the tragedy of king lear william shakespeare

After a season of the two of them professionally at odds and trapped in a quagmire of desire, disgust, and Bitey matches, Shiv’s machinations ultimately crown her husband as the victor, fulfilling her “Lady Macbeth, redux” prediction.

But beginning with the Season 3 finale, Tom ( Matthew Macfadyen) began to seek power for himself. For the first three seasons of Succession’s run, Shiv ( Sarah Snook) was the partner nearest to winning the throne, and the couple’s backroom dealings, furtive conversations, and strategic betrayals of family and each other were aimed at seating her on it. This tragedy is famous for the fraught and frightening dynamics at the center of its marital namesakes, a couple that will push each other, denigrate each other, and ultimately abandon each other on their ascent. One of them was outright named in the finale: Macbeth, a story of a husband and wife’s ambition and betrayal as they seek to usurp Scotland’s king and sit on his throne. Once Logan died at the beginning of this season - something that doesn’t happen to his Shakespearean counterpart until the final moments of the play - the show’s other Shakespearean influences stepped into the spotlight. They backstab each other, they rebel against him, and they ultimately destroy themselves and each other before any of them can win.īut the show has never been only King Lear. The comparisons are obvious: Logan ( Brian Cox), the king, has three children competing to earn their father’s love and, by extension, his kingdom once he abdicates it. In the end, Lear and all his children are dead, and the kingdom is left in shambles. Each sibling must perform demonstrations of love and devotion to him when his favored daughter Cordelia refuses to play the game, her elder two sisters split the kingdom between them and immediately double-cross each other, their husbands, and Lear himself to win the other’s share. For much of Succession's run, it's been compared to King Lear, the story of a monarch who plans to retire and split his kingdom between his three children, setting off a power struggle that ends in personal and political destruction. These comparisons to Shakespeare have abounded throughout the series’ run, and they’ve been used to try and divine who might “win” (if climbing to the highest bough of the poisoned and rotting tree that is Waystar Royco can be called “winning”).

The tragedy of king lear william shakespeare