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Article

King Lear And the Patriarchal Tragedy in Breaking Bad, Ozark, and Succession

  1. DOKUZ EYLÜL ÜNİVERSİTESİ

Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters, Volume 0, Issue Advanced Online (2025) pp. 686–693

  • 2025
  • English
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Abstract

Shakespeare’s King Lear provides an enduring archetype of the flawed patriarch, whose decisions concerning succession and legacy precipitate his downfall and his family's collapse. This essay argues that the anti-heroes of twenty-first-century prestige television powerfully and complexly embody this model. Through a comparative analysis, it investigates three modern Lear figures: Walter White (Breaking Bad), Marty Byrde (Ozark), and Logan Roy (Succession). Despite operating in distinct realms—a media empire, corporate finance, and the criminal underworld—each character reenacts core components of the Lear narrative. The study demonstrates how Walter White inverts the tragedy, building a kingdom from nothing yet succumbing to analogous arrogance and familial betrayal. Marty Byrde is framed as a reversal of the archetype, whose fatal flaw is a chilling hyper-rationality that estranges him from his family, in contrast to Lear's emotional extravagance. Logan Roy is presented as the most direct contemporary parallel, a corporate monarch whose shrewd refusal to relinquish control echoes Lear’s catastrophic division of his kingdom. Ultimately, this research contends that by transposing the classic themes of paternal failure, power, and legacy into the ruthless domains of modern capitalism and crime, these characters revitalize the Lear story for a contemporary audience.

Abstract (Turkish, translation)

Kral Lear’in İzinde Ataerkil Trajedi: Breaking Bad, Ozark ve Succession

Shakespeare'in tragedyası King Lear, kendinin ve ailesinin çöküşünü hazırlayan miras paylaşımı ve halefini belirleme yöntemleri ile kusurlu baba figürünün bir arketipini sunmaktadır. Bu makale, popüler dizilerde anti-kahramanların bu modeli etkili ve çok katmanlı bir şekilde somutlaştırdığını öne sürmektedir. Çalışma, Walter White'in (Breaking Bad), Marty Byrde'in (Ozark) ve Logan Roy'un (Succession) canlandırdığı üç modern Lear karakterini karşılaştırmalı bir şekilde incelemektedir. Karakterler, medya imparatorluğu, kurumsal finans ve suç örgütlenmesi gibi farklı ortamlarda yer almasına rağmen, Lear anlatısının ana öğelerini yeniden sahnelemektedir. Araştırmada, Walter White'ın tragedyayı adeta tersine çevirerek sıfırdan bir ‘krallık’ yarattığı, bundan ötürü duyduğu kibir ve aile sarmalının sebep olduğu ihanetler nedeniyle çöküşe sürüklendiği gösterilmektedir. Marty Byrde ise arketipin bir tür tersidir: Lear'ın ortaya koyduğu yoğun duygusallığın aksine, onun ölümcül kusuru soğukkanlı bir biçimde kuşandığı hiper-rasyonalitedir ve bu durum ailesiyle arasındaki mesafenin artmasına sebep olmaktadır. Son olarak, tragedyaya en çok parallelik gösteren yapımın kahramanı, iş dünyasının imparatorlarından Logan Roy, Lear’i anımsatan bir biçimde şirketinin idaresini bırakmayı çeşitli kurnazlıklarla reddederek mutlak iktidarına tutunurken krallığı bölünerek felakete sürüklenmektedir. Bu makale, baba figürünün çöküşü, iktidar ve miras temalarının kapitalizm ve acımasız suç dünyasına aktarılarak yaratılan dizilerdeki baş kahramanlar ile Kral Lear’in hikayesinin günümüz izleyicisi için yeniden canlandırılmasını karşılaştırmalı bir biçimde incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır.

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References

  1. Armstrong, J. (Writer), & Mylod, M. (Director). (2021). All the Bells Say (Season 3, Episode 9) [TV series episode]. In J. Armstrong (Creator), Succession. HBO.
  2. Armstrong, J. (Writer), & Mylod, M. (Director). (2023). Connor’s Wedding (Season 4, Episode 3) [TV series episode]. In J. Armstrong (Creator), Succession. HBO.
  3. Cartwright, D. (2021). Modern tragedy and television anti-heroes. Routledge.
  4. Gilligan, V. (Writer & Director). (2013). Felina (Season 5, Episode 16) [TV series episode]. In V. Gilligan (Creator), Breaking Bad. AMC.
  5. Gilligan, V. (Writer & Director). (2008). Pilot (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In V. Gilligan (Creator), Breaking Bad. AMC.
  6. Greenblatt, S. (2018). The Swerve: How the world became modern. W. W. Norton & Company.
  7. Johnson, P. (2019). Television anti-heroes and the contemporary Lear archetype. Palgrave Macmillan.
  8. Mittell, J. (2015). Complex TV: The poetics of contemporary television storytelling. NYU Press.
  9. Mundie, L. (2017). Ozark: Season 1 scripts and analysis. Netflix / Studio Press.
  10. Shakespeare, W. (1996). King Lear (Penguin Shakespeare edition). Penguin.
  11. Smith, R. (2020). Capital, family, and tragedy in modern television narratives. University of Chicago Press.
  12. Thompson, E. (2022). Serial storytelling and the rise of the anti-hero in contemporary TV. Routledge.
  13. Wilson, T. (2021). Media empires and the tragic dimension in modern drama. Bloomsbury.

Cite this publication

APA 7

Yilmaz, H. S. (2025). King Lear And the Patriarchal Tragedy in Breaking Bad, Ozark, and Succession. Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters, 0(Advanced Online), 686–693. https://hacettepe.hbtech.com.tr/en/publication/king-lear-and-the-patriarchal-tragedy-in-breaking-bad-ozark-and-succession

BibTeX

@article{yilmaz2025king,
  author = {Yilmaz, Hilal Sureyya},
  title = {{King Lear And the Patriarchal Tragedy in Breaking Bad, Ozark, and Succession}},
  journal = {Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters},
  volume = {0},
  number = {Advanced Online},
  pages = {686--693},
  publisher = {Hacettepe {\"U}niversitesi},
  year = {2025},
  month = {11},
  issn = {1301-5737},
  url = {https://hacettepe.hbtech.com.tr/en/publication/king-lear-and-the-patriarchal-tragedy-in-breaking-bad-ozark-and-succession},
  language = {en},
  keywords = {G{\"o}rsel K{\"u}lt{\"u}r},
  abstract = {Shakespeare's King Lear provides an enduring archetype of the flawed patriarch, whose decisions concerning succession and legacy precipitate his downfall and his family's collapse. This essay argues that the anti-heroes of twenty-first-century prestige television powerfully and complexly embody this model. Through a comparative analysis, it investigates three modern Lear figures: Walter White (Breaking Bad), Marty Byrde (Ozark), and Logan Roy (Succession). Despite operating in distinct realms---a media empire, corporate finance, and the criminal underworld---each character reenacts core components of the Lear narrative. The study demonstrates how Walter White inverts the tragedy, building a kingdom from nothing yet succumbing to analogous arrogance and familial betrayal. Marty Byrde is framed as a reversal of the archetype, whose fatal flaw is a chilling hyper-rationality that estranges him from his family, in contrast to Lear's emotional extravagance. Logan Roy is presented as the most direct contemporary parallel, a corporate monarch whose shrewd refusal to relinquish control echoes Lear's catastrophic division of his kingdom. Ultimately, this research contends that by transposing the classic themes of paternal failure, power, and legacy into the ruthless domains of modern capitalism and crime, these characters revitalize the Lear story for a contemporary audience.},
  affiliation = {DOKUZ EYL{\"U}L {\"U}N{\.I}VERS{\.I}TES{\.I}}
}
.bib

RIS

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Yilmaz, Hilal Sureyya
TI  - King Lear And the Patriarchal Tragedy in Breaking Bad, Ozark, and Succession
T2  - Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters
VL  - 0
IS  - Advanced Online
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/17/
SP  - 686
EP  - 693
PB  - Hacettepe Üniversitesi
SN  - 1301-5737
UR  - https://hacettepe.hbtech.com.tr/en/publication/king-lear-and-the-patriarchal-tragedy-in-breaking-bad-ozark-and-succession
AB  - Shakespeare’s King Lear provides an enduring archetype of the flawed patriarch, whose decisions concerning succession and legacy precipitate his downfall and his family's collapse. This essay argues that the anti-heroes of twenty-first-century prestige television powerfully and complexly embody this model. Through a comparative analysis, it investigates three modern Lear figures: Walter White (Breaking Bad), Marty Byrde (Ozark), and Logan Roy (Succession). Despite operating in distinct realms—a media empire, corporate finance, and the criminal underworld—each character reenacts core components of the Lear narrative. The study demonstrates how Walter White inverts the tragedy, building a kingdom from nothing yet succumbing to analogous arrogance and familial betrayal. Marty Byrde is framed as a reversal of the archetype, whose fatal flaw is a chilling hyper-rationality that estranges him from his family, in contrast to Lear's emotional extravagance. Logan Roy is presented as the most direct contemporary parallel, a corporate monarch whose shrewd refusal to relinquish control echoes Lear’s catastrophic division of his kingdom. Ultimately, this research contends that by transposing the classic themes of paternal failure, power, and legacy into the ruthless domains of modern capitalism and crime, these characters revitalize the Lear story for a contemporary audience.
KW  - Görsel Kültür
LA  - en
AD  - DOKUZ EYLÜL ÜNİVERSİTESİ
ER  -
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