In this course, emphasis falls on weekly reading and listening assignments.
The following are the required text:
[Shakespeare] = Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780192834171.
[Goethe] = Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Goethe’s Faust. Translated and with an Introduction by William Kaufmann. Anchor, 1962. ISBN: 9780385031141.
[James] = James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw. 2nd ed. Edited by Deborah Esch and Jonathan Warren. W. W. Norton & Company, 1999. ISBN: 9780393959048.
These as well as other reading and listening items are featured in the table below.
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS AND MUSIC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction |
Music Song setting of Goethe’s poem “Der Erlkönig” (text) by Franz Schubert and Johann Friedrich Reichardt. Schubert, Franz. “Erlkönig (‘Wer reitet so spät’).” The Hyperion Schubert Edition 8 / Sarah Walker, Graham Johnson. Hyperion UK CD, 1993. |
| I. Witches | ||
| 2 | The social history of witch-hunting |
Readings Briggs, Robin. “Introduction.” In Witches & Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft. Penguin Books, 1998. ISBN: 9780140144383. ———. “The Projection of Evil.” Chapter IV in Witches & Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft. Penguin Books, 1998. ISBN: 9780140144383. ———. “Men against Women: the Gendering of Witchcraft.” Chapter VII in Witches & Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft. Penguin Books, 1998. ISBN: 9780140144383. |
| 3 | Witch-hunting discussion |
Readings Willis, Deborah. “(Un) Neighborly Nurture.” Chapter 2 in Malevolent Nature: Witch-Hunting and Maternal Power in Early Modern England. Cornell University Press, 1995, pp. 27–65. ISBN: 9780801481949. Midelfort, H.C. Erik. “The General Crisis of Confidence, 1627–1684.” Chapter 6 in Witch Hunting in Southwestern Germany, 1562-1684: The Social and Intellectual Foundations. Stanford University Press, 1972, pp. 150–4. ISBN: 9780804708050. |
| 4 | Introduction to Shakespeare’s Macbeth |
Reading [Shakespeare] |
| 5 | Macbeth discussion |
Readings Brooke, Nicholas, ed. “Introduction, Section 1: Illusion.” In The Oxford Shakespeare: Macbeth. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199535835. ———. “Introduction, Section 3: Baroque Drama.” In The Oxford Shakespeare: Macbeth. Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780199535835. |
| Screening: Throne of Blood. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Black & White, 110 min. 1957. |
Reading Goodwin, James. “Tragedy without Heroes: Throne of Blood.” Chapter 4 in Akira Kurosawa and Intertextual Cinema. John Hopkins University Press, 1993, pp. 169–91. ISBN: 9780801846618. (Optional) |
|
| 6 | Shakespeare, Kurosawa and context discussion |
Readings Greenblatt, Stephen. “Shakespeare Bewitched.” Chapter 4 in New Historical Literary Study: Essays on Reproducing Texts, Representing History. Edited by Jeffrey N. Cox and Larry J. Reynolds. Princeton University Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780691015460. [Preview with Google Books] Wills, Gary. “Introduction: The Trouble with Macbeth.” In Witches & Jesuits: Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780195102901. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Gunpowder.” Chapter 1 in Witches & Jesuits: Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780195102901. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Witches.” Chapter 2 in Witches & Jesuits: Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780195102901. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Jesuits.” Chapter 5 in Witches & Jesuits: Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780195102901. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Male Witch.” Chapter 3 in Witches & Jesuits: Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780195102901. [Preview with Google Books] (Optional) |
| 7 | Purcell, Dido and Aeneas |
Reading Price, Curtis A. “Dido and Aeneas: The Allegory.” Chapter 5 in Henry Purcell and the London Stage. Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 229–34. ISBN: 9780521105156. [Preview with Google Books] Music Purcell, Henry. Dido and Aeneas. Emmanuelle Haim, conductor. European Voices, Le Concert d’Astree, Susan Graham, et al. Virgin Veritas CD, 2004. Purcell, Henry. “The Libretto: A Critical Edition.” In Dido and Aeneas: An Opera. Edited by Curtis A. Price. W. W. Norton & Company, 1986. ISBN: 9780393955286. |
| 8 | Purcell discussion | No readings or music |
| 9 | Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique; Verdi, Macbeth |
Reading A Beginner’s Guide to the Supernatural in Music: Macbeth and Symphonie fantastique (PDF) Music Verdi, Guisseppe. Macbeth. Claudio Abbado, conductor. Alla Scala Theater Orchestra and Chorus, Shirley Verrett, Piero Cappuccilli, et al. Deutsche Grammophon CD, 1997. Excerpts from Act 1: Preludio Introduzione: Che faceste? dite su! Due vaticini compiuti or sono S’allontanarono! Sappia la sposa mia Di destarlo per tempo il re m’impose Excerpts from Act 3: Tre volte miagola la gatta in fregola Ballo Finche appeli Fuggi, regal fantasima Ondine e Silfidi Macbeth libretto, operafolio.com. Berlioz, Hector. Symphonie Fantastique. Mvmt. 1, 2, 4 and 5. Roger Norrington, conductor. The London Classical Players. Virgin Classics CD, 2006. |
| 10 | Berlioz, Verdi discussion | No readings or music |
| 11 | Verdi’s Macbeth |
Readings Parker, Roger. “Macbeth.” In The New Grove Guide to Verdi and His Operas. Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780195313147. [Preview with Google Books] Albright, Daniel. “Shakespeare’s Random.” Chapter 10 in Musicking Shakespeare: A Conflict of Theatres. BOYE6, 2007. ISBN: 9781580462556. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Magic as Theft.” Chapter 11 in Musicking Shakespeare: A Conflict of Theatres. BOYE6, 2007. ISBN: 9781580462556. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Prophesying.” Chapter 12 in Musicking Shakespeare: A Conflict of Theatres. BOYE6, 2007. ISBN: 9781580462556. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Squinting at Consequences.” Chapter 13 in Musicking Shakespeare: A Conflict of Theatres. BOYE6, 2007. ISBN: 9781580462556. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Witches Amok.” Chapter 17 in Musicking Shakespeare: A Conflict of Theatres. BOYE6, 2007. ISBN: 9781580462556. [Preview with Google Books] |
| II. Learned Magic | ||
| 12 |
Introduction to learned magic and alchemy Guest: Tara Nummedal |
Readings Kiechefer, Richard. “Arabic Learning and the Occult Sciences.” Chapter 6 in Magic in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 116–9, and pp. 133–65. ISBN: 9780521785761. [Preview with Google Books] Grafton, Anthony. “The Master of Time.” Chapter 1 in Cardano’s Cosmos: The Worlds and Works of a Renaissance Astrologer. Harvard University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780674006706. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The Astrologer’s Practice.” Chapter 2 in Cardano’s Cosmos: The Worlds and Works of a Renaissance Astrologer. Harvard University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780674006706. [Preview with Google Books] Maxwell-Stuart, P.G. “The Ritual Magician and his Work.” In Wizards: A History. The History Press, Limited, 2007, pp. 13–32. ISBN: 9780752441276. ———. “The Patterns and Aims of a Ritual Magician.” In Wizards: A History. The History Press, Limited, 2007, pp. 77–81. ISBN: 9780752441276. The Chymistry of Isaac Newton: Multimedia Lab, indiana.edu. |
| 13 | Visit to MIT Libraries Special Collections |
Readings Special Collections booklist (PDF) Photo highlights from books on magic, google.com. |
| 14 | Introduction to Goethe’s Faust |
Reading [Goethe] Part 1, to line 2072. |
| 15 | Goethe’s Faust; Murnau |
Reading [Goethe] Part 1, to end. |
| 16 | Murnau’s Faust, Marlowe’s Faust, and the Faust puppet play |
Readings Ott, Frederick W. “Faust.” In The Great German Films: From Before World War I to the Present. Citadel, 1991. ISBN: 9780806512181. Excerpt from The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. (Read from “OLD MAN. O gentle Faustus…’’ to the end.) Excerpts from Dr. Johannes Faustus’ Puppet Play (PDF) Faustus, Johannes. Puppet Play Now First Done into English. Book on Demand Ltd., 2013. ISBN: 9785518781900. (Optional full reading) |
| 17 | Faust in music |
Readings Sternfeld, F. W. “Faust.” In New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Oxford University Press, 2004. Edited by Stanley Sadie. ISBN: 9780195221862. Huebner, Steven. “Faust (ii).” In New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Oxford University Press, 2004. Edited by Stanley Sadie. ISBN: 9780195221862. |
| 18 | Liszt, Faust Symphony |
Reading Searle, Humphrey. “Frank Liszt (1811–1186).” Chapter 9 in The Symphony. Edited by Ralph Hill. Penguin–Pelican, 1950, pp. 191–97; musical examples 1–8, and pp. 200–1. Music Liszt, Franz. A Faust Symphony. Leonard Bernstein, conductor. The New York Philharmonic. Sony Import CD, 2011 |
| III. Ghosts | ||
| 19 |
Henry James and Spiritualism Guest: Paul Fisher |
Readings Braude, Ann. “Introduction: My Soul’s Thraldom and Its Deliverance.” In Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth-Century America. 2nd ed. Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780253215024. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Unbroken Communication between the Infinite and All Beings.” Chapter 1 in Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth-Century America. 2nd ed. Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780253215024. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The Blessedness of Sinless Childhood in the World Beyond.” Chapter 2 in Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth-Century America. 2nd ed. Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780253215024. [Preview with Google Books] (Optional) Fisher, Paul. “Spirits.” Chapter 14 in House of Wits: An Intimate Portrait of the James Family. Henry Holt and Company, 2008, pp. 474–80. ISBN: 9780805074901. Jones, Vivien. “Henry James’s ‘The Turn of the Screw’.” Chapter 1 in Benjamin Britten: The Turn of the Screw. Edited by Patricia Howard. Cambridge University Press, 1985. ISBN: 9780521283564. [Preview with Google Books] Beidler, Peter. “Motifs of the Ghost-Case Tradition.” Chapter 3 in Ghosts, Demons, and Henry James: The Turn of the Screw at the Turn of the Century. University of Missouri Press, 1989, pp. 76–101. ISBN: 9780826206848. ———. “Spirit Mediums and Demon Possession.” Chapter 5 in Ghosts, Demons, and Henry James: The Turn of the Screw at the Turn of the Century. University of Missouri Press, 1989, pp. 150–9. ISBN: 9780826206848. Apraxine, Pierre, and Sophie Schmit. “Photography and the Occult.” In The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult. Edited by Clément Chéroux, Andreas Fischer, et al. Yale University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780300111361. Cloutier, Crista. “Mumler’s Ghosts.” In The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult. Edited by Clément Chéroux, Andreas Fischer, et al. Yale University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780300111361. Fischer, Andreas. “The Reciprocal Adaptation of Optics and Phenomena.” In The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult. Edited by Clément Chéroux, Andreas Fischer, et al. Yale University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780300111361. Richardson, Robert D. William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism. Mariner Books, 2007, pp. 257–65, 478–9, and 506–8. ISBN: 9780618919895. [Preview with Google Books] Gaskell, Elizabeth. “The Old Nurse’s Story.” In Victorian Ghost Stories: An Oxford Anthology. Edited by Michael Cox and R. A. Gilbert. Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780192829993. |
| 20 | Introduction to James’ The Turn of the Screw |
Reading [James] |
| 21 | James’ The Turn of the Screw discussion |
Reading [James] |
| 22 | Music of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw |
Readings Britten’s Turn of the Screw: A Basic Guide (PDF) Howard, Patricia. “Myfanwy Piper’s ‘The Turn of the Screw’: Libretto and Synopsis.” Chapter 2 in Benjamin Britten: The Turn of the Screw. Edited by Patricia Howard. Cambridge University Press, 1985. ISBN: 9780521283564. [Preview with Google Books] For students with considerable musical experience: Evans, Peter. The Music of Benjamin Britten. Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 203–33. ISBN: 9780198165903. For students with less musical experience: White, Eric Walter. “The Turn of the Screw.” Chapter 9 in Benjamin Britten: His Life and Operas. University of California Press, 1983. ISBN: 9780520048942. [Preview with Google Books] Music Britten, Benjamin. The Turn of the Screw. Steuart Bedford, conductor. Aldeburgh Festival Ensemble, Philip Landridge, Felicity Lott, et al. Naxos CD, 2004. |
