Topic 11 - Conversational structure and character (Session A) > Analysing Major Barbara > Task H > Answer

Analysing Major Barbara

Task H - Our answer

Lady Britomart uses Stephen's first name to address him eight times in 16 turns. Given that there are only two people in the conversation, she does not need to pick him out from a conversational crowd when she addresses him, and so this remarkably frequent use seems designed to mark the asymmetry of the social power relation between them. Stephen reflects this asymmetry from the opposite perspective by using 'mother' four times in his 15 turns.

The only other address term used is 'my poor boy' in turn 13, which, in contrast to Lady Britomart's other address terms and in parallel to everything else we have seen about the conversation, is clearly intended by Shaw to be humorous.

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