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GCSE English Literature · key term
Compassion shown towards someone whom one has the power to punish.
Used by AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas
Paper 1
Compassion shown by someone who has the power to punish or harm another person, often by reducing or withholding punishment.
Revise: Act 4Portia initially acknowledges the bond's legal force. She then asks Shylock to show mercy.
Compassion shown towards someone, especially by forgiving them or reducing a punishment.
Distinguish the characters' claims of mercy from their actions. Support your judgement with the pardon, its conditions and Shylock's response.
Build an argument about the relationship between mercy, justice and revenge, rather than treating them as interchangeable themes.
Evaluate the Christians’ actions against Portia’s definition of mercy. Support your judgement with evidence, while acknowledging a plausible alternative reading.
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Compassion shown towards someone whom a person has the power to punish; it can involve forgiveness or reducing a penalty.
Paper 1
Revise: Revenge and forgivenessShakespeare introduces sympathy at the beginning of the play, long before Prospero openly chooses mercy.
Compassion shown towards someone whom one has the power to punish or harm.
Compassion shown towards someone who could be punished, or a willingness to forgive.
Compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom a person has the power to punish.
Paper 1, Paper 2
The capacity to forgive or show compassion rather than seek punishment or revenge. Helen teaches Jane to distinguish wrongdoing from the person who commits it.
Compassion shown by someone who has the power to punish or harm another person, particularly by reducing or forgiving a penalty.
Compassion or forgiveness shown to someone whom one has the power to punish.
Component 1
Compassion shown by someone who has the power to punish or demand a penalty.
Revise: Act 4When he asks what could compel him, she replies, “The quality of mercy is not strain'd, / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven” (Act 4 Scene 1). Here “strain'd” means forced or compelled. Genuine mercy must be freely given.
Compassion shown towards someone, especially by forgiving an offence or reducing a punishment that could otherwise be imposed.
