English Literature key terms

The theatrical practice of a performer darkening their skin to impersonate a Black person; its history is associated with racial stereotyping and exclusion.

Threatening to reveal damaging information about someone unless that person meets a demand.

Violent conflict between British colonists and Aboriginal Tasmanians from the mid-1820s to 1832, connected to expanding settlement and the dispossession of Aboriginal people.

Unrhymed verse in iambic pentameter: lines normally organised into five beats, each moving from an unstressed to a stressed syllable.

Speech or writing that insults God or something regarded as sacred.

A wealthy husband in a tale who conceals the bodies of murdered wives in a forbidden room. Rochester’s hidden wife creates echoes of this figure, without making their actions identical.

A legally binding agreement. In The Merchant of Venice, Antonio’s bond guarantees repayment of Shylock’s loan and specifies a pound of flesh as the penalty for failure.

A male child or adolescent performer; in Shakespeare’s theatre, boys and young men played female roles.

A person whose earnings financially support a household.

A proud, passionate and troubled literary protagonist, associated with Lord Byron’s writing, whose mysterious past and resistance to convention make him both attractive and dangerous.

A pause within a line of poetry, often marked by punctuation.

A pile of stones used as a marker or memorial. In ‘Kamikaze’, the boys build these piles as a childhood game.

A strong sense that a particular kind of work is one’s purpose in life. Mai regards practising obeah as her calling.

Cruelly indifferent to another person’s suffering.

A lack of sympathy for another person’s suffering.

A Protestant Christian tradition based on John Calvin’s teachings, forming part of Stevenson’s Scottish religious upbringing and its concern with sin, salvation and moral responsibility.

In Austen’s usage, an attractive openness and generosity in judging others, rather than simply frankness in speaking.

Money available to invest in a business or other money-making activity.

An economic system in which businesses and productive resources are mainly privately owned and operated for profit. In An Inspector Calls, Birling represents a self-interested version of capitalism.

An unpredictable change of mood or behaviour, often following a passing whim.

In Never Let Me Go, a person who supports donors through their organ donations and recovery. Kathy performs this role before becoming a donor herself.

An exaggerated portrayal of a character’s distinctive traits, often used for comedy or criticism.

Large-scale killing or bloodshed.

The principle of seizing the present opportunity because life, youth and future happiness are uncertain.

In Toby’s description of Andrew in Act 3 Scene 4, this means receiving knighthood at court rather than earning it through service in battle.

A small chest or box. In The Merchant of Venice, suitors choose between three caskets to try to win Portia’s hand in marriage.

A rigid social rank or group. Jane uses this word to describe the class boundaries she fears crossing.