Karee's Annotated Bibliography (2)

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.

Enthusiast

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. 

Continue Reading...

Who to Be . . . or Not to Be

Revenge, jealousy, and mass death seem to be defining characteristics of many of Shakespeare's tragedies. But there is something else, something less gruesome, that his tragedies have in common: the hero is faced with the task of self identification.

For example many of the characters in King Lear face this problem and even hide behind lies and even disguises in order to protect themselves from who they really are. King Lear seems to hide behind his title as a king, and thus, doesn't see how he can truly love his daughter. Edgar has to hide from his brother and father to save his own life instead of stand up for himself.

I want to look more into this idea of identity (specifically how a character identifies himself) in Hamlet. I find it interesting that Hamlet begins with the theme of identity. Bernardo and Francisco trying to identify a each other:
"Who's there?"
"Nay, answer me. Stand and unfold yourself."
"Long live the king."
"Bernardo?"
"He." (1.1.1-5)

The main focus of my paper, however, will be the character of Hamlet. From what I understand, there are a couple times when Hamlet is talking about himself and who he is and who he should become. Consider the famous line "to be or not to be, that is the question"where Hamlet is considering who he can become. There are also the contradictions about his character that Hamlet shares in a soliloquy. 
"The fact that Hamlet is contrasting himself to Hercules, who display a symbol of intellectual and physical strength; he implies that he lacks self worth and self esteem" (UKessays). He has running through his mind the words of his father, "to thine own self be true." How is he going to decide what his "self" actually is.

I am interested in the psychology behind Hamlet's search for defining himself. I am planning to look at how this defines how Hamlet, the hero, struggles with defining himself through self-esteem. 

Continue Reading...