English Literature is the study of the great canon of English writing. It can involve reading the classics – like Shakespeare or Thomas Hardy – but these days is more likely to involve reading, analyzing, and understanding the writing styles of modern writers. If you love writing and reading, if you think you might want a career as a writer, journalist, or in marketing, this could be a great fit.

Higher Education Resource has a good video on why you might want to study English:

Success at School has a good summary of why students would study English Literature:

Studying English Literature helps to sharpen your analytical skills. If you can take a text and find the themes plus connect it with other texts, theories and historical events, you are showing that you can handle complex ideas, search for patterns and interpret information in a wider context. You will also develop your planning and research skills as well as gain knowledge of history, culture, philosophy and even human behaviour (sic).

English is good for any job that involves communication, writing and / or literary knowledge. These include: advertising, marketing, writing and journalism, law, consultancy, business, teaching, performing arts, academia, government, linguistics, foreign languages, media and design.