Who rules the Hype House? Netflix’s TikTok celebrity-heavy reality show brings viewers into the lives of the very wealthy and very young — introducing both diehard fans and the casually curious to the surprising world of social media influencing. (Ever wonder who Charli D’Amelio is? Or Lil Huddy? Wonder no more.) While getting rich and famous off of the TikTok app – which has only been around since April 2018 (originally, it was called Musical.ly, which launched in 2014) is an outrageously contemporary phenomenon, much of Hype House’s narrative themes are storied and familiar.

Typically, when a prestigious show is celebrated for its interpersonal conflict (cough, Don’t Look Up, cough), it’s labeled Shakespearean for its timelessness and ability to get to the heart of human foibles and power dynamics. The same could, and should, be said of Season 1 of Hype House. Let’s break it down, shall we?

WARNING: Spoilers follow. Stream Hype House on Netflix now and then return to this list before heading back to school. Your teachers will be so impressed.

Is this a stretch? Almost certainly. Is it an absolute blast to think of Hype House as Shakespeare? Undoubtedly.

1. Macbeth

As anyone who didn’t fall asleep in literature class will tell you, Macbeth is a tragedy about ambition. Sure, in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches that he will become the King of Scotland. He just has to murder King Duncan and some others to make it happen. Driven on by his maniacal wife, Lady Macbeth, he plunges forward in his quest before going completely mad. Hype House is like that. The co-founder of the TikTok collective, Thomas Petrou, might argue that Lil Huddy (real name: Chase Hudson, another co-founder) is not unlike Macbeth. He found a way to establish a name and career for himself outside of the content house and, in order to do so, distanced himself from the TikTokers that helped make his career. It’s not as murderous as Shakespeare, and there is forgiveness without madness, save for the depression and anxiety the members detail in courageous candor — but there is tireless ambition. And isn’t that what Macbeth is all about?

2. King Lear

In this Shakespearean tragedy, the aging Lear decides to divide his land between his two daughters, Goneril and Regan. (His youngest daughter, Cordelia, fails a test and receives nothing.) Goneril and Regan, in turn, betray Lear in an attempt to acquire total power, driving the betrayed father to madness. In this example, Petrou is again the King Lear stand-in – the patriarch of the Hype House (he refers to himself as “the dad of the house” in the first episode). One could argue Petrou has given too much freedom to the younger members, who, in turn, fail to realize his goals and, ultimately, chip away at his power. If that’s the case, Chase Hudson could very well be Cordelia — quiet, grateful, eager to help, but with an unfortunate sense of timing. Both die in Shakespeare’s text, but, of course, in Hype House, the only murder is, well, the household.

3. The Taming of the Shrew

This Shakespearean comedy — and what genre of content do Hype House residents produce if not comedy? — opens with a poor tinker named Christopher Sly who becomes the target of a prank when a lord takes the drunken Sly to his manor and convinces him that he is, in fact, the lord. If that’s not Alex Warren and crew pulling pranks on each other all the time for the entertainment of viewers, I don’t know what is.

4. All’s Well That Ends Well

This is where the Shakespeare–Hype House analogies get a little inexact, but who’s keeping track? In All’s Well That Ends Well, protagonist Helena is helplessly in love with Count Bertram, who says he’ll never truly be her betrothed until she can get his family ring, which he wears, and she becomes pregnant with his child. Like I said, it’s not exact, but there are echoes of the fake wedding from Hype House here. Kouvr Annon is desperate for a real marriage, and Alex Warren will only agree with larger caveats (namely, that he’s too young and not ready to be a husband, which, you know, is totally fair and has nothing to do with pregnancy.)

5. The Merchant of Venice

This one is obvious, but it’s worth pointing out: A number of the characters in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice are miserable despite their wealth, which is totally what the Hype House influencers talk about all the time. Money doesn’t stave off depression. In the play, Antonio and Portia, a merchant and an heiress, are totally sad and rich, which is often the case.

In conclusion, Hype House is totally Shakespearean. Just, please, don’t work this into your term papers, all right?