British Literature Essay Examples and Topics

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787 samples

You should consider many different factors when writing your essay on British literature. Authors from the Middle Ages, such as Chaucer, had different beliefs and opinions than Renaissance writers like Shakespeare.

Capturing the specific circumstances and important contexts of a work is critical to a British literary analysis essay. As such, you should conduct extensive research into the creator’s biography, especially during the period when he or she wrote the piece.

With that said, the numbers of potential ideas and connections can be overwhelming and difficult to organize. For this reason, you should create an outline before starting work in earnest.

The outline serves as the structure that ensures that your paper remains coherent and logical. To create it, you should first write down every concept that comes to mind when you think about the topic.

Next, try to eliminate some of the results by including them into another, broader category or deciding that they are not viable. Organize the remainder in an order that represents a progression. For example, you should put influences that affected the author at the time of writing before their expressions in the work.

Here are some tips you should use to write an excellent outline:

  • Try making your titles and subtitles concise but informative. The matter that is discussed in a section should be evident from its name.
  • Select your topics so that they have a connection instead of trying to find one afterwards.
  • Try to support each outline point with at least one piece of evidence. In doing so, you guarantee that you will have valid material that you can discuss.

Be sure to visit IvyPanda for British literature research topics, British literature essay examples, and other useful samples!

787 Best Essay Examples on British Literature

Imperialism in Shooting an Elephant: Symbolism & Themes

The story captures the violent reality of colonialism as the narrator unfolds the events of the actual shooting and the description of the slow and painful death of the elephant that seemed peaceful in hands [...]
  • 2.6
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2481

Tennyson’s Ulysses Poem Essay

Most of the lines end midway in what Shapiro calls "enjambment"."Once the structure of this epic is revealed, the meaning of the episodes become intelligible as part of the narrative structure".
  • 4.5
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1144

“Hell Heaven” Summary & Analysis Essay

The narrator's family is not socially stable and her mother, Boudi, falls in love with Pranab, a stranger that the family has taken in as a friend. The major characters in the story are the [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 888

Dramatic Irony in Macbeth Essay

Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to amuse the audience and to show the level of deception developed by the main character. The porter gives a clear picture of what is about to happen.
  • 5
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2013

Who Is More Human Than the Monster of Frankenstein?

By opposing the monster created by a scientist and the creator, Victor Frankenstein, the author alludes to the true meaning of being a human beyond the mere form of existence but rather living by virtues.
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 564

Homosexuality in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

However, at the same time, these breaks from the traditions incited a response reaction in favor of more traditional social roles in other areas, such as the refutation of male sexual relationships to the extent [...]
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2502

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Symbolism

In the context of the "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", the pentangle brings together the influence of "the five virtues, the five wounds of Christ, the five senses, the five joys of Mary the [...]
  • 5
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1873

Angel in House in Woolf’s Professions for Women

In Woolf's Professions for Women, the Angel in the House symbolizes the expectations of the society from what a woman should be; this Angel in the House got in the way of Woolf's writing and [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 835

Much Ado About Nothing

By focusing on relationships, the author of the play highlights the impact of deception to unity, love and happiness. Due to the constant practice of deceit among the characters, Claudio believes that Don Pedro is [...]
  • 4
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1150

The Tell-Tale Heart Essay

However, when the police came to the Old Man's house he gives himself away to the police because he hears the heart of the old man beating behind the floorboard and this incident may suggest [...]
  • 3.6
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 663

To His Coy Mistress Analysis

After making sure that the mistress is convinced, the speaker now explores the goodness of sex and claims that through sex, they would release the frustrations that have taunted them for a long time.
  • 3
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1898

A Family Supper

The relationship between the author and the parents is strained because of the author's decision to move to California, as explained in the story where the author states, "My relationship with my parents had become [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 812

Why Is Hamlet a Complex Character: Critical Analysis

When Hamlet's father requests him to avenge his death against King Claudius, he is unable to carry out his revenge. In addition, Shakespeare mission to delay Hamlet's plan to avenge his father's death highlights the [...]
  • 2.9
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 630

The Symbol of Fire in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The fire symbolizes the ambivalent nature of the creation: one the one hand, it grants rebirth and creates life, one the other mercilessly punishes people. The fire in the novel is the ultimate power regulating [...]
  • Pages: 1
  • Words: 319

Hamlet And Laertes: A Comparison

Hamlet, shocked by the revelation and shaken to the core by the knowledge of his mother's role in the act, immediately makes his intention clear in the presence of the ghost.
  • Pages: 12
  • Words: 3242

Satire in Parts 3-4 of Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”

The present paper argues that in Part 3, the author displays satire through the characters of Laputa's desperate rulers and Lagado's gifted scientists, who waste their time for useless experiments, and senile, envious immortals, whereas [...]
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1961

Feminism in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Mary Wollstonecraft expressly makes her stand known in advocating for the rights of the women in her novel, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but her daughter is a bit reluctant to curve a [...]
  • 3
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2266

The Feminine Power in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Considering the Elizabethan times much was expected from women in terms of respect and submissiveness to the men in that society, such that a daughter going to an extent of going against a fathers choice [...]
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1725

Role of Women in Twelfth Night and Hamlet by Shakespeare

Purpose of the research The purpose of this study is to compare specific women characters in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Hamlet and to explore their similarities in terms of their passivity, relationships with other characters [...]
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 2527

Harry Potter Books and Movies

The lead character is the hero Harry Potter, a famous wizard whose adventures are the central focus of the book and the movie.
  • 3.4
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 636

Shelley’s Frankenstein: What It Means to Be Human

The contestation was largely influenced by the Enlightenment led by the philosopher David Hume, who argued that there were different species of people and non-European species were "naturally inferior to the whites".
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 877

“Educating Rita” by Willy Russell: Literature Analysis

The author presents a solution to this question by demonstrating through the main character, Rita, that education can upgrade the diminished position and status of women in society. Education is Rita's expedition of self-realization to [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 840

Gawain as a Hero

Gawain is not aware of the plan but is wise enough to find his way out and by so doing he proves to be a hero again, as he is strong enough to avoid the [...]
  • 5
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1378

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

The author expresses his affection to a person he does not name, yet it is suspected that the mysterious object of the poet's admiration who is mentioned in most of the other sonnets is a [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 844

Sons and Lovers: A Psychoanalytic Reading

This essay offers a psychoanalytic reading of the novel Sons and Lovers and addresses the psychological needs of Paul and Gertrude Morel both conscious and unconscious and examines how the dynamics of their relationship mirror [...]
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1377

“The Monkey’s Paw” by Jacobs

When they are presented with the monkey's paw, they ignore the warnings and refuse to get rid of the wish-granting item. The consequences of whishing on the monkey's paw do not hesitate to knock on [...]
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 550

“Family Supper” by Kazuo Ishiguro

Father felt that he was not able to raise the children properly, and he thinks that it is extremely shameful. The best way to interpret this story is that the father has made a decision [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1218

Frankenstein: Novel & Movie Comparison

It also points to have a warning note to it in the subtitle against the over-ambition of the modern man and the impacts of the Industrial Revolution and French Revolution containing both enormous assurance and [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 928

Alice in Wonderland: Theory and Post-Structuralism Examples

Post-structuralism theory is one of those that is perfectly applied to the Carroll's Alice in Wonderland by means of pure relation between language and social organization, between different kinds of feminism and power, and the [...]
  • 1
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1666

“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley

The monster then travels to Geneva and meets a little boy called William in the woods, where he hopes that the young boy who is not yet corrupted by the views of older people and [...]
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2158

Narcissism: Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester

This paper will explore the notion of narcissism and use examples from Bronte's s novel to prove that Mr. Rochester consistently behaves in a way that forces the reader to question the moral integrity of [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1174

Frankenstein: The Theme of Birth

Frankenstein is a ruthless man who can stop at nothing in his pursuit of knowledge, and when he discovered the secrets of life, he uses it to create a monster.
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1474

Frankenstein & the Context of Enlightenment

The public was becoming more and more involved in the debates being waged, particularly as newspapers and other periodicals became more prevalent with the introduction of the printing press, introducing and maintaining widespread discourse in [...]
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1568

A visit to Grandpas Dylan Thomas

That is the point in the story, where the artist develops the character of the narrator, who is among the characters of the story, and more than that of the artist writing the story, thus [...]
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 1985

“The First World War” by John Keegan

Other than narrating the event on the battlefront, the book gives a picture of the backroom events that the leaders of the different countries were engaging in such as making appointments, which had a bearing [...]
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 1959

The nightingale and the rose: poem analysis

The following is, therefore, an analysis of the difference in characters between the Nightingale and the lady in the story. This is despite the fact that she knows the boy to a certain extent.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1143

Chapter 21 of “A Clockwork Orange” by A. Burgess

The analysis of the overall philosophy of Burgess and the meaning of the novel reveals that the twenty-first chapter plays a crucial role in delivering the main message of the possibility of moral evolution and [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 962

George Orwell’s “Why I Write”

The third part of the essay reflects Orwell's personal motives in writing and the development of his style which is rather "public-spirited" because Orwell wanted to reflect the social issues in writing.
  • 4
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 564

Sailing to Byzantium by William Butler Yeats

It needs to be studied and that is why the poet travels across the seas and decides to arrive at the "holy city of Byzantium": the holy city is a sort of paradise that the [...]
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1561

Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”

The Wife's prologue is a reflection of her aggressiveness, which is a reflection of the masculine image. However, this sexual freedom professed by the Wife is similar to the violent rape of the maiden by [...]
  • 5
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 831

Marie de France’s Lanval

The love of a soldier is seen in the way he fights for king and country. He is the son of a king but his father is not the one he currently serves.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1159
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