Context is one of those words that appears in every mark scheme and every teacher’s feedback, and is understood by very few students. “Consider the context” is advice students receive repeatedly. How to actually use context in a Literature essay — in a way that earns marks rather than producing a paragraph of historical background that floats free of the text — is taught less often and understood less reliably.
Here’s what context actually means, and how to use it effectively.
What Context Is — and What It Isn’t
Context refers to the circumstances surrounding the production of a text: when it was written, who wrote it, for what audience, and in what social, historical, and cultural conditions. Understanding context helps us understand why a text says what it says, and why it says it the way it does.
What context is NOT: a separate paragraph at the beginning of an essay summarising the historical period. “Victorian England was a time of great change. The Industrial Revolution had transformed the country. Women had few rights.” This kind of context-dump is the most common way students misuse context — it tells the reader about the period, but it doesn’t connect that knowledge to the text being analysed.
The Principle: Context Should Deepen Analysis
Context should appear in your essay at the point where it illuminates something about the text — not as background preparation before the analysis begins. The question to ask is always: “Does knowing this contextual fact change how I understand this specific moment in the text?”
For example, rather than opening with a paragraph about Victorian attitudes to women and then writing about the text separately, the contextual knowledge should appear within an analytical point: “The description of Bertha as ‘it’ rather than ‘she’ reflects contemporary attitudes to female mental illness as a form of monstrosity rather than a medical condition — stripping her of personhood in language that a Victorian reader might not have questioned, but which a modern reader reads as deeply dehumanising.”
The context (Victorian attitudes to mental illness and to women) is woven into the analysis rather than placed beside it. That’s context working properly.
Types of Context to Consider
Historical Context
Events, movements, or conditions of the period in which the text was written or is set. This is useful when there’s a direct relationship between historical circumstances and something specific in the text — not when it’s general background.
Social and Cultural Context
Attitudes and values of the period — to gender, class, race, religion — that shape how characters are presented and how a contemporary reader would have responded to them. This is often the richest contextual territory for IGCSE Literature texts.
Biographical Context
The writer’s own life and circumstances. Useful when there’s a plausible connection to the text, but treat it carefully — biographical readings can become reductive (“the poet wrote this because she was sad”) and miss the text’s wider significance.
Literary Context
The genre conventions, literary movements, and other texts the writer was in dialogue with. A poem in the Romantic tradition, a novel following Gothic conventions, a play responding to Naturalist theatre — all of these are enriched by understanding the literary conversation the text is participating in.
A Simple Rule
Before including any contextual point, ask: “Does this change what I’m saying about the text, or am I including it because it sounds relevant?” If the contextual information doesn’t actively change or deepen your analysis of the text, leave it out. Context that exists only to show knowledge of the period is padding, and padded essays score lower than tightly argued ones.
Essay technique — including how to use context effectively — is taught in depth in Thorogood English’s IGCSE English Literature classes. Join the waiting list for January 2027 places.
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