Power, Praise, and Pressure: How King Lear Gets it Wrong (ep 248)

Power, Praise, and Pressure: How King Lear Gets it Wrong (ep 248)

From British History: Royals, Rebels, and Romantics by Carol Ann Lloyd

May 27, 2026 · 27 min · Season 6 · Episode 248

About this episode

Carol Ann examines Shakespeare's King Lear as a cautionary tale about leadership and power.

In this episode of the Royals, Rebels, and Romantics Leadership Series, Carol Ann examines Shakespeare's King Lear as a cautionary tale. Instead of behaving as a leader, Lear behaves as a bully, grasping for power and control. He treats leadership as a transaction, attempting to exchange power for praise. Not surprisingly, everything falls apart. Carol Ann Lloyd TEDx talk: 3 Leadership Secrets from Shakespeare @shakeuphistory https://carolannlloyd.com/ https://patreon.com/carolannlloyd https:...

People in this episode

Host: Carol Ann Lloyd

Topics covered

  • leadership
  • Shakespeare
  • King Lear
  • power dynamics
  • cautionary tales

Keywords

  • King Lear
  • leadership
  • Shakespeare
  • power
  • bullying
  • cautionary tale
  • control

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: TEDx, patreon.com, carolannlloyd.com

Books & works: King Lear

More episodes of British History: Royals, Rebels, and Romantics

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the British History: Royals, Rebels, and Romantics podcast page.