Article
George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man: A Stylistic Analysis
AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies
(2019)
Abstract
The plays of George Bernard Shaw offer criticism of modern societies and especially the glorification of war as in Arms and the Man. The present study investigates the usefulness of the application of Michael Halliday’s (2014) concept of “register” to Shaw’s Arms and theMan and uses a stylistic reading of the play to show how the term could yield important findings in the underlying meaning of the play. The research intends to identify the major components: field, tenor and mode in the play. The study shows that the concept of “register” can be applied to literary texts to explore the hidden meanings of the text and especially in Arms and the Man which deals with the glorification of war by statesmen. The present study highlights the role of the concept of register in shedding light on literary texts especially modern plays. It offers a new reading of the play because the linguistic aspects are a reflection of the depth of the underlying meanings of the literary text. The study recommends that the concept of register should be used by literary critics as a means of literary analysis.
Keywords
- Arms and the Man,
- George Bernard Shaw,
- pragmatics,
- realism,
- register,
- stylistics
Disciplines
Publication Date
Winter February 15, 2019
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol3no1.19
Citation Information
Raja Khaleel Al-Khalili & Jumana Jameel. "George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man: A Stylistic Analysis" AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies Vol. 3 Iss. 1 (2019) p. 246 - 256 ISSN: 2550-1542 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/awejfortranslation-literarystudies/127/