"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
It is a long and fascinating itinerary, and one littered with thousands of sharp insights. Listen to Bloom on Romeo and Juliet: "The Nurse and Mercutio, both of them audience favorites, are nevertheless bad news, in different but complementary ways." On The Merchant of Venice: "To reduce him to contemporary theatrical terms, Shylock would be an Arthur Miller protagonist displaced into a Cole Porter musical, Willy Loman wandering about in Kiss Me Kate." On As You Like It: "Rosalind is unique in Shakespeare, perhaps indeed in Western drama, because it is so difficult to achieve a perspective upon her that she herself does not anticipate and share." Bloom even offers some belated vocational counseling to Falstaff, identifying him as an Elizabethan Mr. Chips: "Falstaff is more than skeptical, but he is too much of a teacher (his true vocation, more than highwayman) to follow skepticism out to its nihilistic borders, as Hamlet does."
In the end, it doesn't matter very much whether we agree with all or any of these ideas. What does matter is that Bloom's capacious book sends us hurrying back to some of the central texts of our civilization. "The ultimate use of Shakespeare," the author asserts, "is to let him teach you to think too well, to whatever truth you can sustain without perishing." Bloom himself has made excellent use of his hero's instruction, and now he teaches us all to do the same. --Daniel Hintzsche
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 5749311-n
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780007292844
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. BRAND NEW ** SUPER FAST SHIPPING FROM UK WAREHOUSE ** 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Seller Inventory # 9780007292844-GDR
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780007292844
Book Description Condition: New. 2008. 1St Edition. Paperback. Harold Bloom, the doyen of American literary critics and author of The Western Canon, has spent a professional lifetime reading, writing about and teaching Shakespeare. In this magisterial interpretation, Bloom explains Shakespeare's genius in a radical and provocative re-reading of the plays. Num Pages: 768 pages. BIC Classification: 2AB; DSGS. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 234 x 155 x 40. Weight in Grams: 986. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780007292844
Book Description Condition: New. In. Seller Inventory # ria9780007292844_new
Book Description Condition: New. 2008. 1St Edition. Paperback. Harold Bloom, the doyen of American literary critics and author of The Western Canon, has spent a professional lifetime reading, writing about and teaching Shakespeare. In this magisterial interpretation, Bloom explains Shakespeare's genius in a radical and provocative re-reading of the plays. Num Pages: 768 pages. BIC Classification: 2AB; DSGS. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 234 x 155 x 40. Weight in Grams: 986. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9780007292844
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 772 pages. 9.17x6.06x3.90 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0007292848
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 5749311-n
Book Description PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # FC-9780007292844