British Literature Essay Examples and Topics

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793 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!

793 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
  • 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

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

“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

Victorian Poetry and Its Characteristics

One of the most prominent traits of Victorian poetry was that most poems portrayed the themes of isolation, alienation, and the distinction between love and life.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1102

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

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

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 [...]
  • 3
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 630

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

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 Marriage of Heaven and Hell

The contraries used by the poet in "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" are the backbone of this poem. The structure of "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell" is the first feature of the contraries [...]
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1097

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: 6
  • Words: 2266

“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

“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

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

“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

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

The state's persecution of the church is seen through the suffering of the priest who has to overcome great challenges posed by the socialist State and the fascist Red Shirts, who violates the church through [...]
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 1173

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

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

“An Essay on Man” by Alexander Pope

This essay discusses the philosophy that Pope brings forth in his Essay that Man, in his pride and disbelief, is blinded and fails to realize the beauty and sublimity in the perfect world that God [...]
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2314

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

Ethics as a Theme in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

From the novel, it is evident that humans drove the monster into a state of madness when they subjected it to hatred and rejection, and thus the monster's madness emerged due to the treatment it [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 908

“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien

The story is considered to be rather sophisticated in analysis and structure consisting of three volumes "the Fellowship of the Ring", "the Two Towers", and "The Return of the King".
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1427

“The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling

Devoted to the description of the life of a human being, the book, though, manages to combine this description with the visions of nature of the jungle and the laws according to which animals live [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 565

Pride and Prejudice: Mrs. Bennet

Bennet cares for her daughters and husband, despite the ways she chooses to show her thoughtfulness that is often improper or inconsiderate, which makes her a good wife and mother.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1142

“Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens

Although he survives after the death of the mother, he is forced to lead a life full of hardship following an unexplained disappearance of the father.
  • 4
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1756

“The Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

The story 'The Tale of two Cities' written by Charles Dickens is considered to be dedicated to the disclosure of French Revolution period; it is the classic work representing the archetypal characters through the concepts [...]
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1503

“The Guide” by R. K. Narayan

Marco's and Raju's mother's characters are to be considered further in order to research the differences in western modernity and Indian traditional values.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1123

The Theme of Sense and Sensibility

This paper explores the theme of sense and sensibility, and the lack of it, in details and shows how each of the characters stands out in relation to the theme.
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1169

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

Gardens in Pride and Prejudice

In the novel, the author compares this garden to Darcy's perception of himself. He boasts about how he knows the number and the location of each and every tree in the garden.
  • 5
  • Pages: 4
  • Words: 1242

The Role of Women in Frankenstein

This shows that the woman presented to us has a strong character that enables her to deal with the enormous loss in her life.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 884

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

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

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: 10
  • Words: 3242

William Blake, His Life and Works

However, he is now regarded as one of the influential figures in the history of both poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age since his works talk about the supremacy of the imagination over [...]
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1625

Wordsworth’s Vision on Childhood and the Basic Themes

As a result, the poet refers to the representation of the Fall, the metaphor that allows Wordsworth to render the transition between youth and adulthood, reason and emotion, gain and loss, experience and innocence.
  • 5
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 2157

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.
  • 3.3
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 636

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

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

The Mimic Men Novel by Naipaul

The writer uses first-person narration to illustrate how Ralph is writing a memoir in response to the muddled uproar that is rampant in the setting of the novel.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 909

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

Elements of Modern Fiction

Time and realism is a crucial element of modern literature."Time, in Modernist literature, may take the reader through a day in the life of a narrator, whereas in Realism, the reader is taken into a [...]
  • Pages: 2
  • Words: 551

Finding Identity: “Kim” by Rudyard Kipling

Through writing his book, the author reveals his attitude towards the British government and at the same time gives a detailed description of the human nature including the characteristics of a spy.
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1640

“The Tyger” by William Blake

The poem is rightfully regarded as one of the best literary works in the world literature due to the stunning imagery with its special grave mood created by the author and the use of bright [...]
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 750
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