This article provides a pragmatic analysis of a dialogue in Laurence’s Sons and Lovers from the perspectives of turn-taking,cooperative principle,politeness principle and speech act theory. A detailed analysis shows that pragmatic theories provide a good approach to the appreciation of fiction and that such kind of analysis based on a relatively precise methodology proves to be an effective approach to capture the richness of characters. This article provides a pragmatic analysis of a dialogue in Laurence’s Sons and Lovers from the perspectives of turn-taking, cooperative principle, politeness principle and speech act theory. A detailed analysis shows that pragmatic theories provide a good approach to the appreciation of fiction and that such kind of analysis based on a relatively precise methodology proves to be an effective approach to capture the richness of characters.