English IV Literary Analysis Essay Topics
1. Examine the concept of virtue in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
To keep your essay simple, you will want to keep your discussion focused on a
single type of virtue. For example, courtesy, fortitude (facing one’s fate bravely),
leadership (what does it mean to be a good king, for example), and faithfulness
(to God, king, comrade or ideal) all fall under the category of “virtue.” You might
want to look at how the heroes fail to uphold a virtue, or how they set good
examples for virtue. You could also use a comparison of virtues to argue
whether Sir Gawain or Beowulf is the better hero.
2. In both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf, we are presented with
various types of codes, or norms of social behavior. These social codes could be
considered the basis for social stability. In both works we see the consequences
of the violation of these codes. You might approach this topic in any one of
several ways. For example, how similar or different are the kinds of codes in
each of the works (do Beowulf and Gawain live by the same rules?) How are the
codes presented in the respective works? (This question asks you to look at the
ways in which the two authors make us aware of the norms of social behavior in
each of the works) How does religion (Christian, pagan or other) function in the
lives of our two heroes or in the social structures they inhabit? What, for
example, is the relationship between drinking and the creation of verbal oaths?
3. Compare the function of the “monsters” (or the supernatural) in Beowulf and
SGGK. Why are they there? How do they influence our understanding of the
heroes?
4. How has Gawain been tested/challenged in his journey/quest in the poem? What
is the nature of a test in the context of a knight of medieval romance and, by
extension, the rest of us in the world? How do you think Gawain has fared with
his challenge? Does he return to Camelot in triumph, humility, or perhaps a bit of
both?
5. Wilde suggests that his Victorian contemporaries should treat trivial matters with
greater respect and pay less attention to what society then regarded as serious.
Discuss how Wilde expresses this philosophy and comment on the effectiveness
with which he has communicated his 'message' with reference to ONE of the
following in the play: death, politics, money, property, food, or marriage. Please
confirm by e-mail the precise wording of your topic.
6. Using three examples drawn from the play, show how Algernon uses Wilde's
aesthetic principles to transform his life into a work of art.
7. Define the term "fantasy," then demonstrate how Wilde treats ONE of the following
fantastically (as opposed to realistically): Victorian society's class structure, food
and the Victorian conventions surrounding it, the resolution of the plot.
8. Using appropriate quotations and paraphrases from at least one major scene in
the play, show how Wilde treats humorously serious issues and conflicts that
existed within Victorian society. You might wish to demonstrate how the play deals
with one of the following matters: marriage and courtship, sexual double standards,
the class structure, money and property, and attitudes towards illness and death.
9. Analyze the various times that the characters eat in this play, primarily the
cucumber sandwiches and the muffins. Does eating serve a primarily social or antisocial function?
10. How do words take on a life of their own in this play? How does this relate to why
it is it so easy for Prism to substitute her manuscript for a baby? Analyze diaries
as a source of power and truth-making.
11. How does Oscar Wilde reveal character in The Importance of Being Earnest?
Are the characters consistent in their actions? Which of the characters are fully
developed? How? Why?
12. What is the role of women in the play? How are mothers represented? What about
single/independent women?