Notes From Underground is a new type of literature. It defines Dostoyevsky as a modern author. There is no hero of gigantic stature. Our narrator is an antihero, loaded with contradictions. It is difficult to get a sense of what is going on. The story is a narrative; first in the present and then back to the past. In retrospect, the book is an understanding of why Russia was coming apart. It is a vision of a society having a nervous breakdown. Just as an individual can break down, so can a society. This novel began as a parody of another novel What is to be Done that is loaded with all the pet theories of the day. This was the book to read if you wanted to be a revolutionary. Lenin loved this book. Dostoyevsky was appalled at the direction his country was heading. The three principles in vogue: First, a complete and total reliance on reason. Reason alone can solve all problems. Second, absolute determinism. Everything is determined scientifically. Third, determinism will produce a happy society. When the censors edited the book, they left the rantings of the main character; bur removed all references to Christ and the role of suffering.
Dr. Samuel Johnson said that opera is the most irrational of all the arts. The human voice is forced to do things it is not designed to do. It is odd. At the same time, using song to make dramatic statements is powerful. Nothing like it. No other art form can do this: the human voice in song is joined with musical instruments to make an emotional point. Aside from the given difference between the theatrical stage and the operatic stage, the key difference in Shakespeare’s Othello and Verdi’s Otello is the belief in Original Sin. Shakespeare’s characters are complex because it tells of eternal truths. Othello is a courageous man who falls from grace; Desdemona is a virtuous woman who makes errors of judgment, yet remains virtuous. Iago is a likeable fellow who has pure evil in his heart. All these characters have the capacity for good and evil. They have a choice, a free will. Otello on the other hand reflects nineteenth century romanticism. It is emotional, sentimental. The contrasts are bigger. Good is white, evil is black. Nature itself is corrupt, thus we are corrupt. A post-Darwinist view of man and the world.
This is a question and answer session. Opera is an acquired taste, it takes time and effort to learn and appreciate. It helps to see live productions to appreciate opera. Opera enjoyed it highest popularity in the nineteenth century because of its ability to appeal to emotion. But after World War I, opera began to fall in popularity due in part to the advent of cinema, but also, after the horrors of the war, open direct emotion was just not possible. The senses of the world were overwhelmed and there was no room for opera. Cinema became the new art form. Similar to a theater but without live actors, this curious entertainment captured audiences. Cinema at best is a second rate art. It is wholly dependent on technology. It is also the sole realm of the director who manipulates the scenes to show us exactly what he wants. Television is also manipulative. It is difficult to manipulate a book or a play. A book requires the active participation of the imagination to flesh out the words. A live stage production is direct interaction with the actors and the audience. The best art is active art, where we engage with the art.
Dr. White continues his first session on Macbeth with a discussion of how the characters are seemingly living in the future as the action of the play unfolds. Interspersing his commentary with well-practiced readings, Dr. White explores man’s role as the preserver of moral order, and how that role is blurred as it is surrendered to Lady Macbeth. Then he proceeds to dissect the actions and motivations of the play’s characters.
In this first part of his second session on Macbeth, Dr. White discusses the legends and myths that have surrounded the play throughout the theater world. To many, Macbeth was not just a Scottish tragedy but a curse. White admits to not teaching this play as often as the other Shakespeare tragedies because of it darkness and association with evil. Then he segues into the “poetry” of the play and a detailed explanation of the meter of its most famous passage.
Concluding Part Two of his commentary on Macbeth, Dr. White continues his discussion of the poetic meter of the play’s most famous passage: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow…” He describes it as a perfect example of meaning and sound coming together in a literary work and attributes it to Shakespeare’s genius; and makes reference to the same device being used in other of the poet’s plays such as Hamlet and Anthony and Cleopatra. An amazing exhibition, White says, coming from a writer with only an eighth-grade education.
