Shakespeare: The Seven Major Tragedies

Written by Harold Bloom

Narrated by Harold Bloom

Shakespeare invented characters in a new kind of way. He not only gave them personality and depth, he gave them life. Not a life that went simply from point to point, but one that developed rather than unfolded. In so doing, Shakespeare created characters with whom everyone can identify, whether the characters were kings and queens or fools and merchants. Renowned Shakespearian scholar Professor Harold Bloom presents Shakespeare's seven major tragedies with a unique and exciting viewpoint.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 18, 2009
• ISBN: 9781436173681

Harold Bloom

Harold Bloom is Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. He has written more than sixty books, including Cleopatra: I Am Fire and Air, Falstaff: Give Me Life, The Western Canon, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, and How to Read and Why. He is a MacArthur Prize fellow, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the recipient of many awards, including the Academy’s Gold Medal for Criticism. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

Reviews for Shakespeare

[ashryan_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this course, Professor Bloom covers (as the title suggests): Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, and Antony and Cleopatra. He goes play by play in chronological order, devoting the most time (three lectures each) to Hamlet and King Lear.His analysis focuses mainly on characterization, offering insights especially into the characters of Juliet, Iago, several major and minor characters in King Lear, and (of course) Hamlet. He also occasionally offers historical information about the writing or production of the play when this is helpful in illuminating the material.He also spends a good deal of time analyzing the plot structure of some of the plays, particularly Hamlet.The best lectures, I thought, were those on King Lear, which added significantly to my understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of that play, already my favorite of those discussed in this course.