Shakespeare and Literary Criticism
Melvyn Bragg discusses the enduring popular and academic appeal of Shakespeare and examines whether literary criticism and the academic institution ruins the pleasure of reading.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the enduring popular and academic appeal of Shakespeare. Did he invent the human personality as we inhabit it now? Professor Harold Bloom claims:βShakespeare is universal. Shakespeare is the true multicultural author. One has to ask the biblical question βWhere shall wisdom be found? And I suppose for me the answer is: wisdom is to be found in Shakespeare provided you get at it in the right way.βBut why does Shakespeare still hold the popular and indeed academic imagination in the twentieth century? Should we read him above all others as Harold Bloom suggests in the way he suggests? And what does this say about the state of literary criticism today? With Harold Bloom, literary critic, Professor of Humanities, Yale University and Berg Professor of English, New York University; Jacqueline Rose, literary critic and Professor of English, University of London.
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Thu 4 Mar 1999 09:02ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
- Thu 4 Mar 1999 21:30ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
Featured in...
17th Century—In Our Time
Browse the 17th Century era within the In Our Time archive.
16th Century—In Our Time
Browse the 16th Century era within the In Our Time archive.
In Our Time podcasts
Download programmes from the huge In Our Time archive.
The In Our Time Listeners' Top 10
If youβre new to In Our Time, this is a good place to start.
Arts and Ideas podcast
Download the best of Radio 3's Free Thinking programme.
Podcast
-
In Our Time
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.