Towards characterizing a type of aggravated impoliteness,with examples from Timon of Athens

Abstract

This article proceeds from the assumption that speakers engaging in verbal interaction are perceived by their interlocutors to have intentions, and it explores the concepts of impoliteness and aggravated impoliteness. Two case studies, both from Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens are considered, and it is argued that a distinction between overt and covert intentions and between first-order and second-order intentions is useful in affording a purchase on the nature of deception in conversational interaction. The article thus seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of an aspect of impoliteness theory and to the application of impoliteness theory to the analysis of a Shakespearean play.