Conversational Maxim Violation Analysis of Glinda in Wicked: For Good Film

Abstract

This paper studies the deviation of Glinda's discourse in the movie Wicked: For Good (2025, directed by Jon M. Chu) from the characteristics of cooperative discourse. Applying Grice's (1975) Cooperative Principle as a foundation for the research, the study adopts the qualitative descriptive pragmatic methodology to analyze the selected utterances of Glinda in the film. It identifies the maxims that Glinda violates, namely Quantity, Quality, Relation, and Manner. In addition, it discusses the function of such deviations with respect to Glinda's character, her interactions with other characters, and her social status in the community of Oz. Violations of the maxim of Quality occur most frequently among the studied maxims, and Glinda usually violates them using such techniques as irony, sarcasm, and performative speech. Violations of Quantity are the second most common, and they are committed through omission and exaggeration. These violations create implicatures revealing the conflict of Glinda's public appearance and private moral dilemma. This paper contributes to the growing research on film discourse pragmatics.

Keywords: Conversational maxims, Implicature, Maxim violation