Part of
Dialogue across MediaEdited by Jarmila Mildorf and Bronwen Thomas
[Dialogue Studies 28] 2017
► pp. 19–36
Edited by Jarmila Mildorf and Bronwen Thomas
[Dialogue Studies 28] 2017
► pp. 19–36
Pragmatic stylistics and dramatic dialogue
Re-assessing Gus’s role in Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter
In this chapter, I follow Short (1989, 1998) and view dramatic dialogue as a form of exchange that can be read on the page just as legitimately as it can be experienced on stage. Employing a pragmatic stylistic analysis linking the text on the page to my interpretation, I offer a re-reading of Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter. While for Burton (1980) Ben was “the dominating and superior interactant,” and Gus “the dominated and inferior one” (70), I argue here that it is Gus who can be considered the dominating character and show in the concluding discussion why this recalibration of power is significant for our wider understanding of the play.
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