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GCSE English Literature · key term
An event or sign interpreted as predicting something that will happen.
Used by AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas
Paper 1
Revise: ContextPlutarch’s accounts of omens helped provide Shakespeare with warnings surrounding Caesar’s death, including the seer’s prediction and Calpurnia’s fears. These traditions show the importance of religious signs to the story; they are not proof that supernatural events occurred.
An event or sign interpreted as a warning or prediction of what will happen.
An unusual event believed to indicate what will happen in the future.
Distinguish an omen from its interpretation: explain what happens, who reads it and why that reading suits the character.
Trace change across the play. Cassius's early confidence in human control contrasts with his partial belief in omens before Philippi.
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An event or sign believed to predict the future. Cassius partly interprets the replacement of eagles by scavenging birds as a warning of defeat.
A sign interpreted as predicting a future event, especially disaster.
A sign believed to predict a future event, often danger or death.
An event or sign interpreted as predicting something that will happen, often a disaster.
Paper 2
An occurrence interpreted as a sign of a future event.
Revise: The supernaturalOne reading treats the dream as an omen. The ruined house anticipates Thornfield’s destruction, while the separation anticipates the collapse of Jane’s wedding hopes. Structurally, the dream foreshadows disaster before Jane understands its cause.
Component 2
An event or sign interpreted as a warning of something that will happen.
