Pronouns: The Importance of Our Everyday Language

Abstract

We use language to create and maintain relationships. So, it is only natural that language can offer clues to our connection to the people around us and social status. Pronouns more than other words can be used to explain relationships. During the Middle English period, English used the pronouns “you” and “thou” when addressing people of different social position. “You” was used by members of the upper class when talking to each other and used by members of the lower class when addressing a superior. “Thou” was used by members of the lower class when addressing each other, by close family members, and addressing God in prayer. These distinctions continue into the Early Modern English period and we see them used in Shakespeare. I investigated pronouns “you” and “thou” in Shakespeare’s Othello by looking at every occurrence of these pronouns used by Othello, Desdemona, Iago, and Emilia. It became evident that Shakespeare uses pronouns conventionally until moments of extreme anger and at the end of the play. Modern English has lost the pronoun “thou”, but we still use pronouns to indicate social status. According to James W. Pennebaker, people of a low social status tend to overuse the pronoun “I”. People of higher social status rely more on pronouns “we” and “you”. I explore this usage of pronouns in Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles. I draw conclusions about correlation between pronouns and social status in Early Modern English and Modern English by comparing pronouns in Othello and Trifles. My research shows that even though language changes, human relationships remain the same and looking at pronouns helps us understand these relationships better when doing literary analysis.