Higher English – Critical Essay Questions
Choose from a play an important scene which you found particularly
entertaining or particularly shocking
Explain briefly why the scene is important to the play as a whole and
discuss in detail how the dramatist makes the scene so entertaining or
shocking.
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Shocking scene – the death of Mercutio (alternative – the deaths of
Romeo and Juliet)
Mercutio is a vibrant, energetic, likeable character which makes his death
even more shocking.
He is not even a member of either of the feuding families which adds to
the shocking nature of his death.
It is important in understanding the themes of revenge, violence and
family honour and their horrible destructive force.
It leads to the banishment of Romeo as he kills Tybalt in revenge.
This greatly complicates Romeo and Juliet’s already difficult relationship.
Friar Lawrence tries to end the feud between the two families by taking
advantage of the two lovers’ situation
The tragic ending – another example of the terrible, shocking violence
that arises from the feud.
Choose a play in which a character makes a crucial error.
Explain what the error is and discuss to what extent it is important to
your understanding of the character’s situation in the play as a whole.
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Crucial error – Romeo’s killing of Tybalt.
Highlights the terrible cycle of violence that exists between the two
families.
Shows Romeo’s capacity for great passion – both love and hate.
Leads to his banishment and the isolation of his wife.
Leaves Juliet full of desperation and willing to submit to Friar Lawrence’s
plan.
Ultimately leads to the tragic ending.
Choose a play in which a central character is heroic yet vulnerable.
Shoe how the dramatist makes you aware of both qualities and discuss
how they affect your response to the character’s fate in the play as a
whole.
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Heroic yet vulnerable character: Juliet.
Juliet is heroic in her commitment and loyalty to Romeo and her
willingness to risk her life for their love.
She is heroic in her willingness to defy her family and transcend the
destructive hatred that exists between her family and Romeo’s.
She is vulnerable in that she is a young girl who is expected to submit to
the authority of her father. Going behind her father’s back and loving her
father’s enemy makes her vulnerable to the forces of hate and violence
that dominate the relationship between Capulet and Montague.
Discuss Juliet’s character at the start of the play – dutiful – willing to
please her family.
Discuss the meeting with Romeo and how her sudden and passionate love
turns her world upside down.
Discuss the bravery/daring/heroic nature of her willingness to marry
Romeo even after she finds out he is Montague.
Discuss the feud and the death of Tybalt and Juliet’s brave/heroic decision
to stand by her husband. Discuss how vulnerable she is when she stands
up to her parents.
Discuss the plan of Friar Lawrence and Juliet’s heroic willingness to risk
her life but also how vulnerable she is emotionally.
Discuss the ending – is she brave and heroic to end her life in the way she
does?
Choose a play in which the relationship between a male and a female
character changes significantly.
Show how the relationship changes and discuss to what extent this
illuminates a central idea of the play.
 Juliet and her father – at the start Juliet is dutiful; her father is
understanding, loving.
 This changes suddenly with the meeting with Romeo. Her love for Romeo
causes her to abandon the duty of a daughter to follow the wishes of a
father. This highlights the strength of the love she feels (a central idea of
the play).
 The love that Juliet has for Romeo and the duty she owes her father come
into direct conflict when Juliet’s father arranges the marriage to Paris.
Juliet’s defiance here causes her father to become authoritarian and even
cruel to his daughter. Juliet’s love for Romeo has caused a seemingly
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insurmountable rift between her and her father. Is Shakespeare
suggesting that love can be a destructive force?
Juliet’s desperate situation leads her to Friar Lawrence who tries to
remedy the situation.
Juliet’s love for Romeo leads to her death. Her father remembers his love
for his daughter but it is now too late. The love of Romeo and Juliet has
brought great tragedy but it has also achieved a measure of reconciliation
between the two families.
Choose a play which explores the theme of love in difficult
circumstances.
Explain how the dramatist introduces the theme and discuss how in
the course of the play he prepares you for the resolution of the
drama.
 The “star-crossed lovers” – Romeo and Juliet’s ill-fated, tragic love story.
Difficult circumstances – they are on opposite sides of a violent and hatefilled feud.
 Discuss the meeting of the lovers and their agreement to get married
despite the difficulties of being from opposite sides of the feud. What do
we learn about the two characters and the nature of their love? Does their
impulsiveness/capacity for extreme passion prepare us for the resolution
of the drama?
 Discuss Romeo’s killing of Tybalt and the near impossibility of the two
lovers now being together. Does this prepare us further for the resolution?
Think of Romeo’s emotional impulsiveness.
 Discuss Juliet’s desperation and determination to be with her husband
despite all the difficulties. Discuss Friar Lawrence’s plan and the risks
involved.
 Discuss the resolution – the tragic death of the two lovers whose sacrifice
brings an end to the terrible family feud.
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Choose a novel that deals with true love, unrequited love or love
betrayed.
Discuss the writer’s exploration of the theme and show to what extent it
conveys a powerful message about the nature of love.
- Gatsby’s love is unrequited. His all-consuming love for Daisy is never really
returned.
- Discuss the nature of Gatsby’s love and the fact that he has devoted his life to it.
Is Gatsby in love with Daisy or his dream of her? You could compare Gatsby’s love to
other characters. Tom and Daisy may have some kind of affection and loyalty for each
other, but we're pretty sure it's not actually love. Jordan and Nick are happy enough to
spend time together but again it’s not actually love. Only Gatsby seems to be truly in
love – the one-sided nature, or unrequited nature, of his love seems to inevitably lead to
disaster.
- Discuss the scene in the hotel when Gatsby’s dream begins to fall apart. Gatsby
needs Daisy to love him with the same degree of passion and obsessiveness with which
he loves her. She can’t and Daisy retreats back to the safety of Tom and his money.
- Despite Daisy’s rejection – Gatsby remains true to her and is even willing to take
the blame for the car accident. This is a sacrifice that perhaps Daisy does not deserve.
What does this reveal about Gatsby’s character?
- Discuss the ending – does Gatsby’s unrequited love lead ultimately to his death?
- Discuss the symbolic significance of Gatsby and his Dream of Love – symbols of
the American dream and its demise.
Choose a novel in which symbolism is an important aspect of the writer’s style.
Show how the writer’s use of symbolism contributes to your understanding of
character and theme.
- Symbolism is an important aspect of Fitzgerald’s style - you could structure this
essay by focusing on one symbol or group of symbols in a paragraph.
- Colour symbolism: the green light – symbolises Daisy, or Gatsby’s idealised
image of her, his dream of a happy future. Discuss how the colour green links
Gatsby’s yearning for Daisy with the first sailors to arrive in America who
dreamed of a better world thus making Gatsby symbolic of the seemingly
hopeless pursuit of the American dream.
- Characters as symbols: Gatsby, as mentioned above, comes to represent the
pursuit of the American Dream. Tom and Daisy come to represent the upper
classes in general – they are both cold and careless and living essentially
meaningless lives and through these characters Gatsby is criticising the wealthy
upper classes generally. Tom and Daisy are also symbols of the corruption of the
American Dream – with their wealth and luxury they seem to have achieved the
dream but they are both essentially unhappy. Is this because the pursuit of
wealth at any cost has replaced the pursuit of happiness?
- The valley of ashes – symbolic of a moral wasteland. Signifies the huge gulf
between rich and poor. The characters who live here – Myrtle and Wilson are
symbolic or representative of the lower classes. They end up being victims of the
immoral, selfish “careless” rich.
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The giant eyes of Doctor T J Eckleburg. Wilson connects him with god Does he
represent the absence of god? And therefore the absence of traditional values and
morals? Is it a symbol of the commercialisation of America (an advert replacing
god)? Is it symbolic of society needing to “correct its vision” and “see” its faults?
Choose a novel or short story in which one of the main characters is not
in harmony with his/her society.
Describe the character’s situation and go on to discuss how it adds to
your understanding of a central concern of the text.
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Gatsby is out of harmony with the wealthy upper-class society of Daisy
and Tom.
He is from a poor background and he has devoted his time and energy to
become wealthy enough to be accepted by the upper class, and crucially,
to be accepted by Daisy.
Although he becomes fabulously wealthy he never quite fits in/is never
quite in harmony with the upper classes. His house is in West Egg, viewed
by the aristocratic East-Eggers as a vulgar place full of people with “new”
money. Gatsby’s mansion is a “factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in
Normandy” which suggests it is not authentic just as Gatsby is not
authentically aristocratic.
Gatsby reinvents himself to fit in with the upper classes but he never quite
manages it. His use of “old sport” sounds unnatural and absurd. When
Nick first meets Gatsby he is almost won over by Gatsby’s extraordinary
smile with its “quality of eternal reassurance” but when the smile goes
Nick describes him as “an elegant young rough-neck... whose elaborate
formality of speech just missed being absurd”. It is clear that this “young
rough-neck” is never going to be in harmony with the sophisticated high
society people who attend his parties. We see here one of concerns of the
text – class division and the snobbery of the traditionally wealthy.
Tom is always suspicious of Gatsby, questioning where his wealth came
from. He becomes more antagonistic towards Gatsby as he begins to
realise the relationship going on between Gatsby and his wife. This leads
to the confrontation in the New York hotel. He reveals Gatsby as someone
who has made his money from criminal activities. This frightens off Daisy
and she retreats to the safety of her husband’s wealth.
Gatsby’s faithfulness to Daisy after this episode and his willingness to take
the blame for the death of Myrtle are both admirable but he is almost an
absurd figure as he waits outside her house when we know she has
rejected him. Gatsby could never be accepted into this exclusive society
due to his humble origins and the underworld/low-class nature in which he
made his money.
With Gatsby’s death we see how completely out of harmony Gatsby is
with the upper class society. Only Owl eyes attends his funeral. The
crowds who readily attended his parties have no interest in him. This
reveals the shallowness/emptiness of the upper classes.