When Lady Caroline Lamb famously announced that Lord Byron was “mad bad and dangerous to know” she could not have known that her stinging description would resonate through millennia of history. There are so many notorious case studies which involve destructive and malevolent behaviours, including those of Prince George Duke of Kent, Boris Johnson, the Roman Emperor Commodus and Messalina the third wife of the Emperor Claudius. Many of the lovers of the artist Pablo Picasso have written extensively about suffering psychological and physical harm as a result of their association with the artist.
- Gilot Francoise, Life with Picasso, Virago, 1996, ISBN (13) 9781853812330
- Mount Ferdinand, Big Caesars and Little Caesars, How They Rise and Fall, From Julius Caesar to Boris Johnson, Bloomsbury, 2023, ISBN 1399409719
- Shaw, K. Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know, Robinson Press, 2017, ISBN 1472136691
Exploration of the concept of “mad, bad and dangerous to know” in relation to the life and times of:
- Boris Johnson, PM of the UK 2019-2022
- Pablo Picasso, artist,1881-1973
- Messalina, third wife of Emperor Claudius, 20-48 AD, married 38-48
- Prince George Duke of Kent 1902-1942
- Commodus, Roman Emperor, 177-192 AD
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Determine if the accolade mad bad and dangerous to know is indeed appropriate in each case
- Understand how reputations change over time in different circumstances as a result of complex interacting factors, including the creation of false narratives
- Discuss any redeeming merits of each of the rogue case studies
