Discursive construction of andrea sachs’ identities in the movie the devil wears prada

In this study, the researcher focusesmainly on exploring linguistic devices employed to construct identities of the maincharacter- Andrea and making interpretations of such a constructio

Vietnam national university Hanoi University of languages and international studies Faculty of

Post-graduate studies -***** -

ĐÀO THỊ LAN TRANG

DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF ANDREA SACHS’ IDENTITIES IN

THE MOVIE “THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA”

(Nghiên cứu về cách kiến tạo đặc tính cá nhân thông qua diễn ngôn của nhân vật Andrea Sachs trong bộ phim “The devil wears Prada”)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field : English Linguistics

HANOI – 2018

Vietnam national university Hanoi University of languages and international studies Faculty of

Post-graduate studies -***** -

ĐÀO THỊ LAN TRANG

DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF ANDREA SACHS’ IDENTITIES IN

THE MOVIE “THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA”

(Nghiên cứu về cách kiến tạo đặc tính cá nhân thông qua diễn ngôn của nhân vật Andrea Sachs trong bộ phim “The devil wears Prada”)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field : English Linguistics

Supervisor : Dr NGUYỄN THỊ THU HÀ

HANOI – 2018

ACCEPTANCE PAGE

I hereby state that I: Đào Thị Lan Trang, group QH.2015, being a candidate for thedegree of Master of Arts, accept the requirements of the University relating to theretention and use of Master’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in thelibrary should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordancewith the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan orreproduction of the paper

Signature

From the bottom of my heart, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to mysupervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, who enthusiastically supported me during theprocess of doing research I owe much of my completion of this research to herinvaluable guidance and encouragement

I would also like to show my sincere thanks to my classmates who gave me helpfulsupport and advice to go through this strenuous process

Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks are for my loving family with theirunconditional love, understanding and encouragement for me over this wholeperiod of time

Undeniably, the intricate constructions of film characters’ identities have alwaysbeen a noteworthy matter of research as they play an integral part in transferringfilm messages to the audience One of the most attention- grabbing film in the early

21st century is “Devil wears Prada”, which has intrigued both linguists andresearchers in other fields in the search for its messages and associated ideologiesconveyed through its characters This paper makes an endeavour to shed light onlinguistic tools employed in the construction of the main character’s identities.Based on that, the paper also aims to interpret the film’s social messages as well asthe context impacting on such a character’s identity construction process

For the accomplishment of these purposes, critical discourse analysis andFairclough’s three-dimensional model have been employed, facilitating the analysis

of the film script The study’s findings show that the main linguistic devices used toconstruct the two most visible identities of the main character, gender identity andprofessional identity are euphemism, negation, modality, hedges, jargons, metaphorlexical resources and communicative styles Besides, the study, while giving aninsight into the social context, offers three interpretations drawn from theconstruction of the character’s identities They are: the entanglement of feminist andanti-feminist ideas, the resurgence of natural sexual difference and the commonlyheld concept of woman objectification

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACCEPTANCE PAGE i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Statement of the problem and the rationale for the research 1

1.2 Research aims and objectives 2

1.3 Research questions 2

1.4 Research methods 3

1.5 Scope of the research 4

1.6 The significance of the research 4

1.7 The structure of the study 5

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND & LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Discourse and discursive construction of identities 6

2.1.1 Discourse 6

2.1.2 Discursive construction of identities 7

2.2 Film discourse 8

2.3 Multiple Identities 9

2.3.1 Identities vs identity 9

2.3.2 Different perspectives on multiple identities 10

2.3.3 Some common types of social identities 12

2.4 Related studies 14

Summary of chapter two 16

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 17

3.1 General information on the film 17

3.2 Data selection method 18

3.3 Data analysis method and procedure 19

3.3.1 The frameworks for data analysis 19

3.3.2 Data analysis procedure 23

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 24

4.1 The construction of Andrea’s identities 24

4.1.1 Gender identity 24

4.1.2 Professional identity 34

4.2 Interpretations of Andrea’s identities construction under the influence of social context 41

4.2.1 Screen adaptations of “The Devil wears Prada” 41

4.2.2 The influence of postfeminism era on Andrea’s identities construction 42

Summary of chapter four 45

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 47

5.2 Limitations of the research 48

5.3 Suggestions for further studies 48

REFERENCES 49

APPENDIX 59

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This chapter states the problem and the rationale for the research, together with theaims and the scope of the study Also, the research questions, which work as theguidelines for the paper, are clearly presented in this chapter

1.1 Statement of the problem and the rationale for the research

It is undeniable that one’s identities and ideology are interconnected in reallife Studies such as Malesevic, S (2013) affirmed the decisive role of ideology inthe creation and preservation of an individual’s social identities In the context offilm discourse, the images of film characters cannot be constructed randomly, butwith a production crew’s purpose to reflect contemporary social problems, conveytheir own thoughts and beliefs towards the problem and deliver hidden messages ofsolutions to the audience In other words, film characters’ identities, especially those

of main characters, are, undoubtedly, the representation of ideology which caninfluence the audience when communicated through the screen In order to constructcharacters’ identities, a production crew must employ a discourse with differentstrategies in which linguistic devices are always an indispensable part.Undoubtedly, film characters’ lexical resources, grammatical structures,communication styles and so forth all contribute to portraying the identities that afilm crew wishes the audience to perceive, as stated in Hall (2013): “ In our use oflanguage, we represent a particular identity ” Consequently, research into thediscursive identity construction of a character is significant as it is an approach toshedding light on the use of strategies in constructing identities as well as theinfluence of social context on film production In this study, the researcher focusesmainly on exploring linguistic devices employed to construct identities of the maincharacter- Andrea and making interpretations of such a construction under hiddenideologies influenced by contemporary social context

“The devil wears Prada” was a very successful film, drawing not onlymoviegoers’ but many researchers’ attention for its implied messages on many

aspects of life Up to now, a certain number of studies and articles in a wide range offields have been involved in the film For example, Hudders, L (2012) focused onmarketing features and used the film as a demonstration to present ideas on people’smotives to purchase luxury brands Some other studies provided insight into media-related matters such as Gick, E & Gick, W (2007) on the fashion formation process in

a disclosure game between designers and media or Olya, A (2011) on the image of afemale fashion editor-in-chief presented through the media There are also studiestaking human and social issues of the film into account, such as Spiker, J.A (2012) &Erliska, E (2017) on female power, or Gelogullari, G.(2015) on female friendship inthe fashion industry Meanwhile, studies like Hartini, M (2011) focused on discussingspecific linguistic elements in the film script and so forth Nevertheless, currently, fewstudies are involved in the discursive construction of a character’s identities in the film

“The Devil wears Prada”

Also, the study into this matter can be a reference source for furtherinvestigation into related matters of the film “The devil wears Prada” in specific,and of film discourse in general

1.2 Research aims and objectives

In general, the study aims at exploring the relationship between discourseand the construction of a film character’s identities

In particular, the study has two objectives One is exploring linguistic devicesemployed in the construction of identities of the main character in “The devil wearsPrada” – Andrea The other is discovering the social context of the film and discusssuch identities construction in the light of the context

1.3 Research questions

The study seeks the answers to the two questions The first question isrelated to the discursive construction of the main character’s gender andprofessional identity This question could be solved primarily based onFairclough’s three-dimensional model (2010) The second question is concernedwith the impact of the contemporary social context on the construction of identities

For this question, the researcher will present her own interpretations to shed light

on the factors determining such construction of identities for the main Andrea

character-All in all, the two targeted research questions are as follows:

1. How are Andrea Sachs’ gender and professional identities discursively constructed?

2. How is the discursive construction of those identities possibly influenced

by the contemporary social context?

1.4 Research methods

To resolve the above-mentioned research questions, the researcher will employ aqualitative approach to the analysis of conversations between Andrea Sachs andother characters in the film The analysis will be mainly based on Fairclough’sthree-dimensional framework (2010) in which text, discourse practice and socialpractice are the three primary dimensions According to this framework, discourseanalysis consists of three steps, involving text analysis, interpretation andexplanation Text analysis, as mentioned before in Fairclough, N (1989), is

“concerned with formal properties of text” such as the choice of vocabulary,grammar and text structure Meanwhile, interpretation is involved in “therelationship between the text and interaction” when regarding the text as “theproduct of a production process” That is, in this step, discourse is not only the textbut also a form of discursive practice related to how people produce and how otherscomprehend as well as interpret the given text Finally, explanation step isconcerned with the mutual impact of social contexts and the process of productionand interpretation

The researcher will manually scrutinize the film’s script, especially AndreaSachs’ lines Then, the researcher will take note of linguistic means and attempt tointerpret the underlying messages regarding Andrea Sachs’ identities Also, the

researcher will search for information related to the social context of the film, based

on the year it was released and its detected hidden messages

In terms of the study’s results, for the first research question, specific linguisticaspects will be presented with quotes from Andrea’s conversations whereas for thesecond question, the researcher’s own interpretations will be revealed

1.5 Scope of the research

Recently, multimodality, which involves the use of several modes (linguistic,aural, spatial, visual resources) to transmit messages, is a prevalent matter ofconcern among researchers doing discourse analysis However, within the scope ofthis study, only linguistic aspects such as lexical use, grammatical structures and tosome extent, communication styles will be analyzed as they best serve to answer theresearch questions Although some visual features may be incorporated in the dataanalysis procedure, they will not serve as the main subject of analysis, but onlyassist to cast light on the context of the film

In addition, as gender and professional identities are the most noticeablethroughout the film, the researcher decided to focus on analyzing them, instead ofother aspects of multiple identities such as sexual identity, ethnic identity, nationalidentity and so forth While gender identity refers to the concept of self as male,female, a mixture or neither, professional identity is related to one’s self-perceptionswithin the workplace’s context and the way one communicates this to others

1.6 The significance of the research

In recent years, there have been a number of studies on discourse analysis ingeneral and on the relationship between language, identity and society in particular

It is widely held by many studies that through the use of language, a certain identity

is represented and constructed and “while we have some choice in the ways wechoose to create ourselves, our every action takes place within a social context, andthus can never be understood apart from it.” (Hall, 2013:35) Undoubtedly, thispaper, by analyzing film discourse and the construction of a character’s identities as

a clear illustration for the relationship between the social

context, identity and language use, will serve as a worthy contribution to the currentliterature on this issue.

Therefore, for researchers who happen to develop an interest in the sametopic of multiple identities and identity construction in film discourse or relatedmatters, this paper could be a reliable and helpful source for their studies Also, thisstudy could be a reading material for general readers to understand more about therelationship between language, identity and society

1.7 The structure of the study

The study includes the following chapters:

Chapter 1 – Introduction – presents information on the statement of theproblem and the rationale for the research, research aims and objectives, researchquestions, scope and the significance of the study

Chapter 2 – Theoretical background and literature review – provides thebackground knowledge of the subject matter as well as a review on related studies

Chapter 3 – Methodology – describes the theoretical frameworks as the basis

of the research as well as the data analysis method and procedure

Chapter 4 – Results and discussion –analyzes, demonstrates and discusses theresults that the researcher obtained from the data collected with reference to the tworesearch questions

Chapter 5 – Conclusion – summarizes the main findings of the research andpresents the limitations of the research as well as some suggestions for furtherstudies Following this chapter are References and Appendix

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND & LITERATURE REVIEW

This second chapter introduces the theoretical background of the study, in whichaspects of discourse and multiple identities as well as a review on related studies arerespectively presented

2.1 Discourse and discursive construction of identities

2.1.1 Discourse

Although the word “discourse” originally comes from the Latin word

“discursus” that means conversation or speech, it has always triggered a controversy

as to what it truly is In fact, various definitions of discourse have been offered byresearchers One of them is Foucault, M (1972) which claimed that discourse is

“sometimes as the general domain of all statements, sometimes as an individualizedgroup of statements, and sometimes as a regulated practice that accounts for anumber of statements.” (p.80) This seems to be a comprehensive definition as itcovers different interpretations of discourse corresponding to various purposes Thefirst view of discourse as “the general domain of all statements” is the widest onewhich refers to meaningful texts which have certain effects on the real world.Another view of discourse, based on Foucault’s above-mentioned claim, refers to agroup of purposeful, coherent utterances such as discourse of femininity ordiscourse of imperialism It is well supported by Fairclough, N (2010) whichmaintained that discourse could refer to the historical context and social domain inwhich it takes place such as the 19th century, the 20th century, late capitalist or post-feminism, or there could be different discourses like legal discourse, medicaldiscourse, scientific discourse, media discourse and so forth Although comparedwith the first view, discourse in the second definition becomes more specific andcharacterized, both appear to place their main focus on the content of texts orutterances

In contrast, Foucault’s third definition focuses more on the linguistic rules andregulations in producing discourse In this sense, discourse is seemingly viewed not

as the meaning of the “statements” themselves, but the use of language inrelationship with social practices, and with the purposes of discourse’s producerstowards their target audience This viewpoint is also implied by Jaworski, A &Coupland, N (1999) which contended that discourse is the use of language to reflectsocial hierarchy, and it is a crucial concept to understand society Another similardefinition with further explanations is offered in Widdowson, H (1984), whichdefined discourse as “a communicative process” in which “information is conveyed,intentions made clear, and its linguistic product is Text.” (p.100) Brown and Yule(1983) also shared the same view of discourse, when pinpointing that “the analysis

of discourse is, necessarily, the analysis of language in use As such it cannot berestricted to the description of linguistic forms independent from the purposes orfunctions which these forms are designed to serve in human affairs.” (p.1)

Meanwhile, expanding from the view of discourse as the use of language,Fairclough, N (2003) contended discourse can also be presented through pictures,dispositions or spatial arrangements

Overall, to serve the purpose of the study, the researcher adopts the view thatdiscourse is the use of language serving to express a message from the writer orspeaker or to construct social realities, including one’s identities Analyzing thediscourse, within the scope of this study, is analyzing the language use in thecontext which contributes to forming identities

2.1.2 Discursive construction of identities

Many researchers come to a consensus that one’s identities are constructed indiscourse According to Butler, J (1990), identities are not something that onepossesses, but something that one creates and displays through discourses Althoughthis viewpoint does not seem adequate as it ignores personal, innate identity that oneowns, it is true that many identities of a person are discursively built over time,depending on the social context Similarly, Lakoff, R (1990) stated clearly that “the

way people talk tells us the truth about them.” (p.257) In other words, discourse is ameans for a person to express his or her identities.

The relationship between discourse and the identities construction isrepeatedly mentioned in many other studies Kroskrity, P.V (1999) mentionedidentities are in association with linguistic construction, and language serves as atool for constructing those identities This viewpoint is further supported by Beltz,J.A (2002) which stated identities and language hold “an intimate and mutuallyconstitutive relation” as language has symbolic functions and contributes to formingone’s role in society (p.16) Compared with the two previous viewpoints, Ros iSolé, C (2004) and Shi, X (2006) added discursive strategies besides language asthe basis of identity construction

On the whole, this study aims at discovering the construction of the maincharacter’s identities through the discourse of the film “The devil wears Prada” To

be more specific, within the scope of the study, linguistic devices used in the filmlines of Andrea (the main character) are mainly investigated, which helps unfold theproducers’ discursive construction of the character’s identities in order to conveytheir messages to the audience

2.2 Film discourse

Obviously, film discourse is one of the branches of media discourse.According to Dynel, M (2011), film discourse refers to “fictional characters’communication” in a film which is composed of both verbal and non-verbalelements Film discourse differs from cinematic discourse in that the latter refers toaudiovisual features such as cinematography, montage, sound design used by filmmakers to communicate with or influence viewers This viewpoint is supported andexpanded by Chovanec, J (2011) which considered film discourse as “scripted” or

“constructed” conversations held by fictional characters

Compared with non-fictional or everyday discourse, film discourse hasdifferent characteristics For example, it is not spontaneous, but prepared or

“scripted” beforehand Another difference is that film discourse is permanent but

“must appear to be as ephemeral as the speech it imitates” as stated in Chothia, J.(1978) One more distinction of film discourse is the speaker’s (the actor’s)reproduction of words instead of real-life intentional communication Because ofthese characteristics, some studies such as Schegloff, E A (1988), Emmison, M.(1993) objected to the inclusion of film discourse in linguistic analysis.Nevertheless, many studies, including Herman, V (1995), Berliner, T (1999),Kozloff, S (2000) or Richardson, K (2010) maintained that film discourse reflectseveryday language use or communicative patterns associated with “reality code” or

“cultural realism” As stated in Herman (1995), real-life language or the principlesforming a meaningful exchange of speech in daily contexts are “the resource”scriptwriters employ to construct dialogues Also, Kozloff, S (2000) claimed filmscript complies with “what a culture at a given time agrees to accept as plausible,everyday, authentic” Therefore, film discourse is undeniably a part of linguisticanalysis

Within the scope of this study, the researcher chose to focus mainly onanalyzing verbal elements in the film “the Devil wears Prada”

2.3 Multiple Identities

2.3.1 Identities vs identity

Identity, in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8th edition), is defined as

“the characteristics, feelings or beliefs that distinguish people from others.” Fromthis definition, identity can be seen as a unique feature one has only to himself orherself, or a phenomenon which is internal only

However, studies like Vygotsky, L (1978), Norton, B (2000) asserted thatidentity is a phenomenon continually produced in and by individuals when theysocially interact with others This viewpoint turned identity into a sociallyconstructed factor by attaching the importance to social interaction in one’s identityconstruction process, and was further supported by many other studies.Furthermore, Benwell, B & Stokoe, E (2006) asserted that identity is defined

primarily “by virtue of its membership of a particular group or groups” Theresearcher agrees with the opinion of identity as a combination of both internal andexternal elements because it is more justified and comprehensive.

Following this revised definition of “identity”, it is indicated by many studiesthat a person possesses multiple identities, since they identify themselves withvarious groups or organizations, not a single one That marks the emergence of theterm “multiple identities” among researchers According to Baggioni, D &Kasbarian, J.M (1996), one’s identities are divided into personal identity andcollective identity (or social identity as named in many discourse studies) and statedthat social identities are formed from the knowledge of one’s belonging to a socialgroup along with his emotions attached to it Furthermore, a number of studies such

as Kroskrity, P.V (1999), Duszak, A (2002), Pavlenko, A & Blackledge, A.(2004), Ramarajan, L (2014) reached a consensus that an individual is thecombination of multiple identities As stated in Duszak, A (2002), a certain identity

is associated with a continuum of “ingroupness” and “outgroupness” and a personcan have different membership, equivalent to different identities Bhattacharya, C

B, Rao, H & Glynn, M A (1995) and Ramarajan, L (2014) shared the same viewthat each social group offers a particular member- identity, from which peopleincorporate to form their individual multiple identities, but clarified possible socialgroups “such as organizational membership, profession, gender, ethnicity, religion,nation or family”

To sum up, the researcher adopts the view that multiple identities can exist in the same person and the term “identities” refers to both social group-basedidentities as well as inherent personal identity To serve the purpose of the study, theresearcher decided to focus mainly on social identities, which, in particular, aregender identity and professional identity of the main character, Andrea Sachs

co-2.3.2 Different perspectives on multiple identities

According to Ramarajan, L (2014) – a literature review about multipleidentities, there are currently five main perspectives employed to resolve multipleidentities- related matters.

The first is social psychological perspective, in relation with social identitytheory, which maintains identities are in association with social groups andorganized in a changing hierarchy In other words, a single identity can suppressothers and become the most dominant to guide one’s manner, or two socialidentities may interchange their salience, depending on situations

The second is microsociological perspective whose focus is the negotiation

of one’s identities with other people or that among one’s own identities Thisperspective contends that one’s identities are connected with his roles in the socialstructure The meanings associated with the roles will be personalized, formingone’s own identities Although this perspective agrees that people have multipleidentities organized in a dominance hierarchy, it assumes an identity becomes themost salient, depending on the importance attached to it by the individual, not onthe context

The third is psychodynamic perspective which claims identities grow andemerge over time That is, there will be contexts such as interpersonal relationshipsthat trigger one to acquire new identities This perspective also pinpoints thatidentities could be conveyed through our narrations about ourselves to others, andthe bond of these identities develops over time, from separation and conflict tounity Furthermore, this perspective raises the issue of negative self aspects beingprojected onto others as well as the unawareness of hidden identities

The forth is critical perspective which is in association with Foucauldian ideathat identities are related to power It emphasizes that the self is “fragmented” inwhich no single identity exists Identities could be made to appear stable, singularand dominant by means of power operation It is the power that makes the unity anachievement

The last to be mentioned is intersectionality perspective This theory focuses

on the “mutually constitutive” relationships among multiple identities and takeshistorical as well as structural inequalities among social groups into consideration.However, it overlooks the subjective dimension of identity, or one’s self-definitions

In summary, to suit the purpose of study, although there could be someinvolvements of other perspectives, social psychological and psychodynamicperspectives are mainly adopted In particular, Andrea’s gender identity andprofessional identity are associated with society’s expectations of the female groupand the fashion company’s of employees in the workplace Besides, Andrea’stransformation from being unprofessional to professional at work proves that a newidentity, under favorable contexts and appropriate interpersonal relationships, could

be acquired as mentioned in the psychodynamic perspective

2.3.3 Some common types of social identities

 Gender identity is a complicated subject matter, which have caught many

researchers’ attention It differs from sexual identity in that the former refers to theconcept of self as male, female or a blend or neither One’s gender identity may

match their sex assigned at birth or not Also, gender identity is formed as acombination of both inherent and environmental factors, which differs it fromgender role Gender role is formed according to social expectations of appropriateappearance and manner for a male or female However, gender identity is composed

of one’s self-identification on his or her own gender and his or her conformity tosocially assigned characteristics that he or she believes to be able to convey thatgender to the community

Currently, some common gender identities detected are: agender (for aperson who identifies themselves as having no gender), androgynous (for someonewho possesses both masculine and feminine traits), bigender (for an individual whoswitches gender in different contexts), cisgender or gender normative (for a personwhose gender identity well matches his or her natal sex and the person totally

complies with social expectations of a male or female’s appearance and behavior),gender nonconforming (for an individual who don’t conform to social expectationsfor their natal sex), transgender, including both trans man and trans woman (forsomeone whose gender identity is different from social expectations and normallychoose to have physical transitions later), genderqueer (for a person who identifytheir gender as neither male or female but somewhere in between), gender fluid (forpeople who feel comfortable with changing notion of their own gender), pangander(for individuals who identify themselves as possessing all the genders).

 Sexual identity refers to sexual or romantic feelings for particular people For

example, people whose sexual identity is “straight” or “heterosexual” feel attracted

to people of a different gender Meanwhile, people who identify themselves as

“queer” (lesbian, gay, bisexual or pansexual) feel attracted to people of the samegender or have feelings for more than one gender

 Ethnic identity or the extent to which one identifies with a particular ethnic

group(s) It includes four main elements: ethnic awareness (understanding one’s owngroup in contrast with other groups), ethnic self-identification (the label used for one’sown group), ethnic attitudes (thoughts or feelings about the group) and ethnic behaviors(behavior patterns resulting from the sense of belonging to the group)

 Class identity, as stated in some research, is defined in terms of education,

income or occupation Lower class is associated with lower academic performance andlower occupational incomes

 Age identity refers to one’s experience of aging Age identity results from the

processes in which one “identifies with or distances oneself from different aspects

of the aging process

 Identity of (Dis)ability is the identity based on physical and mental disabilities of

a person It is the identity struggle of a person because of his or her desire to be

considered “normal” and at the same time, to manage the disabled self to achieve life goals

 National identity is the identity of oneself as belonging to a nation Wodak, R.

et.al (1999) indicated that national identity “is constructed and conveyed in

discourse, predominantly in narratives of national culture.”

 Professional identity refers to “how we perceive ourselves within our

occupational context and how we communicate this to others”, as stated in Neary,

S (2014) Meanwhile, Ibarra, H (1999) defined it as the product of “worksocialization and observation of peers” In other words, professional identity isformed when one, through their communication and observation, draws from theirworking environment and work roles characteristics to identify who they are andwhat they do in the work place Through interaction with others, one will know theexpectations others have of his or her job and the culture of the company based onwhich he or she can adopt suitable attitudes, behavior or values to become amember of the workplace

Within the scope of this study, gender identity and professional identity arechosen to be analyzed as they are the most noticeable in the construction of themain character’s identities

2.4 Related studies

Regarding film discourse, there is a growing number of articles and studieswith different methods used to investigate the construction of a character’sidentities Some research investigated the construction of a certain identity throughlinguistic aspects For instance, Lawless, K (2014) examined the construction ofRussian identity in James Bond films by analyzing linguistic representation ofRussia in the discourse of James Bond films It detected that the ideologicalmessage of the film about Russians and their culture is negative as it projectsstereotypes of Russia and subject Russians to negative labelling as well asovergeneralisations One more example is Felemban, F (2011), which exploredlinguistic devices in the construction of the main character’s ethnic-nationalidentity, and the study found out two most noticeable strategies: interlanguage andcode-switching Also, Hill-Parks, E (2011) examines identity construction of

characters in four films directed by Christopher Nolan through performative acts incontemporary culture and narrative techniques The study detected that all the maincharacters in Nolan’s films possessed identity fluidity, offering the audiencefreedom in interpretations of the characters.

Meanwhile, there are studies investigating the combination of differentfactors involving identity construction One example to illustrate this is Mustonen,

T (2015) which explored the ways linguistic aspects and multimodality areintegrated to construct the identities of women in the HBO series “Girls” One of itsfindings is that the use of some negative lexical items does not adversely influencethe female characters’ identity construction and the female characters have power tochange the meaning of those negative words Similarly, Hayes, T & Black, S.(2003) also studied the use of modality in the construction of disability identity aspitiful characters in 13 most popular Hollywood movies Also, Valanciunas, D.(2008) investigated two Indian films to see the ways Indian identity is constructedthrough the director’s use of linguistic aspects and symbols, and the studyconcluded that Hinduism is inseparable from Indian national identity and mythserves to convey problems in contemporary India, patriotism and national identity.Agustina, P & Maimunah, M (2013) combined both narrative and non-narrativeaspects (costume, make-up ) with the help of queer theory to investigate theconstruction of gender identity in the chosen film The study found out that the film

is double-sided, both promoting queer ideas about gender and establishingtraditional gender roles, as a strategy to insert queer issue tactically in theheteronormative society

Although the popular trend of discourse analysis at present is multimodality,

in this study, the researcher will mainly focus on verbal aspects of the film as theybest convey the main character’s identities Also, unlike the studies mentionedabove, the researcher will investigate the combination of two identities instead ofone as the relationship between these two identities helps to promote the film’s

messages Professional identity which is rarely mentioned in research of filmdiscourse will also be discussed by the researcher.

Summary of chapter two

On the whole, this chapter gives information on theories of the main termsthat the study is involved They are: discourse, discursive construction of identities,film discourse, multiple identities, different perspectives on multiple identities andsome common types of social identities This chapter also offers a review on relatedstudies which are about the discursive construction of film characters Theinformation on methodology of the study will be presented in the next chapter

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

In the previous chapter, the theoretical knowledge on the research topic and relatedstudies has been briefly reviewed This chapter will present the methods of datacollection and analysis in order to maximize the study’s validity and reliability

3.1 General information on the film

The study is involved with the film “The devil wears Prada” Released in

2006, it is the adaptation of the novel of the same title written by Lauren Weisberger

in 2003, which is said to be based on the writer’s real experience of being anassistant for Anna Wintour – the editor of the prestigious fashion magazine, Vogue.The film is about Andrea Sachs, a recent university graduate, going to New York topursue her dream as a journalist She lands a job “a million girls would kill for” in afashion magazine as a junior assistant to the powerful editor-in-chief, MirandaPriestly Although at first, Andrea hardly impresses her boss with her fashionknowledge and style, she is still offered the job because of her good résumé and herpromising speech of work ethics However, she continuously runs into trouble whenbeing asked to perform difficult tasks from Miranda who just wants things to bedone quickly and never cares about her employees Andrea also receives negativecomments from her colleagues and finds it hard to be a part of the fashion industry.One day, she is in a run-though with Miranda, chuckling when she cannot recognizethe difference between the two belts for a dress and mistakenly calls fashion as

“stuff” This drives Miranda crazy and after giving Andrea a long, humiliatinglecture on the importance of fashion, Miranda assigns her even more difficult,impossible tasks, one of which is getting a flight during a hurricane Andrea is sostressed that she seeks consolation from her colleague, Nigel, who changes all herthoughts and attitudes toward the fashion industry and her job Later, with the help

of Nigel, Andrea begins to beautify herself with a new hair style, make-up and chicclothes, which surprises everybody, including Miranda With the transformation ofher appearance and knowledge about fashion, Andrea

seems to do her job better She even has the chance to meet important figures, one

of whom is Christian Thompson, a writer she admires However, she spends lesstime for her social relationships: her boyfriend, parents and friends One day, whiledelivering an important book to Miranda’s house, she makes a big mistake whenaccidentally becoming the witness of Miranda and her husband’s argument Thisleads to another impossible task from Miranda: finding the unpublished manuscript

of the new Harry Potter book Andrea nearly quits the job, but is fortunately assisted

by Christian Thompson and still succeeds in that task She also gains some attentionfrom Miranda since then and is even given the chance to attend Paris fashion event

in place of Emily, the senior assistant During that time, Andrea has a short-termlove affair with Thompson and happens to hear of Miranda’s being replaced Sheinsists on informing her boss, without knowing that Miranda has already solved theproblem by betraying one of the loyal employees, Nigel Afterwards, Mirandaappreciates Andrea’s efforts and gives her compliments, one of which is Andrea’sbeing like her It is an instant wake-up call to Andrea who does not want to be anicy, authoritative boss, taking little care of other people The film culminates withAndrea’s leaving the fashion workplace and having a successful interview in aneditorial of a male boss, and Miranda’s sitting in a car with a smile for Andrea’schoice

3.2 Data selection method

The chosen data were conversations of Andrea with other film characterswhich were selected manually by the researcher While reading the film scriptthoroughly, the researcher was able to collect 42 conversations which help to seekthe answers to the two research questions The researcher decided to group theseconversations in accordance with work and non-work situations and number themfrom 1 to 42, for an easier investigation and clearer presentation of linguisticdevices used in different circumstances to construct the two targeted identities.Based on this, further investigation into the social context of the film could befacilitated

3.3 Data analysis method and procedure

3.3.1 The frameworks for data analysis

3.3.1.1 Critical discourse analysis (CDA)

CDA was first developed by the Lancaster school of linguists where NormanFairclough is a distinguished figure According to Fairclough, N., Mulderrig, J &Wodak, R (2011), CDA is not a methodology, but an “interdisciplinary movement”encompassing various approaches and theoretical models which share the sameinterest in social issues like power, inequality or cultural changes The word

“critical” implies hidden connections and causes in discourse such as therelationship between language and one’s identity or ideology Previously, Wodak,

R & Meyer, M (2001) presented similar ideas in their studies by claiming thatCDA views language as a social practice to contribute to “social reproduction andchange” and investigating the context of language use is an important issue This isfurther supported by Van Dijk, T (2008) which effectively clarified the nature ofCDA as detecting the way dimensions like social power or inequality arereproduced in text in combination with a specific context

Lin, A (2014) gave an overview on five common principles of CDA whichare: its focus on social problems posed by inappropriate uses of discourse, its nature

as a “problem-oriented form” of applied linguistics, its involvement with differentdisciplines, which requires flexibility from users, its interest in disadvantaged, lesspower groups, and its demand on the researcher’s justification of subjectivity

To the extent of this study, CDA can be employed to describe, interpret andexplain relationships among language use and identities constructed Also, it couldhelp the researcher disclose the social factors influencing such practice of language

in building the image of the main character Therefore, the researcher found CDAparticularly relevant to the search for the answers to the two research questions

3.3.1.2 Fairclough’s three-dimensional model (2010)

As can be shown in the following diagram, this model involves threeinterrelated dimensions of discourse, which can be used for the process of discourseanalysis

The lowest level in this model is micro-level At this level, linguistic andsemiotic properties of the text will be described and analyzed to shed light on theways they are employed to meet the text producer’s purposes Previously, fortextual analysis, Fairclough, N (1989) proposed a list of ten questions divided intothree segments, as follows:

3 What expressive values do words have?

4 And what metaphors are used?

5 What experiential values do grammatical features have? (types of processand participants, the use of normalization, the use of active or passive sentences)

6 What relational values do grammatical features have? (the use of modes, important features of relational modality)

7 What expressive values do grammatical features have? (important features ofrelational modality)

8 How are (simple) sentences linked together? (the use of logical connectors, the characterization of complex sentences)

9 What interactional conventions are used?

10 What larger scale structures does the text have?

However, because the list of questions are just suggestive and because the focus

of the study is only gender identity and professional identity, the researcher decidednot to employ those questions In this study, the researcher’s analysis of the maincharacter’s identities is primarily based on the meaning of lexical resources in thefilm script and some categories proposed by Lakoff (1975), Mulac et al (2001) andTannen (1990) They are:

 Euphemism is polite, implicit expressions used to replace words which are

considered unpleasant to listeners

 Intensifiers are adverbs such as “very”, “so”, “definitely”, “really” used to add

emphasis to another word, rather than express meaning themselves

 Hyperbole is the use of exaggerated language, including strong adjectives,

metaphorical structures, negative structures and so forth, to place an emphasis on thegiven information and heighten the effects on listeners

 Modality is the speaker’s use of modal verbs and auxiliaries to express

attitudes towards the world It can help convey the level of certainty, willingness,obligation, ability or politeness

 Hedges are words like “I think”, “I suppose”, “kind of”, “you know” used

when speakers are not confident about something or when they wish to avoidunfriendliness or unkindness and maintain politeness in their speech

 Rapport talk is the use of language as a way to establish connections, create

intimacy and negotiate relationships

Another level in the model is meso-level which is associated with discoursepractice It is deemed as the link between the text and socio-cultural practice asthrough text production and consumption, it becomes part of the social reality Inparticular, the meso-level involves the type of discourse used, the producers andtheir practices to transmit messages through the discourse as well as the targetaudience of the discourse Within the scope of the study, the researcher presentedinformation about the production crew and the target audience of the film “Thedevil wears Prada” to cast light on the rationale behind such a construction ofidentities for the main character (Andrea), along with interpretations of themessages derived from that discourse practice for the target audience Besides, one

of the production crew’s practices, the changes of details from the original novel,was also revealed at this level

The macro-level involves socio-cultural practice, explaining the relationshipbetween the discourse process mentioned above and the social conditions According toFairclough, N (1995), analyzing social practice is equivalent to analyzing the

“surrounding circumstances” which both influence and are influenced by the discourse

In other words, the contemporary society has an effect on the producers’ thoughts andbeliefs, which is the driving force of their certain discourse practice, and this, in turn,has a significant impact on the audience who are the consumers of the discourse oreven on the whole society In this study, the researcher, after studying the micro-leveland meso-level, detected that the film was produced and released in the postfeminismera Gerbner, G (1998) indicated that some media creators who used strategies againstprinciples of feminist ideology wanted women to realize the need to accept moretraditional values Faludi, S (1992) also shared the same idea and added that notionssuch as the shortage of men were incorporated in films, magazines and so forth in order

to “motivate women to be less career-oriented and purchase consumer products toincrease their physical attractiveness” All in all, at this level, the researcher revealedand analyzed the influence of the postfeminism era on the practice of constructingAndrea’s identities

3.3.2 Data analysis procedure

In general, the procedure of data analysis is as follows:

First, the researcher extracted the main character’s conversations whichprovide detail for investigation Then, the researcher read them thoroughly todiscover the most clearly portrayed identities Subsequently, the data were dividedinto different extracts, numbered and displayed in the appendix Next, the researcherapplied the micro-level of Fairclough’s three-dimensional model (2010) intoanalyzing the conversations to explore linguistic aspects employed in the character’sidentities construction to answer the first research question The results werepresented with numbered examples with reference to their extracts in the appendix

After that, the researcher sought background information of the film: theproduction crew, the audience, the year of publication and the differences from thenovel version Next, the researcher re-read the conversations, synthesized theinformation and do some interpretations of the messages transmitted through thefilm, which is the driving force of the discourse practice This stage partly helped toanswer the second research question

The second research question was also resolved through the final stage wherethe researcher analyzed information about the film’s year of publication, theaudience and the film’s messages as clues to the social context of the film In otherwords, the researcher worked out and described the social factors behind the filmafter analyzing that the film was released in the very early of the 20th century, thetarget audience is young women, and the messages are related to traditional values

or roles of women in society

Summary of chapter three

On the whole, this chapter presents the summary of the film which the study

is involved in Also the chapter clarifies the manual method of selecting data as well

as the two main frameworks, CDA and Fairclough (2010), based on which dataanalysis is conducted In addition, this chapter provides a list of detailed steps in the

data analysis procedure The next chapter will give details on the study’s results anddiscussion.

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter will present the researcher’s findings in two parts The first part

is the analysis of the conversations from the film discourse to help answer researchquestion 1 on the linguistic construction of Andrea’s gender identity andprofessional identity The second part is the researcher’s own interpretations of such

a construction under the influence of social context

4.1 The construction of Andrea’s identities

After analyzing the film script, the researcher detected that gender identityand professional identities are the most distinctive of the character as continuouslyand obviously presented throughout the content of the film with the help oflinguistic tools

4.1.1 Gender identity

Throughout the film, Andrea is obviously presented as a cisgender whosegender corresponds with the innate sex In particular, Andrea’s gender identity isexpressed through the correspondence of her character and behavior withcontemporary social norms for a woman In the film, this identity is effectivelyconstructed thanks to the persistent rapport talk style together with the incorporation

of linguistic devices such as euphemism, intensifiers, hyperbole and modality in herspeech

Firstly, rapport talk is a prevalent element representing the main character.According to Tannen (1990), women differ from men in that they use more rapporttalk to build interpersonal connections and create intimate relationships Inevitably,Andrea’s cisgender identity is constructed with non-assertive and supportiveconversations to maintain good relationships with others For example, at thebeginning of the film, Andrea, though mocked and scorned by her new colleague

Emily for her bad sense of fashion, still offers Emily cooperative replies Forexample:

Example 1: Extract from conversation 1

Emily: Okay, so I was Miranda's second assistant… but her first assistant

recently got promoted, and so now I'm the first.

Andrea: Oh, and you're replacing yourself.

In this case, Andrea’s reply shows her interest and support for Emily’s talk (despiteEmily’s inherent and arrogant speech) To some extent, the statement could bereferred to as a compliment or congratulation Andrea extends to Emily, provingAndrea’s efforts to get closer to Emily

Another example is an interrogative reply with calmness, maintaining acooperative talk despite Emily’s evident mockery

Example 2: Extract from conversation 2

Emily: Andrea, Runway is a fashion magazine… so an interest in fashion is

crucial.

Andrea: What makes you think I'm not interested in fashion?

This cooperative, polite conversational style is continued to be portrayed byAndrea’s thank-you reply at the end of the job interview during which the bossseems to underestimate her and shows little care for her

Example 3: Extract from conversation 18

Miranda: That’s all [stopping Andrea from presenting her work experience] Andrea: You're right I don't fit in here I am not skinny or glamorous… and I

don't know that much about fashion But I'm smart I learn fast and I will work very hard.

Miranda’s employee: I got the exclusive on the Cavalli for Gwyneth but the

problem is, with that huge feathered headdress that she’s wearing

Andrea: Thank you for your time.

Andrea is also depicted to use a lot of rapport talk with her colleagues likeEmily or Nigel There are many occasions when Andrea shares information abouther personal life with Emily.

Example 4: Conversation 7

Andrea: Thank God it's Friday, right?

At least Miranda will be in Miami, so we don't have to be on call this weekend.

You know, my dad's coming in from Ohio.

Yeah, we're gonna go out to dinner, maybe see Chicago.

You doing anything fun this weekend?

As can be seen from the extract above, she shares with Emily her ownweekend plan with her father and politely asks about Emily’s plan in order tofacilitate the continuity of an intimate talk between female co-workers Likewise,when Andrea is authorized to deliver an important document to her boss’ house forthe first time, she excitedly shares her happiness with Emily, perhaps with theexpectation of receiving some support or positive feedback, though Emily seemsinherent to that news

Example 5: Conversation 11

Andrea: You know, if I can deliver the Book, that means I must have

done something right I'm not a psycho.

Oh, and, you know, she called me Andrea?

I mean, she didn't call me Emily, which is… Isn't that great?

Emily: Yeah, whoopee Right.

Andrea even strives to maintain an intimate relationship with Emily by sharingunnecessary information about her boyfriend’s birthday and the plan for thebirthday party as follows

Example 6: Extract from conversation 14

Andrea: I need to get to Magnolia Bakery before it closes It's Nate's

birthday tonight So we're, uh, having a little party for him.

Emily: Yeah, I'm hearing this, and I wanna hear this.

Andrea’s rapport talk style, undoubtedly, appears in almost every conversation withNigel She does not show any hesitance in revealing to him the dark side of herpersonal life with the expectation of gaining his sympathy for her attitude

Example 7: Extract from conversation 13

Nigel: Excuse me.Can we adjust the attitude?

Andrea: I'm sorry.

Nigel: Don't make me feed you to one of the models.

Andrea: I'm sorry It's a busy day My personal life is hanging by

a thread, that's all.

The rapport talk style is also conveyed through her enthusiastic support for herboyfriend although she feels bitter and sad as he cannot live with her any more.Example 8: Conversation 42

Nate: I interviewed at the Oak Room.

Andrea: And?

Nate: And you're looking at their new sous-chef I'm moving up there in

a couple weeks.

Andrea: That's great Congratulations.

Besides, euphemism, according to Lakoff (1975), is typically employed bywomen who are considered to possess higher levels of empathy, care and politenesscompared with men Therefore, this linguistic tool is utilized to construct Andrea as

a empathetic, caring and polite woman For example:

Example 9: Extract from conversation 35

Doug: Well, lucky for me, I already have my dream job.

Andrea & Lily: You're a corporate research analyst!

Doug: Oh, you're right My job sucks.

Clearly, in the example above, the reply is an euphemism of the fact that the friend’s job is universally considered boring and undesired This reply, instead of an

direct answer, is employed to avoid hurting the friend’s feelings Another instance isAndrea’s use of the euphemism form “Shoot” to replace “Shit” as in extract 4 orextract 6, which depicts Andrea as a polite woman.

Furthermore, with the inclusion of intensifiers and hyperbole in Andrea’sconversations, she evidently appears as a caring and sympathetic One markedexample is her generous compliment for Emily’s body as a recognition for Emily’shard work as she knows that Emily has gone on a strict diet to lose weight and have

a suitable body for the event

Example 10: Extract from conversation 15

Emily: Oh, oh, my God Andy, you look so chic.

Andrea: Oh, thanks, Em You look so thin.

[ ]

Emily: Oh, it's for Paris I'm on this new diet It's very effective Well, I

don't eat anything And then when I feel like I'm about to faint, I eat a cube of cheese.

Andrea: Well, it's definitely working.

“Thin”, based in this context, is used with a positive connotation, proving Andrea’ssupport for Emily’s efforts to lose weight Intensifying adverbs like “so”,

“definitely” contribute to heightening the effects of the compliments, leading to ahigher level of pleasure for Emily

Another example is when Nigel plans to move out of their company foranother better job opportunity, Andrea shows her care as well as support for Nigeland gives him words of praise by specially emphasizing, even exaggerating his role

in the company

Example 11: Extract from conversation 16

Andrea: I can't imagine Runway without you.

Nigel: I know, I know, but I'm so excited though.

[ ]

Andrea: Well, congratulations Nigel, you deserve it.

Although the use of double negative “can’t” and “without” by Andrea makes theinformation such a hyperbole, in this context, it helps emphasize the significant role

of Nigel in Runway, showing the speaker’s recognition for the listener and boostingthe listener’s value

On the other hand, in the following example, the use of hyperbole is alsodemonstrated, but it conveys another aspect of Andrea as a dependent andsubmissive woman According to Hollows (2000), traits such as “passivity,submissiveness, and dependence” are “a form of internalized oppression thatfacilitated women’s acceptance of patriarchy” (through Cole, E & Sabik, N.(2010))

Example 12: Extract from conversation 8

Andrea: She hates me, Nigel.

Nigel: And that's my problem because… Oh, wait No, it's not my

problem.

Andrea: I don't know what else I can do because if I do something right,

it's unacknowledged She doesn't even say thank you But if I do something wrong, she is vicious.

Nigel:So quit.

[ ]

Andrea: No, I don't want to quit That's not fair.

But, you know, I'm just saying that I would just like a little credit… for the fact that I'm killing myself trying

In particular, the use of metaphorical hyperbole “I’m killing myself trying” incontrast to the phrase “a little credit” shows the marked contrast between theamount of her efforts and that of her boss’ recognition she deserves to receive,emphasizing her idea is reasonable, as a disguise to her dependence andsubmissiveness In other words, she is always complaining, being submissive tounfavorable conditions and depending on support and encouragement from others

Apart from Nigel, Nate- her boyfriend is another source of mental support thatAndrea depends on Throughout the film, Andrea shares with Nate every of hertrouble, mostly about her boss and her work, as a way to alleviate her stress and calmherself One of the instances is when her boss criticizes her for inadequate knowledgeabout fashion, and she continually reports negative things of her boss to Nate.

Example 13: Extract from conversation 36

Andrea: So then I said, “No, I couldn't see the difference between the

two absolutely identical belts” and you should have seen the look she gave me! I thought the flesh was gonna melt off her face

She's not happy unless everyone around her is panicked,

Intensifying adjectives and metaphorical hyperbole are continued to beemployed in this conversation “the flesh melt off ”, “panicked”, “nauseous”,

“suicidal”, “insignificant” This is an exaggeration, but it helps emphasize theirrationality of her boss and entails how desperate she is with the situation in order

to call for a consolation from her boyfriend Once again, her weakness anddependence on others, especially on masculine characters, are presented

Another important linguistic tool employed to construct Andrea’s cisgenderidentity is the use of modality to create formal replies, as in the following example:Example 14: Extract from conversation 2

Emily: [ ] You work a year for her (Miranda), and you can get a job at

any magazine you want A million girls would kill for this job.

Andrea: It sounds like a great opportunity I'd love to be considered.

The structure “I’d love to ” puts viewers under an impression that Andrea is such amodest, gentle and polite woman

In another situation with Miranda, the appearance of modality totally helpsportray Andrea’s empathy and care for her boss Specifically, when Miranda talksabout the divorce and expresses her negative feelings towards it, Andrea says sorry

to her and asks her if she wants to take a rest in the evening instead of joining adinner with guests

Example 15: Extract from conversation 25

Miranda: Well, if you speak to him and he decides to rethink the divorce…

then, yes, fetch away You're very fetching, so go fetch.

Miranda: Don't be ridiculous Why would we do that?

Andrea: Um, is… Is there anything else I can do?

Miranda: Your job That's all.

In this scene, the repeated use of the modal verb “can” helps to convey herwillingness and her determination to do anything to comfort Miranda, whichapparently shows her care and empathy towards her boss’ sadness

Also, the combination of hyperbole and modality used in the construction ofAndrea’s reactions to the news of Miranda’s substitution by another from ChristianThompson effectively proves her caring and sympathetic character

Example 16: Extract from conversation 33

Andrea: Wh… They're replacing Miranda?

Christian: Yeah And she's bringing me in to run all the editorial content

You're really surprised?

Jacqueline's a lot younger than Miranda She has a fresher take on things.

[ ]

Andrea: Miranda will be devastated Her whole life is about Runway He

can't do that to her.

The use of intensifying words “devastate”, “whole” helps Andrea to persuadelisteners of Miranda’s extremely hard work and great dedication to the company.This makes negative modality “can’t” in the next utterance completely relevant as itconveys prohibition or impossibility, showing that the action of replacing Miranda

is unjustifiable and unacceptable

Negative modality is also employed in another extract when Andrea has aheated confrontation with her boss about Nigel

Example 17: Extract from conversation 27

Miranda: I was very, very impressed… by how intently you tried to warn

me I never thought I would say this, Andrea… but I really… I see a great deal of myself in you [ ]

Andrea: I don't think I'm like that L… I couldn't do what you did to Nigel,

Miranda I couldn't do something like that.

In this example, the negative modality “couldn’t do” is repeated twice, placing astrong emphasis on her rejections of such an unpleasant action and her completesympathy for Nigel’s unfortunate sacrifice to secure their boss’s position

Negative modality is continued to be utilized in Andrea’s conversation withChristian Thompson who saves her career with the delivery of Harry Potterunpublished script However, in this case, it does not reveal Andrea’s caring andempathetic traits as mentioned above, but it is associated with her submissiveness.Example 18: Extract from conversation 32

Andrea: Mm L-I can't I'm sorry.

I can't You know, Nate and I just split up a couple days ago, and I can't.

Ooh I've had too much wine.

And my hearing… vision… judgment's impaired.

No, I barely know you I'm in a strange city.

I… am out of excuses.

As can be seen from the conversation, the negative modality “can’t” and “no, barely” accompanied by a list of Andrea’s excuses place an emphasis on herefforts to avoid Christian’s sexual request However, finally, perhaps afterconsidering his gentle, helpful deeds for her, she surrenders herself, with a veryweak statement “I am out of excuses” In other words, she becomes submissive tothe man’s request

Her submissive characteristic is also conveyed through many other sceneswith her boyfriend- Nate Whenever he feels upset or frustrated with her, she resorts

to her sexual attraction For instance, when Andrea tells Nate she continues to doher job instead of quitting it, he becomes disappointed She first uses consolationwords, but when they cannot satisfy him, she immediately resorts to sexual appeal

to solve Nate’s negative feelings at that moment

Example 19: Extract from conversation 40

Nate: [ ] your job sucks and your boss is a wacko.

All right Whatever It's your job.

Andrea: Nate Come on I'm still the same person I was I still want

the same things Okay?

Nate: Mm-hmm.

Andrea: I promise Same Andy, better clothes.

Nate: I like the old clothes.

Andrea: Really? Well, what about these necklaces? Do you like them?

No? And this dress, it's new Well, there is one other thing that's new… that I thought you might like But, uh… What about this? (showing her bra)You don't like it I should better do…