Working Title: "To be True to Which Self" or "How to Be, or Not to Be" (but I am open to suggestions)
Working Thesis: Although many claim Hamlet's actions depict revenge and justice, Shakespeare is actually using Hamlet to explain the process of self-identification as Hamlet goes through the grieving stages of his father's death.
Scholarly Sources
Adams, Barry B., "Coming-to-Know:Recognition and the Complex Plot in Shakespeare," Studies in Shakespeare, vol 10, edited by Robert F. Willson, Peter Lang Publishing, 2000.
This book is mostly about themes from the comedies that Shakespeare wrote, which isn't super helpful to me, however the conclusion brings in the aspect of personal identity in King Lear. While I have decided against using King Lear, I am still interested in the author's perspective of how Shakespeare's characters are able to come to terms with themselves. I will use Adams's perspective as a point of reference into looking into Hamlet as a Shakespearean character.
"Hamlet Prince Of Denmark." UKessays.com. 11 2013. All Answers Ltd. 11 2016 <http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/education/hamlet-prince-of-denmark.php?cref=1>.
This essay identifies parts of Hamlet and relays how they prove that Hamlet is discovering who he really is through the process of grieving. This essay was helpful at making connections between the psychology of self-discovery and self-identification and Hamlet. I will probably be able to use many of the passages from Hamlet that the essay draws from.
Kahn, Coppélia, "Man's Estate: Masculine Identity in Shakespeare," University of California Press, 1981.
This book references multiple Shakespearean plays and identifies various characteristics of male characters and using Freud's theories tells of how the characters show Shakespeare's view of the male identity. I think this will be super interesting to look into because Hamlet is going through the process of becoming a "man" with the loss of his father and has to find a new identity.
Soellner, Rolf, "Shakespeare's Patterns of Self-Knowledge," Ohio State University Press, 1972.
Rolf Soellner looks into many of Shakespeare plays and identifies how the characters or the plot relates to the "self." While I am not interested in looking into most of the book, Soellner does have a few chapters/sections on Hamlet that will be interesting and quite helpful to look into. Soellner identifies a part of Hamlet as "Probing a Restless Self," which is an aspect that I haven't considered as far as Hamlet's character is concerned. I am also interested in the appendix that talks about Hamlet's perception of a man, which will be helpful in identifying how what Hamlet thinks compares to how he acts.
Social Sources
Peer
Levy, Eric P. "'Nor h'exterior nor the inward man': The Problematics of Personal Identity in Hamlet," University of Toronto Quarterly, 68:3, 1999, 711-727.
Christopher Muratore found this article and posted it in the channel #research_interests on Slack. This is a great article about identity in the sense that there is the inner-self and the outer-self that is both seen and unseen. This is a great starting point to identify parts of Hamlet where Hamlet is discovering parts of his inner-self by analyzing his interactions with those around him.
Christopher Muratore found this article and posted it in the channel #research_interests on Slack. This is a great article about identity in the sense that there is the inner-self and the outer-self that is both seen and unseen. This is a great starting point to identify parts of Hamlet where Hamlet is discovering parts of his inner-self by analyzing his interactions with those around him.
Ellrodt, Robert, "Montaigne and Shakespeare: The Emergence of Modern Self-Consciousness," Manchester University Press, 2015.
This book was a suggestion from Professor Burton who encouraged me to look into "Montaigne and Shakespeare: The Emergence of Modern Self-Consciousness." There are a couple of sections spread throughout the chapters in this book that seem to have information that I will be able to use: "The self in Shakespeare's Sonnets,"The dramatic self: from the medieval monologue to the Shakespearian soliloquy," and "Complexity and coherence of the Shakespearean characters" (specifically Hamlet). Each of these sections relate the self and identifying the self to Shakespeare and even specifically with Hamlet. I will be able to uses these as reference points and even supporting evidence to prove Hamlet's struggle with identity.
Experts
I am in the process of contacting Emily Darwoski, a psychology librarian at BYU (an email and a visit). However, Darwoski is on maternity leave and so I have been directed to another librarian in the social science department. I am hoping to get a better idea of some of the psychological processes behind the stages of grief, self-identity, and even something about Freud's theory about the unconscious mind. I hope to be able to use this information to support my claim about Hamlet's struggle.
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