An Analysis of the Movie The Merchant of Venice from the Perspective of Cooperative Principle

William Shakespeare is one of the most famous dramatists in England history. His works are popular from the Renaissance in Europe to now. The Merchant of Venice, which is called one of the four great comedies, is presented to people again in the form of films several centuries later. This paper tries to analyze it from the perspective of Cooperative Principle, which is one of the most important theories in linguistics. Through analysis, it is found that the violation of Cooperative Principle in the movie leads to the production of the conversational meaning, which can better shape the character of the figures; intensify the conflict between characters; facilitate the development of the plot, and attract people’s eyes. This paper is a meaningful attempt to analyze the movie in terms of linguistic theory and provide some inspiration for the study of other literary works.