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GCSE English Literature · key term
A change from one religious faith to another.
Used by AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas
Paper 1
A change from one religion to another; Shylock’s conversion to Christianity is imposed under threat in the trial scene.
Revise: ContextThe case shows how ancestry could expose someone to antisemitic suspicion even after conversion. It may have influenced Shakespeare, but it should not be treated as a certain explanation for Shylock’s creation.
A change from one religious faith to another; Jessica changes from Judaism to Christianity.
Part (b): connect filial obedience to Jessica’s guilt and Christian prejudice to the treatment of her conversion, rather than adding detached historical background.
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Paper 1
Revise: Jessica‘Strife’ means conflict: she hopes marriage and conversion will resolve her divided loyalties. The rhyming couplet of ‘strife’ and ‘wife’ gives the speech a decisive ending, turning distress into a plan. However, the resolution she imagines also requires her to leave her father and his faith.
Paper 2
The act of adopting a different religious faith.
Revise: JessicaAgain speaking in Act 2 Scene 3, Jessica links marriage and conversion in one sentence. 'Strife' means conflict: she hopes that becoming Lorenzo's wife will end her divided loyalties. The rhyming couplet, 'strife' and 'wife', gives the speech a decisive ending, as though marriage will neatly solve the problem.
Component 1
Revise: JessicaThe central question is not simply whether she escapes, but whether marriage and conversion resolve everything she leaves behind.
