This definitions covers The Vocabulary for Outsider Analysis within Theme: Prejudice & The Outsider for GCSE English Literature. Revise Theme: Prejudice & The Outsider in The Merchant of Venice for GCSE English Literature with 12 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 11 of 17 in this topic. Make sure you can use the exact wording confidently, because definition marks are often lost through vague language.
📜 The Vocabulary for Outsider Analysis
- Rhetoric
- The art of persuasive language. Shylock's "Hath not a Jew eyes?" is rhetoric — it uses parallelism and rhetorical questions to build an argument for shared humanity.
- Parallelism
- Repeating the same grammatical structure for effect. "Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands…" — each question has identical form, creating cumulative force.
- Gaberdine
- The traditional outer garment worn by Jewish men in Elizabethan Europe. Spitting upon the gaberdine is spitting on the visible marker of Jewish identity — prejudice made physical.
- Forced conversion
- The punishment imposed on Shylock in Act 4: he must convert to Christianity or lose everything. Elizabethan audiences may have read this as Christian mercy (saving his soul); modern audiences read it as dehumanisation.
- Tragicomedy
- A genre mixing comic and tragic elements. The Merchant of Venice ends as comedy (lovers reunited, Belmont harmonious) but achieves it through tragedy for Shylock — the genre itself is the argument.
- Anagnorisis
- The recognition moment in tragedy when a character understands their error. Shylock is given no anagnorisis at his exit — four words, then silence. Shakespeare denies him even the dignity of recognition.
- Scapegoat
- A figure onto whom a society displaces its anxieties. Shylock functions as Venice's scapegoat — his defeat enables the comic resolution the insider characters need.
Practice questions for Theme: Prejudice & The Outsider
In what year were Jews expelled from England, giving Elizabethan audiences almost no direct knowledge of Jewish people?
How does Shakespeare use the technique of rhetorical questions in 'Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?' to construct an argument? Explain the technique and its effect. (2 marks)