Eduqas GCSE English Literature key terms

A poem expressing a speaker’s personal feelings and thoughts, often with a musical quality.

A conventional scheming villain in Renaissance drama who uses calculation and deception to gain power.

A word used mistakenly in place of a similar-sounding word, often creating comedy.

Ideas associated with Thomas Robert Malthus, who argued that unchecked population growth could outstrip food supplies and that poor relief could worsen this pressure by encouraging population growth.

The belief associated with Thomas Robert Malthus that population tends to grow faster than the food supply unless its growth is checked.

A marriage chosen chiefly for practical benefits, such as financial security or social position, rather than romantic affection.

A legal arrangement governing the ownership or future provision of money and property, often agreed as part of a marriage.

A person who suffers or dies for a religious belief or other deeply held principle.

The qualities and behaviours that a society associates with being a man; these expectations can vary and be challenged.

A masked entertainment involving disguise, music and performance.

A Christian act of worship, especially associated with Roman Catholicism, commemorating Christ’s sacrifice. In Duffy’s poem, it gives the photographer’s work religious seriousness.

The view that reality can be explained through matter and physical processes, rather than spiritual or supernatural causes.

A lasting state of sadness or thoughtful gloom. Antonio’s melancholy shapes the opening of The Merchant of Venice.

A reminder that human life ends in death, encouraging reflection on how life should be lived.

Primarily motivated by financial gain, rather than affection or principle.

A merchant buys and sells goods for profit, often trading over long distances. Antonio’s wealth depends on ships carrying merchandise.

Compassion shown by someone who has the power to punish or demand a penalty.

A comparison that presents one thing as another. Wells’s liquid imagery represents the fleeing population as a flood and society as something losing its solid form.

A reference to acting, performance or theatre within a play, drawing attention to the relationship between a role and the person performing it.

Imagery that draws attention to acting, audiences or the theatre itself. Macbeth's comparison of life to a player on a stage makes the play reflect on its own dramatic form.

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse.

Reserve military forces raised for service at home. In the novel’s historical setting, militia units helped defend Britain against possible French invasion.

A character with a smaller role than the central characters, who can still shape the plot, reveal themes or influence the reader’s judgement.

A person who hoards money and avoids spending it, even on their own comfort.

Prejudice against, contempt for or hatred of women.

Someone who travels to spread their religious faith. St John intends to undertake Christian missionary work in India.

Confusing one person with another, so that actions or words are attributed to the wrong person.