Harold Bloom - "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human"

Monday 11/02/1998
Literary critic Harold Bloom presents his new book, "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human."
All rights belong to © Charlie Rose LLC

[@NoLegalPlunder]

I agree wholeheartedly when he says Shakespeare’s writings are secular scripture. I was just thinking about this earlier today. Whenever I’m confronted with something in life that I can’t fathom, I instinctively reach for Shakespeare.

[@doclime4792]

This makes sense. I agree with those who say Shakespeare shaped his works from and for things outside himself (i.e. the world) and wasn't creating in service of his own genius. It's only natural that people still look to him for all sorts of contemporary concerns.

[@israelPoplife]

He went on to live 20 more years. Luckily.

[@hakmagui9842]

I didn’t understand Bloom’s zest for Shakespeare until I spent a random summer afternoon with Henry IV parts one and two. Language and emotion are not allied better in any other artists works; Bloom is totally right about this.

[@tyronebiggums8660]

Even if you disagree with him, you have to admire his contagious passion for Shakespeare and literature

[@benb6527]

Dude was one of the greatest trolls in all criticism. Bold, dry, ironic, hilarious.

[@jackjohnhameld6401]

Sibelius said that no one ever put up a monument in honour of a critic. I would pay a subscription for a monument to Harold Bloom (not that he would have wanted one). Harold taught a generation how to read : There is no end to Bloom.

[@b.alexanderjohnstone9774]

We never had composers (aside from Elgar), though we appropriated Handel, I think, but there are NO poets or writers anywhere IMO. Go back a hundred years and you'll never be disappointed. It's the best thing I ever did!

[@joero4610]

Cant help but feel bad for him. You can see in his eyes at the beginning of the interview how absolutely miserable he is. Obviously starting to suffer from the beginning of heart disease, plus hes always been a melancholic person. What a genius

[@barnster5844]

Thank you for curating this material

[@PoetDesh]

I have this wonderful book in my collection. It is a masterpiece!!

[@mangalapalliv]

Even I bought this book very recently.... I have completed reading "King Lear," "The Merchant of Venice," "The Tempest" & currently reading "Hamlet"....... I want to internalize the works of Shakespeare...... I felt this book would help me realize my this small desire/ambition.....

[@desireemariec1108]

I recall reading (the source I cannot remember at this moment) that Shakespeare assisted with King James' 1611 OT and NT work. I have a copy of the 1611 KJ OT *NT It's alive and profoundly poetic.

[@mrdarren1045]

The kjv is almost an exact copy of tyndall's translation

[@ChristiaanHartNibbrig]

Cervantes, writing contemporaneously with Shakespeare, was also an 'inventor of the human personality' like the Bard. Don Quixote, with its many impossible-to-forget characters, like Sancho Panza and the elusive Dulcinea del Toboso, is only one example. Cervantes' short stories were replete with different personalities and vividly drawn characters.

[@uranusgemini3388]

Why is it quite difficult keeping up with this kind talk this people dey talk here for me?

[@TheWhitehiker]

Great interview and book--but the latter needs a index BADLY!

[@jireh5941]

I honestly wonder if Bloom was a prophet of sorts. He saw what was happening in the culture early on, especially in the universities. With his immense knowledge, he knew that the ideologies beginning to emerge in the American universities (marxism/post-modernism) were the same ideologies that led to the deaths of 100s of millions of people in the 20th century.

[@roc7880]

I disagree with Bloom about Shylock. the play is a debate about the doctrine of transubstantiation not social antisemitism. and he goes to the point of humanizing Shylock and accepting him as a equal human being. the audience had different cognitive frames that made them to understand different lessons from the play than us

[@taniaearle4457]

Interesting, I'm going to read the play again, bearing in mind your observation. Cheers.

[@roc7880]

@G M is tough to put outselves in the shoes of those plebs who watched the play at the Globe, and see whether they saw it through something else than mere hate of the Jewish people. maybe they saw it as a happy ending moralizing story, maybe the play made them feel uneasy about their own business dealings. but the play is not just a copy of an antisemitic meme, it is too much philosophy and debate in the play for that. at some point Shylock explodes, if you wrong us, should we not take revenge on you? probably this was as close as an Englishman could come to find humanity in an alien.

[@roc7880]

@G M I would not say he never took sides, his depiction of the French was pretty jingoistic. but I agree, instead of cancelling him for violating all the isms we hold hear, we should follow his example of seeing complexity and nuance

[@roc7880]

@G M I agree. I think that like any other great author, he knew how to make his writing both deep for the ages and fun for the contemporary audiences. I remember as essay by Greenbladt about the way Shakespeare made fun of people of power at the time when this was enough reason for a public execution.

[@gypsycruiser]

A genius ..

[@amk1108]

if he likes Shakespeare so much...maybe he should marry him. haha

[@roc7880]

I would marry Shakespeare if he were alive and I am straigth

[@sjuvanet]

bard da goat

[@ahartify]

I'm not sure about the Nietzschean comment. Poets and other writers are generally aware of the inadequacy of language, especially prosaic, spoken language, to express feelings, and this goes back to Dante and others, but such inadequacy can ironically be put to poetic, effective use if the inadequacy and limitations are consciously acknowledged. The unsayable can be evoked by not trying to say it. You cannot have the unsayable without the eatable, as you cannot have silence without sound or voice. Silence needs sounds. The play's the thing, not the argument or the raw declaration.

[@lianatobias3741]

He mentions that the book is better than himself, well... grammar explains it ll

[@valentinocaruso9282]

Why is Harold feeling so sad?

[@WhiteChocolate74]

He always looks like this in interviews

[@md88kg]

Spin and spin your 3D drivel Round and round like a mere dreidel. If you stear clear of the Divine, Misuse God's Name for pantomime, Your soul without spiritual spine Slush shall be instead of brine.

[@enzofabbrucci3467]

ANCORA CONTINUATE A CREDERE A UNO SCIOCCO DRAMMATURGO INGLESE E IGNORATE JOHN FLORIO?

[@mrjavierpinto]

He dont know Greeks and Romans.

[@Brandon-tk2rw]

incorrect

[@erosamuk]

does anyone know what Bloom ate, and ate and ate? was it baloney sandwiches on rye, "and don't fahgit da mustid"?

[@Raygo.]

A marvellous interview, replete with brilliant insights and sad wisdom. Coincidentally I am currently studying Shakespeare for a uni course and watching this video inspired me to immediately borrow "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human" from the library. Your channel is excellent, so glad I discovered it and subscribed.

[@StBindo]

Lol, the selection is quite small. I have had no notion of trying to gain subscribers, but I appreciate your words immensely. Any future uploads will likely be few and far between, and also quite random as far as content, but hopefully you won't come to find your subscription a waste. Can't guarantee it, though. Blessings to you

[@funnyapples1]

Thank you for the upload! RIP Harold Bloom, we will miss you.

[@StBindo]

Thank you for caring enough to watch!

[@johnmarino5378]

Bloom was the man...good stuff

[@lunaenavis3127]

"Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince: And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!" Rest in peace, Harold!

[@walterbenjamin1386]

Anthony Grafton's book, Cardano's Cosmos, a biography of the Italian astrologer and mathematician, discusses the Renaissance practice by which "astrology could become a disciplined, empirical inquiry into the depths of the self. It both prescribed profound exercises in characterology and introspection and stimulated inventive exercises in expressing and recording their results." (p.202) This is not to disagree with Professor Bloom by any means. This quote from Grafton's study illuminates the culture of that time, which encouraged - via the examination of the personal horoscope - the exploration of a "self". Renaissance astrology, replete with concepts and descriptive jargon, sketched out an individual's personality. Shakespeare was obviously aware of this revived, predictive culture that formed a kind of proto-psychology. The correlation of fate and character was an accepted if controversial concept. The point is that self knowledge was encouraged and aided by a "scientific" theory of personality. Keep in mind that Renaissance astrology was far from today's superficial pop commercialism, and Johannes Kepler was another mathematician/astrologer sought out for his ability to describe astrological insights into human personality.

[@lyrical9582]

Many of these ideas are borrowed from Indian mathematicians, whose insights in both Maths and astrology came via the Jesuit priests who went to the kingdom of Travancore.

[@vagbloom6380]

One and only, Harold Bloom.

[@timholbrook7671]

There's something terribly charming and fascinating about Harold. You can't take your eyes off him, nor you ears from listening to him. He sounds at times so braggadocio, yet, he has possessed most of what he speaks of! Therefore, he demands a reverence and respect for his years of experience. A true cultured and complete gentleman. Not perfect, by any means, but, tthroughly civilized indeed! How Harold got 20 more years out of that body, I shall never know. Great surgeon and his Creator's constant GRACES.....

[@FBChair]

Thanks for posting this. Does anyone view Shakespeare through the same filter as Bloom? Could anyone? This was an eye-opening 23:40!

[@tessycallado1332]

Beautiful Bloom, blooming fiercely in perception! Thanks!

[@charlesedwardandrewlincoln8181]

Love returning to this interview. Charlie Rose and Harold Bloom have such a great energy.

[@daniellion5291]

I wish he would have played Falstaff at some point in his life. For a critic he is so poetic.

[@carloscalatayud6003]

He did play Falstaff. If you watch his interview with Charlie Rose on Hamlet, he talks about playing Falstaff.

[@laylaalajmee7327]

Thank you very much Bloom for the lecture

[@cadenhowlett]

I find 4:44 so hilarious and sweet. "I am following the question 😂"

[@Geopoliticus]

“Shakespeare is our mother and father.” Powerful.

[@junshi2010]

For this post, thanks for all the great comments .........and it seems no one has mentioned if one starts watching @21:35......... after a little bit, does anyone start to wonder where Prof Bloom has quietly hidden his left arm&hand???😊😊

[@shakespearaamina9117]

Beautiful!!!

[@ENGLISHLitLov3r]

It is remarkable how Bloom’s description of, and awe for, Shakespeare’s invention of the human, of his knowledge of all personality and his all seeing nature that transcends time and relevance, treads on ground reserved for the divine! It is as if Bloom argues that Shakespeare is God, and vice versa. And Hamlet is his Jesus; his very own embodiment of self, to grace the stage as the other poor players strut and fret their hour upon the stage. Truly, it makes me wonder whether God did indeed speak through Shakespeare!

[@ATG76]

And it is well documented that Shakespeare himself played the ghost of Hamlet’s father on stage. For Shakespeare and Hamlet, read God and Jesus. Or at least God and mankind.

[@futurez12]

15:57 The answer to this is that the British - particularly the English - spend their entire lives repressing their true feelings and thus end up acting out a role as part of their everyday lives; this amounts to some serious practice at the craft. 😁

[@Wrz2e]

Perfect answer. This also explains why so many of us become alcoholics. 😂

[@edelgyn2699]

Bollocks!

[@dr.ilagupta4030]

A nice interview sir.

[@estacoda545]

@5:22 what about Piers Plowman?

[@ugwangho02]

Harold Bloom - "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human"

[@charlesedwardandrewlincoln8181]

Hazlitt

[@junshi2010]

St Bindo: thanks a lot for this great post. It is kind funny I watched three of your postings in one night (two on Gore Vidal) and I started with “ The Education of Gore Vidal - documentary”........@1:05:10, there appears Prof Harold Bloom and that was my 1st encounter with him already very impressed 👌😊

[@curacaokidd]

genius

[@Muguetsu]

1:46 5:12 7:13 9:19 11:27 17:30 19:56

[@jamestiburon443]

Brilliant

[@FaisalSalahuddindenver]

The professor seems to be unfamiliar with the peculiar characters from The Iliad which supplied the want for Shakespeare’s invention. Of course I know the professor is familiar with Homer, only here it seems like his familiarity may well be surface familiarity whereas his love of Shakespeare may well be as deep as the ocean.

[@jamestiburon443]

With my 60 years, I find Vedanta to be my metaphysical Truth. But, to keep me walking 2 hours a day on a treadmill with my Kindall, I fear Climate Change Extinction. And read Shakespeare.

[@hycienteghen]

😊Bard🥂

[@robertpapps3618]

Great interview!

[@kevgh3869]

I wish you would include the year this was original broadcast.

[@StBindo]

I can do that. Give me a moment.

[@StBindo]

It's now in the description. Thanks for mentioning this.

[@kevgh3869]

@@StBindo Thanks for doing that. I think most people would like to know the year of almost any interview. Thanks.

[@idicula1979]

To be an author so true, is to walk in the shoes of your characters to be ever curios, to be the psychotherapist.

[@wasteland70]

I feel about Prince as Bloom does about Shakespeare. A man ahead of his time, so much to say, so much depth and bravery. I'm sure I'll get the comments, negative ones, but I love Bloom's devotion and when you are hit with it, likely as a young person as I was with Prince, it illuminates, liberates and becomes you.

[@MarvinReads]

Wonderful!

[@privatetatum]

I wonder what he would have thought of “woke” culture.

[@sandino833]

He was highly critical of woke culture, especially in academia-he coined it the “school of resentment.”

[@privatetatum]

@@sandino833 sounds about right,

[@howardmenkes2926]

He called the Third Reich "The triumph of German culture." As Klaus Kinski said of Werner Herzog, "This much idiot no one should be."

[@JoostJGJ]

Source?

[@howardmenkes2926]

@@JoostJGJ One of his books. I don't remember which because I don't care. Anyone who regards themselves as brilliant isn't.

[@WhiteChocolate74]

Considering he's Jewish I doubt that

[@m.x.]

Shakespeare is quite overrated as he was just a dramatist, while Cervantes went through all literature genres that had been and were still to come, pioneer in many ways. Just in 'Don Quixote' is the genome of literature, and that's just the tip of the iceberg of Spanish literature. If only Harold Bloom would have got the chance to study Spanish literature in the same way he did with English one.

[@loginzoneout7104]

I used to share your view of Shakespeare as overrated, but the more I read him, the more I find he lives up to the hype. And Cervantes is indeed one of the greatest innovators in world literature (though I've only read him in translation). As for Bloom, I recommend you his "The Western Canon", which includes a list of recommended authors and their books, and he gives a generous amount of space to Spanish language writers - although he seems to have been more interested in Hispanic America (particularly Pablo Neruda and Jorge Luis Borges) rather than Europe. He thinks Cervantes is the greatest Spanish writer ever to put pen to paper, but he alludes to the fact that Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, etc, compare poorly not due to bad writing, but because their characters lack depth. I cannot comment because I haven't read Vega in any language - I'm simply paraphrasing Bloom's point of view.

[@RocketKirchner]

Voltaire thought that Shakespeare was overrated and that Racine was better . But then Voltaire changed his mind . Eliot said that Shakespeare and Dante divide the world and there is no third.,

[@Remains123]

@@loginzoneout7104 His "western canon" is more like an "anglosaxon canon and other books that i like". I mean, Baudelaire is not there, BAUDELAIRE! and some english ones had nothing to do in a western CANON by the way.

[@selmamajjouty5586]

Shakespeare was not just a dramatist, he was also a great sonneter!

[@alvar534]

@@RocketKirchner well, Eliot was obviously wrong. Homer, dante and cervantes were the greatest describing human nature, or at least, many of us feel that way. And cervantes was most probably the deepest of them all.