Rebellion Against Gender Disciplines: Analysing the Female Protagonist Beth’s Speech in The Queen’s Gambit Based on Politeness Principle

Abstract

Politeness is an important index in language and gender study. It is widely acknowledged that women tend to use politer language than men. Originating in gender imbalance, this phenomenon, in turn, upholds and improves unequal gender order. Leech’s politeness principle (from now on PP) has rarely been applied to measure the politeness of women’s language. Therefore, this study uses PP as a basis for collecting and interpreting the female protagonist Beth’s utterances in the American TV series The Queen’s Gambit (from now on QG). Set in the second wave of feminism, QG embodies a strong “feminist conscience.” Underpinned by the data observed and collected, Beth’s characterization received an in-depth interpretation through qualitative and quantitative research methods. Therefore, the role the QG plays in breaking down gender disciplines has been clarified—it directly helps to dispel societal expectations and stereotypes imposed on women’s language and further contributes to conveying female empowerment.