Shakespeare Lecture Series

Kings, Crowns, & Chaos explores how Shakespeare dramatizes the weight of leadership and the fragile nature of power. From newly-crowned warriors to fallen monarchs, Shakespeare’s kings grapple with legitimacy, ambition, loyalty, and the consequences of political upheaval. In Henry V, Richard II, Macbeth, and King Lear, we see rulers rise and fall—some by destiny, others by their own undoing—revealing how a crown can be both a symbol of divine right and a curse that invites betrayal, madness, and ruin. This lecture examines the human cost of sovereignty and the enduring question: what truly makes a king?