Shakespeare: The King's Man
Shakespeare's life and work are sometimes romanticized as a product of the golden age of Elizabeth I. But the bard produced some of his finest plays after the Virgin Queen's death. In this illuminating BBC series, American scholar James Shapiro examines the plays Shakespeare wrote during the turbulent reign of Elizabeth's successor, King James I. One of the new king's first official acts was to name Shakespeare a "king's man." Overnight, the dramatist attained security, prestige, and an up-close view of the Jacobean court. Shapiro convincingly argues that the dark, complex plays of Shakespeare's last decade--King Lear, Macbeth, and The Tempest, among others--mirrored both royal life and the era's profound social changes. Visiting sites that Shakespeare would have known, scouring archives, and consulting leading historians, literary experts, and directors, Shapiro reveals a Shakespeare we've never seen. "As accomplished a storyteller as he is a scholar" (Radio Times, U.K.), James Shapiro has been a professor of English at Columbia University since 1985. He is the author of the acclaimed books 1599 and Contested Will.
- 2012-2012
- 1 season
- Documentary
Shakespeare's life and work are sometimes romanticized as a product of the golden age of Elizabeth I. But the bard produced some of his finest plays after the Virgin Queen's death. In this illuminating BBC series, American scholar James Shapiro examines the plays Shakespeare wrote during the turbulent reign of Elizabeth's successor, King James I. One of the new king's first official acts was to name Shakespeare a "king's man." Overnight, the dramatist attained security, prestige, and an up-close view of the Jacobean court. Shapiro convincingly argues that the dark, complex plays of Shakespeare's last decade--King Lear, Macbeth, and The Tempest, among others--mirrored both royal life and the era's profound social changes. Visiting sites that Shakespeare would have known, scouring archives, and consulting leading historians, literary experts, and directors, Shapiro reveals a Shakespeare we've never seen. "As accomplished a storyteller as he is a scholar" (Radio Times, U.K.), James Shapiro has been a professor of English at Columbia University since 1985. He is the author of the acclaimed books 1599 and Contested Will.
Season 1 Episode Guide
3 Episodes 2012
Episode 1
Incertainties
60 mins
When Queen Elizabeth died without an heir, the English throne passed to the Scottish King James I. He was elusive, intellectual, and a foreigner with Catholic sympathies. Shakespeare responded with Measure for Measure, a play about regime change and political and religious tensions; Timon of Athens, about money, greed, and corruption; and King Lear, about a united England about to be divided.
Episode 2
Equiocation
59 mins
After the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 attempted an assassination on King James's life, England entered a new age of conspiracy, anxiety, and equivocation. Shakespeare wrote Coriolanus, a tragedy about a leader who cannot equivocate; Antony and Cleopatra, reflecting England's nostalgia for Elizabeth; and Macbeth, about the worst crime imaginable: the murder of a king.
Episode 3
Legacy
60 mins
Shakespeare's late plays are often viewed as mellow swansongs. But during the last years of his life, Shakespeare was still experimenting and writing about subjects close to home. The Winter's Tale features a seemingly happy royal family that suddenly unravels. The Tempest bristles with dynastic politics. And in Henry VIII, the bard reflected one final time on the transformational nature of leadership.