English Literature key terms

A comic imitation that exposes or mocks the features of its subject.

The division of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947, accompanied by mass displacement and violence.

Strong emotion or desire, which can include anger, romantic love, suffering or intense religious devotion.

Writing that presents rural life and landscape, often in an idealised form.

A relationship in which a person with greater power provides care and protection in a father-like way, while retaining authority over those helped.

The attribution of human feelings to nature, often through weather that reflects a character’s mood.

An emotional effect that evokes pity or sadness, often through the suffering of a vulnerable character.

A male head of a family or community who holds authority over others.

A society in which men hold most power and authority, shaping women’s opportunities and treatment.

A social system in which men hold most authority and women’s choices are restricted by male power.

Love of and loyalty to one’s country.

A person who provides support or controls access to an appointment. Lady Catherine is Mr Collins’s patron because she secured his parish appointment.

Behaviour that appears helpful or kind but assumes the other person is inferior.

The titled nobility, including barons, viscounts, earls, marquesses and dukes.

Pressure to behave like other members of a group in order to gain their approval or acceptance.

A punishment involving imprisonment and compulsory labour.

A place where prisoners are sent to serve sentences, often involving forced labour and isolation.

A punishment in which a convicted person was sent overseas to a penal colony, often to perform forced labour.

An action undertaken to express repentance and make amends for wrongdoing.

Sincere regret for wrongdoing, accompanied by a desire to change.

A name an author uses when publishing instead of their own name.

Poetry composed with spoken delivery to an audience as an important part of its effect.

A reversal in a tragic character's situation or fortunes, particularly when apparent success turns towards disaster.

Cruel or harmful treatment directed at someone because of their identity, beliefs or membership of a group.

Continuing with something despite difficulty or disappointment; in Antrobus's poem, it describes the son's enduring love as well as naming the pub.

The character or voice through which a writer speaks, distinct from the writer themselves.

The organised glorification of a leader through praise, images, ceremonies and claims of exceptional wisdom or goodness.