How Daunting is English Literature?

English Literature: The untold story
English Literature is one of those subjects, which many people tend to regard as "impossibly difficult to understand", "has no specific use in one's future" and "intensely and totally boring" (quotes courtesy of my friends who has never done E. Lit). The question is, how true are these accusations?
First of all, E. Lit (despite the exaggerated rumours) is NOT "impossibly difficult" at all. Difficult? Well, maybe, but not to the extent where you can't understand every single word and phrase (though an ability to at least understand English would obvio…