British Literature Review: Romanticism, Shakespeare, and Frankenstein

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key historical context, literary terms, themes, and figures from Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Shakespeare's King Lear, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

An English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian (1772-1834) who held great respect for nature and authored 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'.

Lyrical Ballads

A 1798 poetry collection by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, containing 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', that is believed to mark the start of the Romantic movement.

Romantic Period

A literary era (1798-1832) spanning from the publication of Lyrical Ballads to the coronation of Queen Victoria, characterized by a focus on subjectivity, imagination, emotion, nature, and the individual.

Gustave Doré

A French artist and child prodigy (1832-1882) known for creating 42 famous engravings illustrating 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'.

Albatross

The largest of the flying birds, featuring a wingspan of up to 5 feet, which serves as a central creature and motif in Coleridge's famous poem.

Bearing One's Albatross

An idiom meaning to carry a heavy burden of guilt resulting from a wrongdoing that becomes an obstacle to success.

Secular Approach to Nature (Rime of the Ancient Mariner)

A worldly interpretation of the poem's lesson where the Mariner commits a transgression, makes an entreaty, bestows good fortune, and learns to revere nature.

English Renaissance

A historical era (1500-1650) meaning 'rebirth', marked by a renewal of interest in classical antiquity, a flourish in the humanities, and an emphasis on individual potential.

Early Modern Period

A historical period from 1450 to 1750 that recognizes many of the structural foundations of modern culture.

Elizabethan Era

The period from 1558 to 1603 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, remembered as a time of great prosperity and wealth in England.

Jacobean Era

The period from 1603 to 1625 during the reign of King James I, named after 'Jacobus', the Latin form of James.

The Globe

An open-air theater located on the Thames River where young men played women's roles, and Shakespeare worked as a part-owner, actor, and resident playwright.

Divine Right of Kings

The belief that God ordained a monarch to rule over a nation, implying that a king's personal successes or failures directly reflected the condition of his kingdom.

Great Chain of Being

A medieval Christian concept of the hierarchical structure of the universe decreed by God, ordering existence from God and angels down to humans, animals, plants, and inanimate objects.

Four Humours

An ancient Greek and Roman medical system detailing body fluids—sanguine (blood), phlegmatic (phlegm), choleric (yellow bile), and melancholic (black bile)—where illness was attributed to an imbalance.

Machiavellian

An adjective describing someone cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, based on Niccolo Machiavelli's political philosophy that the end justifies the means.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter, commonly spoken by high-status characters in Shakespearean plays.

Double Entendre

A word or phrase open to two different interpretations, one of which is usually indecent or risqué.

Aside

A short remark spoken by an actor directly to the audience or another character that is unheard by the other characters on stage.

Soliloquy

A speech delivered by a character alone on stage, meant to reveal their inner thoughts exclusively to the audience.

Titular

Denoting a person or thing from whom or which the name of an artistic work is taken, such as King Lear in Shakespeare's tragedy.

Stocks

A wooden device used to publicly punish common criminals; placing noblemen like Kent in them was considered highly disrespectful to royal status.

Poor Tom

The disguised beggar identity assumed by Edgar in King Lear, derived from 'Tom o' Bedlam' beggars associated with London's Bethlehem Hospital for the insane.

Caius

The alias adopted by the Earl of Kent while in disguise to serve King Lear.

Doubling

A literary and dramatic technique used to create oppositions or parallels, generating foils such as contrasting fools with wise men or false service with genuine love.

Literary Criticism

The study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature, typically formatted as a critical essay.

King Lear British Territories Map

A map depicting the divided territories of Britain in Shakespeare's play, showing regions such as Albany, Cornwall, Gloster, Kent, and the Crown Lands.

William Godwin

An intellectual radical and founder of philosophical anarchism who was the father of Mary Shelley.

Mary Wollstonecraft

A radical intellectual who wrote 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' and died 11 days after giving birth to her daughter, Mary Shelley.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

A prominent Romantic poet who eloped to France with 16-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, marrying her after his estranged wife's suicide.

Galvanism

The study and application of electricity to stimulate muscle movement or attempt to create life artificially.

Gothic Novel

An offshoot of Romantic literature featuring mystery, horror, supernatural events, wild remote settings, and atmosphere dictated by weather.

Prometheus

An ancient Greek Titan whose name means 'forethought', who created man from clay, stole fire for humanity, and was punished by the gods; serves as a metaphor for human scientific ambition.

Prometheus Statue (Rockefeller Center)

A famous landmark golden statue located in New York City depicting the Titan Prometheus bringing fire to humanity.

Frame Story

A layered story structure where an inner narrative is enclosed within an outer narrative, as seen in Frankenstein.

Epistolary Novel

A novel written entirely through a series of documents, typically letters written by one or more characters.