Catalepsy

A condition involving bodily rigidity and reduced responsiveness. Eliot describes Silas’s episodes as cataleptic fits.

A condition involving bodily rigidity, fixed posture and reduced responsiveness; Eliot uses cataleptic fits to explain Silas’s trance-like episodes.

Catalepsy involves rigidity and reduced responsiveness. Silas’s trance-like fits help explain why he seems uncanny to his neighbours. In Chapter 1, Jem Rodney describes him standing stiffly and apparently insensible before suddenly recovering.

A condition involving temporary rigidity and loss of consciousness. Silas’s episodes are interpreted religiously or superstitiously by those around him.

A trance-like condition involving temporary loss of awareness and bodily rigidity. Silas’s episode leaves his cottage door open when Eppie arrives.

A condition involving bodily rigidity and reduced responsiveness. Eliot describes Silas’s episodes as cataleptic fits; other characters interpret them through their religious beliefs and superstitions.

A condition involving bodily rigidity and reduced responsiveness; Silas’s attacks are presented as trance-like losses of consciousness.

Silas’s catalepsy is different: his attacks involve rigidity and loss of responsiveness. In Chapter 1, Jem Rodney’s account of his motionless body feeds the villagers’ supernatural explanations. Lantern Yard also interprets an attack spiritually, while William Dane suggests Satan’s involvement.

A condition involving episodes of bodily rigidity and suspended consciousness. Silas’s trances are important turning points in the novel.

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Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0

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Eduqas GCSE English Literature · C720

Definition

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Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0

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Eduqas GCSE English Literature · C720