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GCSE English Literature · key term
Believing something false because it supports what a person wants to believe about themselves or their situation.
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Paper 1
Believing something misleading about oneself, often because it protects one’s pride or fits what one wants to believe.
Revise: Deception and appearancesThe scene’s structure makes Benedick’s self-deception visible. His opening soliloquy mocks lovers; after overhearing, his closing soliloquy finds reasons to become one. He then interprets Beatrice’s reluctant invitation to dinner as affection.
Paper 1
For a whole-play essay, connect early self-deception, the developing tricks and the uneasy ending. Use short quotations accurately and explain their significance.
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Believing something untrue about yourself or your situation, often because it matches what you want to believe.
Malvolio therefore believes he is pleasing Olivia precisely when he is behaving least appropriately. His self-deception is comic, but the deliberate design of his humiliation remains visible.
Paper 1
Avoiding or reshaping an uncomfortable truth in order to preserve a preferred understanding of oneself or one’s situation.
Revise: ContextAcross his writing, memory, time and self-deception are recurring concerns: looking back does not necessarily mean seeing the past clearly.
Component 1
