Blackmail

Obtaining money or another advantage by threatening to reveal damaging information about someone.

Demanding money or another benefit by threatening to expose damaging information about someone.

Enfield assumes blackmail, imagining an honest man paying to conceal an earlier wrongdoing. He names the building “Black-Mail House” in Chapter 1, turning his suspicion into a label that shapes how the reader views it. The name expresses his theory, not a proven explanation.

Threatening to reveal damaging information about someone unless that person meets a demand.

Either question: distinguish evidence from interpretation. Hyde really does trample the child, but blackmail is Enfield’s and Utterson’s explanation of his connection with Jekyll, not an established fact.

Integrate context into your interpretation: explain how class expectations enable blackmail or how access to opium shapes Molly’s suffering.

Distinguish a character’s suspicion from the truth: Utterson suspects blackmail and forgery, but the final narratives reveal a different explanation.

Pressure placed on someone by threatening to reveal damaging information unless they comply.

A threat to reveal damaging information unless someone provides money or another benefit.

Enfield assumes blackmail, imagining that an honest man is paying to conceal past misconduct. Utterson already recognises the cheque writer’s identity, although it is not named to the reader here. The withheld name makes Utterson’s alarm another clue rather than an explanation.

Forcing someone to provide money or another advantage by threatening to expose a secret.

Dunstan uses this secret to blackmail him, threatening disclosure to their father and the loss of Godfrey’s inheritance.

The use of threats to reveal damaging information in order to force someone to provide money or comply with demands.

Using threats, especially threats to reveal damaging information, to obtain money or another advantage.

Definition

How each exam board covers it

Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0

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OCR GCSE English Literature · J352

Eduqas GCSE English Literature · C720