How do I use context in an English Literature essay?

For English Literature exams and coursework, some exam boards may include incorporation of context in their marking criteria. This is certainly the case at A Level, and perhaps to a lesser extent at GCSE. Context is important to include as it shows the examiner that you have a wider understanding and engagement with the text. However, it is important to note that context must compliment your analysis of the actual text(s) and not dominate your essay.  The authors of the plays, novels and poems you are studying were exposed to many influences, which must be considered as they may impact on your interpretation and analysis of the text.

There are various sources of context you can integrate into your essay. You may consider events occurring at the time the text was written (historical context) and how this could correlate with the events and setting of the text or the characters’ feelings.  The characterisation of Ariel and Caliban in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, for example, may be interpreted as a reflection of the presentation and treatment of colonised peoples at the time. Biographical context is also useful, as an author may have written a text which is an expression of an event in their life; it could also relate to other writings by the author. You may, therefore, want to consider how influential this text is in comparison to the author’s other works, and whether they are an example of a particular genre of literary style. For example, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights are noted as part of the gothic genre. Moreover, film or theatre adaptations of a text are a useful source of comparison to your own interpretation, and reviewers and critics of such reworkings, as well as the actual text, can provide perspectives which may support or oppose your own arguments.