Shakespeare, Madness, and Music

Many forms of disability, including mental illness, are represented in multimedia like film, television and music. This presentation will examine the musical and visual depictions of mental illness in three of Shakespeare’s plays: Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. By watching and listening to the acting, direction, and musical accompaniment assigned to Hamlet, Ophelia, Lady Macbeth, King Lear, & Edgar in various film adaptations then we can understand how what Shakespeare calls “madness” was thought about in the Early Modern period, how it interacted with and was described by music, and how these associations between madness and music continue in film adaptations of the plays. Presented by musicologist Dr. Kendra Preston Leonard.

This program is part of the series, "What We Are Going Through: Listening to Mental Illness," which is generously funded by a grant from Beyond the Page, Madison Community Foundation and the National Endowments for the Humanities. For more information about Beyond the Page or the programs in this series visit  https://www.beyondthepage.info/