There are three broad areas for research topics in Shakespeare:
1. His life and times
2. His plays and poems
3. Textual problems
These areas can overlap.
I. Decide which play(s) that you will work with and read it/'them again, taking careful note of key passages that you may want to discuss later on. Formulate a topic (see below).
II. Read the introduction in the Arden or Oxford editions of the plays (I usually put these on reserve). These thorough introductions will provide you with essential background to the plays. Take careful note of what sources they refer to; you may want to dig these up. Note also, that these editions provide more thorough glosses (the notes at the bottom of the page) than our text does.
III. If available, read the one-volume study devoted to your play (Twayne series).
IV. Understand what sort of study you are undertaking
a. character analysis
b. imagery and language
c. genre
d. biographical
e. textual
f. historical
g. theoretical
h. theatrical
i. thematic/mythical
V. Gather information. To find material on your topic:
1. Consult handbooks to learn about that area
2. From various bibliographies. The two best are the MLA International Bibliography
(found in the Reference area) and the Shakespeare Quarterly Bibliography (bound with the
periodicals in the Periodical Room of the library).
3. From books and articles (be sure to note what sources your sources use)
Books: We have a pretty good selection in our library and you can use the link on the library's home page to search it. I recommend using the Simple Search first rather than the Advanced Search.
But you should also be familiar with two other sources of books. The first enables you to search the catalogs of the other UW-System libraries. Go to the library's home page, then select Library Catalog. You can then learn all about Universal Borrowing by selecting "How to do a UB request."
But let's say you have found a book or article that looks good, but our library doesn't have it. I also highly recommend Interlibrary Loan. It's easy and fast. You can find the link to IL on the Library's home page, or go here.
Journal Articles: A number of great academic journals related to the study of Shakespeare and the Renaissance (as well as other literature) are now available on-line and offering full texts of their articles. But you should also be aware that some important journals are NOT on line and if you're serious about doing good research, you will have to get them through interlibrary loan. For example, I would say that English Literary Renaissance is one of the best in this area, yet you can't get it on-line unless you subscribe to them personally. However, you can search recent issues in the Wilson database. If you see something good, you can get it through ILL.
But even so, a lot of first rate journals are and you can find them either in JSTOR or Project Muse, which you can access on the Library's "Electronic Resources" page.
Here are the journals that are particularly good in JSTOR:
Shakespeare Quarterly
English Literary History (ELH)
Renaissance Quarterly
Sixteenth-Century Journal
Journal of the History of Ideas
Studies in the Renaissance
Notice that JSTOR is primarily an archive, so that may not have the most recent issues of a journal. You can find the most recent issues of ELH and Shakespeare Quarterly, for example, in Project Muse (which doesn't have the older issues!).
Here are the good journals in Project Muse:
Shakespeare Quarterly
English Literary History (ELH)
Comparative Literature Studies
Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies
Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Journal of the History of Ideas
Modern Language Notes (MLN)
Modern Language Quarterly (MLQ)
New Literary History
Past and Present
Studies in English Literature (SEL)
South Atlantic Quarterly
Studies in Philology
Finally, the number one database for books and articles in literature is the MLA International Bibliography. USE IT! You can access it on the Library's Electronic Resources page.
VI. Two stages of reading sources (this step should be done in conjunction with step VII)
1. Reading to learn in which you read or skim most everything you can get your hands on. Your goal is to get to know the topic. Just read. And take notes. Don't try to read books cover to cover. Check out the table of contents and the index.
2. Reading to use occurs when you are writing and you are looking for those basic passages that will support your argument.
VII. Visualize/outline your paper (this step should be done in conjunction with step VI)
1. Let's look at it this way: you have, supposedly, just finished
reading widely on your topic and you read to answer a question (the question your thesis
will answer). Your goal in your paper is to tell your reader what you learned.
That simple (yeah, right).
2. Visualize the chunks of your paper (chunks being the various stages
of your argument, or what your reader needs to know. These chunks will differ for
each topic, but answer these questions: what critical questions should your paper answer;
what sections should be in your paper. Let's take an example. Supposing you
want to write on Shakespeare's representation of Jews in The Merchant of Venice.
You should have sections on the status of Jews in England during Shakespeare's time
(2-3 paragraphs), what other writers have written on the subject (e.g., Christopher
Marlowe) (1-3 paragraphs), readings of critical episodes from the play (for one episode,
say when Tubal talks to Shylock about Jessica spending his money, 2-4 pages). Be
methodical in your visualization. Ask yourself about how many paragraphs each
section should take. How many sources are necessary to support what you have to say?
Be highly sceptical of any works published before 1960.
Sources for the representation of the fairy world in MND
The theme of friendship versus love in 2GV, MND, MER, T& C,
and 12thN
Representation of the Tudor myth in the Henriad
Arthur Brooke’s Romeus and Juliet as source for R& J
Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde as source for T& C
Women disguising themselves as men in Mer, AYLI, and 12N
Male suppression of women
Character of Falstaff
Character of Shylock
Character of Henry V
The plays as tragedy, comedy, or history
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