100+ English Literature Dissertation Topics in 2026

Dissertation topics in English literature consist of academic topics in literature that allow students to present their creativity and imagination through writing. It allows students to examine a topic, analyse its significance and portray their views after research in their dissertation.

The dissertation topics in English literature contain topics like Freud and early modernism, Bernard Malamud and Jewish writing, Kipling's India, Psychology and the modern novel etc.

List of 100+ Dissertation Topics in English Literature

There are a wide range of dissertation topics in English literature that students can choose from, research and create their dissertation. Below are the category-wise Dissertation Topics in English Literature.

1. 17th and 18th Century Dissertation Topics in English Literature

The 17th & 18th centuries witnessed the emergence of the novel script, permitting writers to crossways comment on the world utilising plot, metaphor, interior monologues & innovative dramatic devices. Below are some of the dissertation topics in English Literature for students to choose from.

1. Milton & the Bible.
2. Paradise Lost & the Fall from Grace: The nearest look at the redemption poetry of the 17th century.
3. The Genesis Myth & famous literature of the 17th century.
4. Love, loss & the geographical vision in the poetry of John Donne.
5. The foremost literary explorers: How findings shaped the literary vision of the 17th century.
6. Stendhal & the onset of consumerism.
7. Visions of nature: Wordsworth & the Eighteenth-Century poetical vision.
8. Interiors & interiority in the 18th novel.
9. Samuel Taylor Coleridge & the issue of the aesthetic.
10. The roots of the novel.
11. How Paradise Lost formed the future of the novels.
12. The Female Voice: How Girls Become Ladies in 17th Century Fiction.
13. How & why Laurence Sterne revealed the artefacts of fiction.

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2. 19th Century Dissertation Topics in English Literature

The nineteenth-century English literature reflects Britain's transformations due to industrialisation and the fall of religious life. It marks new ways of living while grieving the past, exploring the effects of secularisation on individuals. Below are some of the dissertation topics in English Literature for candidates to research.

1. Love & loss in Thomas Hardy's poems (1912-1913)
2. Retrieving the buried life: Imaginative aspiration in the poetry of Matthew Arnold.
3. Love & transmission in the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
4. Bulwer-Lytton and the magical tradition.
5. George Eliot and holy doubt.
6. Naturalist & mystic: Discovering the origin of Richard Jefferies' inspiration.
7. Digging for the simple life: Rustic paper in the nineteenth century.
8. An analysis of provincial life: Trollope writing after Austen.
9. The extent of costume in the work of Dickens.
10. Micro & macro: Comprehending the power relations in The Old Curiosity Shop & Bleak House.
11. The changing spiritual imagination of the 19th century.
12. How did politics alter literature in the 19th century?
13. Gender expression in the gothic novel.
14. The changing sense of the Victorian family in the creation of Gaskell.
15. Ruskin & heritage.
16. How did Realism emerge in 19th-century literature?
17. How did Frankenstein expect Science Fiction?

3. 20th Century Dissertation Topics in English Literature

The twentieth century witnessed significant aesthetic & philosophical shifts that disrupted the boundaries between prose & poetry in English literature. Below are some of the unique dissertation topics in English literature for students to pick for their dissertations:

1. Imaginative closure in the 20th novel.
2. W.H. Auden & poetic syntax.
3. Understanding the War: Ivor Gurney & the new poetic format.
4. Water imagery in the creation of Virginia Woolf.
5. 'Is there anything better to be Found?': T.S Eliot & the Wasteland.
6. Ted Hughes & Seamus Heaney: An analysis of similarity and difference.
7. 'Daring to break convention': The catastrophe of Sylvia Plath.
8. Time, Space in The Time Machine & The Island of Dr Moreau.
9. Aldous Huxley & the quest for the 'Other.'
10. Concerning the idea of being in the position of Milan Kundara.
11. A breakdown of character & identity in the creation of Ian McEwan.
12. Freud & before modernism.
13. Circular narrative form in the work of May Sinclair.
14. Investigations in Form: Joyce & the Twentieth Century.
15. Bernard Malumud & Jewish writing.
16. Magic & fantasy in the innovation of Robert Louis Stevenson.
17. Kipling's India and its impact on the readers.
18. Jack Kerouac & travel script.
19. An analysis of the similarities & distinctions between modernism & postmodernism.
20. How did postmodernism try to kill the novel?
21. Lost in the Amusing House: How John Barth revealed the artefacts of fiction?

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4. Interdisciplinary Subjects Dissertation Topics

An interdisciplinary study concerns combining literature with various disciplines like philosophy, architecture, religion, sociology, art, history, etc. It helps students to gain knowledge regarding techniques, themes, and contexts. Below are the dissertation topics of English literature regarding interdisciplinary subjects.

1. Describe the architecture in the work of Thomas Hardy.
2. Science & the 19th-century novel.
3. Solving the space age: Publications of the twenty-first century.
4. Astronomy and the poetic fantasy of the 19th century.
5. Why philosophy counts as literature.
6. Travelling the disciplinary boundaries: English writings & archaeology.
7. Transforming political relations in novels since 1900.
8. The interrelation of science & the arts since the 19th century.
9. Psychology & modern fiction.
10. Memory & view in Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the day.
11. Pursuing the self: Psychology in twenty-first-century publications.
12. Darwin & the Evolutionary Chronology.
13. The significance of history in interpreting the modern text.
14. Sister Arts: modern poetry & painting. Poststructuralist theories of language & the postmodern reader.
15. Print culture, mass diffusion, and their effects on the publications of the Renaissance.
16. A sociolinguistic study of The Twilight series.

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5. Identity and Place Dissertation Topics in English Literature

Landscapes serve as inspiration and character development tools for writers of different literary genres. Novels use narrative techniques to portray inner lives, and identity is closely related to place and culture. Students can find dissertation topics in English literature given below regarding identity and place.

1. Transforming landscapes: How urban or rural partition was represented in the 19th century.
2. Travel documenting in the 20th century.
3. What were the consequences of 'Enclosure' on the poetry of the Romantics?
4. The significance of place to the Romantic poet.
5. The changing depiction of city living since the 19th century.
6. Nature, narrative, and poem since 1940.
7. Thomas Hardy & Wessex.
8. Richard Jefferies' Wiltshire.
9. The Lake District is placed in poems of the 18th century.
10. The Mountain was a character in the 19th century.
11. Landscape & uniqueness in Lesley Glaister's Honour Thy Father.
12. Reporting in the desert: Narratives of Africa.
13. Identity, place, and history in postcolonial literature.
14. The essence of the sea in colonial exploration narratives.
15. Cornish terrains in the work of Thomas Hardy.
16. Charles Kingsley & ‘Westward Ho! ‘.
17. Terms of the Wealden Forest in Literature since 1800.
18. The beach has been a site for transformation in literature since the 19th century.
19. Post-9/11 fiction: dislocation and globalisation.
20. Wilderness and immigrant nationhood in North American fiction and verse.

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6. Children's Dissertation Topics in English Literature

Children's literature utilises imagination, humour, and tradition to create complex themes and imagery. When writing a dissertation on children's literature, consider the age range and societal expectations for appropriate content. Below are some of the children's dissertation topics in English literature.

1. What creates an Epic?: A dialogue of favourite children's novels from 1900.
2. Fabulous Beasts: Imagery in J.K. Rowling & Tolkien.
3. Finding Wonderland: Narrative method and visionary understanding in the work of Robert Louis Stevenson.
4. The quest for Utopia in island stories for children.
5. Beatrix Potter & the importance of illustration.
6. Animals & their role in children's literature since the 19th century
7. Hans Christian Anderson & the essence of the fairytale.
8. Why humour counts in children's literature.
9. Lucy Maud Montgomery & the story of the young artist.
10. Roald Dahl, the absurd and the sublime.
11. Enid Blyton and the famous adventure story.
12. A historical study of the origins of children's literature.
13. The significance of names in children's literature.
14. Reading to the under-fives: growing imaginations & relationships.
15. Enabling children to learn through storybooks.
16. What did the Victorians read to their kids?
17. Replicas of disability in young literature.

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7. Postcolonialism and Dissertation Topics in English Literature

The subject matter of postcolonialism, an influential academic theory, provides critical perspectives on race, belonging, power, politics, and emancipation. Below are some of the specific dissertation topics in English literature regarding postcolonialism.

1. Exploring the 'Other' in Victorian novels.
2. Postcolonialism in Naipaul's The Enigma of Incoming.
3. How has the Black Lives Matter campaign impacted contemporary black literature?
4. A postcolonial lesson of contemporary refugee publications.
5. Postcolonialism & climate adaptation literature.
6. The postcolonial reading of Things Fall Apart by Achebe.
7. Postcolonial information in Toni Morrison's Beloved & Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things.

8. Eco Literature Dissertation Topics in English Literature

Ecocriticism is a rapidly evolving field that examines the connection between literature and the natural world. It inspires dissertations, close readings, & real-life environmental activism. Below given are some of the dissertation topics in English literature regarding ecocriticism.

1. Exploring the corner between eco and spiritual histories in Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard.
2. An ecocritical reading of verse from the Romantics.
3. Vegan reports in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy.
4. Ecocriticism as vegan/climate modification activism?
5. Exploring the applicability of Thoreau's Walden in 2021.
6. Exploring the influence of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring on US activism.

Important Points for Dissertation Topics in English Literature

There are certain pointers that students must acknowledge while working on their dissertation topics in English literature. The topics must meet the following criteria in the initial stage for a better dissertation copy. The important pointers are stated below.

• Students should select a topic that is logically valid and allows them to research practically.
• Students must seek genuine advice from their mentors and peers before creating their dissertation.
• Students must select a trending dissertation topic in English literature to identify gaps and create a winning dissertation.
• Candidates must acknowledge that their dissertation topic must address the problem, be unique and be practically useful.

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How to Structure Dissertation Topics in English Literature?

A well-structured dissertation topic helps students to get better scores and excel in their studies. Students must follow the below-mentioned dissertation structure to create a winning dissertation copy.

• A Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Declaration
• Abstract
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Findings & Analysis
• Discussion & Conclusion
• References
• Bibliography
• Appendices