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GCSE English Literature · key term
The belief that the positions and movements of stars and planets influence human lives.
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Paper 1
The belief that the positions and movements of stars and planets influence human lives and events.
Revise: ContextAstrology was prominent in Elizabethan thought. Some people believed that stars and planets influenced human destiny. The Chorus’s description “star-cross'd” in the Act 1 Prologue presents the lovers as opposed by the stars: their relationship appears doomed by forces beyond their control.
Connect context to specific language. Explain why belief in astrology matters to the description of the lovers as star-cross'd.
Part (b): use beliefs about astrology to illuminate the characters' attitudes to the stars, without assuming every Elizabethan shared those beliefs.
Either question: connect astrology to the characters' language about stars, or religious belief to the Friar's explanation of events. Use context demonstrated in the play and relevant to the question.
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Paper 1
The belief that the positions and movements of heavenly bodies influence human lives.
Revise: ContextAstrology—the belief that heavenly bodies influence human lives—was familiar in Shakespeare’s time. The Chorus’s description of the lovers as “star-cross'd” in the Act 1 Prologue suggests that the stars oppose their happiness. Before the feast, Romeo fears “Some consequence yet hanging in the stars” in Act 1 Scene 4.
Paper 2
The belief that the positions and movements of heavenly bodies influence human lives.
Revise: ContextAstrology was widely believed in Shakespeare’s time, although audiences did not all have identical convictions. Calling the lovers ‘star-cross'd’ evokes lives opposed by the stars. Before the feast, Romeo fears ‘Some consequence yet hanging in the stars’ in Act 1 Scene 4.
The belief that stars and planets influence human lives and events.
Component 1
The belief that the positions and movements of celestial bodies influence human lives.
Revise: ContextAstrology—the belief that celestial bodies influence human lives—helps explain the play’s repeated references to stars. Before the feast, Romeo fears “Some consequence yet hanging in the stars” in Act 1 Scene 4. This foreshadows disaster and gives his journey towards Juliet a sense of foreboding.
