Edexcel GCSE English Literature key terms

A short poem expressing a speaker’s personal feelings, often with musical qualities created by rhythm and rhyme.

A poem that expresses a speaker’s personal feelings, often with musical qualities.

Supernatural power used to affect people, events or the natural world. In The Tempest, Prospero's learned art enables him to command spirits.

A comic misuse of a word in place of a similar-sounding word.

Ideas associated with Thomas Malthus, who argued that unchecked population growth could outstrip food supplies and cause poverty.

A marriage chosen chiefly for practical benefits, such as a secure home, income or social position, rather than romantic affection.

A legal arrangement securing money or property for someone, such as the provision agreed for Lydia when she marries Wickham.

A person who suffers or dies for a religious belief or principle. Jane’s comparison of Helen to a martyr presents her endurance as courageous.

The political and economic ideas associated with Karl Marx, including criticism of class exploitation and the ideal of a classless society with shared ownership of the means of production.

The qualities and behaviours that a society associates with being a man; in Macbeth, characters debate whether these include violence, restraint, courage and emotional feeling.

A festive entertainment involving disguise, costumes and sometimes music or dancing.

A view that explains reality through physical matter and observable processes. Hyde attacks Lanyon's ‘material views’ before demonstrating the transformation.

An approach to science concerned with the physical world and observable evidence, rather than spiritual or supernatural explanations.

A general statement expressing an observation about life or human behaviour.

A thoughtful or lingering sadness that can shape the mood of a poem.

Motivated chiefly by the desire for money or financial gain, rather than affection or principle.

A person who buys and sells goods for profit, often trading with other countries.

Compassion shown towards someone whom one has the power to punish or harm.

A comparison that describes something as something else, inviting the reader to connect their qualities.

Drama that draws attention to acting, performance or its own theatrical nature.

Language which draws attention to theatre or performance itself, such as Macbeth’s comparison of life to an actor’s brief appearance on a stage.

A figure of speech in which something is referred to through a closely associated object or idea; “tongue” can stand for language.

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse.

A person who moves from one place to another to live, sometimes across national borders.

A military force raised for home defence. The officers stationed near the Bennets move to a camp near Brighton.

Small mirrors incorporated into the decoration of fabric.

A person who accumulates money while avoiding spending it, even on their own comfort.

Hostility towards, contempt for or prejudice against women.