Essay II. (December 1st, 2000 words).

Choose one of the following topics.  Some critical reading from books or journal essays may be advisable, although I wouldn’t suggest any set number of references.

1. Consider the implications of the title, Twelfth Night, or What You Will, for understanding the play.

2. Assess the significance of love in Twelfth Night.  Is it an ideal or a plot device?

3. Explain the contribution made by the sub-plot (Sir Toby, Malvolio, etc.) to the meaning of Twelfth Night.

4. Discuss one of the shorter poems by Donne, or a Shakespeare sonnet (in Norton): in what ways does it reflect contemporary literary movements, styles of writing, literary influences, etc.?

5. For Satan: "the mind and spirit remains / Invincible" (I, 139-40).  Discuss the view that Satan is the hero of Paradise Lost.

6. Discuss some aspects of the historical context of Milton’s Paradise Lost, and the references made to it in the poem.  (E.g., colonialism; Puritanism; marriage).

 

DSM/08.11.2011