Language Features of Lower-Class People in DICKENS' “A TALE OF TWO CITIES”

Abstract

What makes literature the way, it is in the first place, is the writer's eccentric use of language. He/she violates the common rules of writing or everyday speech, and according to Leech (1969) this process is called linguistic deviation by which a writer enjoys the freedom in departing from the conventional norms of a language.

     When a writer wants to make his fictional work creative, he sometimes uses linguistic deviations which according to Short (1969) have a strong and excellent psychological effect on the recipient's (hearer and reader) responses to the characters, and Dickens' unique use of language is not an exception that it has made him the greatest Victorian writer and novelist of England during the eighteenth century.

     This study attempts to explore the linguistic deviations, particularly the grammatical and phonological ones, and the purpose or the reason behind the usage of language deviations in Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities. This novel is stylistically analyzed based on Leech's theory (1969) in his work "A linguistic Guide to English Poetry" about linguistic deviations. The theory contains eight types of deviation, the current research, however, concentrates on the grammatical and phonological violations of the use of English language in Dickens' mentioned novel.

     The research problem is related to the exploration of linguistic deviation in Dickens' style. To what extent Dickens deviates from the linguistic conventions in his use of language as far as grammar and phonology are concerned? What is the purpose of incorporating linguistic deviations in A Tale of Two Cities?

     Dickens' novels have a number of different types of deviations. This study is significant as it presents a stylistic analysis from a linguistic point of view, and it sheds light on Charles Dickens' writing style and his creative use of language.