Shakespeare's Politics Book

Some really interesting perspectives on Shakespeare's plays. I was particularly struck by Bloom's interpretation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Bl0om, strikingly, begins section 4 with, "Julius Caesar is the story of how a man became a god". He goes on to explain how, in republican Rome, someone could strive to greatness in a somewhat balanced political environment between the senatorial class and the plebs. Once a noble was ready to disavowed his class and reached for power from the masses, the system fractured. Once someone had absolute power (checks and balances having been destroyed) the only thing left was divinity.

While most of the book (really a series of essays) was written by Allen Bloom, the last section is Harry Jaffa's. Jaffa provides an in-depth analysis of the opening to King Lear. Although I thought Jaffa presupposed too much, I was very appreciative of his insights into the reasoning behind Lear's division of the kingdom in Act 1. He gave me ways to think about Lear I hadn't considered - namely a sovereign attempting to strategically maintain the kingdom he had unified while remaining in power. The proposed division into three parts, one section per daughter, was more than a bequest to children; it was a strategy to influence the course of England when Lear would die. The love test wasn't an act by a doddering egotistical geriatric; it was part of an intricate strategy of preservation. At least that is what Jaffa give's us to think about.