English Literature key terms

The cultural traditions, memories and connections passed down through generations.

A pair of rhyming lines written in iambic pentameter.

The central female character in a work, whose experiences receive particular attention; she need not be flawless or conventionally heroic.

Admiration so intense that someone overlooks another person’s faults and treats their approval as especially valuable.

A system in which people or groups are arranged above and below one another in power and importance.

A play based on historical events that presents destructive conflict, suffering and the downfall of important characters.

Money and valuable possessions accumulated and kept rather than spent or shared.

Accumulating and keeping possessions or money rather than using or sharing them.

An approach that considers the whole person, including emotional, spiritual and social needs, rather than treating an isolated symptom.

The devastating famine in Soviet Ukraine in 1932–1933, during which millions died and Soviet policies intensified the catastrophe.

Language or representation that suggests romantic or sexual attraction between people of the same sex.

A person's or family's reputation and claim to respect. In Romeo and Juliet, characters often treat answering an insult with violence as a defence of honour.

A murder committed in the name of protecting or restoring a family’s supposed honour, often targeting a woman accused of breaking social expectations.

A horn overflowing with food, traditionally symbolising abundance; also called a cornucopia.

The welcome and care offered to guests, including a host’s responsibility to protect them.

A person who maintains a household, a position associated with responsibility and social respectability.

Excessive pride or confidence that encourages a person to disregard limits and consequences.

An outlook that places human welfare, sympathy and responsibility at the centre of moral life, without necessarily grounding them in religious belief.

Recognition of one’s limitations and faults, rather than an assumption of superiority.

A combination of cultural influences rather than an identity belonging exclusively to one culture.

Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or expressive effect.

Pretending to hold beliefs or moral standards that one’s behaviour contradicts.

A metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

A pattern of poetic rhythm built from pairs of syllables in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable.

A verse rhythm with five pairs of syllables per line, usually moving from an unstressed syllable to a stressed syllable.

A metrical pattern usually containing four iambs per line: each iamb has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

Presenting someone as unusually admirable or close to an ideal, often to communicate a moral message.