English Literature II
Fall 2024 Final
II.
Essay questions: 70%. Write on ANY ONE of the following topics.
1. Analyze the theme of exile in Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. In
what way Harold stands for a Byronic Hero? You may consider drawing
some philosophers’ views, for example, Nietzsche’s Übermensche, to
support your analysis.
2. Compare and contrast Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” and Keats’s “Ode
to a Nightingale” placing the focus on how Nature is invoked to explore
emotional crises and whether any resolution is reached at the end.
3. In what way can E. B. Browning’s Aurora Leigh be read as a female
Prelude or Bildungsroman?
4. How does “The Losos-Eaters” embody Tennyson’s elegiac mood in terms
of various images? And how melancholy can be explored as a moral
issue?
5. Analyze the elements of “comedy of manners” in Oscar Wilde’s The
Importance of Being Earnest. What is the significance of the notion of
“being earnest” for the play? How does Wilde present his critical
perspective on social class in Victorian England?
6. Discuss the issues of femininity and love in Jane Austin’s Pride and
Prejudice.
III. Bonus section: 10%. Which work that you read in this course this semester is
your favorite? Your explanations must be supported by textual evidence. [本
題開放使用中文]