Grice: The Play

I'm unburying posts sent elsewhere, and there are these excerpts from D. Burton on English drama.

On p.28 Burton analyses Mrs Smith's dialogue at the beginning of the
Ionesco play. But since Ionesco is not Engish I never bothered. Anyone
knows if the thing is available on the net in English and FOR FREE?

Burton writes: "Mrs Smith is breaking maxim 4 and thus instantly and blatantly
estbalishing as an unreliable commentator".

She is French too, so who cares, if she is not being relevant to an English ear?

Burton says Mrs Smith also violates maxim no. 2, since Mrs Smith knows Mr Smith knows they have both eaten fish. I SAW the play but forget the details. Again if someone knows of an online free site with the English text welcome!

Mrs Smith also informs Mr Smith where they live, and what their child is
called, which is also anti-Gricean. But Ionesco's point is that the Smiths
are straight from a LEARN ENGLISH textbook, of course!

On p.35, Burton analyses Mrs Smith's

"Because the operation was successful on the doctor and on Parker it wasn't".

(the play is of course The Bald Prima Donna -- and that's the title of the
chapter I'm analysing).

I assume the answer to that is something like:

"Why do you say that the doctor was successful on the doctor but not on
Parker?" or something.

Burton writes:

Mrs Smith's utterance is clearly TAUTOLOGOUS and goes to analyse Grice on
tautologies (a flout of maxim No.1). Burton says that Mrs Smith is implicating that Mr Smith's question was stoopid (among other things).

On p.45, Burton analyses Mary's utterance

I bought myself a chamber pot

Burton says Mary is breaking maxim 5 (be relevant) -- there's a whole book
about that, by Sperber/Wilson, called Grice's Relevance. Burton says there's no remedy to assume relevance there. Burton notes that Mr and Mrs Smith don't even hear Mary!

On p.118 she mentions "conversational implicature", and quotes Grice "MEANING"! that's something. MEANING seldom gets quoted! On o.189 she quotes Grice logic & conversation again.

What interested me about Burton's book is that she gives the whole text of a Pinter play, which I'm transcribing below. My previous note "A teenager in love" was about Pinter at the Lincoln Centre next week. Manhannites enjoy!


TEXT TO PINTER'S PLAY cited by BURTON (UNABRIDGED). A is A, B is barman.

A. You was a bit busier earlier

B. Ah

A. Round about ten.

B. Ten was it?

A. About then. I passed by here about then.

B. You did

A. I noticed you were doing a bit o'trade

B. Yeah. Trade was quite brisk about ten

A. Noticed, yes.

I sold my last about then. About nine forty five.

B. you did.

A. Yes. Evening News it was. Twenty to ten. Went about.

B. Evening News it was.

A. Yes. It's the Star sometimes the last to go. O

B. Ah

A. Or the whatsisname

B Standard.

A That's it.

B. But Evening News it was today was it

A. That's it.

B. You didn't have any left then did you

A. Not after I sold that one.

B. It was after that you must have come by here then.

A. That's it. After I packed up

B. But you didn't stop here

A. When

B. I mean have a cup of tea here did you

A. About ten?

B. Yeah

A. No. I went up to Victoria

B. I thought I didn't see you.

A. I had to go to Victoria.

B. Trade very brisky about ten

A. Went to see if I could get hold of George.

B. who?

A. George.

B. George who.

A. George whatsisname.

B. oh. Did you get hold of him

A. Nay.

B. Not much about he is, is he

A. When you last saw him?

B. Oh, for years I haven't

A. Nor me

B. Arthritis used to suffer very bad.

A. Arthritis?

B. Yes

A. He never suffered from no arthritis.

B. And very bad too

A. Not when I knew him.

B. Must have left the area (PAUSE)

A. Evening news was the last to go

B. Not always the last though is it though

A. No. Sometimes it's the News.

Other times is one of them others.

No way of telling beforehand.

Until you've got your last one left, of course.

Then you can tell which one it's going to be.

B. Yes.

A. Oh yes. (PAUSE)

Must have left the area.

====