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Shakespeare The Invention of the Human Harold Bloom 9781573227513 Books

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Shakespeare The Invention of the Human Harold Bloom 9781573227513 Books

Bloom is one of the world's great Shakespeare scholars and his thesis that The Bard created our conception humanity itself is well-argued, but he exceeds his brief when he dismisses the authority of the Old Testament and the personality of Moses when he offhandedly states that it was written by the "J writer". He treats the New Testament In a similar manner while stacking up the influences upon the modern conception of what it means to be human. Perhaps Bloom's thesis is threatened by the fact that the Bible itself created the idea of humanity and that Shakespeare's work is a commentary on that greater work as all modern philosophy is a commentary on Plato.


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Shakespeare The Invention of the Human Harold Bloom 9781573227513 Books Reviews

Great, in-depth analysis by someone who both knows and loves his subject matter.
Excellent summation of the major Shakespeare plays. Typical Bloom style that celebrates Shakespeare's works while pointing out varying style and quality of the individual works.
If someone gets their own pulpit in which to pontificate upon Shakespeare, we may as well be grateful that it's Harold Bloom. His judgments constantly provoke a "Right on!" response--when he demonstrates the interpretative inadequacies of the Marxist or gender theorists, for example; or when he celebrates Hamlet and Falstaff as opposite sides of the same coin, together constituting Shakespeare's supreme creation of character. (How sad that so many of today's students find Falstaff nothing more than a disgusting, cowardly man whose only function is to vindicate the Prince's dismissal of him.) And though Bloom's case about the "invention of the human" is overstated he, for the most part, is successful in exposing the modern, existential sensibility and dynamic, complex life of the consciousness that is the hallmark of Shakespeare's best character creations.
But he disappoints when he takes his sights off of Shakespeare in favor of addressing the bad (ie. political) readers of Shakespeare. In fact, one wonders if he isn't creating a number of straw men--the readers who find "Taming of the Shrew" a shamefully sexist play, for example, or who champion Caliban as a post-colonial hero-rebel. Moreover, this need to represent and address his critics--real or imagined--is especially irritating when he falls short of a counterargument to an interpretation he holds up as "wrong." For example, he quotes Kate's entire "women are simple" speech and then, without offering any intepretation of it, simply suggests anyone who doesn't find it ironic has got to be a fool. With Caliban, he goes a bit further to discredit sympathetic readings of the character, even quoting a generous section of Robert Browning's "Caliban Upon Setebos." But why not go further yet, showing us what Caliban actually is (perhaps the naive, idealogical readers Bloom has in mind, the scholars who go more by the "book" than the "imagination").
Bloom has all of the right instincts about Shakespeare ("It's not about politics, stupid. It's about language as a uniquely human attribute. And Shakespeare manifests its workings more fully than any other author.") But I'm afraid he unwittingly reveals that a large ego can be just as much an obstacle to interpreting Shakespeare as French critical theory or party-line academic politics. This book is frequently insightful, well-written, and useful, but it could have been much better, especially in view of the general audience for whom it is aimed, had its author been more consistently mindful of his own calling as teacher. Unfortunately, Bloom seems to have misread Chaucer's description of the clerk For "Gladly would he lerne and teche," substitute "Gladly would he lerne and speche."
Like Bloom, I've sat thorough many productions of Shakespeare's works in which the themes and the characters were distorted, mutilated, or simply ignored. I've wondered if there was anyone in the world who actually read the plays instead of using them as a marketing gimmick to display their own concepts. Fortunately, Bloom shows that he has read the plays.
Many of this book's reviewers have focused their energy on whether or not Bloom proves his thesis (which is that Shakespeare "invented" the ways that we define ourselves as humans). Just to put my opinion on it, I don't think he did. Then again, I don't think Bloom thinks he did either, as is evident by his statement in the book's end that Chaucer "invented" the human and Shakespeare perfected it.
So, why should a reader invest time in a book where it is questionable whether the author proved the central thesis? Because Bloom does such a wonderful job of dissecting the plays that one gets lost in the nuances that he brings out. His critical analyses of the plays are insightful and provocative. While I might take exception to some of his comments (I don't think Richard III is as weak as Bloom thinks it is), his writing style has conveyed his ideas in such a way that I have to respect his opinions.
I was glad that I had read/seen some of the plays so that I could understand the context of Bloom's comments about them. I did feel a little lost when reading his analyses of those plays to which I had not been exposed. Instead of wallowing in the feeling, I wanted to read those plays in order to see if I agreed with his comments. Any critical study that makes one want to return to the original source material to discover if its arguments are valid is a very good study. While I don't believe one should accept Bloom's analyses at face value, his comments provide a solid counterpoint to many of the myths about the plays. I heartily recommend this book to those who want to broaden their perspective on Shakespeare's works.
When you first get the book you wonder can Professor Bloom really keep you interested in Shakespeare for nearly 800 pages. Yes, he can and with elan. This is not a book that lends itself to a quick read and it does flag a little at the end as maybe the author began to get tired or lose interest or both. Just the same this will clearly this be viewed as one of the seminal works on the Bard.
Accessibly and delightfully written, very insightful, sometimes hilariously or wickedly entertaining. Pointedly opinionated, and in ways that can chafe some current sensibilities (including my own), but to a benefit. Thiis book proves just how much Bloom loves Shakespeare and wants to communicate to us and educate us through that love. A necessary addition to the library to any real bardophile.
Bloom is one of the world's great Shakespeare scholars and his thesis that The Bard created our conception humanity itself is well-argued, but he exceeds his brief when he dismisses the authority of the Old Testament and the personality of Moses when he offhandedly states that it was written by the "J writer". He treats the New Testament In a similar manner while stacking up the influences upon the modern conception of what it means to be human. Perhaps Bloom's thesis is threatened by the fact that the Bible itself created the idea of humanity and that Shakespeare's work is a commentary on that greater work as all modern philosophy is a commentary on Plato.