Lear: The Great Image of Authority

by Harold Bloom

From one of the greatest Shakespeare scholars of our time, a beloved professor who has taught the Bard for over half a century—an intimate, wise, deeply compelling portrait of Lear, arguably Shakespeare’s most tragic and compelling character, the third in a series of five short books hailed as Harold Bloom’s “last love letter to the shaping spirit of his imagination” (The New York Times Book Review).King Lear is one of the most famous and compelling characters in literature. The aged, abused monarch—a man in his eighties, like Bloom himself—is at once the consummate figure of authority and the classic example of the fall from grace and widely agreed to be Shakespeare’s most moving, tragic hero. Award-winning writer and beloved professor Harold Bloom writes about Lear with wisdom, joy, exuberance, and compassion. He also explores his own personal relationship to the Just as we encounter one Anna Karenina or Jay Gatsby when we are seventeen and another when we are forty, Bloom writes about his shifting understanding—over the course of his own lifetime—of this endlessly compelling figure, so that the book also becomes an extraordinarily moving argument for literature as a path to and a measure of our humanity. Bloom is mesmerizing in the classroom, wrestling with the often tragic choices Shakespeare’s characters make. Now he brings that insight to his “measured, thoughtful assessment of a key play in the Shakespeare canon” (Kirkus Reviews). “Lear is a “short, superb book that has a depth of observation acquired from a lifetime of study” (Publishers Weekly).

Genres: Shakespeare, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Classics, Criticism, Literature, 21st Century

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Harold Bloom was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." After publishing his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and one novel. He edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literature departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" (multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Cornell University.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Shakespeare's King Lear in high school, and in two college courses, and I taught it to my son while homeschooling. It is my favorite tragedy. So when I saw NetGalley had Harold Bloom's Lear: The Great Image of Authority I thought, cool! A chance to revisit my favorite tragedy!

And it was wonderful to read those familiar lines again. But I am sad to say...I did not enjoy Bloom's interjected comments about the play. I was lifted by Shakespeare's words then dunked in cold water, trudging through commentary until I got back to the Bard.

Not to say that Bloom did not offer ideas or insights or connections new to me. And he communicates his personal responses and joy.

I am shocked that I did not enjoy this. What can I say? But this presentation may work in a classroom lecture with students who had read the complete play and come ready to dissect it did not work for me.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

[Razi]

I read it (listened to the audio version) on daily school runs with my daughter. It is a good basic intro to the great play. Bloom's reverence for Shakespeare is well-known, and his enthusiasm could be used to ignite love for literature in a budding scholar.
Now we are listening to "The Western Cannon". Bloom has his obvious and well-known limitations, but if your objective is to pass an A Level exam in England or prepare for Oxbridge entrance interviews then Bloom is good because of his accessibility and controversial opposition to the more complex "schools of resentment".

[Darcysmom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Harold Bloom is a much-lauded Shakespeare expert. I feel like in this examination of a character as complex as King Lear, he was resting on his laurels. Much of the time, Lear was a forgotten character as the motivations of Goneril, Regan, Edgar, and Edmund were examined in great detail. While it was fascinating reading, I don't feel like I got the in-depth character study of Lear that I was expecting. Despite this, it was still worth reading - Bloom's analysis was incisive and well-supported, and I gained new insights into the play.

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suspect I like this book for the quotes from the play as much as Bloom’s insights. His best insights are on Edgar.

[Matt McCormick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't become any smarter since I reviewed Bloom's Cleopatra a couple of weeks ago. The fact that I understood his critique so much better has to reside in a slightly different presentation style.

This really was informative and enjoyable to work through.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astonishing insights into this most compelling character and play. You cannot ask for a more informed and generous guide through a measure of our humanity.

[Jeff Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic source for anyone who’s studied Lear or plans to teach the tragedy. Bloom guides readers through the play with compassion for the most tragic of all Shakespeare’s creations.

[Bumbles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, no real insightful commentary if I am to be honest.

[Liyi Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember my high school teacher, recalling King Lear as his favorite in western literature, went through this play line by line while having us listen to a tape. Having just finished the final exam of a college course where we read King Lear again, I accidentally found Bloom’s book, and found it inspiring — I hope I read it earlier.

Certainly the book is written with great insight and clarity, as well as an aesthetic writing style, but really enjoyed reading how Bloom puts King Lear in context of western literary tradition in general. Connections with other great works — Hamlet, Montaigne’s essays, Shelley’s poems, to name a few — are right there when they are needed. This book is another demonstration of Bloom’s brilliant grasp of western literature and insightful writing. Had a great experience reading it.

[John Plowright · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover of Harold Bloom’s ‘Lear’ features Lord Olivier’s Emmy award-winning performance in that role in 1983. Olivier was then in his mid-seventies and had already started the process of lending his illustrious name and reputation to unworthy vehicles, such as ‘The Betsy’ and ‘Dracula’, in order to have a nest egg for his extreme old age.

A cynic might see a parallel in Bloom’s series of five short books on Shakespeare’s personalities, which was suggested by his literary agent, Glen Hartley, and of which this is one. However, whereas the aging Olivier was reputedly sometimes lost for words on set, this charge cannot be levelled against Bloom, now, like Lear, a man in his eighties, although as was the case with Bloom’s ‘Cleopatra’ in the same series (which I’ve reviewed elsewhere), an awful lot of the words Bloom uses in this book are not his own but Shakespeare’s, or what he sometimes takes to be Shakespeare’s, as he has boldly corrected the latest Arden text, when he has judged “traditional emendations to be mistaken”.

Bloom’s book is subtitled ‘The Great Image of Authority’ and he writes with enormous authority, arising from a lifetime’s scholarship and reflection, on the tragic character whose very countenance, for Kent, exudes Authority.

This is not to say that Bloom’s interpretation of the text aspires to be definitive. He writes, for example, that Lear’s “violent expressionism desires us to experience his inmost being, but we lack the resources to receive that increasing chaos”, so that whilst one can “brood endlessly on Falstaff, Hamlet, Cleopatra, Iago and Macbeth” this does not apply to Lear and Edgar “who transcend the limits of thought”. Similarly, finding it “useless to speculate” about Shakespeare’s precise “religious orientation”, Bloom is content to note that the play’s “accents” are not those of “Christian optimism”, and does not pursue the matter further.

Given the above, Bloom’s commentary on the play’s ending is as stark as Lear’s heath but before one arrives at that bleak point it is a privilege to see the play through Bloom’s compassionate and informed gaze.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 2.25 of 5

Anyone who's read much Shakespeare apologia has certainly encountered the works of Harold Bloom. Lear: The Great Image of Authority is the third book in Bloom's "Shakespeare's Personalities" series. I had quite enjoyed the second volume on Cleopatra and looked forward to this volume.

Unfortunately this one did not work quite so well for me.

This felt like a director's notes on a play's character - which could be really fascinating if it revealed something new or had some insight that hasn't already been presented by many other writers and directors. And the writing examines Edgar, Goneril, and Regan as much as it does Lear. At one point I actually flipped back to the beginning to make sure I had the correct subtitle and that it wasn't something more along the lines of "The Effects of Edgar on the great King."

I'm not sure, but half this book might just be dialog pulled from Shakespeare's play. I can read (or watch) the play myself - more analysis of the dialog, and how it defines a character would have been welcomed. Yes, there was some, but it was rather pedantic.

Bloom has written some wonderfully introspective works. but regretfully, this isn't one of them. I'll look forward to the next volume in the series, but with hopes that it will be more of a "Personality" retrospective rather than a director's moderate character analysis.

Looking for a good book? Harold Bloom's Lear does not live up to the "Shakespeare's Personalities" series, but might be a fine book for anyone directing the play but doesn't want to do their own research.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[John Matthew IV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harold goes through the play almost line by line and offers commentary. Not really a series of essays on topics but more like you are sitting beside him during a production and he's providing a running commentary.

p. 23: "Edmund, fortune's bastard, has lived for crime. We will yet see him die, if not for goodness, then desperately, in a vain attempt to change his nature."
p. 47: "Edgar will rise from humiliation to a suffering hero, and his metamorphosis will be one of Shakespeare's most powerful and enigmatic inventions."
p. 68: "Fie, foh, fum" Act 3, Scene 4, Line 180. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fee-fi-...
p. 93: Cornwall was killed by a servant (Act 4, Scene 2)
p. 102-3: "The Tragedy of King Lear leaps beyond hope, into nothingness. The promised end becomes an image of horror and the emblematic motto is 'Fall and Cease!'"
p. 106: "On The Sea" by John Keats: http://keats-poems.com/on-the-sea/
p. 111: "What follows to me the supreme achievement in all of Shakespeare, and perhaps of Western literature. In one hundred lines that do not advance the plot, mad Lear and blind Gloucester confront each other, with Edgar as despairing chorus."
p. 117: Wisdom of Solomon
p. 118: Oswald killed by Edgar (Act 4, Scene 6)
p. 126: "We are at one of the limits of art. Even Shakespeare never surpassed this. The love of daughter and father achieves absolute expression. I cannot think of another place in Western literature that is so luminous and poignant."
p. 147: Regan poisoned by Goneril (Act 5, Scene 3)
p. 148: Edgar's description of a vagina as "the dark and vicious place." (Act 5, Scene 3)
p .153: Everyone dies.
p. 154: Edmund dies.
p. 155: "In what must be the shattering beyond all measure, in Shakespeare and indeed all Western literature, Lear enters with the dead Cordelia in his arms."
p. 158: Lear dies (Act 5, Scene 3, Line 309)

[B. Rule · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stitched together from Bloom's contented sighs and manly tears, this text has some decent insights into the characters from King Lear, obviously focused on the eponymous ruler. Bloom's appreciation for the Bard runs deep, and you can feel his personal connection to the aging king. At its best, reading this feels like a postprandial visit to the scholar's study. That said, it relies a bit too much on "you gotta listen to this!" quotations, and the last half basically devolves into piles of lengthy passages from the text. It has the unfortunate effect of reminding the reader that they could just go read the play. In other words, the analysis here is not deep enough to serve as a reading guide, and as an appreciation simply points beyond itself to the object of its affections. We're left with a volume that may not have an obvious purpose (except to Harold Bloom). It wasn't a waste of time but not an essential read by any means.

[Maja Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

poignant exploration of my fav shakespeare play! however i felt the flow of thought was not very cohesive and the transition between ideas was sometimes quite jarring. also i think a lack of actual criticism and insight in places and more a sort of "this passage makes the reader feel ___" where the text could have been allowed to just speak for itself (which he also does explicitly recognize, saying "Shakespeare is his own best interpreter"). really enjoyed his translation and repunctuation of the play though and, all in all, his obvious affection for this play was contagious and this was a valuable text in enhancing my understanding (and helping me pick up on certain symbolisms/metaphors) in a way that i as a non-english scholar would otherwise never have had the opportunity to grasp

[Jens Hieber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloom illuminates some of the hidden layers in this great play. It helped me see a few things I hadn't considered or noticed before (such as the positioning of Lear and Edmund as opposing poles) and gave further insight into elements that I'd noticed but wasn't quite sure what to do with (such as Edmund's continued references to nature).

However, as a person who has read and taught this play many times, I found I would have liked a meatier analysis. This is not a long text and at least half of it is long excerpts from the play. I could have done without those (so maybe I'm not the target audience) and would have enjoyed it if Bloom had done a closer analysis of words and phrases throughout rather than quoting large chunks and then only referencing one detail within it.

[Chaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lear is my favorite play to read. Bloom is arguably the greatest modern Shakespeare scholar. So this was a bit of a letdown.

Already short, this book is about half quotations from the play, and that ends up being the more engaging half. The study of the text--a mix of explication, hot takes on the characters, and Biblical allusions--felt underdeveloped, like the book needed to go out in a rush. (Though his analysis of Edgar was a standout.) It seems unlikely this is all Bloom had to say about Lear... Maybe would have made a more interesting class to take than book to read, where these ideas could be better fleshed out.

[Len Rudner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find myself stretched to write a review. Not because Harold Bloom is any less magisterial than in his other works, but because it is (for me) impossible to separate the book from its subject. This book is pointless if you haven’t read King Lear, and indispensable if you have. Despite more than forty years of re-reading and play-watching, I was surprised by Bloom’s analysis of the character of Edgar, and found new passages in the text that were as curious as the explanation given to the absence of the King of France from the invasion of England. Is anything better than a book that prompts questions as well as answers?

[JC]

I thought he would've had more interesting things to say about this play. Bloom was allegedly a Freudian socialist, but did not like Marxist literary criticism, and he also had bad views about zionism and israel. My socialist Muslim friend who's very into Palestinian politics considers Bloom a reactionary (which centrist publications like to claim is a mistaken view) but likes his writings about the bible (as do I). I didn't find this particular book very enlightening. It's largely a collection of notable excerpts from the play and Bloom's seemingly off-the-cuff remarks about them.

[Todd Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any chance to review Shakespeare's greatest existential tragedy is to be savored. The author quotes large sections of the play to support his discussion. I'm not sure if I agree that Shakespeare was referencing the Bible, Roman and Norse Mythology, Greek myths, and other obscure references. But just reviewing them give more context to the play.

A short read but well worth the time to explore it.

[Tamara]

Awesome book for those who like reading Shakespeare but want to dig a little deeper. It's not a book for experts, and I would consider it a light read. The most you'll have to do is find the meaning of some older words that show up in the Biblical quotes referenced by Shakespeare (and you can just google that).

[Josh Sarna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shakespeare wrote more of this book than Bloom did - it consists of most of the play excerpted with sparse commentary (mostly summary) added in. Most of the meaningful observations Bloom does make are merely saying the quiet part out loud and pointing out how little sense this play makes. He covers the entire play - this is not at all a character study of Lear.

[Mama K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bloom has written some GREAT books on literature. this isn't one of them. there were no startling new interprerations, particularly for those who have already studied King Lear.
i received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Christopher Yuen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong Insights, but perhaps not best in an Audiobook format. Bloom is too intricate and includes too much quotation to be rolled through as an Audiobook. The Reader really needs to slow and digest at points to gather Bloom’s meaning.

[Sam Strickland · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are helpful observations here from time to time but little else. Half the book is long quotations taken from Lear the play. The remainder is straightforward commentary from Bloom. Pick a different book for exploring this play.

[E.J. Cullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erudite and not too long-winded, the Bloom bugaboo.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant insight into one of Shakespeare's most admired novels. Had not read Lear in a long time. But Bloom's analysis has me interested in returning to the whole play.

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many things to ponder here. Excellent analysis.

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked reading this because I’m a boring person. I like boring things. I want to get shot out of the English cannon to my doom.

[Bill Bleuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant criticism.

Do not recommend this audio version and its Jon Lovitz-style Shakespeare performance.

[Garrett Mikulka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, pleasant, some useful insights. Worth a read (or listen) after going back through Lear.