Hamlet: Poem Unlimited by Harold Bloom - Notes

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Hamlet: Poem Unlimited
by Harold Bloom
(With a self-consciously Goth cover for the Prince-in-Black.)

Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human
by Harold Bloom

In Hamlet: Poem Unlimited by Harold Bloom (2003) Mr. Bloom tells directors how to direct Hamlet, which apparently none of them are competent to do without his advice:

"I have yet to see Hamlet performed, on stage or on screen,
as extravagantly as it should be done."
and

"Hamlet himself is a master comedian, like Falstaff, Rosalind, and Feste."
and

"The prince is sorrier for humankind than he is for himself."

Bloom claims that Hamlet is the most knowing character in literature.

Hamlet: Poem Unlimited is a small book of 25 chapters, each only a few pages long, with chapter titles starting with "Inferring Hamlet" and ending with "Hamlet and no end". Bloom wrote this book as a "postlude to his Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human."

Bloom is an extremely opinionated and often cranky scholar, who worships Shakespeare and Hamlet.

I agree with one Amazon reviewer that "The book lacks a coherent development, explores no single argument, but Bloom is worth reading even when he rambles."

It's irritatingly and pompously self-assured and condescending at times (e.g., "There is a recent 'Be kind to Gertrude' fashion among some feminist critics ... ").

But I did find "Hamlet: Poem Unlimited" to be educational and interesting. Worth reading before your next viewing of Hamlet, but be sure to form your own opinions and not be swayed by Bloom's style.