Succession and Shakespeare

 Many fans of HBO's Succession often compare the show to William Shakespeare's plays. The show is structured around the relationship between family and power. These are also integral themes in Shakespearean tragedies. (Spoilers ahead).

Succession HBO Sky.com / Elizabethan Authors

Succession directly references Shakespeare a few times, most notably: 'we’ve given up on poor Jesus and have started worshipping Shakespeare' and 'I land the deal, I kill Kendall, I’m crowned king. Just like in Hamlet… if that happens in Hamlet. I don’t care.'

The latter is a line that implies a lot about the show's use of Shakespeare and as a result serves more than one function in the script. In keeping with the show's tone, it firstly serves a comedic function as Roman Roy's quip playfully displays Succession's self aware use of Shakespearean family dynamics. Secondly, the reference to Hamlet forebodes Roman's attempt to 'kill' his brother by taking Kendall's powerful position in the company. In Hamlet, Claudius murders his brother for the throne. Yet the reference also forebodes Roman's failure to maintain said power, as Claudius is killed in the play.

Comedy and foreboding are the more obvious roles the reference plays yet the significance of a Shakespeare reference by Roman, one of the Roy siblings, takes the idea deeper. It nudges our attention toward the elitist education we assume the Roy siblings have and how they may take that privilege for granted. Roman claims to 'not care' if he is using the reference to Hamlet correctly.

An education in Shakespeare also loosely reflects the Roy siblings' connections to British aristocracy (the Roy's have a British and 'old money' mother). If you want to look even deeper than that, and it's always fun to, there is a suggestion to be made that whilst the family is heading their media empire in an increasingly modern society and should ideally have in-tandem values of progress, they are still the 'ruling' class tied to a history of inherited wealth and tradition. Yes, Logan is 'self-made' and he resents that his kids are not. However, Logan shows resistance to progressive change by opposing the next generation taking over the company. He also has conservative views.

Succession HBO

So whilst a deep dive analysis of the Shakespearean references in Succession allows for fruitful exploration of the show and its themes, let's look into the broader similarities Shakespeare plays have with the plot and characters...

Macbeth

Shiv Roy has many a parallel to Lady Macbeth. Shiv has a cold edge to her that is reminiscent of Lady Macbeth's ambitious and biting characterisation. Shiv uses her husband, Tom, as a sacrificial porn to power as Lady Macbeth does when she persuades her husband to kill King Duncan. This is because Shiv is equally aware that her gender holds her back from power. Being a woman is deemed a weakness by her conservative father, the brothers that underestimate her, and the patriarchal industry she finds herself in.

The Economic Times / Succession HBO

Another way in which the characters bare similarity, is both Shiv Roy and Lady Macbeth only appear attracted to (or in love with) their husbands when they scheme and conspire together. Or - when their husbands exhibit a desire of power to them.

Not to mention Shiv has Scottish heritage which is a satisfying note to add when comparing her to THE Scottish Play!

Hamlet

No character in Succession displays such a striking similarity to the tragic hero Hamlet other than Kendall Roy. His quest to become successor is tormented by fluctuating mental health that is undeniably tied to and controlled by Kendall's power status and the approval of his father.

Kendall's manslaughter of a caterer boy in Season 1 parallels Hamlet's accidental stabbing and killing of Polonius. Both are a result of the characters becoming 'mad' by their exhausting familial rivalries. Kendall resorts to drug-use to cope before driving the caterer off a bridge and to his death.

Succession HBO / Eugène Delacroix - The Metropolitan Museum

Kendall's mental health battle links to another key trait of the Shakespearean tragic hero; paranoia. Hamlet suffers paranoia because of his villainous uncle's with-holding of information. Kendall is plagued with a paranoia unlike any other of his siblings. In Season 4 Kendall becomes forever burdened by uncertainty when it is unclear whether his father underlined his name as successor in the will or whether it had in actually been crossed out. Both Kendall's and Hamlet's paranoid states are triggered by a truth concealed by death, never to be answered.

Kendall is a Hamlet rather than an Ophelia but the recurring motif of Kendall Roy in water, usually depressed, is reminiscent of Ophelia drowning because of her intense sadness. This is a very famous image of depression in literature, film, and TV.

Succession HBO / Ophelia - Sir John Everett Millais

King Lear

Perhaps the most similar and popular comparison of a Shakespeare play to Succession is King Lear. The over-arching plot in both is: mad and cruel patriarchs, King Lear and Logan Roy, having to decide which of their children will be successor to their 'throne'.

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust / Succession HBO

King Lear banishes his daughter Cordelia and in the Succession finale of Season 3, Shiv is cut out of the business by her father. Whilst her brothers are also cut out, Shiv is narratively highlighted as the one Logan wishes to punish most. It was Shiv's idea to stand up to her father and act against him in this instance. Furthermore, the ending shot of the episode and Season finale is of Shiv's face as she suffers the ultimate betrayal orchestrated by her own father and husband. The theme is continued into Season 4 when her brothers cut her out of the Co-CEO title.

Girl Museum / Succession HBO

Ultimately...

Ultimately there are many comparisons to be drawn between Succession and Shakespeare. The show's self-awareness and incorporation of Shakespearean devices, ideas, emotions, and characterisations, help shape the soul thematic relationship of the show; family and power. In doing so - the betrayals, heartbreaks, shifts in control, and general intensity brought out in the exploration of family and power throughout the series, feel timeless. Shakespearean influences historicise themes. Succession, with its focus on the modern day rich, therefore emphasises the cyclical tragedy that persists within a family fuelled by money like the Roys.

Succession HBO