Shakespeare's Politics

By Allan Bloom

Book Overview

Taking the classical view that the political shapes man's consciousness, Allan Bloom considers Shakespeare as a profoundly political Renaissance dramatist. He aims to recover Shakespeare's ideas and beliefs and to make his work once again a recognized source for the serious study of moral and political problems.

In essays looking at Julius Caesar, Othello, and The Merchant of Venice, Bloom shows how Shakespeare presents a picture of man that does not assume privileged access for only literary criticism. With this claim, he argues that political philosophy offers a comprehensive framework within which the problems of the Shakespearean heroes can be viewed. In short, he argues that Shakespeare was an eminently political author. Also included is an essay by Harry V. Jaffa on the limits of politics in King Lear.

"A very good book indeed . . . one which can be recommended to all who are interested in Shakespeare." --G. P. V. Akrigg

"This series of essays reminded me of the scope and depth of Shakespeare's original vision. One is left with the impression that Shakespeare really had figured out the answers to some important questions many of us no longer even know to ask."-Peter A. Thiel, CEO, PayPal, Wall Street Journal

Allan Bloom was the John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor on the Committee on Social Thought and the co-director of the John M. Olin Center for Inquiry into the Theory and Practice of Democracy at the University of Chicago. Harry V. Jaffa is professor emeritus at Claremont McKenna College and Claremont Graduate School.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226060411
• ISBN13: 9780226060415
• Release Date: December 1996
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Shakespeare's Politics

Took so long for the delivery on this product that, after awhile, I was beginning to think it was being delivered by camel! However, you can't go wrong with Bloom. Once you have read him, you don't forget him. He is truly the best scholar in our times on both Plato and Shakespeare. Worth the wait. Excellent book. Reading Bloom's writing educates the educator of how far textbooks have fallen back in presentation of their...

Another inspiring tour de force

Bloom's insight into the deepest aspects of humanity may not be matched by anyone, past or present. Having been given the gift of his existence we are magnificently lucky he wrote what he knew so we might scratch the surface. Once again Bloom inspires by penetrating our perpetual present with the permanent and universal. This time he performs this magic through analysis of Shakespeare's plays, their political message, Shakespeare's...

Solid scholarship and thoughtful ideas

While many study Shakespeare for literature or theatre, Bloom and Jaffa try to discover Shakespeare for political insights. The authors' study of The Merchant of Venice and Othello both give readers an understanding of an outsider's role in a community while Julius Caesar and King Learn demonstrate that political power at the top is more tenuous than it many times appears.Othello is an accepted member of Venice and is even...

See Shakespeare In Another Light

It should be obvious that Shakespeare wrote great literature. That fact is assumed by the authors of this book. However, Allan Bloom and Harry Jaffa demonstrate a deeper awareness of Shakespeare than one will find in literature departments. Shakespeare combined poetry with an acute knowledge of politics, and these excellent scholars have written a clear and convincing account of some of those facets of political wisdom...

Powerful. Pungent. Political and philosophical too.

It is difficult to convey how wonderful I found this thin little book to be. It is no larger than a slice of rye bread, but the food for thought contained therein could feed a soul for a thousand days. It took me two mesermizing hours to get through the Introduction and Bloom's essay on 'The Merchant of Venice'. At first, I mistrusted my recollection- was there really so much there? Had the dry old play decayed so completely...