Social context
The social structures, hierarchies, values, and relationships (class, gender, family, community) that shape a text's concerns and representations. Social context includes how literature both reflects and critiques social structures.
Real World
In Jane Austen's *Pride and Prejudice*, the Bennet family's obsession with marrying off their daughters reflects the rigid class and gender hierarchies of Regency England, where women had no legal right to inherit property.
Exam Focus
Link social context to specific textual evidence; examiners reward AO3 points that directly illuminate authorial choices, not general background.
How well did you know this?