Lecture Series

Villains & Antiheroes delves into the characters we love to hate—and sometimes hate to love. Shakespeare’s so-called “villains” are rarely simple embodiments of evil; instead, they are driven by jealousy, ambition, resentment, vulnerability, or even misunderstood justice. Characters like Iago, Richard III, Shylock, Lady Macbeth, and Don John reveal how compelling, human, and unsettling morally complex figures can be. In this lecture, we look beyond the traditional labels to explore what motivates these characters, how they challenge our sympathies, and why audiences continue to find them irresistibly fascinating.