SOTSURON TITLES
Students are required to submit a graduation dissertation (sotsugyo ronbun) in the December of their final year. Most of the students in my tutorial groups choose to write on the Shakespeare play we have been studying over the previous eighteen months.
2012
The Language of Understanding and Misunderstanding in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
The Reason Why Romeo and Juliet Has an Unhappy Ending
The Relationship between Parents and Children in Shakespeare’s Works
The Universality of Human Feelings in Shakespeare’s Plays
Women in Shakespeare’s Plays
Hamlet and the Oedipus Complex
Ancient Rome in the Works of Shakespeare
Folklore in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Reception of a Play of the Lower Class in the Elizabethan Era
“You” and “Thou” in the Works of Shakespeare
2013
The Relation of the Moon and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The View of Love in Two Shakespearean Comedies
Shakespeare and Disguise
The Description of Women in Shakespeare Films
Madness in Shakespeare
2014
The Rhetoric of Friendship in John Donne’s Verse Epistles (MA thesis)
Honour and Dishonour in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
Shakespeare’s Love and Humanism
Shylock: Comic Character or Tragic Hero?
Three Films of Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Technique and Interpretation
Dreams in Shakespeare’s Plays
Shakespeare and Dreams
The Influence of the Clown in Shakespearean Comedy and Tragedy
Are Richard III and Julius Caesar the Same Tragedy?
The Jews and Shakespeare
The Tragic Aspects in Shakespeare’s Comedies: Falsehood and Marriage in Much Ado About Nothing
Language and Rhetoric in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
2015
Expressing Femininity in The Merchant of Venice
Imagery and Dramatic Effect in Shakespeare’s Macbeth
A Study of the Rhetoric of Macbeth
Writing Revenge in Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Judaism, Real and Imagined, in The Merchant of Venice
Shakespeare and the Humanity of Shylock
Interpretive Technique in Kurosawa’s Macbeth Movie
Justice and Injustice in The Merchant of Venice
Character and Metaphor in Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Stereotypes and Human Relationships in The Merchant of Venice
Women in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth
Macbeth in Japan: Kurosawa and Ninagawa
2016
Anthropology of Shakespeare: Contradiction and Diversity in Othello
Dramatic Features in Othello
Shylock – Playing the Villain
The Meaning and Effect of Colour in Shakespeare’s Othello
The Portrayal and Effects of Jealousy in Shakespeare’s Othello
The Destructive Male Element in Shakespeare’s Othello
Othello and Its Historical Background
Language and Tragedy in Shakespeare’s Othello
Hamlet and His Mirrors
2017
Love as Poison in Hamlet
Magic in Shakespeare’s The Tempest
Shakespeare and Modern Management Philosophy
Hamlet’s Life and Death in a Modern Perspective
Father and Daughter in The Tempest
Sleep and Consciousness in Japanese Translations of Hamlet
Occult in The Tempest
The Effects of Music in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Tempest in Japanese Performance
The Real and the Unreal in The Tempest
Othello and the Threat of Poetic Imagination
2021
Why Romeo and Juliet Is Not a Tragedy
The Bastardy of Edmund in a Historical Context
Two Types of Heroine in Shakespearean Tragedy
Some Similarities and Differences between Shakespeare’s Four Great Tragedies
A Struggle for Identity: Time in Shakespeare’s Sonnets\
The Two Tragedies of King Lear: A Philosophical Viewpoint
The Character of King Lear
Racism in Modern Society as Seen in Shakespeare’s Othello
An Interpretation of the Meanings of “Nothing” in King Lear
Villains and Evil in Shakespeare
The Fool in King Lear
Linguistic and Historical Aspects of King Lear
A Study of the Fool in King Lear
2022
Milton’s Satan: His Classical Influences and Poetic Role in Paradise Lost
Fashion and Gender in Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night in Japanese: A Comparison of Five Translations and Their Performance History
Gender Issues in Twelfth Night and the Impact of Cross-Dressing
Love and Self-Love in Twelfth Night
The Role of Fools in Shakespearean Comedy
Gender Diversity in Twelfth Night
Humour and Wordplay in Japanese Adaptations of Twelfth Night
Transvestitism and Gender Identity in the Character of Viola/Cesario
2023
Ambiguity and Adaptability in Adaptations of The Taming of the Shrew
Love and Responsibility in Shakespearean Tragedy
Madness and Its Causes in King Lear
The Multilayered Nature of Anger in King Lear
“If Music Be the Food of Love” in Japanese and Korean
The Love between Parents and Children in King Lear
Transvestitism in Three Shakespearean Comedies
The Word “Nature” in Two Japanese Translations of King Lear
The Measurement of Love: King Lear in Film and Manga
Conflict between Madness and Sanity: The Quest for Spiritual Transformation in King Lear
True Love in King Lear
2024
The Kyōgen of Errors: A Rhetorical Comparison of Shakespeare and Classical-Style Japanese Comedy
Forbidden Love Then and Now: A Comparative Analysis of Romeo and Juliet and Contemporary Japanese Society
The Importance of Verbal Communication in Couple Relationships in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Role of Women in Shakespeare’s Work
Three Types of Women in Shakespeare and Their Gender Roles
The Religious Dimension of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Loyalty and Betrayal in Shakespeare
Original Costuming in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Love and Marriage in Shakespeare’s England and Today
Magic and Fate in Three Shakespeare Plays
Shakespeare’s Influence on Modern Society
Differences in Japanese Translations of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Symbolism of Plants in Five Shakespeare Plays
A Historical Comparison of Style and Prosody in Japanese Hamlet Translations
The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast: A Study of Two Disney Shakespeare Adaptations
2025
A Comparative Study of Bridget Jones in Love and Her Romantic Forebears
Tragedy and Trauma in Hamlet and The Lion King
Universality of Human Emotions in Shakespeare and Harry Potter
Love Transformed by Nature and Fairy Power in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Role and Symbolism of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Taking Shakespeare Video Games Seriously
Two Contemporary Approaches to Filming A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Love Juices in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Contemporary Culture
Love and Social Constraints in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tale of Genji