Politeness strategies for saving face in The Crown series: a focus on the main female character and her navigations of authority

This study investigates the politeness strategies used by Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, a historical drama series portraying the British royal family. It focuses on how she employs language to manage social interactions, preserve face, and maintain authority within complex interpersonal and political contexts. By using Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory, the study addresses two main research questions: 1) What politeness strategies does the main female character in The Crown use to navigate and maintain authority? and 2) How are these politeness strategies influenced by, and related to, authority dynamics within the fictional royal context? This research analyzes selected episodes from season two of the series, which centers on Queen Elizabeth II's personal life and political challenges after her coronation. The data consists exclusively of her scripted dialogues. Each utterance is classified into one of four politeness strategies: bald-on-record, positive politeness, negative politeness, and off-record. Preliminary findings reveal that bald-on-record and negative politeness strategies are most frequently employed, especially in emotionally charged or politically delicate situations. These strategies serve as tools for conflict avoidance, direct asserting authority, and preservation of both the speaker’s and the hearer’s social faces. Influencing factors include social hierarchy, interlocutor status, cultural norms, and situational context.This research contributes to a deeper understanding of gendered communication and leadership discourse in mediated narratives. It highlights the role of language in constructing authority and identity, offering valuable insights for educators, linguists, media professionals, and scholars in discourse analysis, gender studies, sociolinguistics, and cross-cultural communication.