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GCSE English Literature · key term
Allowing someone’s wishes or behaviour without providing necessary limits or correction.
Used by AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas
Paper 1
Allowing someone to do what they want without sufficient limits or correction.
Revise: Family and reputationThey also provide Lydia with a home before her wedding. Their help combines protection with correction: they neither abandon her nor pretend that nothing is wrong. This is a more constructive form of family responsibility than indulgence or rejection.
Paper 2
Part (b): distinguish the Squire’s neglectful indulgence from Silas’s patient care. Their children’s contrasting development makes this a useful comparison.
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Allowing someone too much freedom or giving in to their wishes instead of providing necessary guidance or restraint.
Their support is not uncritical indulgence. They receive Lydia into their home before her wedding, while Mrs Gardiner repeatedly explains the unhappiness she has caused. They combine protection with correction instead of choosing either Mrs Bennet’s celebration or Collins’s rejection.
Allowing someone to have their wishes or avoid restraint. Eliot distinguishes neglectful indulgence from loving patience.
Paper 1
Excessive willingness to allow someone what they want without appropriate limits or correction.
Component 2
Allowing someone to satisfy their wishes without sufficient restraint or guidance. Squire Cass’s indulgence differs from Silas’s patient, attentive care.
Revise: Parents and childrenIn Chapter 9, the Squire tells Godfrey, “I’ve been too good a father to you all”. His speech is ironic because he mistakes spending money and allowing freedom for good parenting. He shifts from indulgence to angry threats, including the threat of turning his sons out, rather than offering steady support.
