Harvard ENGL E-129 - Lecture 6: Macbeth

[@susanthompson5798]

The professor's name should be front and center on this series of lectures.

[@LRVitusR]

Marjorie Garber

[@IBEnglishEruidites]

Agreed!

[@gabrielam6807]

It starts at 5:46

[@tomomanpanama]

You may not realize how many human life-hours you've saved.

[@richardburt9812]

That's Professor Majorie Garber speaking. She is a very distinguished critic, the author of over ten books, and a great teacher.

[@whalen84]

Thanks so much for up loading this. I’m going through some major difficult bullshit in my life and watching and learning about this play is super cathartic

[@jackwilson5815]

oath dude, really helps with my problems.

[@rcs386]

Hope you are doing okay now.

[@aniwhitetree3543]

Thanks for uploading! Free learning at it's finest!

[@adolphlopez7735]

your spelling, your excellency of your reading and writing, your figure of speech, compositions and your literacy especially your inflection and literature.

[@Neverhooder]

I started this series after reading King Lear on my own, hoping to find an exploration/explanation of themes and language, and three lectures in I'm hooked! These classes are a great motivation for me to read the rest of Shakespeare's plays!

[@joannastelling6378]

I agree. I think she's terrific. I"ve learned so much from listening to her lectures, plus she seems to be just a very nice woman. With all the information and insight she provides, all the provocative questions she raises, it is a sad thing indeed that half of these comments are zeroing in on the spelling of "weird." Amazing small-mindedness.

[@قاهرآلسعود-ف8ص]

Best one I have ever known in terms of teaching Shakespeare

[@nz_proud]

I recommend her book "Shakespeare After All" as a good reference.

[@for.tax.reasons]

LMAO "purifying ritual that involved turning around three times and quoting something from The Merchant of Venice"

[@adolphlopez7735]

very impressive, excellent and brilliant. need to see it for several times more in order to learn some more. well done on your literacy lectures. she's very great on all of that.

[@alibozbey5222]

''the two spent swimmers'' could also stand for the battle taking place in macbeth's mind

[@mahmouda.hassan.469]

Thank so much this lecture has helped me a lot in teaching the play. i'm from Egypt

[@threeicys]

Many of her inflections are similar to Martha Stewart.

[@gorge5412]

Yes, RW, I would not have noticed without yr comment. I hear a gentle cyclical lilt in her phrasings coupled with an easy and unstrained clear-articulation. GREAT EARS!

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

It would be interesting to know if they grew up in the same geographic area or went to the same schools

[@kapa4163]

And Shirley Schmidt in Boston Legal

[@spensert4933]

Start 5:45

[@christopherbrookfield4785]

I may be wrong, but l was under the impression that the film Roman Pokanski made, following the murder of his wife, and her unborn child, was a screen adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel, Tess Of The Derbevilles , with Natassia Kinsky in the lead role. Like, he was trying to move away from the horror of all that had just happened in his own life, with a movie filled with light, golden sunshine, romantic etc. Also, I have heard the horrible theory that, he actually instigated the murder himself, on account of discovering that his wife was having an affair with her hairdresser, who was also killed, and she was carrying his baby. Anyway, I think her lectures are really engaging. She seems very knowledgeable, and thorough, on the subject. A couple of points about the play. At the beginning, is it not the case that Lady Macbeth summons up the witches, in the first place, herself. Plus, her own mind/sanity starts to unravel, because she witnesses how negatively, and obsessively, the murder has started to affect his mental state. In other words, she starts to lose it, having unwittingly unleashed the dark side of her husband. I have always loved Macbeth. Noone in the play seems to have the slightest idea what the hell is going on, and half the time, nor do we, the audience! 🌚

[@Laocoon283]

No she didn't summon them

[@davidcaprita6776]

First, Polanski version was written and produced a year after murders and released not long after. He was not trying to escape the horror but quite the opposite; his films after the murder always explored the futility of virtue and justice in life. And he was obsessed with getting the murders and violence right. His "Chinatown" is also a perfect example. "Tess" was done many years after. Second: as far as Roman being a suspect, that was a suspicion on the part of the media more than the cops. Jay Sebring, the hairdresser and Sharon were an item years before Roman and she got involved. When she broke up with Jay, she moved on but they remained close friends, as well as he and Polanski. He knew they hung out with each other.

[@josephlangford8216]

Equivocate ...... it is what Shakespeare does throughout the play

[@sheenaghmcmahon9665]

I wish this woman had been one of my English Lit. professors, I listen to her lectures and then read, or re-read, the play. I've never seen a production of Macbeth with normal, attractive women playing the witches but I would love to, it would be much braver and more interesting, not to mention less misogynistic, than the default portrayal of them as hags!

[@senakoga7850]

55:53 after the break

[@tomploger8760]

so... is thee an analogy between the sailor & McB?

[@dionzoe6716]

Macbeth is toyed with, as the sailor is - their treatment of the sailor for mere vindictive vengeful fun, foreshadows their darker treatment of Macbeth which shakes the entire Chain of Being

[@tomploger8760]

@@dionzoe6716 I agree. That question is so old, my typo threw me of balance just now, trying to understand it.

[@EricSpreng]

Quotes Hamlet at the end. Drops mic 🙌

[@kate5592]

2 hrs isn't nearly long enough, wish there's a part 2

[@ryancostea933]

Fucking Jesus. For those of you that don't feel like listening to erroneous chatter, I have placed a time stamp where the video actually begins below. 5:45

[@Laocoon283]

I don't think you used that word correctly lol

[@sciencelover7582]

can someone put in a time stamp for the porter scene part of this lecture

[@josephlangford8216]

Why doesn't Macbeth become King Macbeth?? Because the play was written for King James I!!! Being a usurper I do not believe that Macbeth could be acknowledged as King. Even in the play servants an henchmen do not always address him with a royal title

[@dohadavid]

Ngaio Marsh is a New Zealander.

[@joseluis-dj7ur]

Great professor. Whatever happened to the US that It has Let college professors end up living on their cars?

[@heloisaalmeida1243]

capitalism crisis. as usual

[@ddr827]

im really pissed theres no hamlet, im trying to read ulysses

[@alibozbey5222]

are the witches also ''unsexed'' creautures?

[@CakefoxDots]

Perhaps, since they are described as having typically manly features like beards. In this way they are no longer contextually ‘womanly’. This sort of portrays them as a freak of nature, evil, in the same way Lady is.

[@hayalistanbul5418]

So l guess the witches would prefer they/them pronouns instead of she/her or he/him ?

[@CA219th]

Does anyone know what book she uses for this lecture? (Or which has the best commentary??)

[@timothymeehan181]

She’s reading from the Arden Shakespeare edition. The Barnes & Noble editions are the absolute best for a person coming to Shakespeare for the first time. The formatting of vocabulary definitions and explanatory notes are beautifully laid out.

[@iamfayko]

Witches: 13:34

[@alibozbey5222]

can lady macbeth be seen as the 4th witch?

[@gorge5412]

Ali, is a 4th witch sought? Some special symmetry in four? Why not content with three? I like yr idea that she may be viewed as an additional witch but not THE 4th.

[@Laocoon283]

No

[@uncatila]

Lady Macbeth "Unsex me!" cried the actress Down there upon the stage playing quite the villainess she summoned manly rage Distant from her mother's heart her maidenhood obscured In the aftermath of murder not woman's love endures? "Out spots out" quoth she that her guilt might flee Into her womb convey The blight of viel sterility where murder will invade Three sisters weird there sporting beards Like harpies from the moon Assassin's bearing magic confect their witches brew

[@DXhardy831]

What's the lecturer's name? She's very interesting to listen to

[@MaartenVHelden]

Marjorie Garber

[@MaartenVHelden]

I would really, really like to have the closing assignment

[@louisegilbert4903]

54:00 1:33:00

[@ynrlock9315]

*Greek Mythology aye?*

[@Nikhil.Zephyrian]

Thanks for uploading this video. 🫶🏻

[@s176938]

what's the name of this teacher? and which book edition is she using?

[@angshitaasen8865]

Juliana Lorenzoni arden publication

[@richardfuller2725]

The professor's name is Marjorie Garber

[@josephlangford8216]

Cawdor lives?? How does Macbeth know this?? Why does Macbeth or Banquo not ask "Is he dead??" or "Did he die??"

[@sabrinadimonte5922]

Brilliant,but what is she doing with her tongue and fingers??

[@freeltamon7208]

Back in my day, there were these things called books which were filled with paper. Wetting the fingertips (providing tackiness) esp if you're constantly reading and researching with books, was a way to turn the pages better😆😁😆

[@whosminou]

@@freeltamon7208 woah what are books

[@wonder6789]

The students are impressive. Graduates?

[@josephlangford8216]

Macduff acts "unmanly". Note .... he does not arrest the guards

[@barbaranorthwood]

One can always call upon a scholar to analyse the heart and soul out of art. Rather than ask the students to imagine the excitement of the Elizabethan playgoers upon seeing a new play, she seems to be stuck in explaining the meaning of an archaic word and phrase. As if it matters. Shakespeare's audience was only interested in the thrilling and tragic story of a man and a woman destroyed by vaulting ambition. A production is meant to be viewed with emotion and soul, If a phrase or a word is unfamiliar, look it up afterwards like the English do. Feel first, analyse afterwards is always my advice.

[@freeltamon7208]

I'm imagining she feels so deeply, so moved by the play that she wants to know EVERYTHING about it and share AS MUCH as she can. I think scholars still feel, possibly on a deeper, more intimate level, with specified language and understanding a way to access these feelings.

[@josephlangford8216]

How do you interpret that Macbeth has got a letter, which would have been considered traitorous, to Lady Macbeth? It contains knowledge about the witches but not about the King's visit. It does not tell of Banquo's prophesies

[@willhardie8987]

ive never been more bored

[@josephlangford8216]

"They are Witches"

[@kajalmukherjee8064]

I see supernaturalism in many plays of Shakespeare. Did he believe in supernaturalism?

[@Tolstoy111]

@Eren Jaeger Supernatural elements may instigate the events but never resolve them.

[@Tolstoy111]

@Eren Jaeger I meant it does not give rise to deux ex machina? At least not in Shakespeare. Well in The Tempest it's part of the story from start to finish,

[@Tolstoy111]

@Eren Jaeger They don't take action. They just talk to Macbeth. He could ignore them. Banquo does.

[@Laocoon283]

​@hades you just absolutely schooled son

[@josephlangford8216]

Duncan was not "Duncan" in the play. The name of that role is "King"! Read the First Folio

[@josephlangford8216]

The witches are not naturally bearded ..... the change appearance for the mortals Read the play .... the witches do an enchantment immediately after they hear Macbeth and Banquo approaching and prior to Macbeth and Banquo entering the stage.

[@gi682]

58:31

[@adolphlopez7735]

wellllll drtimmytime, to really be a good literately proficiently philosophically originally good theatrical story telling on drama, you going to need to know your English as of grammar, your sparkling and your literacy.

[@josephlangford8216]

Macbeth was written by Shakespeare and he wrote under great duress .... forced by James to write a play that lied about history. He actually wrote about himself three times in the play Master of the Tiger The Hoarding Farmer The Poor Player.

[@avisiktachakraborty3438]

People and happened..

[@josephlangford8216]

Doubtful it stood ...... Macbeth was not given a large army. The Irish Mercenaries .... how did a petty Lord pay for these mercenaries. Birth Fantasy ...... a woeful joke. Unseemed him from the nave to chops .... can't be done Some say nave should be 'nape' .... I say Macdonwald was held down and unseemed ..... or disemboweled .... from nave to chops.

[@tanaraci92]

Really wanted to like this lecture. But the lecturer constantly interrupts her train of thought by asking questions to the students and getting distracted by their answers (which is I guess a good strategy for the students in the classroom to learn). I’m 40 minutes in and I don’t think I heard a single thought or observation that is longer than 3 sentences from the lecturer, yet alone a much longer arc of an argument about any aspect of the play.

[@sarirkamalabadi3447]

69k views, nice

[@sophyzhang8608]

Professor Marjorie Garber

[@High_Priest_Jonko]

Didn't really like this lecture to be honest. It felt a little uncomfortable, like she's testing us rather than teaching us; there were moments I didn't really understand, and while she opened my eyes to things like the chestnut story being an analogy, she never fully made the connections I needed to understand

[@josephlangford8216]

"Nearest way" ..... they already have a pact to overthrow Duncan, but Macbeth's way is more convoluted.

[@johnyohalem6507]

She's marvelous but she's wrong (a tiny point) about the Thane of Cawdor. He is MacDonwald (MacDonald). Sinel is the name of the previous Thane of Glamis. Macbeth says so. Also: clearly, just as Duncan regrets his mistake about MacDonwald, he promptly makes the same mistake about Macbeth. HE doesn't learn from his mistake! But Malcolm DOES learn -- when Macduff comes to him to betray Macbeth, he carefully tests Macduff's attitude before he agrees to work with him.

[@everettlauster]

I thought Sinel was Macbeth's father and the previous Thane of Glamis (Macbeth dialogue in Act 1 Scene 3 "By Sinel's death I know I am Thane of Glamis, But how of Cawdor? The Thane of Cawdor lives." According to the Bloody Sergeant's monologue in the previous Act 2, he saw Macbeth kill Macdonwald ("unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps") yet Act IV starts immediately with King Duncan asking if the execution is done on Cawdor. I believe these are 3 different people; Sinel is Macbeth's deceased father, Macdonwald is a rebel and the Thane of Cawdor was stripped of his title and set for execution by King Duncan.

[@josephlangford8216]

The witches are not in Macbeth's mind .... they are real. Banquo sees them too. The witches are not Fates. The witches answer to Hecate and the Fates do not answer to Hecate.

[@ciaranaylor6305]

Many people disregard the part of the play where hecate is present as it is believed that it was not written by Shakespeare. Many understand the scene to have been added in later to appease the king and reaffirm his beliefs in witches and the supernatural.

[@josephlangford8216]

Isn't it evident that scenes have been removed (deliberately) at the start of the play!!!??? Read Bradley

[@michaelenglade7882]

She misspelled "weird."

[@lucasryan4223]

The spelling is intentional. Shakespeare originally used the word "weyard" which many modern editions change to "weird". However, the old english word has a slightly different meaning so spelling it differently makes it clear the old meaning is intended. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Witches#Origins

[@annalin8812]

Lucas Ryan she meant the "weird" written underneath the "wyrd", but Michael its spelled right, the y from above just makes it look like an "i" and she the r and the i is ran together bc she was writing fast

[@gelarehkhoie3855]

ooo you're a dum dum brains hahaha...

[@Laocoon283]

​@@lizzy-wx4rx you should where she is putting them after she licks them behind that lectern

[@josephlangford8216]

Macduff comes to wake the King. Lennox sees Macduff and tags along. Read the play

[@DrTomatoClock]

She spelt weird wrong...

[@bbn9343]

Ikr how the fuck is she teaching at Harvard

[@gelarehkhoie3855]

No, she didn't dum dum brains. The English language is much older than today's Twitter-addled brain. Wyrd is the AngloSaxon ORIGINAL word which later became our "weird."

[@annalin8812]

lmao she wasn't talking about the "wyrd" on top "dum dum brain"

[@annstanley7414]

'Spelled' !

[@annstanley7414]

'Wrongly'

[@josephlangford8216]

Read history ...... Lady Macbeth has had a child, and he actually succeeded Macbeth. If you do not understand the dashing of the brains of the child, one day you may find out.

[@TheWhitehiker]

God awful!

[@Tolstoy111]

Macbeth? Or Professor Garber?

[@TheWhitehiker]

@@Tolstoy111 love the play, the academic is a predictable intersectie.

[@Tolstoy111]

@@TheWhitehiker She isn't at all. Read her book...it is very precise close reading on the terms set by the text without the standard Woke agenda one sees these days.

[@TheWhitehiker]

@@Tolstoy111 The lecture doesn't inspire reading her book. Also, 'close reading' sounds more like law school than lit. criticism of any stripe.

[@TheWhitehiker]

@@Tolstoy111 her lecture is id poli, woke, and intersectie; why would her book be different?

[@MatthewHenderson1]

How does she seriously spell weird wrong

[@IsaiahT97]

That's how Shakespeare wrote it

[@markjackson6587]

She carries the tail of the letter of the word written above weird right down between the w and the e so it looks like the i is in the wrong place. When she writes weird, in her hurry, she runs the i and r together so it looks like she dots the r. The word written above is "wyrd" - I agree with Isaiah above.

[@joannastelling6378]

Does this really matter? How about the duality and splitting she talks about? How about the fact that Lady MacBeth can't kill Duncan because he reminds her of her father? Shakespeare was 400 years before Freud, yet there he is, understanding what drives us all to be who we are.

[@kateb6893]

Wyrd was the original spelling of weird, and was current to the time

[@anzatzi]

Disjointed lecture with lots of dull student input and political feminism. There is much better stuff on you tube

[@Meatdevil]

anzatzi bo-zactly.

[@freeltamon7208]

Just because the notion of "masculine politicism" isn't commonly and openly referred to doesn't mean it doesn't exist and that there aren't dire problems with it, which political feminism (and other nascent political movements) attempts to address.