Free Will, Witches, Murder, and Macbeth, Part 1: Crash Course Literature 409

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The Sound! The Fury! Today, we're talking about Shakespeare's Scottish play, Macbeth. So, was Macbeth really predestined to do all the murdering and bad kinging and other terrible stuff? That's the big question in Macbeth, and it's one of the ideas we're going to talk about today, among many. Also, Yoda joins us for the open letter.
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Опубликовано:

22 янв 2018

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Комментарии : 611

@sawrirocks 6 лет назад

I love how John Green is still doing these videos. I mean he doesn't have to, but he still does and i freaking love it. Thank you.

@ZenDoggie 5 лет назад

He's my hero. Plus, as a teacher of middle and high school students, he's TOTALLY MY HERO!!

@samudeh7064 4 года назад

@@ZenDoggie ikr

@georgetuipeatau7873 4 года назад

"I'M A C-SECTION BABY" is gonna be in my head for the next few weeks......

@rueluxprince6982 6 лет назад

The only thing I remember about Macbeth was that Tolkien was pissed because trees didn't actually come to knock down Macbeth's front door and a woman wasn't the one who killed him with the prophecy "no man can kill Macbeth." So he wrote his own medieval fanfiction where actual trees did knocked down a castle front door and a woman killed the "no man can kill me" prophecy person.

@pheonixrises11 6 лет назад

Ruelux Prince nice

@sarahgrin 6 лет назад

@sheepgray08 6 лет назад

This was a great comment 😂😂

@garymcmascelyn 6 лет назад

"none of woman born. Shall harm Macbeth." As far as I know women are also "woman born"

@Antiganos 6 лет назад

The prophecy was "no man of woman born", the "no *man*" part is what Tolkien saw as a missed opportunity as Shakespeare instead focused on the "of woman born" part. Hence Eowyn and her moment in the LOTR.

@kitthornton2336 6 лет назад

I have been in three productions of this play, and directed it once. In the first, our Lady MacB had a nervous breakdown the first night of tech week. In the second, our MacB was in a car accident on the way to cast call for opening night, and could not perform. The third time, I was playing MacDuff and was hit with a broadsword in the ending fight scene needing 17 stitches. I finished the scene (after catching my breath in the wings, leading to the longest improvised fight scene in the history of theatre, in which two more actors were injured.) When I directed it, on closing night, some of the scenery caught fire requiring the house to be evacuated. Needless to say, I call it, "MacB," or "The Witches' Play."

@josephbrennan370 5 лет назад

Wow. It really was cursed

@Kiabellexox 4 года назад

When I was younger and first started in theatre I said Macbeth out loud doubting its ‘curse’, one of my cast members dropped a prop on my head and my costume got stuck around my leg so I walked funny for an entire scene. Never again.

@EvelynDayless 6 лет назад

Clearly the witches just tell everyone they come across that. Sure 99.99999999% of the time they look a little silly, but that ONE time they get it right man it amazes everyone.

@DarkComputerGirl 6 лет назад

Munashiimaru its a legitimate curse.

@nebulan 6 лет назад

I like how the witches look like the fates from Disneys Hercules

@nebulan 6 лет назад

I would have also loved it if the wyrd sisters had white, yellow and black hair

@marquis911 6 лет назад

Indoor plumbing. It’s gonna be big.

@jimbohalpert6647 6 лет назад

Mona Teasley *huge,It's gonna be huge.

@zvimur 6 лет назад

Who do you think Shakespeare was inspired by? I meant Greek mythology, not Disney.

@codybeasenburg6275 6 лет назад

Honey, you mean HUNKules

@ComputerChris2 6 лет назад

WHAT, YOU EGG?

@mandyberry2500 6 лет назад

[He stabs him.]

@jrdi3574 6 лет назад

Young fry of treachery

@TheAdamDavid 6 лет назад

@rafaymughal9908 6 лет назад

He has killed me, Mother

@TisaMai 5 лет назад

(dies)

@fizzmcdermott902 6 лет назад

I feel robbed, you didn't address the savageness of Lady MacBeth

@thatjillgirl 6 лет назад

Maybe in part 2?

@fizzmcdermott902 6 лет назад

Yeah, I hope so

@whalesharko4465 5 лет назад

@Bogy 1 Kinoby she used her feminity (which she had asked to be rid of) to manipulate Macbeth, only to use HIS masculinity or lack thereof to humiliate and intimate him, she didn't feel any remorse due to her *entire existence* being a fable to any woman who tried to escape the bounds of a Shakespeareian society She never had any remorse, she was worried the blood would sell her out She wasn't allowed any remorse because she was a powerful woman, Shakespeare was saying that was a recipe for disaster

@ladyvoso6392 4 года назад

Whale Sharko her remorse shows in Act 5, or have you forgotten that?

@Tsukiko.97 6 лет назад

Macbeth is what stopped me from overthrowing the government.

@merrittanimation7721 6 лет назад

Abyssinia Empire Seems like it should have MADE you overthrow the government

@steelarsenal5843 6 лет назад

You can’t overthrow the government with out using something crazy like a salted nuke

@zhamenable 6 лет назад

Tommy B lol

@The__Creeper 6 лет назад

No, I'm pretty sure you being a weak child that knows nothing about the government is what kept you from overthrowing a teapot let alone the government.

@NoU-jc4kq 6 лет назад

Abyssinia Empire Good For You

@Ash-xu2fv 6 лет назад

I'm sure this isn't an unusual thing for you to hear, CrashCourse team, but I want you to hear it again. I am 25, have a master's degree, and have been out of any type of formal schooling for 2 years...and I absolutely love watching CrashCourse (esp. CrashCourse Literature). I know that you are commonly used inside and outside the classroom, and I want you to know how much I value your contribution to my ongoing, informal, life-long education as an adult. Much love, and thanks for being awesome!

@rebeccajoubert7536 5 лет назад

Bro this dude wrote “The Fault in our Stars”

@Pfhorrest 6 лет назад

OUT, DAMNED SPOT! [puppy whimpers as it crawls out the doggy door, tail between its legs]

@soccerandtrack10 6 лет назад

oh,so other people write weird comments other then me?

@Pfhorrest 6 лет назад

"Spot" is a stereotypically common name for a dog. "Out, damned spot!" is a famous line from MacBeth.

@syourke3 6 лет назад

I always think of a little dog who just made a mess on the carpet and gets sent outdoors by an angry owner.

@rueluxprince6982 5 лет назад

*Hades at three am in the morning, realizing Cerberus has snuck onto his bed again*

@margaritam.9118 4 года назад

Damned Spot xD

@SirAutismo 6 лет назад

Can someone jog my memory, werent the three apparitions that the witches foretold of Macbeths downfall; 1. The lights will flicker on and off 2. The phone will ring and no one will answer 3.THE WALLS WILL OOZE GREEN SLIME!

@danielputnam7431 4 года назад

The weird sisters were not apparitions and they obviously didn't make those predictions. Shakespeare's play was largely based on Rafael Holinshed's Chronicles, a history of England, Scotland and I think Ireland. Though it was not fiction, he did include the three sisters, who were part of pre-Christian Scottish folklore. The word weird meant wayward. Another interesting fact is that King James was the one who told Holinshed about Banquo, and other than Chronicles, he seems to appear in no other history books.

@humanityyy 4 года назад

@@danielputnam7431 The comment was a joke. It was a reference to a Spongebob episode.

@otsana9322 4 года назад

John Green: so macbeth is like "well trees can't travel so i got this." Also John Green: He says no one of a woman born can hurt me and Macduff's like, "I was a C-section baby!" And then he lops of Macbeth's head. Me: **hysterically rolling on the floor in tears**

@yaumelepire6310 6 лет назад

I love it how, in the video, John refers to the King as King James I, but the intro refers to him as King James VI, and that both of these ways to call him are entirely valid.

@johnmacdonald1094 6 лет назад

James had been King of Scotland before receiving the crown of England. He was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and was James VI, King of Scots. With the unification of the crown, he became James I in England, while remaining James VI in Scotland. As an aside, since Elizabeth I was never the Queen of Scots, many Scots consider the current Queen to be Elizabeth I.

@varana 6 лет назад

There's a QI snippet on that flying around RU-vid somewhere. (For exactly the Elizabethan problem, they decided to go with the highest number in any constituent kingdom.)

@yaumelepire6310 6 лет назад

I still love the fact that both names are good and that the intro and John disagree. It's a fun historical tidbit.

@mutasimnabilmannan3741 5 лет назад

“So far, so Macbeth” probably one of the greatest quote ever

@samuelchen2994 6 лет назад

Sorry, for Lady Macbeth isn’t the blood spot on her hand?

@soslothful 6 лет назад

Yes, I caught that too.

@lailatbarbie1884 6 лет назад

Yea I was thinking that too

@lailatbarbie1884 6 лет назад

She kept washing her hands saying they were dirty.

@BISlover544 6 лет назад

I always imagined the dagger hallucinaton as a crazy taxi-style arrow floating in the air above macbeth's head. How could he refuse the beckoning of a quest marker?

@roberthill3811 6 лет назад

Interesting that this play should come after the dystopian stories. When I was a student at UNC Greensboro, the theatre department put on a wonderful performance of Macbeth. It was set in a post-apocalyptic land, inspired by the original Mad Max movies. Also, the actor playing Macbeth was missing his left forearm, which definitely fit the dystopic theme. It is, to this day, my favorite experience with the Scottish Play.

@rexappleby4981 6 лет назад

that's awesome

@pravdadandunjadmiko436 6 лет назад

Could you please do russian literatures such as War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and many others

@merrittanimation7721 6 лет назад

Pravda Dandun Jadmiko Crime and Punishment !

@DanielR0828 6 лет назад

The master and margarita?

@thatjillgirl 6 лет назад

Agreed, but Madame Bovary is French. ;)

@michaelwu7678 6 лет назад

Also Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and Chekhov

@aliasjon8320 6 лет назад

I really want one on war and peace, let's get this comment loaded with likes!

@mangaluver1231 6 лет назад

Every time I hear about Macbeth, I think of that episode of Jimmy Neutron where they did this for the school play and Sheen kept trying to figure out how to deliver his line: "My Lord, your wife, Lady Macbeth approaches." I was quite saddened to find out that that line isn't even in the play.

@merrittanimation7721 6 лет назад

mangaluver1231 Me too! It amazed me when I learned what the play was actually about and how different it was. I was like 12 at the time.

@pancreasnostalgia 6 лет назад

I think that I forgot about that episode until I saw this comment.

@andrewollmann304 5 лет назад

That play is just a mish-mosh of Shakespeare quotes....hecka funny, though.

@alexdemarchi5310 5 лет назад

absolutely no one: my brain at work: WHOS HORRID IMAGE DOTH UNFIX MY HAIR

@emersonmaesmith3808 6 лет назад

this is one of my all time favorite plays!! i love the analysis and history you gave us in the episode but i have to admit i'm a little bummed at the lack of Lady Macbeth! she is equally fascinating and the way Shakespeare approaches gender in the tragedy is, in my opinion, part of what makes it so great!! i hope we'll get to hear more about her next time. 'come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts!'

@diabeticparxie 6 лет назад

My teacher emphasized that Lady Macbeth showed the times view that if a woman was equal or above a man in a relationship that bad things would happen, that woman in power brought bad things. The captains wife, witches, and Lady Macbeth all showed this.

@MissBrekel 6 лет назад

Yaasss! I love me some Lady M!

@JBLuv78 6 лет назад

What I remember as a take away in high school was the gender roles, too. How Macbeth, with all that power, etc, still sought out the witches. Listening to this analysis, tho, made me aware of the historical context. Elizabeth's recent passing fresh in people's mind -- there must've been some early forms of feminism there, seeing how a queen ascended the throne... Two of them, in fact...

@ryanscottmccormick191 6 лет назад

Is this the dagger I see before me?

@cthulhumetalheart182 6 лет назад

The play that shall not be named.

@merrittanimation7721 6 лет назад

Henry Henderson Don't you mean Macb-

@dense_and_dull 6 лет назад

You theatre nerds I swear...

@hannahmerrill575 4 года назад

This channel is the backbone of the American school system. 10/10.

@katliu6169 6 лет назад

I'm sorry but you're making *a lot of mistakes* on the plot. 1. Macbeth only calls the witches 'imperfect speakers' because he wants the witches to tell him more since they stop giving him more information after just a few sentences, not because he doesn't believe the witches. 2. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth don't plan to kill Duncan's sons. They only plan to kill Duncan. 3. Lady Macbeth keeps washing blood that she can see on her hands, not on her clothes.

@bullrun2772 4 года назад

Kat Liu wrong

@CODYj423 6 лет назад

Finally! More Shakespeare! Thanks John and the CC Crew.

@emans8762 5 лет назад

Do you know how much I love crash course because of this I can finally ace GCSE literature

@Libn8rGleek 6 лет назад

I've totally been noticing and appreciating how awesome the thought cafe illustrations are! They make me happy!!

@juliabustos-gusse8821 5 лет назад

I can’t believe you didn’t talk about the porter he’s THE BEST CHARACTER HE INVENTED THE KNOCK KNOCK JOKE

@Skeptical28 5 лет назад

disappointing that John Green doesn't know that V for Vendetta was actually a graphic novel first

@meghnasrivastava1229 5 лет назад

I learned that much from this video which I can't learn in a month by attending my Literature classes. Love you, John Green! You're awesome.

@King-jy5vt 6 лет назад

Doing a project on this, thanks John!

@rebekahlundin8401 4 года назад

i love the historical context; it truly helps me see and understand the authorial intent

@rachelelizabeth6017 6 лет назад

Who else is SUUPER excited about the upcoming Jane Austen episodes!!!! 😄✋😄✋😄

@SandKeats 6 лет назад

wisegirl_ 1227 when is it?

@rachelelizabeth6017 6 лет назад

I’m not sure. In the last episode he said that there was going to be an “upcoming” Jane Austen episodes!!

@SandKeats 6 лет назад

Ugh I can't waiiiiiit, the one about Jane Eyre was already fantastic! I have a false hope every week ha ha

@rachelelizabeth6017 6 лет назад

biguattipoptropica I hope so too! That’s one thing I REALLY love about Jane Austen!! 😄

@dorka9268 6 лет назад

"I am opposed to the social order blindly attacking the weak." - Thanks, John

@paulharris3000 6 лет назад

"If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me without my stir..." Indeed, the simplest solution to all of the difficulties!

@laraibkamran3554 4 года назад

i just loved it, loved the explanation and the person explaining it, crash course is my favorite channel among all education channels,

@theokchannel2081 6 лет назад

What did you say about V?

@Jader7777 6 лет назад

It's overrated. O V E R R A T E D. **Truth bomb**

@dan7564 6 лет назад

START A BOYCOTT!

@covenawhite4855 6 лет назад

It is a comic/movie if England had a disease epidemic wiping out so many that a fascist organization NorseFire solved the disease by killing undesirables. A women meets a man named V who does terrorist attacks to overthrow the government to learn NorseFire started the disease epidemic they claimed to stop. Several books and artworks are illegal and is in V's home. The women is also tortured by what appears to be the government just to come back stronger and a better rebel against the government that tortured her

@adhhxgxhhg 6 лет назад

The novel by Pynchon?

@cholten99 6 лет назад

The film is pretty good but the graphic novel is excellent. It'd be fascinating to know if John also thinks that is overrated and, if so, why.

@warrengday 6 лет назад

Brilliantly done as ever.

@MythicalFactory 6 лет назад

Great video!

@PurrrDLyte 4 года назад

reminds me of the matrix: "Ohh, what's really going to bake your noodle later on is, would you still have broken it if I hadn't said anything?"

@amylovesbroccoli 10 месяцев назад

Thank you, John Green.

@rachellawhead6923 6 лет назад

Heck yes! He mentioned Cymbeline!! That’s one of my favorite Shakespeare plays!!!

@crazyrabbitbob 6 лет назад

Anyone else love shakespeare's history plays? ( i know this isnt one, butas he said its baseed on real history). I love them! My favourite is Richard III. I dont understand why the history plays tend to scare people off!

@ellakim6976 6 лет назад

What perfect timing. We started it a few days ago.

@clairestafford1415 6 лет назад

Right on time for exams THANK YOU JOHN GREEN

@milliern 5 лет назад

Loved the video. None of those annoying speech breaks and editing madness that's in the older Crash Course vids.

@cbeech8622 6 лет назад

I have an exam on this Friday. This video truly is a gift from the heavens.

@maddijackson134 6 лет назад

I would love it if you could cover some of the key literary periods like the renaissance and romantic periods :)

@DanielleHevey 6 лет назад

Just saw the show "Sleep No More" in New York, which is based on Macbeth. All I kept thinking while running around was "I wish I remembered what happened in the normal play!" So this video is very helpful, thanks!

@lukezuzga6460 6 лет назад

Ive been sub'd for only a short time but love all your stuff CrashCourse!

@KierstenPurcell 6 лет назад

I have an exam on this play tomorrow and this just got uploaded. YAS MAN YAS

@kevind814 6 лет назад

Unfortunately, all the correct answers to the exam won't be revealed until Part 2 ;-)

@tokkahafez 6 лет назад

I have waited for this for TOO LONG

@thisisprophetic 6 лет назад

THANK YOU. I HAVE BEEN NEEDING THIS.

@Mia-tu6oy 6 лет назад

I was a witch in this play last year... And now I'm reading it in English. *fist pump* Thank you, John Green, I love this play.

@williammassey8761 6 лет назад

Seyton

@vignesh0208 5 лет назад

Interestingly in the Greek Tale of Pandora, the One Sin That remained in the box after Pandora shut it , it Foreboding. That feeling of knowing what is to come in a person's life. Here the knowledge or foreboding of his future is what led to Macbeth's downfall.

@whalesharko4465 5 лет назад

That is really interesting, as if Shakespeare wanted Macbeth to seem so unholy and such a deterrent, he made him follow a sin so bad the devil didn't wish it on the world

@Ireallylikepotatoesandbg3 6 лет назад

Thank you so much for this video, this'll really help with my GCSE's in English.

@TianWu 6 лет назад

how awesome? This is my last year of high school, and I have a test over Macbeth tomorrow and you just happen to upload this a month before. Thanks John,

@hansooled 11 месяцев назад

i love listening to john green talk about anything related to literature.

@thecount3437 6 лет назад

thanks for uploading this the day after my midterm

@mapl3af 6 лет назад

Thanks for making this video AFTER my huge test on this

@harperllyod1084 6 лет назад

I love this play sooo much!!!!

@HolyToledo- 6 лет назад

This would have been helpful a year and a half ago when I was studying Macbeth in grade 11

@HolyToledo- 6 лет назад

Do they have one for taming of the shrew

@afd1040 6 лет назад

After the machbeth two part series could you visit "les miserables" ?

@Zara-pu9xx 6 лет назад

We’re doing this is English so this is great!!

@natesath5270 6 лет назад

Oh, I already had my lit test on this😂😂😂

@Ralalaize 6 лет назад

Reading MacBeth in class right now, so this was perfect timing!

@Jjrmtv 6 лет назад

well done

@completeandunabridged.4606 6 лет назад

Thanks, needed this to help with my GCSE's.

@sheskindaperfectryhardboys 6 лет назад

This is literally what I'm learning about this is a miracle

@lauramaniscalco9114 6 лет назад

Thankyou. This came out exactly when im going to do my o level exam.

@adamlevine1914 6 лет назад

You mean I can't call everything I don't like a "witch hunt"? Dammit, this is a witch hunt!

@user-pi7qx1cl6t 6 лет назад

first 50 this is going to be a big help, we are learning this right now.

@yellowsquashbanana 6 лет назад

Pretty funny seeing this right after finishing Wyrd Sisters today.

@ren7068 6 лет назад

this helps me so much because I'm studying this in school right now

@prestonianone4802 6 лет назад

I literally needed this not 24 hours ago...

@muslimkurd7432 6 лет назад

I get so into these videos they are really great, and a plus for my drama/literature studies on Shakespeare next semester!!😊👍

@xeagaort 6 лет назад

Now this is what I've been looking for

@hajarabdullah5622 4 года назад

Very useful 💖

@dolphinsfan31 4 года назад

Thanks for this video 👍🏽

@jadamendez3015 6 лет назад

omg thanks sm this is on my midterm in two days

@sabrcaptainprice8590 6 лет назад

Jada Mendez but is January how are u mid term?

@jadamendez3015 6 лет назад

OnlyOneGam1r i'm in high school

@wrybreadspread 6 лет назад

OnlyOneGam1r When I was in high school, the first term would carry over after Christmas vacation into January. Having said that, I should mention that I attended high school in the 1960s and it changed soon after I went to college.

@jadamendez3015 6 лет назад

wrybreadspread high school midterms r still the same schedule. that's pretty cool. something they haven't changed

@kuromi8384 5 лет назад

I get to see Macbeth live tomorrow so I'm brushing up on my knowledge

@SplatterInker 6 лет назад

I mean... England was pretty into prosecuting witches in thw 16th century. But apart from that, as an early modern historian, I was super impressed! You even mentioned Garnet. Love you guys. Can't wait for the next one.

@Rudy__ 6 лет назад

I actually have my final in English on Macbeth so... thanks for clearing up stuff!

@torihusen5099 5 лет назад

Damn I love this play! And now I love it more!

@quiroz923 6 лет назад

I recommend Harry Berger Jr's essays on Macbeth in Making Trifles of Terrors. He basically does a deconstructive analysis and points at the subtext of the play contradicting its most visible conservative, pro-king, pro-Stewart stance. “In a society that sanctions violence, that relies on the contentiousness of its members no less than on their solidarity, and in which ferocity and praise mutually inspire and intensify each other, the success of outstanding warriors must always be greeted with muffled concern as well as ‘great happiness’”. In his view, Shakespeare is subtextually criticizing the would be glorified Scotsmen as self justifying participants in a harmful social order, whose cosmogony they create to conceal their own fears and justify their actions.

@LilyMilos 6 лет назад

Do people still do the "+" thing? Because as someone who studied the House of Stuart, plus this!

@addl2088 6 лет назад

I love crashcourse!!

@geoffreywinn4031 6 лет назад

Cool video!

@traumara 6 лет назад

Just this morning I had an exam about Macbeth, this video would've been so useful ... yesterday! Hahaha

@masonanderson6511 6 лет назад

Just finished this in class 2 weeks ago

@curiousworld7912 6 лет назад

Excellent job. :)

@Esen99153 4 года назад

Thank you, from my whole class

@Sodaburger 6 лет назад

I absolutely LOVE that the witches are represented in the Thought Bubble as The Fates from Disney's Hercules!

@bluewhalepang6444 6 лет назад

Pls. do more Shakespeare! Thanks John~

@eshadiva6600 6 лет назад

finally!!! my 3rd fave by the Bard

@amitabhseal 5 лет назад

Thanks for explaining this play. Can you do one on the prologue of wife of Bath.

@dannyp2970 6 лет назад

Can you do the Master and Margarita, or any other works of Russian Literature. It's fun to read Master and Margarita, but it's better to read it from the point of view of an author who lived under an oppressed regime, wrote books that destabilize it, and the only reason he wasn't executed was because Stalin loved his work so much. Them da Credentials!