Villains, Power, and the Human Condition

Why do villains captivate us?

Inspired by All the Devils Are Here and Shakespeare’s enduring rogues and rulers, this conversation looks beyond the Bard to explore our fascination with villains across storytelling and pop culture. From the classics to the characters who dominate today’s screens, villains offer a compelling lens through which to examine power, ambition, morality, and human behavior. Why are we sometimes drawn to characters we know we shouldn’t admire? What makes a villain frightening, charismatic, or even sympathetic? And what might the villains we create (and the ones we can’t stop watching) reveal about those that dream them up and about ourselves?