Shakespeare on Love and Friendship (Paperback, New)

Bloom, model for the protagonist of Saul Bellow's latest novel, Ravelstein, was the conservative American critic who challenged the 'dumbing down' of the American education system with his book The Closing of the American Mind (1987). He saw America as dominated by the mass media, popular culture and the claims of minorities and set himself up as the protector of the high cultural tradition. In this book, Bloom portrays Shakespeare as a towering figure who could show human love in all its aspects. He analyses seven plays in detail with reference to the problems of erotic connection, supporting his argument with other (male) writers from the Western tradition such as Plato, Homer, Nietzsche and Locke. The controversial aspect of Bloom's account - and the one that separates him from current ideas about literature - is that he dismisses historical context as of little relevance compared to the 'permanent' questions about human dilemmas with which Shakespeare engages. He has no time for literary theory. Great works are, for Bloom, a mirror to nature not a way of transforming it and they need 'submission', that is study and hard work. Yet ironically, Bloom was allegedly a gay man who died from an AIDS-related illness, and thus a member of one of the minorities which his books attempt to sideline. The reader can detect Bloom's struggle underlying the text: the need to 'place' his own sexuality without giving in to the idea that he is 'radically isolated' and to justify it as one of many flawed attempts by human beings to aspire to Beauty. This book will appeal to readers who like surveys of great literature from an Olympian perspective, such as George Steiner's work. However, female readers and anyone who thinks literature exists only within its historical context will find it profoundly reactionary. (Kirkus UK)

"No one can make us love love as much as Shakespeare, and no one can make us despair of it as effectively as he does." William Shakespeare is the only classical author to remain widely popular--not only in America but throughout the world--and Allan Bloom argues that this is because no other writer holds up a truer mirror to human nature. Unlike the Romantics and other moderns, Shakespeare has no project for the betterment or salvation of mankind--his poetry simply gives us eyes to see what is there. In particular, we see the full variety of erotic connections, from the "star-crossed" devotions of Romeo and Juliet to the failed romance of Troilus and Cressida to the problematic friendship of Falstaff and Hal.
This volume includes essays on five plays, "Romeo and Juliet, Anthony and Cleopatra, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida, " and "The Winter's Tale, " and within these Bloom meditates on Shakespeare's work as a whole. He also draws on his formidable knowledge of Plato, Rousseau, and others to bring both ancients and moderns into the conversation. The result is a truly synoptic treatment of eros--not only a philosophical reflection on Shakespeare, but a survey of the human spirit and its tendency to seek what Bloom calls the "connectedness" of love and friendship.
These highly original interpretations of the plays convey a deep respect for their author and a deep conviction that we still have much to learn from him. In Bloom's view, we live in a love-impoverished age; he asks us to turn once more to Shakespeare because the playwright gives us a rich version of what is permanent in human nature without sharing our contemporary assumptions about erotic love.
"Provocative and illuminating." --Michiko Kakutani, "New York Times"
"A brilliant analysis of the erotic ugliness and the balancing erotic grace of "The Winter's Tale" . . . and Bloom makes more sense of "Measure for Measure"] than anyone else I have read." --A. S. Byatt, "Washington Post Book World"
At his death in 1992, Allan Bloom was the John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including "Shakespeare's Politics" (with Harry V. Jaffa) and "The Closing of the American Mind."

General

Imprint:	University of Chicago Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	June 2000
First published:	June 2000
Authors:	Allan Bloom
Dimensions:	139 x 217 x 10mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	160
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-226-06045-3
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Plays & playwrights > 16th to 18th centuries > Shakespeare studies & criticism Promotions
LSN:	0-226-06045-4
Barcode:	9780226060453

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!