5. King Lear and Equality

Major public figures, in conversation with Professor Emma Smith, explore whether Shakespeare might help us resolve some challenging contemporary issues.

Michael Gove (Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) talks about the fundamental sense of a shared humanity which King Lear’s suffering brings to him in this greatest of tragedies, set in a pagan world.

Emma, in turn, points out that the mockery of Malvolio’s aspirational attempts at social climbing in Twelfth Night, a play set in a world closer to that of Shakespeare himself, suggests that achieving the levelling up agenda may be harder than expected.

In spite of frequent claims that Shakespeare is a small-l liberal, Michael Gove makes a compelling case for Shakespeare as a small-c conservative.

With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott.

Producer: Beaty Rubens

Made to mark the 400th anniversary of the First Folio.

A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in May 2023.