How the HBO series brilliantly revisits Shakespeare’s tragedies

[Attention si vous n’avez pas vu les deux premières saisons de Succession, cet article en divulgâche certains éléments]

A highly anticipated season 3, delayed by the pandemic. Succession returns this Monday at 8:40 p.m. on OCS in US +24, two years after the cliffhanger of season 2 where Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) betrayed his father at a press conference, calling him an “evil presence, stalker and liar”, in front of an audience of stunned journalists. Parricide has taken place, Kendall killed the father. Season 3 of HBO’s drama (or rather fierce comedy) will therefore pit the self-made-man 80-year-old Logan Roy (Brian Cox), who still runs his Waystar Royco media empire with an iron fist to his son Kendall, who is running for the paternal chair. A centuries-old story: “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth – To have an ungrateful child,” Shakespeare wrote in The King Lear in 1606.

Even though the Roys have been compared to some of the most powerful families in fiction (the Ewings of Dallas, the Bluths of Arrested Development, the Lannisters of Game of Thrones, the Lyon of Empire) and real life (the Murdochs, the Kennedys, the Redstones, the Trumps, the Windsors), Succession replay the most beautiful pages of Roi Lear, from Macbeth orHamlet. What if we were obsessed with Roys thanks to Shakespeare?

Logan, an obvious King Lear

Logan Roy defines himself as a fan of Shakespeare: “ Here’s my favorite line from Shakespeare : “Take the fucking money” (“Here is my favorite line of Shakespeare: ‘Take the fucking money” “)”, he will say in the blink of an eye in episode 5 of season 2. “We find in this role elements of the Roi Lear of Shakespeare, ”Brian Cox explained to 20 Minutes at the premiere of HBO’s new flagship at the Séries Mania festival in 2018. A character that the British actor knows well since he has played it more than 150 times, according to his own estimate.

In season 1, Logan Roy, a man in the twilight of his life, suggests to his four children that he is going out of business, like King Lear. Logan has a lot in common with Shakespeare’s aging monarch: he’s an irascible tyrant whose most frequent targets are his children. In his efforts to keep the empire he built in the family, he seems to be waiting for one of them to prove his worth. As the mistaken opinion of his daughters drives King Lear to his downfall and theirs, Logan Roy’s random succession plans throw an already dysfunctional family into chaos.

Kendall, a modern version of Hamlet

Heir apparent to the Roy clan, Kendall was raised for the sole purpose of taking over the family business. It therefore represents the modern version of Hamlet. “I’ve always wanted to play Hamlet, and maybe I won’t, but I feel like he’s incorporated into Kendall, with this thwarted will and inability to act,” Jeremy Strong told the Guardian. Smarter than his brothers Roman and Connor, Kendall is the only member of the Roy Clan who seems a little decent – and this despite manslaughter, drug addiction, and occasional sexual encounters – because he’s humanly doomed to crack under the spell. pressure.

Succession and Macbeth both focus on the nature of ambition. In the play, Lady Macbeth fears that her husband may not be able to assassinate Duncan and usurp the crown. Her husband is ambitious, but is he a killer? Broken in season 2, Kendall rekindled the flame of his ambition in the finale. Will he be able to “kill the father” and end his reign or will he fail again? Will he have the ruthless cruelty needed? In Shakespeare, ambition destroys both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

Shiv, a potential Lady Macbeth

At the start of the series, Shiv (Sarah Snook) plays Cordelia from Roi Lear. She is the favorite child and tries to get away from family machinations. But as the seasons go by, drawing closer to Logan’s toxic orbit, her ambition and greed for power make her a potential Lady Macbeth. Both Shiv and Lady Macbeth are aware that their gender is an obstacle and compensate by using their husbands as pawns.

Shiv only seems attracted to her husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) when they conspire together. Much like Lady Macbeth, she is smarter and more fierce than her partner. Lady Macbeth, like Cordelia, experiences a bloody end, committing suicide when her guilt overwhelms her. Shiv doesn’t seem to know remorse, but it’s a bow she seems predestined to be.

Roman, a cruel and deceptive buffoon

The youngest son of the Roy clan, Roman (Kieran Culkin), appears at the beginning of the series as a kind of jester or clown, this “fool whose father of Lady Olivia took a lot of pleasure” in The Night of the Kings. Over the seasons, he evolved into Goneril, the eldest daughter of King Lear, cruel and deceptive. Like her, he’s determined to win for fun, and is motivated by his jealousy of Kendall. His bitterness obscures his skill. He seems destined to make his father as mad as Goneril and Regan made theirs.

Connor, a joker in the style of Edgar

Connor (Alan Ruck), the eldest sibling, is not so keen on getting involved in the business of the family or the business, which makes him a wildcard in Edgar style, Gloucester’s son in The King Lear. His wealth combined with his lack of purpose makes him both an ambiguous and dangerous character, as when he has a relationship with a former prostitute or announces his desire to run for President of the United States.

Stabbing in the back, twisted allegiances, tragic misunderstandings, unspoken pacts and setbacks … Succession also borrows the fundamental mechanisms of Shakespeare’s work. The HBO series mixes comedy, drama and history (Kendall’s accident in season 2 refers to Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick accident) in the manner of a Shakespearean tragedy. From the fierce, sour and ironic pen of Jesse Armstrong, viewers enjoy watching the Roy dynasty self-destruct as much as viewers at the Roi Lear witness the inevitable fall of the latter’s kingdom.