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Edexcel IGCSE English Literature sets three Shakespeare plays among its six literary heritage texts: Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice. You study one heritage text, which may be a novel instead - use the guides below if your school is teaching Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet.
In Paper 2 Section B of the Edexcel IGCSE Literature exam, you answer one essay question, from a choice of two on your play. No extract is printed: some questions open with a short quotation or a statement, and each asks about the play as a whole. The exam is open book - you may take in a clean, unmarked copy of the prescribed edition.
Guides to two of the three plays are below. Pick the one your teacher has selected.
Ambition, guilt and the supernatural
A brave Scottish general hears a prophecy that he will become king. Goaded by his wife, he murders King Duncan and seizes the throne - but is destroyed by guilt, paranoia and the relentless logic of fate. Shakespeare's shortest tragedy is a study of how ambition corrupts.
Love, fate and the violence of feuding families
The son and daughter of two warring Verona households fall in love at first sight. Their whirlwind romance is built on stolen moments, secret vows and desperate plans - and it ends in a tomb. Shakespeare's most famous tragedy asks whether love can ever survive the world it is born into.
If you have seen GCSE Shakespeare questions built on a printed extract, note that this paper prints none. You write one essay on the play as a whole, and you may have a clean copy of the play with you. That means you need a strong map of the whole play, and quick bearings in your own copy, not just a few favourite scenes.
Each play hub below includes a Study tip section on how to prepare for this question.
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