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GCSE English Literature · key term
A feeling that something, often something harmful, will happen in the future.
Used by AQA and OCR
Paper 1
Revise: Fate and free willRomeo's warning can be read as a genuine premonition, making fate seem active. Alternatively, his decision to proceed despite his fear foregrounds choice. Mercutio's dismissal of dreams as “the children of an idle brain” in the same scene supplies a sceptical contrast: not every character accepts dreams as predictions.
Paper 2
A warning or feeling that something will happen before it occurs.
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This is foreshadowing: Romeo will meet Juliet at the feast, beginning the relationship that leads to their deaths. It can be read as a genuine premonition, making him seem sensitive to destiny. Alternatively, it expresses an anxious young man's fear before entering an enemy household.
