Hamlet in (and off) Stages: Television, Serialization, and Shakespeare in Sons of Anarchy

Abstract

Although Shakespeare has inspired hundreds of films during the past 113 years, he has had a far less conspicuous impact on the slightly younger medium of television, particularly in the United States.¹ However, the most popular show on the basic cable network FX (Fox eXtended), Sons of Anarchy, owes a significant debt to Shakespeare.² Since it first aired in 2008, the series has been dubbed “Hamlet on Harleys” by the popular press.³ And although scholar and motorcycle enthusiast John M. Withers hears a variety of other Shakespearean echoes in Sons of Anarchy, ranging from Titus Andronicus to Macbeth, it is Shakespeare’s greatest Elizabethan tragedy that not only reverberates throughout the first four seasons, but also promises to do so during upcoming years, as the series develops an approach to realizing Hamlet tailored for cable television.⁴