The Proposal Movie Script: An Analysis of Flouted Maxims Using Grice’s Cooperative Principle

Abstract

This thesis examines the flouted maxims in The Proposal movie. Cooperative Principle (CP) by Grice (1975) is used to analyze which maxim had been flouted in the movie’s utterances conducted by two main characters, Andrew and Margaret. Conversational Implicature by Grice is also used to classify the type of implicature occurred in the movie. Meanwhile, another theory called SPEAKING Concept from Hymes (1974) is used to reveal the reason behind those two characters flouting the maxims. The type of this research is a qualitative research, and the method of collecting data is documentary since the data are in the form of utterances. The findings of this research indicate that there are 22 implicatures conducted by Andrew and Margaret in The Proposal movie. Maxim of quality emerges as the most flouted maxim with 11 out of 22 utterances. Meanwhile, the most implicature in the movie has been classified into Particularized Conversational Implicature (PCI) as the implicature is bound to particular context with 14 implicatures. Andrew and Margaret flout maxim mostly in small talk genre, and their goals in flouting these maxims are frequently to be sarcastic or to mock the addressee in The Proposal movie.