English Literature Essays

Gender Themes in Hamlet
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: Novelty, conflict and scandal Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Elizabeth I of England’s poetry and prose contain a wide variety of themes, yet the most prominent is that of gender. Through e...

Dancing in Persuasion and Northanger Abbey
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction:  Going to balls and dances in the Regency Era was an opportunity of a social assembly to flirt and get to know each other. In the Regency Era, balls and dances were particularly important be...

Effect of the Setting in Hamlet on the Play
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: How the setting in Hamlet drives the play          In the play ‘Hamlet’, the author William Shakespeare introduces the setting of Denmark...

Why Was Crime Fiction So Popular in the Nineteenth Century?
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: Crime fiction is by no means a new idea, but its widespread popularity as its own literary and cinematic genre is a relatively new development. Crime has been used as a plot device in literature ...

The Greed and Honor in “Game of Thrones” and Shakespeare
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction:  The fantasy drama, “Game of Thrones,” captivated viewers with its characters and plot twist. But where did George R. R. Martin find the inspiration for writing the series, “A ...

Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native | Concepts of the Visible
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: “’The second half of the nineteenth century lives in a sort of frenzy of the visible’ (Jean Louis- Comolli). Discuss ideas of the visible and /or seeing in ‘Going to See a Man Hanged’ o...

The Gothic Novel: Delve into Frankenstein and Heart of Darkness
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: From the wise words of Dracula, “I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things which I dare not confess to my own soul” (Stoker, 19). A gothic novel is a work of ficti...

Gender Politics of Early Modern England
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: Literary theorist, Louis Adrian Montrose argues that Queen Elizabeth I’s reign during a persistent time of patriarchal control did nothing to deter her sovereignty as the matriarchal ruler of s...

Heteronormativity and Fanny Hill
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: Heteronormativity and Fanny Hill  According to the Oxford English Dictionary, heteronormativity is defined as, “…the privileging of biologically determined gender roles and hete...

Themes in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, an introspective sailor named Marlow–amongst his fellow seamen aboard the Nellie— recounts his time working for the Company in the Congo. Marlo...

The Portrayal of Jealousy: Othello vs. O
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: The smallest drop of jealousy can implant toxic thoughts that can manipulate their mental state and can change a person’s. It can greatly harm and influence an individual’s decision a...

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: Sacrifice in the Name of Love During the book A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, the rise of the peasants and middle class, who are tired of the nobility treating them poorly, is d...

Silenced Women in Othello, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, and The Merchant of Venice
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: The Silenced Women in Othello, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, and The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare  In the 16th century, women and men had specific gender roles that they were...

Searching for an Idenitity in Wide Sargasso Sea
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: There are many elements that are in the Wide Sargasso Sea.  Women’s rights, racism, slavery, absolute chaos, etc. are some of the few that are present in this novel. What group faced the m...

Role of Women in Queen Elizabeth I’s Era and the Effect on Shakespeare's Plays
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: Queen Elizabeth I “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too,” stated Queen Elizabeth I in regard to he...

The Merchant of Venice Research Paper
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction:  Imagine being charged an exorbitant amount of interest on a loan. This situation is commonly called usury, or the illegal practice of lending money at unreasonably high-interest rates. Usur...

Comparison of Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: Shakespeare is known as the best poet and has written 37 plays. Shakespeare earned his title of the best poet for repeatedly making good plays and has written a good amount also. Shakespeare’s ...

Analysis of the Villains in Shakespeare's Plays
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction:  The role of the villain is seen to have a huge impact in Shakespeare’s plays. Three villains I will be discussing are Malvolio (Twelfth Night), Shylock (Merchant of Venice) and Iago (...

She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: In his poem, “She walks in Beauty,” by Lord Byron 1815, the ideas of chivalric and courtly love are explored. The poem contains eighteen lines, divided into three stanzas of six lines and pos...

The Shrewiness of, “The Taming of the Shrew”
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: William Shakespeare was respected for constantly pushing the boundaries of what a typical play would look like and express. He was the king of captivating audiences; time and time again, he creat...

Stockings Metaphor in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: Stockings of Disloyalty Arthur Miller’s dramatic play, Death of a Salesman, examines the final days of the life of a sixty-three-year-old traveling salesman, Willy Loman. Willy puts hi...

The Success and Failures of Willy Loman
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction:  The word “success” evokes many interpretations.  While the common dictionary definition defines it merely as achieving a desirable outcome, the true meaning of the word extends far...

Shakespeare’s and Rochester’s Use of Stock Characters in Courtly Love
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction: This essay is going to focus on Shakespeare’s and Rochester’s use of stock characters and is going to look at both pieces in terms of courtly love. The differences and similarities of the sto...

Holden As An Unreliable Narrator
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction:  J.D.Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye tells the story of Holden; A young man struggling with the responsibilities and reality of growing up. The story takes place in New York City in wher...

Does Literature Reflect Society or Is Society Shaped by Literature?
Example essay. Last modified: 8th Feb 2020
Introduction:   Writers most commonly reflect what they see around themselves in terms of wrongs to be righted, personality types, or even psychoanalysis of those they encounter through daily interac...