Bloom’s Classic Critical Views

W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e

Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth

Bloom’s Classic Critical Views

W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e

Edited and with an Introduction by
Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University

harold Bloom

Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60413-723-1 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4381-3425-3 (e-book) 1. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616—Criticism and interpretation. I. Bloom, Harold. II. Heims, Neil. PR2976.W5352 2010 822.3'3—dc22 2010010067 Bloom’s Literary Criticism books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please