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Title: Shakespeare's Politics by Allan Bloom, Harry V. Jaffa ISBN: 0-226-06041-1 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: December, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Solid scholarship and thoughtful ideas
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: See Shakespeare In Another Light
Comment: 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.
Rating: 5
Summary: Shakespeare as Political Philosopher
Comment: I am admittedly not too familiar with much of Shakespeare scholarship out there, but I would venture to suggest that (considering the elgance of Bloom's prose as well as the depth of his insights) this work should rank among the finest in Shakespeare scholarship. Such a statement would surely offend the academic snobbery of the Shakespeare scholarship cabal who would reflexively question the authority of one who is not a Shakepeare specialist, in particular, the authority of one who has specialized in expounding the thoughts of Plato and Rosseau. However, I would argue that this is precisely the very reason that elevates Bloom the political philosopher in a privileged position in understanding Shakespeare. The rationale is supplied in the beginning of Bloom's study itself: the great classical dramatists or poets were not proponents of the art for art's sake or creating art for purely aesthetic reasons. Instead, through their art, the great dramatists and poets sought to convey certain timeless truths about human existence, in particular, about political existence, for man is a zoon politikon according to Aristotle. Hence, Bloom's account is a necessary corrective to those language nabobs who would rather prattle about the meters and stanzas and in so doing lose sight of Shakespeares account of the Whole.
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Title: Shakespeare as Political Thinker by John Alvis, Thomas G. West, John E. Alvis, Laurence Berns, Allan Bloom, Paul A. Cantor, Louise Cowan, Christopher Flannery, Robert B. Heilman, Harry V. Jaffa ISBN: 1882926501 Publisher: Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) Pub. Date: 01 June, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Shakespeare on Love and Friendship by Allan David Bloom ISBN: 0226060454 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: May, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Giants and Dwarfs: Essays, 1960-1990 by Allan Bloom ISBN: 0671707779 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: October, 1990 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates by Harry V. Jaffa ISBN: 0226391132 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: February, 1999 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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Title: Thoughts on Machiavelli by Leo Strauss ISBN: 0226777022 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: August, 1995 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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