Sense and Sensibility are in fact all ironical，which could also be found in both her ironic narration and the whole structure of the story.In short，her macro ironic speech acts could also be divided into two parts：macro literal irony and macro structural irony.
Macro literal irony indicates that what the narrator meanings ofits respective sentences”.（Dijk，1976，p.78）
In literary works，macro speech acts refer to macro conversations and communications taking place between the author and the readers.In other words，macro speech acts equal the theme of a work.If the theme of Sense and Sensibility is to be summarized with a word，that should be“marriage”.Austen，with her penetrating eye，disclosed the dominance of money and status over daily life，pointing out bourgeois matrimony was nothing but money dealings and the combination of interests，and attacking fiercely the ridiculous value of worshipping blindly property and power.Meanwhile，Austen's criticism against the society was closely associated with her philosophical pondering about the relationship between individuals and reality.Both her moral criticism and philosophical meditation demanded a clear understanding of reality and ourselves.Only in this way，a harmonious social order and successful and happy matrimony might be established.In Sense and Sensibility，every marriage was settled in its right place.This arrangement was based on a rational recognition that any person has a fixed place in the society，and should make choices according to his or her specific social status.really means deviates totally from its literal meanings.This kind ofirony states clearly an attitude，but implies at the same time a quite different opinion，which is just what the narrator really wishes to express.As for macro structural irony or dramatic irony，it means，instead of using specific words or sentences，the narrator adopts an ironic structure with double meanings.In other words，the narrator expresses irony by arranging plots in a dramatic way.About the differences between the two，Abrams once said，“For literal irony，the narrator and readers share a common understanding of what is uttered，while the structural irony depends only on the readers to speculate of the narrator's real intention.”（Woolf，1986，p.168）
Through these two kinds of macro ironic speech acts with readers，Austen criticized and laughed at the deformed society without mercy，pondering in a penetrating way the relationship between individuals and the society.What's more，Austen combined her criticism and philosophical thinking，asking people to achieve a clear knowledge of reality and themselves，because every one was confined to a fixed place in a world worshipping property and power.Only by arranging individuals on the basis of the society，a harmonious social order could be established.