On Oct. 31, Professor Ramie Targoff (ENG) delivered a lecture titled“A Master Class in Witchcraft: The Real Women Behind Macbeth’s Weird Sisters.” 

The lecture discussed the intersection of King James’ persecution of women believed to be witches and theater productions of the same era depicting witchcraft. Targoff began her lecture by explaining that during King James’ visit to Oxford in 1605, four plays were performed at an introductory pageant. This event “was how we first encounter King James confronting witches on stage,” said Targoff. The skit involved three sybils, ancient female prophetesses. An eyewitness of the play described that “it seemed like they were coming out of a castle made of ivy,” to which Targoff identified clear parallels within “Macbeth.” Additionally, King James had a notable relative in the 11th century named Banquo who encountered “the fatal sisters” within this skit. James was known as a nervous and paranoid king, so “this little play … was reassuring to James that his new English subjects regarded him not as a Scottish interloper but as the divinely entitled ruler of the United Kingdom.” Targoff asserted that this play “obviously struck [Shakespeare’s] imagination.” 

King James published a pamphlet in 1591 outlining his dealings with witches. This tabloid-like pamphlet served as a further source of inspiration for Shakespeare. King James was convinced that witches had sent a storm to shipwreck him on his way back from Denmark after his wedding. Targoff said that “it does sound a little suspicious, especially on Halloween, but James was convinced that it was witchcraft.” He then became involved in an unprecedented series of witchcraft trials, personally overseeing a trial of three “witches” whom he accused of trying to kill him. One of the women, Agnes Sampson, confessed under torture that she had traveled around in a kitchen sieve with 200 other witches to meet the devil. This was a hallmark of witchcraft during the period. This group of women were burned to death, but King James continued his search for more witches. Targoff said that “shows the extent to which even those in the highest positions of power could be made to feel vulnerable to the threat posed by these very disenfranchised members of society.” 

“Macbeth,” including the three weird sisters, was first performed a year later. Professor Targoff read and analyze scenes from “Macbeth.” She explained that Act One opens with the witches meeting and said, “The fact that we meet them on stage before we’ve met Macbeth, before we’ve met Banquo, before we’ve met anyone, gives them a kind of reality that is in question later on.” At this point, recognizing six of her students from her classes taught at Brandeis, such as “Love Poetry, from Sappho to Neruda,” Professor Targoff called on them to read excerpts from the play. She pointed out that we see the witches in “Macbeth,” mentioning riding around in sieves, just like the witches King James feared, saying, “I hope you see the very direct resonances with what I was describing as James’ account of what happened to him.” 

Targoff also analyzed the points of similarity between Macbeth and the weird sisters. She explained that in the 1623 folio, which is currently being kept at the Brandeis archives, both characters are described as “wayward.” There are several other textual elements tying the characters together. 

She discussed how the witches were described as being withered, reflecting the misogynistic worldview at the time since the accused were often older women. The witches are dehumanized throughout the play by most characters, but Macbeth himself addresses them directly, further tying these characters together. Targoff compared Macbeth to “The Witch of Edmonton,” a play based on the true case of Elizabeth Sawyer. She analyzed their differing perspectives toward the witch characters, with the Witch of Edmonton providing a sympathetic depiction. She also discussed the socioeconomic factors that contributed to witchcraft accusations, highlighting that midwives were often accused because they interacted so directly with life and death. Economic hardships like crop failures often led to an increase of accusations too. This mainly impacted the most vulnerable members of society. 

Students were able to enjoy this masterclass along with several other talks around campus during Family Weekend. Even on Halloween, Brandeis students celebrated in an educational way, by attending guest lectures such as this one. 

This lecture was especially relevant in Massachusetts, as Waltham is less than one hour from Salem where the infamous witch trials took place in the seventeenth century. Shakespeare’s work, having been interpolated for centuries, is an extraordinary framework for which to view American witchcraft history, especially in New England. As such, Targoff accessed the original 1623 Shakespeare folio from the Brandeis archives. In fact, Targoff’s work is a display of the necessity of archive preservation on Brandeis’ campus and globally. Her direct access to the folio informed her analysis of the play and future interpretations referencing the three witches. The availability of archived manuscripts, books, newspapers and more, as provided by the University, have been influential to professional research for decades. Overall, Targoff’s exploration of witchcraft this Halloween showcased both the importance of archives and regional studies as well as Brandeis community members’ admiration for academia in all settings.