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: 0226060403
• ISBN13: 9780226060408
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.0"

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 material in context. Bloom should be a standard in all libraries: home, public, and school.

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 grasp of what makes us who we are and the great, forever present teacher he has the capacity to serve as, if, at least for the moment, we ignore "new critic" sermons. (He means postmodern sophistry.) What makes Bloom so uplifting is his success in communicating power to the reader. With Bloom's assistance, not control, the reader realizes we too hold the keys to our richest experiences, unavailable to those attached to fashionable dogmas, Right or Left. Shakespeare's plays deal with fragile balances of humanity as individuals and as associations (civilization) with their impossible reconciliations between competing concepts and ideals, which is what both are made of. The Jew and Christian in Venice - their conflicts between what matters most while still members of the same society, which though peaceful and prosperous engages in the simplification of man; The strength and weakness of men in love, with women and their own self image; the root of tragedy suffered by the hero precisely due to his heroic strengths. Shakespeare acts on so many levels it's hard to fathom anyone could grasp it all without Bloom as escort. Bloom has a habit of telling the truth about our circumstances and for that he is sure to be character assassinated by those unable to deal with it. We do not, he says, "look at all to books when [we] meet problems in life or think about [our] goals; there are no literary models for [our] conceptions of virtue and vise." Reflecting a deeper fact about "the decay of common understanding of - and agreement on - first principles that is characteristic of our times." Resulting in a "decided lowering of tone in [our] reflections on life and its goals." Thus we are "technically well equipped but Philistine." But Shakespeare provides an opportunity to see out of this, as do other great books Bloom was so taken by and wrote about elsewhere.

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 a hero of sorts, but co-existence isn't full citizenship argue Bloom and Jaffa. Citizenship in a homogenous society requires that one adhere to the same customs and even have the same background. Othello may be a hero, but he's still an outsider. Iago uses this insecurity to convince Othello that his wife is unfaithful. Bloom and Jaffa certainly consider Othello a tragic figure of sorts, but he's one largely of his own making. If Othello were to realize that he's incapable of being accepted totally in such a closed society he would have made better choices himself. This would have kept him from making an enemy of the envious Iago. Bloom and Jaffa also have a different take on the question of King Lear. They think the most important political message occurs in the very first scene of the very first act. While many consider Lear's idea of dividing his kingdom among his daughters the evidence of a foolish old man, the authors argue that Lear was a great king and only a great king could be guilty of such a terrible mistake. No other English King in Shakespeare's writing was able to unite the whole British empire. Shakespeare made this point up front so that you would realize what a great man King Lear is when the play opens. It's important that Lear be seen as great not foolish, because when a great king makes the biggest mistake, the tragedy is all the more sorrowful. You might not agree with every premise or conclusion in this book, but you'll certainly get to weigh the new ideas versus your own. The result should be a better understanding of the Bard as a political animal. The book has sure given me a new outlook on these characters.

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. Read this fine book and help rescue Shakespeare from political irrelevance.

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 in my estimation, or had Bloom inserted his own opinions? No, after more blissful consternation, I relived what I had long taken for dead. Allan Bloom really sees things. His deft insight makes Shakespeare seem real and urgent again, despite how unfashionable and out of vogue the debate may seem to contemporary minds. The Jewish and the Christian come to light, the entire legacy of each Faith revealed keenly, sharply, and decisively in favour of one higher power. The authority of thought, the power of unaided reason brought to bear nakedly on an eternal, ever-so tender, sore. Bloom's essay on 'Othello' and 'Julius Cesear' prove out this reviewer's intial wonder at the work. To readers familiar with Bloom's other works, I include myself, this book was additionally worthy because it showed that the issue Allan Bloom later became famous for, the decay of education, was already at the forefront of his mind in the early 1960's. He states in the book's introduction and claims it as his motivation for publishing the essay. This was 1964, several years before the signifigant events of the 1960s took full shape and bore full weight on American society. The introduction includes Bloom's stark assessment of Poetry and Philosophy. He quotes Napolean (one of very few direct quotes, the footnotes are rich, but few) to argue for the superiority of poetry over politics and then slyly demostrates the superiority of philosophy, or the philosopher, true and proper, over poetry. This is a book you could own and keep and reread often, even secrete it undercover and carry it across hostile borders, real and imagined.