Chapter 1
History versus theatrical propaganda
Chapter 2
The psychological toll of the crown
Chapter 3
The divine right and political realities
Chapter 4
Performing for the real-life monarchs
YOUR GOAL
Master of The kings of Shakespeare
Ch 2 · The psychological toll of the crown
schopenhauer The Toll of the Crown
No sleep tonight, no sleep tonight / A ship-boy sleeps in a storm, but this gold crown keeps me awake.
schopenhauer King Claudius struggles with intense guilt while trying to maintain his stolen Danish crown.
schopenhauer Macbeth and his wife suffer from severe paranoia and hallucinations after murdering King Duncan.
BETA
schopenhauer Sort the bizarre royal trivia to discover the wild secrets of Shakespeare's kings.
Fun Fact
Lear's happy ending: For 150 years, theaters only performed a rewritten version of King Lear by Nahum Tate, which gave the play a happy ending.
Glossary
insomnia (noun)
Habitual sleeplessness or the inability to sleep. King Henry IV famously laments this condition during his midnight soliloquy in Westminster Palace.
Habitual sleeplessness or the inability to sleep. King Henry IV famously laments this condition during his midnight soliloquy in Westminster Palace.
Quiz
Which play contains the famous quote, 'Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown'?
Quiz
In Hamlet, what is King Claudius doing when Hamlet decides not to kill him because he wants his soul to go to hell?
Quiz
During which dramatic weather event does the broken King Lear wander the English countryside?
Quiz
Which character's ghost appears at Macbeth's royal banquet, sitting in the king's designated chair?
Quiz
In Hamlet, how does the usurping King Claudius murder his brother, the former king?
Quiz
What does Lady Macbeth obsessively try to wash off her hands during her famous sleepwalking scene?
Quiz
In King Lear, which daughter refuses to flatter her father and is subsequently disinherited?
Quiz
What famous hallucination does Macbeth see floating in the air before he murders King Duncan?