English Literature key terms

The right to vote in political elections.

A person seeking marriage with someone; Bassanio is a suitor to Portia.

A law restricting expenditure or luxury goods, including clothing, according to social rank or income.

Something understood as existing or happening beyond the ordinary laws of nature, such as a ghost or communication across an impossible distance.

A belief that an event, object or sign has a supernatural meaning or influence.

A person who guarantees another person's obligation. Antonio becomes a surety for Bassanio's renewed promise to Portia.

People regarded as exceeding the number that available resources can support. Scrooge uses this expression to dismiss poor people’s lives as unnecessary.

A person who takes on a mother's caring role without being the child's biological mother.

The survival of organisms best adapted to particular conditions; it does not mean that survivors are necessarily morally better or physically strongest.

The deliberate creation of uncertainty about what will happen next, encouraging readers to continue reading.

Dark or black; Douglas uses it to describe the flies moving over the dead soldier.

An image, object or action that represents a wider idea beyond its literal meaning.

A stage object that also carries a wider meaning. Portia’s ring represents the marriage promise and becomes a test of Bassanio’s loyalty.

A recurring image whose meaning goes beyond its literal sense. Estella’s references to her heart concern her capacity for love and sympathy.

Understanding and sharing another person’s feelings; in Frankenstein, it can also mean a mutual emotional connection.

Imagery that combines different senses, such as describing light as something that can be tasted.

A figure of speech in which a part represents a whole, or a whole represents a part.

Language that evokes the sense of touch, including texture, temperature and physical contact.

The 1943 wartime meeting between Stalin and Western leaders Roosevelt and Churchill. The final gathering of pigs and farmers echoes this apparent cooperation between the Soviet Union and the West.

A scene in which Iago gradually persuades Othello to suspect Desdemona of adultery; in Othello, this is Act 3 Scene 3.

A stanza containing three lines.

Systematic use of extreme fear and violence to control a population.

A written account by someone who personally witnessed an event, offered as evidence of what happened.

Verse with four metrical feet in each line. Prospero's Epilogue uses mainly four-beat lines, with variations in rhythm.

A quotation or precise reference to an event or detail used to support an interpretation.

A specific reference to a text, such as a quotation, incident, character interaction or image, used to support an argument.

A Scottish nobleman’s title. Macbeth begins as Thane of Glamis and is rewarded with the additional title of Thane of Cawdor.