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Guilty conscience — AQA GCSE English Literature Definition

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English Literature
Key terms
Guilty conscience

GCSE English Literature · key term

Guilty conscience

Definition

A feeling of responsibility for wrongdoing. Pip sometimes feels guilty even when he has not committed the act he fears.

Used by AQA

How each exam board covers it

AQA GCSE English Literature · 8702

Paper 1

Legal guilt means responsibility for breaking a law; a guilty conscience is the feeling that one has done wrong. Justice concerns whether people are treated fairly and receive an appropriate response to their actions. These do not always coincide.
Revise: Crime, guilt and justice

AQA English Literature past papers

Related key terms

Complicity
Dark double
Death penalty
Legal guilt
Prison hulk

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Retrospective narration