Moby-Dick Marathon 2023: Readings from the Seamen’s Bethel

The annual Moby-Dick Marathon at the New Bedford Whaling Museum honors Herman Melville’s enduring connection to this historic whaling port. In the 2023 reading, chapters 7 and 8 were performed inside the Seamen’s Bethel—the very chapel that inspired Melville’s unforgettable “Whaleman’s Chapel” scenes in Moby-Dick.

Watch the readings beginning at 02:03:00.599 (Chapter 7) and 02:10:59.079 (Chapter 8) to experience the power of Melville’s words echoing within the same walls that first inspired them.