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.