Tweethis Statement

I sent my thesis out into the Twitter and Facebook universes as a Tweethis statement. It took some work to cut my thesis down to 140 characters and what I came up with was a little vague but I hoped it would at least spark some interest. I think I may have failed because I didn't get a whole lot of helpful feedback. This is what I came up with for my Tweethis:

A Jungian approach to The Tempest explains why Shakespeare still matters in popular culture #Shakespeare #Jung

I received only one response via Twitter, which simply said, "Prove it." So, not very helpful.

I had more success on Facebook. But only in terms of number of responses. Only two of them really even responded to the thesis -- one saying it was vague yet intriguing and another saying essentially the same thing but in a lot more words. All of the other responses fell somewhere between friendly insults, one question as to why I was doing homework on a weekend, and one link to a clip from Billy Madison that features this line: "What you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I've ever heard... everyone is now dumber for having heard it."

Needless to say, my experience with the Tweethis statement was not an extremely helpful one. In hindsight, I would have expanded my Tweethis for the Facebook post or at least provided more background. My full Facebook post read like this:

One of my professors has asked that we post an abbreviated version of our thesis for the Shakespeare paper we are writing. I know it's Saturday and this is Facebook but if you have any thoughts, let me know. Here it is: A Jungian approach to the The Tempest explains why Shakespeare still matters in popular culture.


Twitter's 140 character limit keeps things pretty restricted but Facebook doesn't have that limit so I probably should have given a little more detail on Jungian theory and some specifics on how I feel Shakespeare is still relevant in popular culture to help encourage discussion.

Draft of Introductory Paragraph and Thesis

Well I still have a long way to go but here's a start to my paper. I usually take a lot longer working on my introduction than on any other aspect of the paper so at least I've moved past that hurdle. I'd be interested to hear any feedback -- is it clear, is it interesting?

Follow this link to take a look.

Phase Two Progress Report

This week I have been working on the second phase of my research paper. This phase consists of four components:

1 - Performance Analysis

2 - Annotated Bibliography

3 - Digital Media and Online Resources

4 - Social Proof

1 - Performance Analysis

Because my research and thesis deals partly with the relevance of The Tempest in contemporary pop culture I decided to view the 2010 film adaptation of the play.

I was planning on watching it this weekend but have had a harder time tracking it down than I thought I would. I thought I would be able to get it through Redbox or Netflix but it looks like I am going to have to purchase a copy so I am going to see if I can't pick it up locally. Otherwise, I'm going to have to buy it through Amazon with express shipping. I will include a performance analysis next week with my phase three report.

2 - Annotated Bibliography

I struggled to find a specific focus to write about so my research process hasn't been very efficient thus far. I knew I wanted to write about The Tempest and incorporate Jungian theory so I have used many of the common resources (Google Scholar, JSTOR, Project Muse, etc.) to see what has already been said. My efforts for social proof, as discussed in this post, have also helped me to narrow my topic. Throughout the process I have arrived at this thesis:

A Jungian approach to Shakespeare's The Tempest not only offers insight into the psyche of Shakespeare himself but also helps to explain why his works continue to maintain relevance in today's popular culture.

Some important sources:

Benzon, William L. "At the Edge of the Modern, or Why is Prospero Shakespeare’s Greatest Creation?” Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems 21(3): 259-279. 1998.

--Benzon considers The Tempest within the context of Shakespeare's entire body of plays to make connections between Prospero and the playwright's psyche. Although Benzon's specific focus on Prospero varies from my thesis, his argument is closely related to my own and the article has served as a good jumping off point. I found this article through a Google Scholar search and a PDF version can be accessed online.

Driscoll, James P. Identity in Shakespearean Drama. Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 1983. Print.

--Driscoll uses a Jungian lens to investigate concepts of identity in Shakespeare's works. This will be an important source for my argument as I am trying to investigate similar notions within The Tempest specifically. I came across this book through BYU's library website and then checked out a print copy from the library.

MacLean, Kenneth. "Wild Man and Savage Believer: Caliban in Shakespeare and Browning." Victorian Poetry. 25.1 (1987): 1-16. JSTOR. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.

--MacLean's article provides a Jungian comparison between Shakespeare and Robert Browning by looking at the wildman/savage archetype. While my paper has nothing to do with Robert Browning, MacLean's discussion on Caliban as a Jungian shadow symbol is directly relevant to my paper. I found this article through JSTOR.


Murphy, Andrew. A Concise Companion to Shakespeare and the Text. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007. Print.
--This monograph is compromised of eleven articles which are divided into three general categories: histories of the books, theories of editing, and practicalities. The first category will probably be the only helpful one for my specific argument as it will provide me with some context for considering Shakespeare as a person. I found this book in the Harold B. Lee Library here at BYU while I was searching for the Driscoll book listed above.

The Wisdom of the Dream: Vol. 3, A World of Dreams. Dir. Stephen 

Segaller. Public Media Inc. 1989. VHS.

--This video is part three of a documentary on C.G. Jung's theories on dreams. The video is just short of an hour long but the first twenty minutes were the most beneficial for my research. In that first twenty minutes the concepts of imagination and creativity are discussed as well as the role of film. Both of those aspects are relevant to my paper. I obtained this video through Dr. Lundquist (see social proof below), she was kind enough to lend it to me.

3 - Digital Media and Online Resources
Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies, The International Association for Jungian Studies, "Shakespeare" by Another Name, "At the Edge of the Modern, or Why is Prospero Shakespeare's Greatest Creation?"


4 - Social Proof

My attempts at social proof have helped me to narrow my focus as well as leading me to a lot of the research sources I have posted. The first, most basic, form of social proof has come through informal discussion with classmates. My brother Josh is in the class and he and we have spent a decent amount of time bouncing ideas off each other as we've been going about this process. He's given me some good feedback and just the attempt to articulate your ideas to someone else can be very helpful.

I've also gotten a lot of help from Ellie in our class. She is also incorporating Jungian theory into her paper so some of our research has overlapped. She led me to a couple online resources as well as one very helpful book.

In addition to classmates I reached out to Dr. Suzanne Lundquist. She is a professor here at BYU who regularly teaches courses on C. G. Jung. She was nice enough to take about 20 minutes talking through some of my ideas with me. She suggested a few different sources to look into and let me borrow a video about Jung's theories on dreams that has been helpful.

Possible Thesis

I'm to the point now that I've gathered a good amount of research and need to start making sense of it all. The easiest way for me to do that is to establish a thesis statement so that I have a clear focus in mind as I begin wading through all these sources I've accumulated. I'm still open to adjusting my thesis at this point in the process but establishing some sense of clarity helps me overcome that overwhelming feeling that is easy to experience with a research paper.

As of now my thesis is as follows:

A Jungian approach to Shakespeare's The Tempest not only offers insight into the psyche of Shakespeare himself but also helps to explain why his works continue to maintain relevance in today's popular culture.

I would love any feedback. Let me know what you think.

Reminder: Why This All Matters

We're all in up to our eyes in Shakespeare research and it can be easy to wonder if it's worth all the effort. This was a nice reminder of the real reasons we do this.

Keep working hard and one day soon you will be offered ALL THE JOBS!

Image courtesy forlackofabettercomic.com

Phase One Progress Report

As part the Shakespeare research paper for English 382 I am required to document my research and writing process. According to the assignment instructions, here are the components I must include. Any requirements that have been met include a link to a post(s) that document my efforts for that component and any specific plans for components that I have yet to complete are explained:

Phase 1

Exploration - I began my process with this general idea. That idea led me to an interesting article that I mentioned in this post, and that article led me to consider some aspects of Jungian theory, as mentioned in my post, "Jungian Perspective on Prospero/Shakespeare"

Textual Analysis - The bulk of my time has been focused on finding secondary sources and social proof but textual analysis of The Tempest is going to be a crucial aspect of my paper. One example that I have already considered comes from Act V, when Prospero states, "this thing of darkness, I Acknowledge mine.

" Jung expounds the significance of this type of acknowledgment, explaining: "One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious."
 Another element of the text I plan on delving into is the setting of the play. Water, particularly the ocean, is a common symbol of the unconscious in the psyche so Shakespeare's choice of an island is relevant to my analytic approach to the text.

Social Proof (finding) - Because my topic involves Jungian theory and I'm currently taking a class on that subject I decided to begin looking for social proof both through some classmates in that class and the instructor of that class, Dr. Suzanne Lundquist. I still plan on pursuing other sources of social proof outside of BYU.

Phase 2

Performance Analysis - Yet to come

Annotated Bibliography - Yet to come

Digital media and online resources - Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies, The International Association for Jungian Studies, "Shakespeare" by Another Name, "At the Edge of the Modern, or Why is Prospero Shakespeare's Greatest Creation?", and more to come...

Social Proof (contacting) - Ellie is also in Dr. Lundquist's class and is researching Jungian connections with Hamlet.  Speaking with her was very beneficial and led me to a couple of the sources listed above. My conversation with Dr. Lundquist is summarized in this post. And more to come...

Phase 3 (Specifics soon to come)

"Tweethis" statement

Posted draft with peer interaction

Evaluation of a peer's draft

Discussion with Dr. Lundquist

Dr. Suzanne Lundquist was kind enough to spend some time discussing some of my ideas about Jungian connections with The Tempest. My original plan was to analyze Prospero (and specifically his androgynous characteristics) through the Jungian conceptions of gender and individuation in an effort to say something (I'm not sure what specifically I want to say) about Shakespeare himself.

Dr. Lundquist pointed out that, in addition to just Prospero, other elements of the play could be viewed as elements of Shakespeare's psyche. She mentioned briefly that characters like Ariel, Caliban, Miranda or even the setting of the play itself could offer a lot of interesting possibilities for connection to Shakespeare's psyche. I was focusing on equating Prospero with Shakespeare so I hadn't considered these other possibilities. I was glad I met with her because in addition to providing some new avenues to explore she also provided the type of positive reinforcement that I think is a big part of the value of the social proof phase of this paper.

Jungian Perspective on Prospero/Shakespeare

I am currently taking a class on C. G. Jung and Popular Culture from Dr. Suzanne Lundquist and while researching for my Shakespeare paper I realized a connection between Jungian theory and an article I found on The Tempest.

I posted the abstract from an article by William Benzon last week. In that article he argues ways that Shakespeare's works (specifically The Tempest) provide insight into the psyche of William Shakespeare himself. Jung was a psychoanalyst and much of his theory deals with the idea of individuation - or the need to come to wholeness as individuals and as cultures. Jung sees the psyche as a conscious-unconscious whole made up of opposite characteristics with a compensatory relationship. With that in mind I read this in Benzon's article:

“Prospero is a reflection of the fact that, by this time in his life, Shakespeare had, within himself, significantly transcended the division of experience into male and female.  He had, at last, become comfortable with feminine aspects of himself.” (from, “At the Edge of the Modern, or Why is Prospero Shakespeare’s Greatest Creation?” by William L. Benzon, Published in: Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems 21(3): 259-279., 1998)

 That brought to mind this selection from Jolande Jacobi's book on Jungian theory:

“Only a few of the very greatest artists are able to broaden and develop their personality and their work in equal degree. Only a very few have the strength to carry the work within and the work without to like perfection.” (from, “The Psychology of C. G. Jung,” p. 26, by Jolande Jocobi, Yale University Press, 1973)

You'd have some pretty good ground to stand on in arguing that Shakespeare is one of the "very greatest artists" so I think Benzon's claim lines up pretty nicely with this piece of Jungian theory. Psychoanalysis has kind of become passé in literary criticism but seems to be alive and well within popular culture so I hope to make an interesting connection here with the continuing relevance of Shakespeare's writing.

In an effort to gather "social proof" for this specific idea I want to do a couple things locally. First, I plan on discussing the idea with Dr. Lundquist. Second, a couple of our classmates are also in Lundquist's class with me so I want to bounce the idea off of them as well. After that I intend to reach beyond BYU's campus through some of the options Dr. Burton provided in his post.

Epiphany

It may be dramatic to call this an epiphany but I did realize something about my experience with Shakespeare while discussing some of the pros and cons of the audio versions and graphic novels of Hamlet. One of the pros we discussed is the way in which these two mediums make it easier to distinguish between characters and perhaps more fully experience their development. It is easy, when reading the text alone, to project an identical mood over all the dialogue which makes the characters blend together.
I think that might be one reason I haven't ever really enjoyed Shakespeare. For me, literature is all about characters and I've never really been crazy about any of Shakespeare's characters. I've long recognized that this was probably my fault and not "The Bard's," and this discussion gave me some insight into why I've been having problems. Until now I've only ever read Shakespeare's plays (and seen some pieces of film adaptations or watched one or two amateur theatrical productions) and I think that has kept me from fully understanding or appreciating his characters.
As I said, I realize this is more my problem than Shakespeare's and there are some drawbacks to these mediums as well* so I don't plan on abandoning original texts in the future. Instead, this has gotten me thinking about approaches to an original text that will help me better follow and appreciate Shakespeare's characters. One that came to mind is the character guide at the beginning of the Baron's graphic novel version. It more or less looks like a page from a high school yearbook but with illustrations of the main characters from Hamlet. This reminded me of Mallory's homemade version of the same idea that she used for the Merchant of Venice. I plan on making my own for the next play I read and if it doesn't suck too bad I'll remember to post it on here.

*One of the potential drawbacks we discussed in class is being annoyed by the narrator(s) of an audio version. That brought an episode of Seinfeld to mind -- George loves audiobooks because he doesn't like the sound of his own voice in his head. He has to read a book on Risk Management for work and finally finds an audio version but the narrator's voice sounds exactly like his. Here's a "highlight reel" of the episode.